Keeping the traditional profession alive

(Baonghean) - Ban Nhang brocade, Chau Cuong commune (Quy Hop) has not really become a commodity product, but with the love of brocade, Thai women in Ban Nhang still maintain this traditional craft.

Stopping by the house on the mountainside, where the women are gathering to spin silk and weave cloth, there are quite a lot of people, including the elderly, young women and children. Ms. Lo Thi Nhang warmly greets the guests and says: Every year, when March 8th, the women's holiday, we bring our hand-woven brocades to the market to sell to customers as gifts.

During the holidays, there are many buyers, both from the mountains and the lowlands. The Thai people buy dresses, shirts, scarves, the lowlands buy blankets, sheets, scarves... both for their own use and as gifts for relatives, and on normal days, they sell at home to regular customers. In the past, some business owners of this product from Thanh Hoa came to Nhang village to buy products, every three or five months they would come to the village to get the goods, but in the past five years, people have not come to get the goods anymore.

But that does not mean that the women give up their profession. The women of Nhang village encourage each other: "Brocade weaving is still a traditional craft that needs to be preserved and promoted. If it has not really become a commodity, we will take advantage of our free time to weave products to serve ourselves and our families."

Taking advantage of their spare time, Nhang women weave products to serve themselves and their families.

During the off-season, at the loom, people spinning silk, weaving cloth, spinning thread... work and share with each other the joys and sorrows in life, reminding each other to live well, raise good children, build a warm and happy family and, most importantly, not to lose the profession left by their ancestors. It is also to preserve the brocade weaving profession that Ms. Lo Thi Nhang and some other women in the village have been attached to the loom for a long time. Currently, Nhang village has over 20 women weaving brocade.

Visiting Ms. Lo Thi Nga's family, while moving her feet on the loom, Ms. Nga confided: Seeing that we love the job, we do it so it won't be lost, but weaving brocade is very hard, requiring meticulousness and carefulness. To weave a complete product measuring 60 - 80 cm, or from 0.8 - 1 m, it takes 4 full days. Some simple products like scarves also take more than 1 day and night. This job requires women to be healthy, quick-handed, and quick-eyed. The Nhang people from ancient times have always appreciated the brocade weaving hands of women because this is the traditional beauty of Thai women. Every family with a daughter must know how to weave brocade, weave daily clothes for themselves and especially before going to her husband's house, they must have beautiful dresses, shirts, and scarves. The mother also helps her children weave blanket covers and pillows as wedding gifts for her children. This beauty has been ingrained for generations and preserved until now. Therefore, no woman wants to lose this traditional beauty. In the past, during the mulberry season, every family planted mulberry trees, raised silkworms, collected cocoons, and weaved brocade. Back then, the village was always brightly colored with brocade from inside the house to the porch, especially in the summer, the products were dried in the front yard in the sun to dry, when they were brought to sell, they still had the scent of the sun. Men and young men spun thread, helped their mothers and wives weave fabric, and spun silk. The Thai people in Nhang village are always very meticulous in each of their products. If they want beautiful fabric colors, they often go into the forest to find roots and bark of forest trees, bring them back to boil and squeeze out the water, soak them for several days and nights, then soak the fabric. The most difficult step is still the step of creating the shape, motifs, patterns, colors... all of these steps require many years of experience to do...

Ms. Lo Thi Nga said: To weave a complete product measuring 60 - 80 cm, or from 0.8 - 1 m, it takes 4 full days. Some simple products such as scarves also take more than 1 day and night.

The Nhang women do not forget to pass on their craft to their children and grandchildren, instructing them on how to embroider, how to combine colors and how to dye them beautifully. The children of Nhang, My, and Nga are all good at weaving brocade. Because they themselves always think that: as Thai women, they cannot lose their traditional costumes. Thai women must know how to weave, must create scarves and dresses with their own hands. They hope that when they grow old, their children and grandchildren will not forget the brocade weaving craft.

Saying goodbye to Nhang village, the image of Thai women still diligently sitting spinning silk and weaving cloth on the loom feels strangely peaceful, and I hope that one day in the near future, the colorful brocades of Nhang village in particular, and of the Thai people in Western Nghe An in general, will reach tourists from near and far, become goods, and bring income to the villagers...

Thu Huong