Where are the winnowing trays and sieves...?

(Baonghean) - For every Vietnamese villager, for thousands of years, nothing has been as dear, close, and intimately connected as bamboo. Born into a bamboo house, lying in a bamboo cradle under the shade of bamboo, daily meals are eaten around a bamboo bed, growing up, hands are intimately connected to the handles of hoes, hoe handles, and plows made of bamboo... every household item they touch is made of bamboo. The most familiar are still the winnowing trays, sieves, and other winnowing tools...

Sieves and winnowing trays are indispensable tools in the working lives of farmers. (Illustrative image)

In his poem "The Homeland," the poet Nguyen Khoa Diem wrote:

"Parents love each other through the bitterness of ginger and the saltiness of salt."

The rafters and pillars become names

The rice grains must endure the harsh sun and dew before being milled, pounded, sifted, and winnowed.

The country has existed since that day."

The sieve and winnowing tray were indispensable tools in the working lives of farmers in the past. In the old days, there were only earthen yards, so large winnowing trays were used to dry rice, corn, beans, sesame, and other agricultural products. Smaller winnowing trays were used to sift out dust, husks, and impurities. These trays and winnowing trays were woven from three bamboo strips, a very difficult task, as only skilled craftsmen could weave them perfectly round. The bamboo strips, once mature, were dried on a kitchen rack for a year, then washed, sharpened, and polished to a glossy, reddish-brown color, becoming strong and durable... Each winnowing tray, winnowing tray, sieve, and winnowing tray was a work of art created by the skillful hands of the farmers with muddy hands and feet!

Sifters are also woven from double bamboo strips. There are coarse and coarse sieves. Coarse sieves are used to select large corn and bean kernels; smaller or broken kernels fall through. Coarse sieves are used to sift rice, retaining whole grains and allowing broken grains to fall through. The idiom "Traveling a day's journey, learning a sieve of wisdom" originates from the practicality of this sifting process. "Learning a sieve of wisdom" means learning many wise and good things in life. But "sieve" here also has a deeper meaning: the good and wise things one learns and gathers need to be selected and filtered to be considered "learning"...

Around the sieves and winnowing trays in the village's bamboo grove, countless songs and melodies weave together the love story of couples. "On a moonlit night, I ask you, my love, / Are there enough young bamboo leaves to weave a sieve? / I will weave a sieve, my dear / Is the bamboo just young enough, my love?" Or, using the work of silkworm farmers to express deep affection: "One tray of silkworms yields five trays of cocoons / One tray of cocoons yields nine bundles of silk / How many months and years of waiting / Oh, how can you bear to break this bond and separate the threads of love?"

Baskets of corn, sesame, and golden rice grains; baskets of sliced ​​potatoes and cassava, all carefully dried. Mother stored them in sealed jars, saving them to eat throughout the year. A row of jars, overflowing with corn, potatoes, peanuts, and beans, lined with a thick layer of dried banana leaves to protect against moisture and mold, stood neatly against the wall of the house. On moonlit nights, we children would bring the baskets out to the middle of the yard and sit, sometimes lying down, singing and competing to count the stars, "One bright star / Two bright stars..." or huddle around our grandparents listening to fascinating "once upon a time..." stories. Following our grandfather's pointing finger, we would exclaim when he said, "That's the Milky Way," or "That's a duck swimming..." The full moon, like a golden basket lying drying in the vast, cloudy field, seemed to share in our joy...

Now, plastic baskets, plastic sieves, plastic trays, plastic winnowing baskets, plastic sieves, plastic strainers... and even plastic chopsticks, spoons, and ladles... are everywhere in markets and villages. The bamboo winnowing trays and woven mats used to store rice are gradually disappearing, giving way to metal chests or metal containers. Woven bamboo utensils like winnowing baskets and sieves are becoming increasingly rare in rural areas and only appear here and there in films, illustrations, and museums...

Lam Hong