Definition

1. Noun:
   • A pot scroll: A decorative hanging scroll, typically a pair, with parallel panels of silk, paper, or wood, often inscribed with parallel sentences (couplets) for display, especially during festivals like Tết.
   • A lidded bowl: A round, wide-mouthed container made of ceramic or porcelain, used for holding food like rice or soup.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Pot Scroll):

  • Ông ấy tặng gia đình tôi một đôi liễn chúc Tết. (He gave my family a pair of New Year congratulatory pot scrolls.)
  • Những đôi liễn đỏ được treo hai bên bàn thờ. (The red pot scrolls are hung on both sides of the altar.)

• Noun (Lidded Bowl):

  • Bà lấy cơm từ trong liễn ra. (Grandmother took rice out from the lidded bowl.)
  • Liễn canh này được làm bằng sứ trắng. (This soup tureen is made of white porcelain.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đôi liễn": A pair of pot scrolls. This is the standard form for decorative couplets.

  • Cửa hàng bán nhiều đôi liễn có câu đối hay. (The shop sells many pairs of pot scrolls with good parallel sentences.)

• "Liễn cơm": Specifically refers to a lidded bowl used for serving rice.

  • Liễn cơm bằng sứ rất dễ vỡ. (The porcelain rice bowl is very fragile.)

Variants and Related Words

• Câu đối (n): Parallel sentences; the verses written on a liễn (pot scroll).

  • Ông cụ viết câu đối lên liễn. (The old man wrote parallel sentences on the pot scrolls.)

• Tranh liễn (n): A painting or artwork in the form of a hanging scroll, related to but distinct from the inscribed couplet scrolls.

  • Bức tranh liễn này vẽ cảnh núi non. (This scroll painting depicts a mountain scene.)

Synonyms

• Bình phong (n): Folding screen (a different type of decorative panel).
• Tô có nắp (n): Lidded bowl (a more general, modern term for the container).

Related Phrases

• Treo liễn: To hang (pot) scrolls.

  • Mọi người thường treo liễn vào dịp Tết. (People often hang pot scrolls during Tet.)

• Viết liễn: To inscribe/write on (pot) scrolls.

  • Nhà thơ được mời đến viết liễn. (The poet was invited to inscribe the scrolls.)

Related Idioms

• "Đẹp như tranh liễn": As beautiful as a scroll painting; used to describe a very beautiful scene or person.
  • Phong cảnh nơi đây đẹp như tranh liễn. (The scenery here is as beautiful as a scroll painting.)

noun

1. pot scroll