Tracing the origins of the incense-making craft in Quy Chau

(Baonghean)In January, with a light drizzle and the sweet fragrance of incense, we journeyed to Quy Chau district to learn more about the long-standing tradition of incense making…

From its origin

Block 2 of Tan Lac town (Quy Chau district) was recognized by the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee as a traditional incense-making village in March 2010, and to date, 36 households specialize in making incense. Meeting Mr. Vo Minh Chau, son of Mr. Vo Le Hai (the first person to discover and introduce the agarwood root plant for making incense in Quy Chau), we heard many stories about the existence and development of agarwood in Phu Quy region.

Mr. Vo Le Hai was born in 1898 into a poor peasant family in Dien Ngoc commune (Dien Chau district). During his lifetime, he had to carry salt to sell in the western part of Nghe An province, yet still lacked food and clothing. Seeing the vast, sparsely populated mountainous region of Quy Chau, he decided to settle there and married Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh.

Every day, the old couple went into the forest to cultivate their fields, planting corn. One morning, after clearing the field, the old man burned a pile of weeds and suddenly noticed a strange, sweet, and gentle fragrance wafting up. Upon investigation, he discovered the scent was coming from the roots of a soft-stemmed plant with fibrous roots, which he called the "fragrant root plant." Thinking that if he ground the roots into a powder, dried them, and rolled them into incense sticks, they would be very fragrant, he brought the roots home and spent day and night trying to find a way to prepare them. He added other ingredients such as cinnamon, dried sugarcane pulp, and used paper with Chinese characters written on it and dried plant stems to roll the incense sticks, making the sweet fragrance even more intense. From then on, he devoted himself to making incense sticks for personal use and to sell to his neighbors. Many officials from the lowlands heard about it and came to visit, lining up, and on many days they couldn't even buy any.

In 1937, when Emperor Bảo Đại was touring the Thẳm Bua scenic area, he noticed the sweet, alluring fragrance of agarwood and brought it back to the ancient capital of Huế for his own use. From then on, Quỳ Châu agarwood incense began its development and established its brand.

Visiting the craft village

In 1985, Mr. Vo Le Hai passed away, and his family's incense production decreased. This was also the time when Quy Chau incense was being counterfeited, greatly affecting its reputation. Many people lost interest in this traditional craft, causing the incense-making industry here to decline.

Making incense sticks. Photo: Dan Tri

Around the year 2000, as the demand for incense increased, the incense-making craft in Quy Chau began to be revived. Many families boldly invested heavily in machines for splitting bamboo strips, grinding powder, etc., to speed up the incense-making process significantly. In 2007, the incense-making village was recognized as a traditional craft village by the Quy Chau District People's Committee. From then on, the incense-making movement began to develop rapidly, and more and more families considered incense making as a primary occupation for economic development.

In 2010, after being recognized as a traditional craft village, the incense-making village in Block 2, Tan Lac town, produced 677,450 incense sticks, each selling for 4,000 VND, bringing the total income of the incense village to nearly 3 billion VND. Many families, such as that of Mr. Dau Cong Ha, earned hundreds of millions of VND per year.

Incense production truly "comes into season" from the ninth lunar month, but the raw materials must be prepared throughout the year. This includes splitting and soaking bamboo, purchasing agarwood roots, grinding the powder, and adding other additives such as sugarcane bagasse and cinnamon. Sometimes, the raw materials have to be sourced from mountainous provinces in the North. To give the incense a sweet, sugary aroma, the sugarcane powder must be made from the entire plant.

Mr. Vo Minh Chau shared: “By September, the average price for a worker to roll incense sticks was 4 million VND/month, but we still couldn't find anyone to hire. The atmosphere of rolling incense sticks was bustling throughout the village; members of every family had to take advantage of their free time to roll incense…”

Quy Chau incense has now truly established a brand and a firm foothold in the market, providing a decent income and creating jobs for many workers. Many young people have turned to incense making to start their own businesses, making the transmission of the craft to the younger generation relatively easy. However, what worries incense makers in Quy Chau is the source of raw materials. The cultivation of agarwood roots here is not prioritized, so they have to buy them from the lowlands at high prices, and the quality is not guaranteed, affecting the characteristic sweet and delicate aroma of Quy Chau incense. In addition, Quy Chau incense urgently needs its own brand logo to combat counterfeiting and ensure the sustainable development of Quy Chau incense. However, to date, no agency, organization, or individual has taken the initiative to create one.

Biện Luân