Nho Lam blacksmith village

(Baonghean) - Visiting Mr. Vo Van Trinh, a centenarian in the ancient village of Nho Lam - said to be the birthplace of blacksmithing in Vietnam, to better understand an ancient profession that has been associated with the country from its early days to its most turbulent periods. At the age of 94, his eyes are still flexible, sharp, and contain the same strength as the blacksmithing profession in which he was once the most famous hammerer in the region...

Nho Lam village (Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau district) is located on the peaceful Sat river - a place with a long history of iron smelting and casting and is known as the birthplace of blacksmithing. Although there has not been any scientific research, the location of an ancient historical relic, which is the temple of General Cao Lo - the inventor of the crossbow during the reign of Thuc Phan An Duong Vuong, along with places such as Sat river, Lo islet, and traces of mossy walls built with iron slag are proof that this land is one of the cradles of blacksmithing.

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

Nowadays, with the advancement of science and technology, the manufacturing of iron tools for production or daily use has become extremely simple with just a few strokes of a machine. Therefore, Nho Lam craft village has gradually faded away, and now there are only a few people who can follow the ancestral profession. And Mr. Vo Van Trinh is one of them. Although he is 94 years old, when mentioning the blacksmith profession, it seems that in his eyes there is still enthusiasm, but also a faint feeling of regret. He said that his family has been in the blacksmith profession for 4 generations. From the time he was in the cradle, instead of the lullabies of his grandmother and mother, there were regular clacking sounds. Those rough sounds day after day, month after month, nurtured the souls of the children in Nho Lam village at that time. And as a natural continuation, those children grew up and continued with the red-hot furnaces, red-hot iron bars and hammers to create sounds that are very familiar to the people of Nho Lam village.

There were many products made, but he remembered most the period of forging weapons to serve the seizure of power in August 1945. At that time, people's lives were extremely miserable and miserable, and the blacksmith families in Nho Lam village were no exception. In a family, the strong person pulled a wheelbarrow to Nghi Thiet, pushing iron ore back as raw materials, the weaker person lit the furnace, fanned the fire to forge. The remaining people took turns wielding the hammer, working hard at the forge day and night, just enough to earn a simple meal to get by. Then the revolutionary movement broke out, and the blacksmith also became a "soldier" in his own way. Mr. Trinh, from a blacksmith familiar with farming tools and daily life utensils, now became a hammerman forging swords, spears, spears, etc. to serve the revolution. With his famous skills throughout the region, and the secret of firing passed down through many generations, the sharp weapons he made followed 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 at that time. At that time, the iron for forging was not pre-cut into bars but was a solid block of iron forged by the craftsman himself. The master craftsman heated the iron in the furnace until it was red hot, then used homemade pliers to pick it up and place it on the anvil. This operation required quickness and high precision, because if heated for too long, the iron would not be hard enough, and if taken out too soon, the iron would become brittle. Then, the master craftsman used one hand to hold it tightly and "fired" with a "clack" sound from a small hammer, wherever the master craftsman's hammer struck, 5-7 assistant craftsmen would strike in the same place. This continued until the iron bar cooled, then the above process was repeated from the beginning. After the "rough part" was forged, it was time for the "fine part", this part was only for the master craftsman and a few skilled assistant craftsmen to participate. After forging, it was taken to the Iron River wharf to be ground and the handle was made to create a complete sword.

To become a blacksmith, blacksmiths must undergo a rigorous apprenticeship. The first lesson is to learn how to endure the heat of a furnace that is always on fire. Mr. Chau - the eldest son of Mr. Trinh - half-jokingly said: "For "outsiders", even standing next to a furnace in the winter is hard to endure, let alone in the summer. Not only that, Nho Lam blacksmiths also have to travel dozens of kilometers to collect ore, go into the forest to cut wood to burn in the furnace. Forging iron in the fire is also forging people...".

Nowadays, when science and technology have developed, the blacksmith profession has gradually faded into the past, becoming an ancient profession that is no longer popular as before. Making an iron tool is no longer as hard as before and the blacksmith is therefore free to handle the handle and hammer. However, the memories of an ancestral profession closely associated with the lives of the working people as well as the important moments of the country still always ache in the hearts of people like Mr. Vo Van Trinh.

South Scene