Nho Lam Blacksmith Village

(Baonghean) - Visiting Mr. Vo Van Trinh, a centenarian, in the ancient village of Nho Lam - traditionally believed to be the birthplace of blacksmithing in Vietnam - allows us to better understand an ancient craft that has been intertwined with the country from its earliest beginnings to its most turbulent periods. At 94 years old, his eyes are still sharp and alert, containing the strength of the blacksmithing profession in which he was once the most famous hammersmith in the region…

Nho Lam village (Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau district) lies beside the tranquil Sat River – a place with a long history of iron smelting and casting, and known as the birthplace of blacksmithing. Although no scientific research has been conducted yet, the presence of an ancient historical monument, the temple of General Cao Lo – who invented the magic crossbow during the reign of King An Duong Vuong – along with landmarks such as the Sat River, Lo Hill, and the remnants of moss-covered walls built with iron slag, are evidence that this land is one of the cradles of blacksmithing.

Mr. Vo Van Trinh, the owner of the old Chau Trinh blacksmith shop, is explaining the technique of hammering on the anvil.

Nowadays, with the advancement of science and technology, the craft of making iron tools for production or everyday use has become extremely simple, requiring only a few strokes of machinery. Therefore, the traditional craft of Nho Lam village is gradually declining, and today only a few people still follow the ancestral trade. Mr. Vo Van Trinh is one of them. Although he is 94 years old, when he talks about blacksmithing, his eyes still seem to retain their enthusiasm, but also a hint of regret. He says that his family has been blacksmithing for four generations. From the time he was a baby, instead of the lullabies of his grandmother and mother, there were the regular clicking sounds of metalworking. These rustic sounds, day after day, nurtured the souls of the children of Nho Lam village. And as a natural continuation, those children grew up to continue with the glowing furnaces, the red-hot iron bars, and the hammers, creating sounds so familiar to the people of Nho Lam village.

He produced many products, but he remembers most vividly the period of forging weapons to serve the seizure of power in August 1945. At that time, the lives of the people were extremely difficult and miserable, and the blacksmith families in Nho Lam village were no exception. In a family, those with strength would pull wheelbarrows to Nghi Thiet, pushing iron ore back as raw material, while those weaker would light the furnace and blow on the fire to smelt. The rest took turns hammering, toiling day and night by the forge, just to earn enough for a meager meal each day. Then the revolutionary movement broke out, and the blacksmiths also became "soldiers" in their own way. Mr. Trinh, from a blacksmith familiar with agricultural tools and everyday necessities, now became a skilled craftsman forging swords, spears, bayonets, etc., to serve the revolution. With his renowned craftsmanship and generations-old smelting secrets, the sharp weapons he created accompanied our army and people in every step of the struggle, contributing to the success of the great revolution of the entire nation.

Mr. Trinh recounted the arduous process of forging a sword entirely by hand, a practice common at the time. Back then, the iron used wasn't pre-cut into bars, but solid blocks forged by the family themselves. The master craftsman would heat the iron in a furnace until it glowed red, then use homemade tongs to remove it and place it on an anvil. This required quick reflexes and high precision; heating it for too long would render the iron insufficiently hard, while removing it too early would make it brittle. Then, the master craftsman, holding the iron firmly with tongs, would "fire" it with a "crack" from a small hammer. Wherever the master craftsman struck, 5-7 apprentices would follow suit. This continued until the iron cooled, at which point the process was repeated. After the "rough" forging was complete, came the "fine" forging, a part only the master craftsman and a few skilled apprentices were allowed to participate in. Once finished, the sword was taken to the Iron River bank, sharpened, and fitted with a hilt to create a complete sword.

To become skilled blacksmiths, they had to undergo a grueling apprenticeship. The first lesson was learning to withstand the intense heat of the constantly blazing furnace. Mr. Chau, the eldest son of Mr. Trinh, half-jokingly said, "For those unfamiliar with the trade, even standing by the furnace in winter is difficult to endure, let alone summer. And that's not all; the blacksmiths of Nho Lam also had to travel dozens of kilometers to collect ore and go into the forest to chop firewood to fuel the furnace. Forging iron in the fire is also forging people…"

Today, with the advancement of science and technology, the blacksmithing profession has gradually faded into the past, becoming an ancient craft no longer as common as before. Crafting iron tools is no longer as arduous as it once was, and blacksmiths are therefore free to wield their hammers and handles. However, the memories of a traditional craft closely linked to the lives of working people and the important moments in the nation's history still linger in the hearts of people like Mr. Vo Van Trinh.

Canh Nam