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| Incense making has been closely associated with the customs, practices, beliefs, and spiritual culture of the Vietnamese people for generations. During the days before Tet, some incense villages in Thanh Chuong are bustling with the profession. Notably, in addition to the medium-sized incense sticks like other craft villages, there are many households here that produce "huge" incense sticks. |
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| Large agarwood trees are 1.2 to 2.5 m long and 2 - 3.5 cm in diameter. The incense has a 3-centimeter core, the incense powder is larger, and the ratio for mixing the incense powder is the same. |
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| This large incense wheel must also be long enough to spread the paper evenly. The task of rolling the huge incense is usually done by men with strong, steady hands. |
The production process of large-scale incense sticks is still done manually. The finishing of each incense stick is similar to making an incense bud (closing the base, wrapping in plastic, sticking on a label...).
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| Incense sticks are usually wrapped in a layer of red paper to keep the incense from coming loose and to increase the aesthetics of the incense stick. |
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| According to the concept of the craftsmen, properly made incense when lit must burn evenly, curl beautifully (a incense stick made from 3 bamboo sticks will curl like flower petals), have a sweet, gentle and long-lasting fragrance. |
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| A corner of the house of a large incense-making household in Thanh Tuong commune. Huge bundles of finished incense of various sizes fill the house, some as high as the main door. |
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| The "giant" incense sticks in Dinh Chu village, Thanh Tuong commune are a special product that the people here make with great care. The incense sticks are as big as sugarcane. Each stick of incense will burn for 8 to 10 hours. Mr. Nguyen The Tung in Tuong Dinh hamlet, Dinh Chu village said that each Tet incense season, in addition to tens of thousands of medium-sized incense sticks, his family also produces thousands of "giant" incense sticks. |
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| This large incense is often used to burn in crowded places, such as family churches, temples, communal houses... on New Year's Eve. The retail price of large incense ranges from 50 - 100 thousand VND/stick, depending on the size of each type of incense. |
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| Large incense sticks are transported for sale and delivered to customers who ordered them before Tet. |
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Every Spring, "giant" incense is released to the market, bringing the traditional Tet flavor. |
Huy Thu
