Nguyen Thi Yen stands beside finished silk products, harboring the aspiration to revive the traditional craft village and create a museum showcasing the renowned Ma Chau silk brand - Photo: THANH THUY
Growing up surrounded by silk fabrics and understanding her father's love and desire to preserve the silk weaving craft, Nguyen Thi Yen from Nam Phuoc commune ( Da Nang city) is determined to continue the family business, nurturing a journey to revive the traditional craft with the long-established Ma Chau silk brand.
To fulfill her dream, Yen decided to return to her hometown after graduating from university in Da Nang to work with her father in reviving the traditional silk weaving village. Hearing of her daughter's choice, Yen's father was overjoyed.
A new direction for century-old silk.
The biggest reason for her determination to rebuild the Ma Chau silk brand is that Yen saw the dedication and love her father had devoted his entire life to that silk brand, striving to preserve the traditional craft of his hometown.
But when she started working on it, she realized that Ma Chau silk products had never established a brand. She began relearning the basics about silk, such as the properties of silk threads, identifying the weaknesses of silk fabrics, and finding ways to overcome them. Yen's biggest question was why a product considered so renowned had lost its place in the market.
To preserve the essence of Ma Chau silk—its simplicity and durability—while still catering to customer tastes, Yen began by improving the designs. She boldly experimented with new, modern designs, but always ensured the quality of Ma Chau silk was maintained.
Next, they researched customer needs, invested in machinery, and applied technology to the weaving process and the creation of patterns for silk. Thanks to this, Yen's family workshop was able to produce products with many complex patterns or according to customer requests, helping to increase production and meet increasingly diverse demands.
Through research, Yen discovered that there was a prevailing notion that traditional silk was outdated, and this inadvertently became a major obstacle to her journey to revive Ma Chau silk. She persistently introduced each piece of silk to customers as if entrusting them with a belief, utilizing social media for promotion, and choosing a slow but steady approach. Taking advantage of fairs and exhibitions, Yen displayed her silk to reach as many customers as possible.
The young businesswoman also tried to leverage her connections, networking and introducing traditional silk product designers from her hometown. Gradually, Ma Chau silk appeared in the collections of designers such as Le Thanh Hoa and Huy Vo... with modern and sophisticated designs, giving a new look to the traditional material and, to some extent, bringing Ma Chau silk back onto the fashion map.
Aspiration to revive traditional craft villages.
But the young woman also pursued the aspiration of reviving the traditional craft village and the ambition of her fellow villagers returning to silk weaving, and she planned it in three stages. First, she achieved the goal of improving machinery, building a brand, and establishing product quality.
Next, Yen wants to transform the workshop into a museum space and open it to visitors. This space will recreate the history of the formation and development of Ma Chau silk village, as well as showcase the process of improving production tools through each stage, and the process of creating a traditional silk product.
She hopes that the arrival of tourists will serve as a reminder that Ma Chau silk is still alive, quietly asserting its value. It will also be proof that the locals believe in the livelihood of the craft, encouraging them to return and gradually revive the traditional craft village of their ancestors.
Furthermore, Yen openly harbors the ambition to develop a silk museum and establish a community-based tourism village in Ma Chau when things are more favorable. Tourists will have the opportunity to learn about the process of mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, and silk production.
The local people will combine silk weaving with tourism. They will proudly share stories of their craft and introduce each piece of silk they create to visitors.
"My father dedicated his entire life to preserving the craft and cherishing the dream of reviving the silk weaving village. Therefore, on my journey back to Ma Chau, I never thought about stopping. My family has rebuilt the Ma Chau silk brand, but I hope even more to rekindle the faith of the people to return to silk weaving, and together, step by step, revive the craft village right on the very land where Ma Chau silk was born," Yen shared.
Persevering in preserving the craft passed down from our ancestors.
Ma Chau silk is a renowned silk from Duy Xuyen (formerly Quang Nam province) with an estimated history of over 500 years. This high-quality silk product was often offered to the emperor due to its durable, firm, and sturdy fabric. Ma Chau silk is considered to have flourished in the 16th century, coinciding with the development of the Hoi An trading port.
With the advent of industrial fabrics, and after the cooperative's dissolution in 2017, Ma Chau silk village fell into a state of desolation and gradually disappeared. Amidst this context, Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuong (Yen's father) - the 18th-generation successor - still strives to preserve the craft. For Mr. Phuong, each piece of silk is not only the result of his labor but also a memory and a source of pride for his homeland.
"Currently, the weaving workshop has orders booked until August, and at times, production can't keep up with customer demand. This is a positive sign that vitality has returned to Ma Chau silk fabrics," Yen smiled.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/det-lai-giac-mo-lua-ma-chau-20260524083636945.htm
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