partially By Doraemon Tran
For a long time,
craft villages have been an important element of Vietnamese culture and
economy. The existence of these villages could date back thousands of years, as
archeologists have unearthed a 3500-year-old large bronze making center in Vĩnh
Phúc province of Vietnam (a little west of Hanoi), evidence of a town
specialized in bronze crafting, as well as indication of a complex society with
stratification and craft specialization. Into the Han period, craft villages
have been well-established in Northern Vietnam with a catalogue of numerous
products well desired from India to China.
Craft villages
continued to exist in Vietnam throughout the feudal time and well into the
modern time, particularly highly concentrated in areas with bustling commercial
activities like the capital Hanoi. Visiting Hanoi today, you'll hear the phrase
"36 streets of Hanoi". Hanoi today has over hundreds streets, but the
36 "streets" here, or should be more correctly translated as "36
towns" imo, were the 36 areas of the old Hanoi, each of with specialized
in a craft product.
How did craft
villages form in Vietnam? I'll leave this question to more thorough research,
but from what I know, even until this day, most villages in Vietnam, especially
the Northern part, have something that they call the "traditional
occupation" of the village. This occupation could be making silk fans,
lanterns, ceramics, conical hats, wood printing etc.
A sad reality is
that these villages are dying, and along with them are the beautiful
traditional handicrafts of Vietnam.
This is caused by an
array of factors, many of which are unavoidable results of development,
industrialization, and open market economy. Mass production made possible by
assembly lines and machineries have driven down the price of industrial
products (many of which are imported from other countries), making it hard for
handcrafted products to compete. Artisans receive less and less profit until
they cannot maintain a living by their occupation anymore. Not many young
people are willing to continue the traditional occupation of their family when
they can make more money following other paths.
Preserving
traditional villages has been a concern of many Vietnamese, for it's an
important cultural element of Vietnam. Many craft villages, like Bat Trang
ceramic village, have existed for many many centuries and have produced
high-quality arts and crafts throughout their history and it would be a pity to
see them die. Artisans in some villages have tried to change their production
methods to cope with the changing market and environment. In the past years,
the government have made effort to encourage revival of many craft villages to
attract tourists. But the task is harder done than said.
Bát Tràng village, one of the four famous ancient ceramic villages of
Vietnam, and the only one that still thrives today.
Established in the
Tran dynasty, the village has become so famous that if you read Vietnamese
history, hear folk songs or come across countryside proverbs, you cannot fail
to meet with this name. Vases of the finest quality or delightful plates for
home decor have brightened the homes of the aristocracy, rice bowls have held
the food of farmers, and in more recent times, electricity has been transported
across the country thanks to ceramic insulators produced in Bat Trang. In the
area of arts and antics, Bat Trang ceramics are famous in various places in the
world and are displayed in the museums of many countries including Japan, the
Philippines, France, Belgium and Turkey.
According to
Vietnamese annals, migrant potters from Thanh Hoa province established Bat
Trang village in the middle of the 14th century. Situated on the banks of the
Red River, close to the capital. Bat Trang had very favorable geographic
conditions to develop its craft. The region was also gifted with kaolin
reserves that are an essential material for ceramic production. Consequently,
Bat Trang ceramics quickly became prosperous. In the 15th century, its finest
production was selected to be offered as tribute to the Chinese Minh. The
village further prospered throughout the 16th century, producing high-grade
ceramic articles for the noble class as well as for the people. From then
onward, Bat Trang went through many ups and downs in the following centuries,
but its kilns kept burning mid ceramics were still exported to Japan, East and
Southeast Asian countries. Today, after orienting its production toward
artistic items, Bat Trang ceramics have kept a strong foothold in international
markets such as Taiwan, South Korea Japan, German, Denmark, Belgium, France,
Holland, Australia and America.
Situated 15
kilometers away from Hanoi. Bat Trang actually covers the two hamlets of Bat
Trang and Cao Giang, for a total area of 164 hectares. It currently has a
population of 6,500 including some 1,300 ceramics production households Hat
operate more than 2,000 kilns. More than 30 companies are also producing and
trading ceramics in Bat Trang and the village is buzzing with activities. In
2002, the total revenue from ceramics production and trading almost reached
VND500 billions, of which domestic consumption amounted for VND200 billions and
export for VND300 billion. Major items for export are utilitarian articles mid
art ceramics.
Some
products of Bát Tràng village today
But be very careful when you enter the market in Bát Tràng today. I'm serious. Many of the products sold there are fake, not authentic Bát Tràng handcrafts but industrial stuff. Of course they will tell you it's Bát Tràng products, but they're lying. You just have to check carefully.
Some Lê dynasty pieces unearthed (15th century)
Sơn
Đồng village (Hanoi)
This village has
hundreds years history of making wood sculptures
Located next to 32
road, the center of the capital about 15km, Son Dong commune, Hoai Duc, Hanoi
is known for its famous wood products, fine art and carved lacquer. Here,
people could hear the sound of carve and cut around the village.
So far, the class
descendants of wood Son Dong village no longer remember the origin of the
craft, only that the product of villages have been identified from hundreds of
years. A hundred years, the village of Dong Son not only talented in the paint,
carve, create the Buddha statues thousand arms, thousand eyes, the Thien (Good)
statue, the Ac(Evil) statue, the Arhat statues, eight pole palanquin.. known
throughout the country, but from the ancient times, the Son Dong know each
other always prompt professional respect given to their ancestors: painting,
pagoda sculpture - has created a job for Son Dong village know how artists have
talented hands, the King Khai Dinh's prizes, French were awarded the artist.
From the land of
King Hung to the The best cave in the North of Vietnam - Huong pagoda, anywhere
in the country, we also see the worship statue by the Son Dong craftsman. A
very special with village workers in the wood that even though there is no sign
on the statue but the Son Dong people can easily recognize the product were
done by your village people manipulate. They look so proud that you have a good
job to be crystallized in the hands home workers that others village want to
learn are also difficult to follow and also "in heart" to hold round
of prestige for the ancestor profession .
The pilgrim as well
as respect for this quality of "uniqueness" of products that the Son
Dong village that want visited the wood village... What is the trick that makes
the product of Son Dong village is love, create credibility with customers,
while the country has so many professionals as well as villages such as Dong
Son worshiping? The question of who is doing missionary work, keep industry of
the village explained very rustic and simple: "Many generations now, the
only wood carving village always thought, one thing is to know, to understand
the sentence : “ know every thing is to know nothing”.
The consideration of
Son Dong village artisans for products of their village is also manifested in
behavior, communicating daily trading. Everyone in this land, from the elderly
men in village to the baby 2 to 3 years, future generations of wood village,
also called wood products very successful arranged clear order of precedence,
while shipments to customers have a red cloth covering statues. Generations
remain loyal to the natural paint materials used to the painting statues, which
must be manually processing workers in the village are confident ... The small
jobs that full respect implies that become thought in the each villager wood.
For the respect that many people far away to visit the village and respect for
feelings, special favor with Dong Son people, who make these products are
everywhere aspire for worship. Hundred years old definition remains...
Buddha goods can
only carved jack wooden, because the concept, which is wood "sacred"
- very appropriate for making worshiping things. Moreover, jackfruit wood
characteristics flexible, soft, durable, less cracking, easy to trim. Wood
transport that removed rubbish wood, only use core to carve. Single measurement
instrument in the hands of the workers are gauge wire and a "Tam rule
". Head and face of statue was always processed first. Carve outline the
cap (if any) and the forehead, nose, lips, ears, etc. ... Ear of Buddha large
and flowing, to the set a reasonable balance in the distance from the hairline
(the 2 side of head) to chin, maybe ear touched the shoulder.
Gilded painting
technique is also wonderful as the art of lacquer. After each stage must be
grinding statue by the stone and water. Paint then grind away, then paint on
..., so never saw the flat surface and stretch then use a paint layer (called
Cam Thep paint) cover. For Cam Thep paint be almost dry (touch by hand feel
sticky) then silver paste or gold paste (silver, gold depending on customers).
Therefore, each statue by artist Dong Son remake brings a different look. These
parallel sentences, horizontal board that horse, large crane, all shone bright
yellow, purple, pink in the sun soon. Every product here is both harmony, has
portrayed its own dynamic characteristics, requires financial resources both
human mind here.
La
Xuyên village (Wood carving
village in Nam Định)
La Xuyen Village at
70 km from Hanoi, is famous for wood carving from ancient. It has a rich
history of thousands of years with dozens of skilled workers who participated
in building palaces, temples for feudal dynasties. Ninh Huu Hung, the first
founder in setting up hamlet, imparting to local native, was the famous
craftsman in both of Dinh – Le dynasty using at an important function.
Traditional
carpentry in La Xuyen which the pinnacle is the carving art almost reached
perfectly. These local carpenters had been not only in Eastern but also in
Western country to make a lot of villages’ beauty. Their huge productions are
the architectural works with widen spaces and heighten the height of antique
dome. Plentiful and common productions such as incense-table, hammock, sindora
wood bed, tea chest… all showed high level technique.
Till now, a part of
traditional craft village has remained in communal house. The talented
carpenters contributed their minds, skilled hands into a huge architectural
works. These artisans really infused a vital spirit into the carving and relief
works throughout the time.
Nowadays, La Xuyen
is just a small village of Yen Ninh commune, Y Yen district, but this craft
village is still alive throughout the time and become more and more famous.
With the tradition of a long-standing craft village, La Xuyen has been
contributing to bring fame to motherland.
Note: Pictures are directly distracted from the original source. We are not credited for taking these pictures.
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