The Internal Development of Facial Designs on Chinese-Style Roof Tiles in Central Vietnam during the 1st Millennium CE

William A. Southworth

Chinese-style roof tiles were first introduced into Vietnam during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), where they were used on high-status and administrative buildings. During the early first millennium CE, they were also adopted in central Vietnam, being associated from the 3rd century CE with the independent kingdom of Linyi. Among the tile forms used were eaves tiles, often showing raised designs based on human, animal or demonic faces. This paper will analyse the internal development of these face designs, proposing a chronological sequence of distinct features. Although primarily based on archaeological finds from the site and surrounding area of Tra Kieu, this paper will demonstrate how remarkably similar face-tile designs can be traced along almost the entire central coastline of Vietnam, constituting the earliest art historical evidence for this region. It is hoped that this analysis will have important implications both for the comparative dating of archaeological sites with face-tile remains and for questions regarding the cultural unity or political integration of central Vietnam during this period.