Hoi Quan weaving village

Hoi Quan weaving village in Tuong Giang Commune, Tu Son Town, Bac Ninh Province experienced ups and downs through history, the weaving craft is still maintained and handed down through the generations. 

Major products of the craft village are bamboo screens which are used in hotels or exported overseas, pillows and nappies for babies, and handkerchief. Moreover, the craft village is also well-known for sanitized white cloth used for light industry. 

Visiting Hoi Quan, visitors can see the interesting things of the village when they reach the village’ gate. From the gate, the brick paved lane, a unique characteristic of ancient village in the North, leads to village households. Visitors can hear the sound of running spindles of weaving looms in ancient mossy houses. The tradition is that Hoi Quan villages girls when grow up most know every steps of how to weave a small width piece of cotton cloth or a piece of silk to sell at local markets. 

Before the revolution in Agust 1945, almost every household has a weaving loom, some families has 5 or 6 weaving looms and had to hire more people to weave. The key products of this village is small width cloth (40 cm), mosquito – net cloth, thick cloth, check cloth, silk, and even medical style cloth during some periods. During the war in the North, the village still maintained and significant contributed to the 9 year war (1945 – 1954). After 1954, when the North was totally liberated, weaving in the village was developed with wider weaving looms and weaving technique was improved from string pulling to feet paddle to weave more cloth types such as calico, plain batiste, check batiste. 

Hoi Quan weaving village has currently 900 households (3,650 persons), 90 percent of whom do weaving job. Ten percent of weaving households are big scales weavers. The hardship of Hoi Quan people has helped to maintain the traditional vocation, creating significant incomes to the society, improving households’ economic conditions.

Visiting Hoi Quan, visitor have a chance to visit a culture village which was named as a “village with a good traditions which deserves complementation” by King Tu Duc (1872). Visitors can also hear the busy noise of running spindles and see the hardworking of the local people who work from dawn to dust to create high quality products.

My Nghiep weaving village

The traditional craft of weaving brocade has existed for hundreds of years in My Nghiep Village, Phuoc Dan Town, Ninh Phuoc District, Ninh Thuan Province. Over the years, the local people have maintained techniques on weaving brocade according to the traditional method that helps preserve the Cham cultural features.

According to locals, artisan Ponuga is the founder of the craft that was then handed down to the Cham people in Ca Klaing (present-day My Nghiep) Village. 

Previously, to have the materials for making brocade products, it took the locals much time and effort to grow cotton plants, take the fibres, dry and dye them. 

They used Chum bau leaves for dyeing and then soaked it into mud for seven days to create the black colour, the latex of Canh kien plants in the forest to create the red colour and leaves and barks of indigo plants to create the indigo-blue colour. However, all the materials, from fibres to artificial colourings, are now available in the market, facilitating the craft of locals. 

Among the steps of weaving brocade, the most difficult one is blending the colours for patterns that require the artisans’ aesthetic sense and experience. For the step of weaving, the weavers must manipulate the threads in a harmonious way so the brocade will be flat with striking colourful patterns. Each brocade made by My Nghiep villagers is different from others in terms of patterns, motifs and designs even though they are made by one weaver. 

It is the unique feature of My Nghiep brocade products. On the background colours of red and black, the typical colours of Cham brocade, are diverse patterns, such as basic geometric shapes, clouds, dragons and animals. The patterns on the Cham women’s costumes also reflect their position and class in society.

The brocade weaving craft has been preserved and developed by the Cham people in not only My Nghiep Village, but also in Huu Duc, Chung My and Van Lam in Ninh Thuan and other villages in Binh Thuan Province. In other villages only women engage in the craft whereas both men and women in My Nghiep practice the craft. 

Besides traditional products, the My Nghiep villagers now make different products, such as bags, purses and backpacks which are sold in the domestic market and exported to Japan, German, France and the US. The craft has provided jobs for local people, improving their living standards.

 

To further develop the craft, artisans in the village pay much attention to creating new, unique patterns to meet the demand of customers while young people start promoting and introducing their products in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces nationwide.

Thanks to their high quality, the products of My Nghiep Village have won many great prizes both at home and abroad and artisans are invited to participate in many trade fairs and exhibitions in China, Thailand, France and Malaysia. The village is also recognized by the Vietnam Handicraft Villages’ Association.

Van Phuc Silk Village

Situated on the bank of Nhue River, about 10km southwest of Hanoi Old Quarter, Van Phuc silk village is renowned for its traditional weaving and premium quality silk products.

Location & History

Situated on the bank of Nhue River, about 10km southwest of Hanoi Old Quarter, Van Phuc silk village is renowned for its traditional weaving and premium quality silk products. At the age of more than 1,200 years, Van Phuc is proud to be the most ancient silk village which provides the best silk in Vietnam.
Visitors to Van Phuc village will be impressed by typical manner of an ancient village in the north of Vietnam with banyan tree, well, communal house, and the sound of power-looms everywhere. Walking on the main road in Van Phuc, tourists will be lost in the world of silk with various products like shirts, ties, crafts, dresses… made of silk available in the village.
For a long period of time, silk was considered as extremely precious handwork which was only used to tailor Royal members' and aristocrats’ dress. The special beauty of Van Phuc or Ha Dong silk was inspiration for many Vietnamese poems, songs and movies (see The White Silk Dress, one of the 5 most outstanding Vietnamese movies).
In Nguyen dynasty time, Van Phuc silk was brought to Hue imperial citadel to make dress for royal members. Between 1931 and 1932, Van Phuc silk was on display in international exhibitions for the first time in Marseille, then Paris and was highly appreciated and preferred by the French. From 1958 to 1988, Van Phuc silk mostly was exported to Eastern European market, and since 1990, it has been known widely in many countries all over the world.


Silk production

Van Phuc silk has been known for its smooth, light weight, and elegant appearance. Especially, a traditional kind of silk called Van Silk made in Van Phuc make the wearers feel cool in summer and warm in winter. Today, to satisfy various demand for silk of the market, Van Phuc silk producers have expanded their silk and garment goods like embroidered silk, , wrinkled silk, double layers and more colors for silk products.
Many families in Van Phuc open their own shops on the main road of the village; create a “town of silk” that sell eye-catching and high quality silk products. Tourists may buy available nice souvenir and clothes in the shop, or select the most suitable materials to then get customized products. The sellers are very friendly and can speak a little English and French to communicate to foreign tourists.
Nowadays, although the weaving has been mechanized for higher productivity, there are still simple manual looms in some houses in the village which help tourists contemplate the genuinely traditional Vietnamese way of making silk.


How to get there

Tourists can join a tour to Van Phuc village available in travel agencies, or visit Van Phuc on their owns by car, motorbike, or catch the local bus 02, 21 then walk 500m to reach the village.
Tourists should travel south west out of Hanoi center on Nguyen Trai road until reach the border of Ha Dong district, then turn right and drive about 3km to reach the village.