Bac Ninh: Keeping the fire of the bamboo craft in Xuan Lai

BAC NINH - In the hustle and bustle of modern life, there are more and more high-income jobs appearing, but bamboo production still firmly holds its place in the lives of people in Xuan Lai village (Gia Binh commune, Bac Ninh province).

In this century-old craft village, talented hands - from veteran artisans to the next generation - still breathe life into each piece of bamboo and bamboo fiber every day. For the people here, keeping the craft is not only a way to make a living but also to preserve their roots, contributing to the unique cultural soul of their homeland.

Persistently preserve and pass on

Located on the edge of the village, the house bearing the ancient mark with earthen walls and rows of Trau Co trees covering the roof of Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Van Ky attracts many visitors from afar to Xuan Lai to learn about the traditional bamboo production profession. In that unique space, Mr. Ky is diligently taking care of bamboo paintings, inspired by folk images such as Dong Ho paintings, Hang Trong paintings...

Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Van Ky completes the painting "Baby holding chicken" on smoked bamboo.

Slowly stroking each carving on the painting “Baby hugging chicken” in the series “Vinh hoa - Phu quy” (Dong Ho folk paintings), Mr. Ky confided: According to the elders in the village, the bamboo craft has been present in Xuan Lai for more than 300 years. The “secret” to creating the Xuan Lai bamboo brand is the unique natural smoking technique that cannot be found anywhere else. Bamboo is soaked in pond water for about 3-6 months, then scooped up and put into an earthen oven to smoke with straw mixed with mud and clay for many days and nights. This process not only makes the bamboo dry, light, durable, and resistant to mold, but also creates a characteristic color from shiny black, cockroach brown to light brown, yellow without the need for paint or chemical dyes. If it is brown, the smoking time will be shorter; black depends on the gloss and will require a longer smoking time or more smoking times. Depending on the type of product, the craftsman chooses the size of the tree or the maturity of the tree to ensure the durability of the product. However, the selected bamboo trees must have even, straight joints, small joints, and no holes.

"In order for the craft villages to not "go out", the locality continues to propose to all levels and sectors to pay attention to preferential policies on capital, promote production, and invest in infrastructure. Increase support for trade promotion, introduce products on trading floors, e-commerce sites, and exhibition fairs; promote the image of traditional craft villages, artisans, and introduce products suitable for each group of rural industries at tourist destinations; research the organization of production experience tours combined with vocational training..." - Mr. Le Dinh Hung, Head of Xuan Lai village.

Starting his career in 1997, Mr. Ky has continuously created many essential product lines to suit consumer tastes. Notable are bamboo furniture such as tables, chairs, sofas, desks, lanterns, screens... and architectural works and landscapes designed and decorated from smoked bamboo. Especially with high artistic value, Mr. Ky's "unique" bamboo paintings have received many national and provincial awards and participated in many fairs and exhibitions, and have been recognized as OCOP products.

During its prosperous period, Xuan Lai craft village was like a large factory with the sound of saws, bamboo cutting, and vehicles transporting goods in and out. The whole village participated in the production process from supplying raw materials, manufacturing to distributing and consuming products. Typically, Mr. Ky's production facility exported 10 containers of goods each month to the US, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, etc., creating jobs for many workers in and outside the locality.

Having been in the profession for many years, Trong Thao Bamboo Furniture Production Facility still maintains a steady number of orders, mainly making tables and chairs for restaurants, tourist areas or tables and chairs used in temples. Each set usually has 1 table, 1 long chair, 2 short chairs, 1 stool and 1 tray; the beautiful type costs about 5 million VND/set; the popular type is about 3 million VND. In the space displaying his most unique products, Mr. Le Van Trong, the owner of the facility, confided: “When the Covid-19 epidemic spread, the bamboo profession seemed to be lost, most households in the village switched to producing masks. My love for the profession and my homeland has urged me to persevere. Currently, in addition to developing the family economy , I also actively pass on the profession to my children and grandchildren and support the young workers in the village.”

Don't let the fire go out

However, the bamboo craft is not out of the vortex of the times. The number of households doing the craft tends to decrease, currently only 50/250 households maintain production. The reason is because the market is declining, bamboo products are very difficult to compete in terms of price, durability, and aesthetic craftsmanship with the appearance of a series of new materials. Orders from restaurants and tourist establishments for interior decoration have decreased significantly. In addition, because the process is almost completely manual and requires a lot of effort, most local workers are not interested.

In the 200 ^m2 workshop of Mr. Le Dinh Nghiep (born in 1991), there are only two men around 50 years old straightening bamboo to deliver to handicraft production households in the village. The price of raw materials has increased by 10% due to transportation costs and scarce supply, but what Mr. Nghiep worries about most is the lack of labor. Mr. Nghiep said: “We work at the input stage, classifying bamboo according to different needs. Then we use a clay oven to heat the fire and straighten the trees, maintaining a capacity of about 800-1,000 trees each day. It sounds simple, but this is a stage that requires dexterity and good health. The work is hard, so many workers can only work for a few days and then quit. Up to now, the workshop has maintained 3 regular workers. I hope the locality will create conditions to expand the workshop to increase the capacity of supplying input materials to households producing finished products.”

Getting workers is difficult, retaining workers is even more difficult. Training a skilled worker requires a lot of time for guidance and training. However, the income is not attractive compared to other professions, causing many workers to switch to other jobs. Typically, a reputable establishment like Mr. Ky's only maintains more than 10 workers with an income of 12-15 million VND/person/month.

Selection of raw materials for manufacturing bamboo furniture products.

“I still encourage people that if they can keep their jobs, they can make a living until old age, while most of the laborers in enterprises have age limits. Moreover, working and keeping their jobs is a responsibility to their fathers and ancestors. If the authorities and sectors support the opening of vocational training classes, we are ready to teach those in need inside and outside the province,” Mr. Ky expressed.

Although the number of production households has decreased compared to the prosperous period, bamboo products bearing the traditional mark still have a certain position, as evidenced by the presence of the products in all 34 provinces and cities in the country and some countries in the world . According to Mr. Le Dinh Hung, Head of Xuan Lai village, the trend of green living is growing. Xuan Lai bamboo furniture products have a simple, rustic, close beauty, especially very safe due to the completely natural manufacturing method, and are gradually regaining their appeal.

To prevent the craft villages from "going out of business", the locality continues to propose to all levels and sectors to pay attention to support policies, capital incentives, production promotion and infrastructure investment. Strengthen support for trade promotion, product introduction on trading floors, e-commerce sites, exhibition fairs; promote the image of traditional craft villages, artisans and introduce products suitable for each group of rural industries at tourist destinations; research the organization of production experience tours combined with vocational training...

Leaving Xuan Lai craft village, we were lost in thought about the story of a "hundred-year-old" craft village's struggles in the face of changing times. There, each bamboo product is not simply an essential item, but also a work of art - a place to express the soul, creativity, and working spirit of the artisans - the ones who preserve the quintessence of the craft village. Although we know that life is always full of ups and downs, we hope that with the timely attention of all levels and sectors, the Xuan Lai bamboo craft will still be maintained and developed, passing on the passion of the craft to the younger generation.

Thai Uyen - Huyen Thuong

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/bac-ninh-giu-lua-nghe-tre-truc-xuan-lai-postid429602.bbg