(Baonghean) -In the whole Nghe An province, only the people of Phong Phu village, Nghi Phong commune (Nghi Loc, Nghe An) make do paper, although the villagers do not know when the profession began. The profession is creating a unique feature for the village.
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| The raw material used to make dó paper is the bark of the niệt dó tree, which is sought by people in mountainous areas that are still densely forested. The bark of the niệt tree is peeled off and processed through many stages to produce dó paper. In the photo: A branch of the niệt tree that Mrs. Truong Thi Hai and her husband have just brought back from the forest. Photo: Quang An |
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| After peeling the bark off the tree trunk, scrape off the outer layer of starch, then use a very sharp knife to slice it as thin as paper so it dries quickly and is easy to pound. Photo: Quang An |
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| According to Mr. Vuong Van Tam - Mrs. Hai's husband, doing this job requires taking advantage of reasonable time, on rainy days we do the shell making, on sunny days we spread it out to dry. Although the job is not hard, it requires diligence, hard work, and dexterity. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
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| After drying, the bark is put into a pot to cook. Before cooking, lime is poured into the pot to remove the smell of the tree. Photo: Quang An |
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| The time to cook the processed and dried shell is as long as boiling banh chung. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
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| After being thoroughly boiled, the net shell is soaked in running water for a while, then pounded vigorously with a pestle to get the powder. The powder is stirred into clean water to coat the mold. The mold is made of a bamboo frame, the mold surface is made of gauze, 1 square meter wide. Skilled workers like Mrs. Truong Thi Hai, despite her old age, with decades of experience in the profession, she coats evenly and the paper is beautiful. Photo: Quang An |
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| On sunny days, people spread the do paper to dry. When spread thinly and evenly, it takes about 2 hours to dry and then the do paper can be peeled off to be stored. Photo: Xuan Hoang |
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| In addition to being used to wrap incense, the do paper product is also used to package sea fish after they have been steamed. Therefore, this profession is quite dependent on the fishing profession. If the sea and wind are favorable, the consumption is good and vice versa. Local people said that the current selling price is 4,000 VND/sheet, 2 people working hard a day can make 100 sheets for 400,000 VND, after deducting expenses, the remaining is 360,000 VND. Do paper is mainly imported for seafood traders in coastal areas in the province. Photo: Quang An |
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| The village chief of Phong Phu said: Out of 120 households in the village, 25 currently specialize in making do paper. It is estimated that the village produces about 60,000 sheets of do paper per month, worth about 240 million VND. Phong Phu do paper making is a long-standing traditional craft, no one knows when it started. Although this craft provides income, the young workforce is not very interested, so the people who stick with the craft today are mainly middle-aged and elderly people. In the photo: Taking advantage of a sunny day, Mr. Nguyen Van Ha's household prepares molds to coat paper; this is the best household in the village. Photo: Quang An |
Xuan Hoang - Quang An
