Go to Western Nghe An to meet skilled craftsmen

(Baonghean) - On the last day of the year, going to the West, we met the skilled craftsmen of brocade weaving, incense, bamboo and rattan weaving villages... They are skilled craftsmen at the level of artisans who have devoted themselves to building and passing on their profession to the next generation, contributing to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values ​​of the ethnic minorities of Nghe An.

Mr. Lo Hai Truyen in Muong Noc commune (Que Phong) - a skilled craftsman in bamboo and rattan weaving.

Mr. Lo Hai Truyen in Na Nga village, Muong Noc commune (Que Phong) - a skilled rattan and bamboo weaving craftsman, is 59 years old this year, and has been involved in the traditional weaving craft of the Thai people for nearly 40 years. Mr. Truyen said that in the past, he often wove items such as rattan trays, chairs, sticky rice presses, and storage baskets to serve the needs of his family and as gifts for relatives and friends...

It was not until 2006 that his rattan and bamboo products were selected by the district to display at the Nine-Room Temple Festival. Since then, visitors from many localities have known about his woven products and come to place orders.

During this time near Tet, the demand is so high that Mr. Truyen rarely has a break, he has to work from 4-5am and only rests at almost midnight. Rattan trays are the most difficult and laborious product to make, weaving them for a whole month can only complete 4. If he only specializes in making rattan chairs in a month, he can only make 15; pressing sticky rice can only make 15/month. In addition, he makes all the products such as baskets, trays, poles, shoulder poles... ordered by people.

Now, every year, the traditional rattan and bamboo products he produces are displayed at the Nine-Chamber Temple Festival, the Hang Bua Festival, and recently at the Sunflower Festival (Nghia Dan). Mr. Truyen confided: "After nearly 40 years of diligently weaving, my back hurts, my arms are tired, and my knees are weak. But if I stop weaving for a few days, I feel even more tired... Moreover, I do it to maintain the profession for the next generation. Up to now, I have passed on the profession to more than 50 workers in the district."

Brocade weaving contributes to increasing income for people in Hoa Tien 1 village (Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau). Photo archive

Ms. Sam Thi Bich - Head of Hoa Tien Brocade Weaving Village Cooperative (Quy Chau) is one of the best craftsmen in the province. Born and raised in a family with a tradition of brocade weaving, at the age of 13, her mother taught her the weaving profession. At that time, raw materials were not as readily available as they are now, so Ms. Bich's family had to work hard to grow cotton and mulberry trees to raise silkworms to reel silk, spin thread, and weave fabric.

At that time, according to custom, before going to her husband's house, Thai girls had to weave dozens of skirts, shirts, cushions, and blankets as gifts for their husband's brothers and sisters, then their husband's family would respect them as diligent girls... Therefore, all Thai girls were meticulous in their brocade weaving skills, and from here, a traditional brocade weaving village was built.

For Ms. Bich, after nearly 40 years of working in the profession, brocade has become her blood and flesh. She has skillfully embroidered and woven all the patterns that are unique to her people. She cannot remember how many skirts, blankets, shirts, scarves, etc. She has woven with her hands. The brocade patterns that are imbued with the cultural identity of the Thai people are preserved in large part thanks to people like her.

Ms. Sam Thi Bich - a skilled worker of Hoa Tien brocade weaving village, Quy Chau.

Hoa Tien village, Chau Tien commune (Quy Chau) has a long-standing brocade weaving profession, but it has been lost for a long time. In 1992, participating in the brocade weaving project, women were trained, learned and grasped the basic knowledge of brocade weaving. From then on, Hoa Tien women quickly started to produce brocade for goods, reviving the brocade weaving profession. In 2010, Hoa Tien village's brocade weaving profession was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a provincial-level craft village. Then the craft village cooperative was established with Ms. Sam Thi Bich as the chairwoman, the cooperative plays the role of "midwife" supplying raw materials and consuming products for the people.

Passionate about her profession, not only connecting and consuming products for the people, Ms. Bich often enthusiastically teaches the profession to workers in the commune and other communes in and outside the district. Every year, through vocational training classes in the locality, she directly guides and teaches the profession to learners. Up to now, Ms. Bich has taught the profession to nearly 1,000 brocade weaving workers in the province.

Ms. Lo Thi Nga in Hoa Tien brocade weaving village is also honored as a skilled worker. She is a Thai woman who has been involved in brocade weaving for more than 35 years. Her love for brocade has spread to many women in the highlands. Every year, Ms. Nga actively participates in teaching the craft to people in the district and other communes in Que Phong, Tan Ky, and Tuong Duong districts. Up to now, she has taught the craft to about 700 - 800 workers. She confided that perhaps the soul of brocade is the traditional fabric dyeing method of the Thai people.

Brocade products are dyed with forest plants so they have natural colors. The lines, colors, and patterns shown on the costumes all have a certain meaning according to the Thai people's concept, for example, green symbolizes life, red is the color of fire, of blood, symbolizes love and desire, and black represents sprouting from the ground,...

Mr. Hoang Nhat Minh - a skilled worker in the incense production village block 3, Tan Lac town (Quy Chau).

As for Mr. Hoang Nhat Minh - a skilled incense maker in the craft village of block 3, Tan Lac town (Quy Chau), the profession has been ingrained in him since childhood. At 70 years old, with nearly 60 years of experience in the profession, he is one of the few people who have built the incense making profession in Quy Chau. Born in Hung Tan commune (Hung Nguyen), at the age of 10, Mr. Minh went to school and worked as an incense burner to help his parents. In 1962, his father went to work in Quy Chau district, brought the whole family to settle in this land and brought the incense making profession with him. At that time, there were many incense roots in Quy Chau, Mr. Minh went to the forest to collect incense roots, washed them, used a hammer to crush them, then dried them, wrapped them in plastic bags and stored them carefully until near Tet to use the raw materials to make incense. At that time, incense was only made to serve the needs of the family and for friends to enjoy. In 1965, some small traders knew about Mr. Minh's incense products and came to order them to sell in the towns in the district. By 1972, agarwood incense had truly become a commodity, at this time each Tet holiday his family produced 30,000 incense sticks. From then on, every year people came to his family to learn the trade and agarwood incense products began to become popular from here.

Mr. Minh's facility currently produces 2 million incense sticks and 400,000 agarwood incense sticks each year to serve the market across the country. Mr. Minh shared that the incense making profession is produced year-round, but every time the traditional Tet holiday of the nation, the market's consumption demand increases dramatically, so the craftsmen have to maximize production capacity to meet the demand. However, to have a fragrant, quality incense product, the selection of raw materials is also very elaborate...

Despite limitations and difficulties, the production of traditional handicrafts of ethnic minorities in Nghe An has developed into commodities, creating jobs and income for workers, helping the village to increasingly develop and integrate into the new lifestyle.

Quynh Lan