Phuoc Tich pottery- making village

Phuoc Tich village in Phong Hoa Commune in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue’s Phong Dien District has been recognized as a national cultural heritage site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Lying silently 40 kilometers to the north of Hue, the ancient village is well-known for its traditional pottery crafts and ancient houses and temples that have been preserved for 500 years in the traditional style that makes them invaluable architecturally and culturally.

Founded in 1470 by Hoang Minh Hung, a marquis under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, the village at that time was called Con Duong, lying near peaceful O Lau River, and was a sanctuary for local Cham villagers. A 500-year-old Chinese fig tree, a temple worshipping Confucius and a twin tower honoring Hung and the founder of Cham pottery are historical proofs of the ancient village.

Phuoc Tich village has 117 houses, 27 of them highly valued for their cultural integrity, and 10 churches. Most houses in the village are between 100 and 500 years old and are so well preserved as to astonish cultural anthropologists, architects and historians alike.

The homes in Phuoc Tich are considered representative of the homes throughout Northern and Central Vietnam with their open structures and their surrounding fruit orchards that are as large as 1,500-square-meters.

Phuoc Tich houses are mainly made of breadfruit wood and are adorned with exquisite and lively carvings, most of them undamaged despite being surrounded by so many wars through the years. The interiors usually include parallel sentences, a horizontal lacquered board, wooden scrolls, a plank bed and an altar wardrobe. Moss covered tile roofs sag a little under the weight of time and brick walkways, wind screens and old water wells complete the picture. Green lines of tea trees are a charming green substitute for walls.

Traces of Cham culture remain in the village. Recognition of these national cultural relics brings opportunities for development of the village’s tourism potential. Local authorities have organized many activities and folk games for tourists to learn more about the ancient village as well as ancient ceramics.

Phuoc Tich was a famous pottery village in its heyday, supplying the entire central region. It achieved great honor when the Nguyen Court in Hue commissioned the village to produce “om ngu”, or clay pots, for cooking in the Forbidden City.

The pottery has no enamel, so it is called soil pottery primitive and has few vignettes. It is simple and has a natural beauty. During the Nguyen Dyansty, trade was brisk throughout the land; boats and ships from Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quy Nhon and South Vietnam all sailed here to buy pottery.

Every year Phuoc Tich villagers jubilantly hold the festival to honour their craft making ancestors on November 5 of the lunar calendar at Doi Temple. With its unique value in terms of architecture and traditional craft, Phuoc Tich Village was ranked by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national relic.