[Photo] Unique Phu Gia horse hat weaving craft

Gia Lai province is not only famous for its breathtaking natural landscapes but also for its many traditional craft villages. Among them, Phu Gia horse hat weaving village (Xuan An commune) is 260 years old and still in operation today.

On April 9, 2024, Phu Gia horse-hat weaving was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the 5th national intangible cultural heritage of Gia Lai province.

The process of making a complete Phu Gia horse hat includes many steps such as: weaving ribs; threading longitudinal ribs; tying ribs; making hat brims; tying conical tips; embroidering patterns; cutting leaves; pinning spirals; covering leaves; sewing hats; cracking hats; making lenses; and finishing shells. It is easy to distinguish between men's and women's hats by size. While men's hats are 46cm wide, women's hats are only 42cm.

To create a complete and neat horse hat, it takes from 3 to 5 days, just making the hat frame alone takes from 1 to 3 days regardless of whether it is simple or elaborate. Giang tree is used to make the horse hat frame. This type of tree, before being made, will be peeled clean, dried and split very small, evenly.

Phu Gia horse hat is not only a unique and novel handicraft product but also contains sacred cultural and historical values.

Inside the hat, the artisan will embroider beautiful images and decorative motifs, rich in symbolic meaning, such as: gentle patterns, images of dragons, unicorns, turtles, phoenixes, good luck...

According to the villagers, when mentioning horse hats, people often immediately think of the image of the Tay Son army, fast, resilient, and indomitable. In addition, this hat is flexible and durable, so it is very suitable to wear when riding horses.

Because this job requires steady skills and high concentration, it is usually done directly by older, experienced artisans.

Horse hats are different from the hats people wear when going to the market every day, they have 5 layers on top of each other while normal hats have 1 layer, so they are thicker, heavier, and more durable. Even without using any chemicals, as long as the traditional preparation process is followed correctly, the hat can be used for 50 to 70 years.

Phu Gia horse hat is a unique traditional handicraft product. It shows the sophistication, meticulousness and talent in every line when making this hat. To produce horse hats, Phu Gia hat makers inherit the love of traditional craft from their ancestors and have their own creativity with each product.

Last May, Mr. Do Van Lan was awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan by the President. Recently, he was honored as one of the outstanding examples at the Gia Lai Province Patriotic Emulation Congress for the period 2020-2025 for his contributions to preserving and promoting the value of Phu Gia horse hat making.

In Phu Gia village, there are 2 types of hats: The normal hat has a bare cone, on top there is a bunch of colorful threads fluttering like a flower, with a relatively cheap price from 40,000 to 50,000 VND/hat. Hats made according to the traditional model cost from 300,000 to 500,000 VND/hat and can be more expensive, depending on the size and patterns.

Meritorious Artisan Do Van Lan and his colleagues are still diligently and diligently keeping the fire burning for the Phu Gia horse hat weaving craft every day. He hopes that in the future, he will pass on the craft to many young people with high skills to gradually replace him in preserving and developing this traditional craft.

THUY NGUYEN-TUAN DUNG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/anh-doc-dao-nghe-cham-non-ngua-phu-gia-post913701.html