(Baonghean.vn) - From the tenth lunar month, people in the traditional incense-making village of Quy Chau become busy with the incense production season to serve the Lunar New Year and other early year festivals.
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| The incense-making craft in Quy Chau has existed for decades. Currently, the district has one cooperative and six incense-making villages across five communes and towns. Tan Lac town alone has one cooperative and one incense-making village with nearly 100 households. On average, each household produces tens of thousands of incense sticks annually, earning a profit of 60-70 million VND after deducting expenses. |
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| According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, one of the incense makers in Block 3, Tan Lac town, the main ingredient for making incense is the root of the fragrant grass plant, which has a mild aroma and is a type of herb abundant in the mountainous region of Nghe An province. In addition, other ingredients include star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, agarwood, sugarcane bagasse, and a few special herbs that are kept secret by the craft village. (In the photo: Incense powder after mixing) |
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| Villagers in the incense-making craft have introduced various specialized machines to increase the quantity and quality of incense, such as paper cutting machines, ingredient mixing machines, and incense making machines. |
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| Previously, incense making was considered a secondary occupation, but now for most families it is the main profession, passed down from generation to generation. |
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| The incense-making profession requires sunny days. Therefore, the tenth lunar month each year is not only the time to make incense for Tet (Lunar New Year) but also the time for people to make incense to stockpile for the rainy January when production is impossible. Ms. Tran Thi Loan, Chairwoman of the Quy Chau Incense Cooperative, said that this is the hectic time for the biggest incense production of the year, so all incense production facilities in the area are working at full capacity to meet orders nationwide. |
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| Accordingly, incense making requires patience, meticulousness, and especially mastery of the correct techniques. The preparation of raw materials also takes a very long time, sometimes up to a year. Importantly, each step must be followed in order; no step can be skipped, otherwise the product will not be beautiful, fragrant, or meet standards. |
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| Besides making agarwood incense, the people of Quy Chau incense-making village now also produce many other types of incense such as: incense sticks, incense coils, incense candles, incense cones... The photo shows finished incense candles. |
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| The incense sticks are only packaged and shipped to the market after they have been "sun-dried sufficiently." In the photo: Incense sticks, a new product from the traditional craft village. |
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| Despite numerous ups and downs, Quy Chau incense, especially agarwood incense, has retained its inherent characteristics: a long burning time, thin smoke, a sweet fragrance, and beautifully curved ash. Therefore, the Quy Chau agarwood incense brand not only serves the province but has also spread throughout the country, meeting the ever-growing needs of the people. |
Quang An
