The 'unstable' business of selling clay pots
(Baonghean.vn) - Traveling back and forth on "thousand-mile roads" with the constant fear of "breakage", but people selling clay pots in Vien Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) still stick with the profession, not only to make a living, but also to preserve the vestiges of a traditional profession.
 |
| Vien Son village, Vien Thanh commune used to be a traditional craft village.clay potfamous. However, due to changes in life, since the 80s of the last century, the clay pot making profession here has not been prosperous. The clay pot trade in Vien Son now seems to be the "remaining" of the craft village of that day. Currently, Vien Thanh commune has more than a dozen households trading in clay pots. Mr. Bui Van Chuong (54 years old) - a long-time clay pot trader here said that his family has been trading pots since his grandfather's time, and he alone has been in the profession for 38 years. Every day, he rides a motorbike to Tru Son commune (Do Luong) to get pots, and his son supports his father in selling online, especially coordinating with him to organize trips to the North to carry tens of thousands of pots. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| It was thought that the job of selling clay pots required long distances and difficult transportation… only men could do it, but some women in Vien Son are quite capable. Mrs. Bui Thi Nhuong (45 years old) has spent 10 years buying and transporting pots in Tru Son for her husband to sell. Mrs. Nhuong is not only knowledgeable in choosing pots, but also in arranging and transporting pots by motorbike like her husband.manAccording to Ms. Nhuong, when choosing a clay pot, you have to knock it to listen for the sound. If the sound is clear and resonant, the pot is "standard", but if it makes a creaking sound, the pot is cracked. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| Clay pots in Tru Son (Do Luong) are considered to be of good quality (standard shape, evenly burned, beautiful color, clear sound, diverse products) and are the main source of goods for clay pot traders in Vien Thanh. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| The newly baked, bright red clay pots are carefully selected by pot traders. The pots they like are set aside and arranged on the poles. The poles used to tie the pots are four small bamboo sticks the size of chopsticks, about 2 meters long, connected together to form a cross. Pots of the same type are stacked high and tied into each pot quite firmly. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| Holding each clay pot feels fragile, but when tied into a tree, it is easy to carry. Each tree can hold more than 10 large pots, and more than 20 small pots (fish stew pots). Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| In addition to the vertical bamboo poles, the pots are also tied horizontally with giang fibers to firmly fix the pots. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| Pot traders in Vien Thanh can pre-order the design and quantity of pots for thebasePot production in Tru Son, to import goods periodically or can go there, buy whatever you like. The wholesale price of pots ranges from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of dong per pot, depending on the type of pot. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
The pottery pot trade in Vien Thanh has gone through many ups and downs. In the past, the whole village used carts. The “pot drivers” were mostly farmers who “had free time to go to the market” and often bought old bicycles with an additional handle and two big bamboo baskets to carry the pots. Each trip to sell pottery pots to other provinces lasted about 15 days, walking hundreds of kilometers to Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Hanoi... In the early 2000s, households here bought new motorbikes and stopped pushing carts to carry pots to sell on the street. Now, to transport pots far away, cars are used. In the photo: Pots after being tied into a tree, are arranged on a motorbike. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| Sales also depend on each household, the attractive market for pot traders in Vien Thanh is not within the province but Thanh Hoa and the northern provinces. Families with capital, who can gather a lot of goods, can sell several thousand pots each time they export goods according to a contract. Households with limited capital or few employees accept small-scale business, retailing along National Highway 7. In the photo: A smooth business "contract" with people from the pot village. Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| According to Mr. Bui Van Chuong: "Each motorbike trip, I can carry about 700 small pots. When I go to transport pots, I worry about getting on the motorbike to go home because the goods are bulky and fragile, so I have to be careful both when driving and stopping the motorbike. If something collides or falls, it will be completely destroyed and there will be no chance to rearrange it." The business of selling clay pots is always associated with "the fear of breakage", and when I drive the motorbike to the gate of my house, I still have to worry about it. Only when I stop the motorbike in the yard, unload all the goods and arrange them in order, can I confirm that "the trip is safe". Photo: Huy Thu |
 |
| Life has changed, communication and transportation of goods have become more convenient, but the pot trading profession also faces many difficulties. Previously, Tet was a big business opportunity for pot traders because every family had to buy pots to cook. But now, Tet is like any other day. Fortunately, thanks to the development of the profession of braising fish in clay pots in the Northern Delta and the use of clay pots in traditional dishes in restaurants and hotels, it has breathed new life into the pot-making profession in Tru Son and the clay pot trading profession in Vien Thanh. Photo: Huy Thu |
| Clay pot selling profession: Carrying along worries. Video: Huy Thu |
