Traditional folk toys are absent from the Mid-Autumn Festival...
The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. Every street, market corner, shop, store, and supermarket is overflowing with festive decorations.Toys for children to enjoy on the night of the full moon.
It's easy to see that stalls are overflowing with toys of Chinese origin, such as spinning superheroes, glowing headbands, swords, plastic guns, etc. With their diverse designs, eye-catching colors, and affordable prices, these items are popular choices for many parents and children. The concern is that most of these toys are violent, negatively impacting children's psychology, and the PVC plastic material poses health risks to children.
Most sadly, the current Mid-Autumn Festival toy market lacks traditional toys such as: revolving lanterns, star-shaped lanterns, hand drums, masks of the Earth God, lion heads... This is partly because these toys are handcrafted, elaborate, and time-consuming to make, resulting in higher prices than other items; partly because they are monotonous in design; and most importantly, traditional toys are very "selective" in terms of buyers.
Traditional craft villages, such as those making lion dance heads, star lanterns, leather drums, and hand drums, are being "wiped out" because they lack a place in the market.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the rhythmic drumming of drums and gongs is absent, the shimmering, warm light of star-shaped lanterns, spinning lanterns, and revolving lanterns is lacking, and the lion and dragon dances are becoming less common. Instead, there are the shrill sounds of music and the "bang... swoosh... crack... boom"... emanating from violent toys...
It is evident that traditional values are gradually fading, and "Vietnamese goods" are losing ground even in their own "home market," including products for children...
Thanh Phuc
