Preserving the soul of Dong Ho folk paintings.

'Oh, girl with the green sash/ If you want to come to Mai village with me, then come/ Mai village has its customs and traditions/ It has a cool river for bathing, and a craft of making paintings.' Dong Ho village, also known as Mai village (now part of Thuan Thanh ward, Bac Ninh province), has long been known to people near and far by the familiar name 'Dong Ho painting village'.

This place is the cradle of famous folk paintings, deeply rooted in the traditional cultural identity of the nation.

Mai Village communal house. Archival photo.

Since ancient times, the craft of making Dong Ho folk paintings has been closely associated with the village communal house. This is an ancient communal house, a place of worship for the village's guardian deity. Although it still serves as the common home for the village community, the communal house is unique because of its close connection to the painting craft. Therefore, the communal house is called the "Painting Communal House" and was built hundreds of years ago by the Dong Ho folk painting artisans themselves.

The communal house is located to the west of Dong Ho painting village, facing north. Initially, it had seven bays for the main hall and two bays for the sanctuary, with two rows of thatched huts. The gate was built in the "three-gate" style, with gracefully curved roofs above the three arches. Adjacent to the gate is a semicircular well, surrounded by brick walls, with high, dry embankments and convenient steps leading down.

The symmetrical yet harmonious philosophy of yin and yang, and the picturesque landscape of Dong Ho village, are vividly expressed through the inclusion of the crescent-shaped well in the overall structure of the village temple complex. The temple still preserves many valuable artifacts such as religious objects, incense altars, large inscriptions, horizontal plaques, and a magnificent set of gilded and lacquered eight treasures… In the temple courtyard stand two stone steles, inscribed with stories of the village's ancestors and those who made significant contributions to the construction of the temple.

The art of painting is associated with the painting village communal house because, in the past, the communal house was the place where the painting market took place, a place for exchanging and selling Dong Ho folk paintings. The photograph, taken by photographer Vo An Ninh at the communal house before 1945, clearly depicts the cultural space where paintings were displayed and introduced – a form of traditional village fair.

At the art market, the artisan families only bring their paintings for display and introduction. After a customer agrees to purchase a painting, the final agreement takes place at the artist's home. Often, the artists invite the customer to their home for a meal and rest, allowing them time to choose the types of folk paintings or sets they wish to buy. Afterward, the artist's family helps the customer bundle and arrange the paintings into individual bamboo baskets.

If transported by land, the paintings are loaded onto pack horses; if transported by water, they are carried down to boats anchored at the riverbank on the southern bank of the Duong River. The Dong Ho painting fair is held only from the 6th day of the 12th lunar month until the Lunar New Year each year. Buyers are traders and people from all over the country who flock to the fair…

The village communal house is also the venue for the horse-drawn carriage competition, a form of professional activity and one of the special religious activities of the people of Dong Ho village. The competition runs from the afternoon of March 14th to the morning of March 18th (lunar calendar), with the main event on March 15th (lunar calendar) every year, and almost all typical products of the "painting and horse-drawn carriage" craft are displayed at this festival.

It can be said that the horse racing competition at Dong Ho painting village is a unique folk cultural activity. Through this festival, religious rituals and the profession of a craft village are showcased, serving as vivid evidence of the long-standing formation and development of Dong Ho folk painting production. The special value of the painting village is increasingly enhanced for this reason.

The Dong Ho folk painting village communal house was recognized and classified as a national historical and cultural relic by the State in 1993. In 2012, Dong Ho folk paintings were recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Notably, in December 2025, the craft of making Dong Ho folk paintings was inscribed by UNESCO on the list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

To contribute to the preservation and promotion of the heritage value of Dong Ho folk painting, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province approved the investment project to build a Dong Ho folk painting conservation, introduction, and promotion area. Construction began in late 2019 and was completed in late 2021, covering an area of ​​1.2 hectares.

The Dong Ho Folk Painting Preservation, Introduction, and Promotion Area is located along the Duong River dike, opposite the Dong Ho Painting Temple, and comprises three main buildings and several auxiliary structures. The Dong Ho Folk Painting Preservation, Introduction, and Promotion Area serves the following functions: displaying artifacts and documents introducing the history and development of the craft village, along with artifacts, woodblock prints, and ancient paintings; demonstrating the process of creating a woodblock print and a completed Dong Ho folk painting...

Along with the village communal house, this place has become one of the typical cultural tourism destinations, serving visitors from near and far who come to visit and learn more about a famous painting style - a unique intangible cultural heritage of the Bac Ninh - Kinh Bac region.

According to Bac Ninh Newspaper

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/gin-giu-hon-tranh-dong-ho-a485151.html