[Buddha-l] State of the Buddhst arts/antiques in Vietnam

[jkirk]

Money-madness has overcome Buddhism in most of SE Asia today.
To protect temples, how about mastiffs and armed guards? Each
temple with a flock of geese, to sound the warning? (They'd
probably be caught and eaten with a few days.)
Joanna K.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/reports/2009/04/840118/
 
Excerpts:
...Some relics were installed with horn-alarm systems, such as
But Thap Pagoda in Hanoi, but these systems were quickly
destroyed by rats. When rats came, the systems howled noisily,
but when thieves came to steal statues, they didn't work.

 ...Relics in Vietnam have been opened to all visitors for
centuries. They have open-air structures to welcome every
visitor. Temples and pagodas don't have fences or anything to
protect them, so accidentally, antiques there have become fried
fish exposed to hungry cats.

 Quang Huc Temple in Ba Vi district, Hanoi, is one of the
largest, oldest and most beautiful temples in Vietnam. Covered by
ancient trees, the temple is located near a vast field, without
any fence, enabling thieves to freely "collect" antiques.

 The temple had a very beautiful pair of ancient cranes of up to
4.5m high but one night, they were stolen. The temple lost the
holy cranes which were there for several hundred years.

 Police officers went to investigate but they didn't find any
clue. Local residents, thus, prevented thefts by binding all
worshipping objects to iron chains and hiding some in warehouses.

 Mrs. Oanh, the temple's manager, said that whenever the village
opens a festival, three young men are chosen to break the chains,
which often takes them a whole day, to free worshipping objects.

 The village gave priority to protecting the pair of turtles
which carried the lost cranes. The turtles were also kept in the
warehouse but one day, thieves broke into the warehouse and stole
the turtles.

 Old villagers were wringing their hands and didn't know what to
do. Do they have to sleep at the temple to protect antiques? They
decided to buy more iron chains to chain the remaining antiques
and patrol the temple every night. But they still worry.

 Thefts [thieves] go by car to steal antiques

Dong Vien Temple is located in the neighboring commune of Quang
Huc temple. This relic is famous for reliefs, which are printed
in textbooks. Ignoring three to four rounds of fences and special
protection measures, thieves broke in to take the invaluable
doors with famous reliefs to a truck. When villagers came to the
temple, they only saw the smoke from the truck.

 A most beautiful communal temple, Tay Dang, even lost its altar.
Cau Cuong Temple has lost 11 ancient documents, Dong Vien Temple
lost its ancient doors, Cao Pagoda lost a Buddha statue, Mong Phu
Temple lost ancient documents, stone young lions and bronze
incense-burners and Mia Pagoda lost its best statues. After these
break-ins, Dong Vien Temple is protected by a pack of dogs. Other
temples have built fences.

 In Vinh Phuc province, according to a statistic released by the
Vietnam News Agency, within four months, the province lost up to
1,000 ancient Buddha statues, 37 ancient documents, four ancient
cranes, and hundreds of valuable objects of hundreds of years
old, including palanquins, incense burners, altars, potteries,
and others.

One pagoda lost 31 statues at the same time. Another temple lost
a truckload of antiques, including two palanquins and 11 giant
halberds.

With "black antique markets" open everywhere, thieves receive
orders for antiques. When antiques are purchased at the price of
treasure, old villages can't protect worshipping objects. The
"steel hand" of the state is needed to protect relics.