Let the wind blow it away: Interesting story about Trinh statue in the pottery village

Because of their passion for music and admiration for Trinh Cong Son's personality and musical philosophy, artisan Le Quoc Tuan (60 years old, Thanh Ha pottery village, Hoi An city, Quang Nam) and his wife sculpted a portrait statue of the late musician with all their hearts.

K WHILE THE CERAMICS ARTIST LOVES MUSIC

Artisans in Thanh Ha pottery village, located downstream of Thu Bon river, can make a variety of unique decorative ceramic products, fine art ceramics, and souvenir ceramics, but rarely do they sculpt statues of famous people. Therefore, when seeing a bust placed in a house in the middle of the village, many people cannot help but be curious about the character's background: who is he, what role does he play in the pottery village...? Every time like that, artisan Le Quoc Tuan (the person who sculpted the statue) explains that it is a statue of a talented musician of modern Vietnamese music. And then, the story of his passion for Trinh's music spread to everyone.

Artisan Bich Tuyen and her husband, because of their passion for Trinh's music, sculpted the statue and placed it in a prominent position.

Hoang Son

In his youth, Mr. Le Quoc Tuan had to do many jobs to earn a living because at that time the 500-year-old pottery village was on the verge of extinction. In 1999, Hoi An City began to develop tourism , Mr. Tuan decided to return to his hometown to build a kiln, looking for raw materials with the hope of "reviving" the old profession. As a profession passed down from father to son through 4 generations, he quickly mastered difficult techniques. The pottery he made was loved by many people and he received "huge" orders in 2001. About 10 years later, the statue depicting musician Trinh Cong Son was born.

"Because of his high skills and ability to create difficult and sophisticated ceramic products, in 2011, Mr. Tuan was chosen to create miniature works representing the symbols of countries and world wonders for Thanh Ha Terracotta Park, such as Big Ben (UK), the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy), the Forbidden City (China)... The statue of Trinh Cong Son was also sculpted on this occasion. After delivering the goods to the partner, the statue of the musician was kept and became a souvenir for our family," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen (56 years old, Mr. Tuan's wife).

The statue was placed in an easily visible position by the couple, next to the space for tourists to visit and experience, as a testament to the top-notch craftsmanship of Thanh Ha ceramic artisans.

'I OWE YOU A PAIR OF GLASSES …'

Mr. Tuan and his wife have known each other since they were young and share a passion for Trinh's music. For their grandparents' generation, Trinh's music permeated their memories through the voice of the famous singer Khanh Ly, which was considered "ghostly". The songs Cat bui, Mot co di ve, Nhu mot loi chia tay, Bien nho ... touched the hearts of artists who created with clay. That's why, when setting up a pottery kiln (upside down kiln) to bake miniature world wonders, Mr. Tuan and his wife thought of making a beautiful portrait of musician Trinh Cong Son to express their love for the late musician.

The statue of Trinh Cong Son received many compliments for its authenticity.

Mr. Tuan said that the Trinh Cong Son statue was completely hand-molded from good clay from the lower Thu Bon River so that the pottery would not be rough or cracked. Once finished, the statue was placed in the kiln with other products. Due to the size and thickness of the Trinh statue, which was "huge", Mr. Tuan and his wife had to be on duty to burn firewood for 2 days and 2 nights. On the day the batch of baked clay was taken out of the kiln, Mr. Tuan and his wife were happy because all the products were "ripe". The statue of the late musician has a smooth surface, with a characteristic brick color... which many people who came to admire it praised.

What makes many people admire is that the bust depicts the late musician's demeanor, vivid in every line. The face is thin, the neck is high, revealing the Adam's apple. Trinh's hair is slicked back... Although the statue depicts the late musician smiling slightly because of the wrinkles on his cheeks, the eyebrows and furrowed brows make it easy for viewers to recognize the familiar image of a thoughtful Trinh Cong Son.

"When we started to sculpt Trinh's statue, we also struggled a lot. Because a musician who can write such profound words must be an experienced, tolerant, humane person... How can we make it so that when looking at the statue, people will see musician Trinh Cong Son with a different temperament. Fortunately, we are passionate lovers of Trinh's music, have listened to his music for a long time, listen to it every day, so his music has permeated deeply, when sculpting his statue, those difficulties were easily resolved", Ms. Tuyen shared and added: "The statue when it was first sculpted before being fired was even more realistic thanks to the glasses. Unfortunately, when the statue was taken out of the kiln, the glasses were broken. We owe Mr. Son a pair of glasses and will make it so that the statue is complete...".

Unique 2 Trinh Cong Son clay statues

Thanh Ha Terracotta Park has a space dedicated to statues of famous people with dozens of statues made from clay. Of which, musician Trinh Cong Son alone has 2 statues created by sculptor Doan Xuan Hung and sculptor Nguyen Sang - Kim Thanh. In Thanh Ha ancient pottery village, the statue of Trinh Cong Son created by artisan Le Cong Tuan is considered the only one with a size much larger than the 2 statues mentioned above.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-gio-cuon-di-chuyen-thu-vi-ve-tuong-trinh-giua-lang-gom-185240403225845703.htm