The once famous craft villages in Nghe An

Gasping for breath waiting for the day of erasure

In late May, walking along the fields in Hung Hoa Commune (Vinh City), I came across a few households harvesting sedge. This is the main harvest season, but the sedge fields are no longer as bustling as before.

“There are still about 60 hectares of land in the commune for growing sedge, but most of it is abandoned. Now there are very few households growing sedge. And perhaps this is also the last year that people here will see the sedge fields. Because all the land has been reclaimed for the project, the project is expected to be implemented next year,” Mr. Tran Cao Cuong - Chairman of Hung Hoa Commune People's Committee sighed when we recalled the glorious days of Hung Hoa sedge mat village.

Next year, these sedge fields will no longer exist. Photo: Contributor

No one can remember when the people of Hung Hoa started growing sedge and weaving mats. The elders in the village now only remember that for many generations, sedge has been their main source of income. In the past, Hung Hoa children might not be literate, but they certainly knew how to weave mats.

Ms. Hoang Thi Oanh (58 years old, Phong Thuan hamlet) said that she has known how to weave mats since she was 8 years old. And she has been doing that job until now. Ms. Oanh is also one of the last 9 households in Hung Hoa who still weave mats. They say they still do the job, but these 9 households cannot make a living from the job, but only do it "for fun". Because compared to the remaining households, Ms. Oanh's family is the most consistent. But now they make less than 10 mats a year. The remaining households, some of them, can only weave a few mats a year, to keep the job. "It's very sad. This job has been with this village for hundreds of years. It's a pity to give it up now. But what can I do?", Ms. Oanh said, her eyes looking far away at the vast sedge fields that are past harvest time.

In the whole Hung Hoa commune now there are only 9 households growing sedge to weave mats. But each year they only make less than 10 mats. Photo: Hung Ha

According to local people, the period when Hung Hoa sedge mat weaving village was most prosperous was in the 90s of the last century. At that time, the whole commune had nearly 200 hectares of sedge growing, creating jobs for thousands of workers. At that time, Hung Hoa sedge mats were not only sold in the markets of the Central provinces, but also exported to Laos. In 2005, the two hamlets of Phong Thuan and Phong Hao, with nearly 100% of households engaged in mat making, were recognized as craft villages by Nghe An province. However, from that time on, the sedge growing and mat weaving profession began to decline.

Mat weaving profession is on the verge of extinction. Photo: Hung Ha

According to the people, at that time, aquaculture development projects began to appear, and the sedge growing area decreased. In addition, the main reason was still the lack of output for the products. People finished producing sedge mats, but did not know who to sell them to. Hung Hoa people now had to do many jobs to make a living. Some switched to aquaculture, some became construction workers, and some had to go abroad to make a living!...

“If the sedge fields are not reclaimed for housing projects, no one will do this job anymore because the income is too low. And the demand is decreasing,” added Ms. Hoang Thi Oanh.

Desolate in the 700-year-old shipbuilding village

Trung Kien village (in Nghi Thiet commune, Nghi Loc district) has been famous for hundreds of years as one of the oldest and largest shipbuilding villages in the country. This place was once the place where "ships without numbers" were launched, contributing to the legendary Ho Chi Minh sea route. However, in just a few years, dozens of shipbuilding establishments have switched to specializing in repairs or have been idle, because not a single customer has come to place an order all year.

Scene of a rare shipyard in Trung Kien that is still in operation. Photo: Ha Hung

Mr. Nguyen Gia In - Chairman of Trung Kien Shipbuilding Cooperative said that, since ancient times, the village was assigned the task of building dragon boats for the king and building warships for soldiers. The workers here have built tens of thousands of ships and boats. "There are many places across the country where you can see the silhouettes of ships and workers from Trung Kien village. Because the children of the village were hired to build ships in the past, then stayed to establish their own businesses, creating shipbuilding villages in that land", Mr. In said proudly.

Just less than 5 years ago, coming to Trung Kien village, you could feel the bustling atmosphere with the sound of chainsaws and chisels coming from dozens of shipyards. That was also the golden age of this craft village. In 2014, Trung Kien craft village was honored by the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Craft Village Association as "Typical Craft Village of Vietnam"; In addition, Trung Kien Shipbuilding Cooperative was awarded many other titles such as "Typical Craft Village Economic Unit of Vietnam"...

Many shipyards have to rely on repairs to survive because they have no orders all year. Photo: Ha Hung

“Back then, there was a lot of demand for orders, working day and night without running out of work, my workshop and the neighboring workshops had to hire more workers from Hai Phong and Nam Dinh. Now looking at the bare workshop is very sad,” said Mr. Vo The Xam (64 years old), one of the owners of the largest shipbuilding facility in the village. At that time, Trung Kien shipbuilding village had 42 shipbuilding facilities. Mr. Xam’s workshop alone built 8-10 ships with a capacity of 600-1,000 CV each year, with more than 60 workers from many provinces and cities across the country.

In recent years, the State has had policies to encourage fishermen to fish offshore, with many incentives for large-capacity, modern steel-hulled boats... therefore, many fishermen are no longer interested in investing in building new wooden-hulled boats. This situation has caused wooden boat-building workshops to increasingly lack customers. Now, in Trung Kien craft village, almost all boat-building workshops are no longer operating. Many skilled workers, who have been involved in shipbuilding since childhood, have had to put away their chisels and sticks to go work abroad.

“The boat building and repair profession in Trung Kien was once famous. Generations have always maintained pride in the traditional profession of their ancestors. And wooden boats also have many advantages, fishermen also really like this type of boat. However, due to the mechanism, in recent years people have not been given priority to borrow capital to build wooden boats. Meanwhile, building a boat costs a lot of money, without borrowing, it is impossible to build. Therefore, the craft village is facing difficulties,” Mr. In sighed in frustration.

Mr. Nguyen Gia In with the awards for Trung Kien Craft Village Cooperative. Photo: Ha Hung

Not only the Hung Hoa sedge mat craft village or the Trung Kien shipbuilding village, in Nghe An province there are also a series of once-famous craft villages that are now suffering the same fate for various reasons. For example, the Nho Lam blacksmith village in Dien Loc commune (Dien Chau), the Cua tile making village in Nghia Hoan (Tan Ky) have been completely wiped out. As for the Do paper craft village in Nghi Phong (Nghi Loc), just a few years ago there was still an entire village making Do paper, but right after being recognized as a craft village, it gradually faded away. Up to now, there are only a few households still attached to the craft, just "for fun".