Preserving traditional craft village identity

The breeding model of cobras of Mr. Ha Van Tri, Tho Tang town (Vinh Tuong) brings high economic efficiency. Photo: Nguyen Luong

In January 2025, An Nhan commune (Vinh Tuong) was officially established on the basis of merging Ly Nhan and An Tuong communes with a total natural area of ​​8.3 km2 and a population of more than 17,000 people.

An Nhan commune currently has 5 traditional craft villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee, including: Ban Mach traditional blacksmith village, Van Giang traditional carpentry village, Van Ha traditional carpentry village, Thu Do traditional carpentry village, and Bich Chu traditional carpentry village. After the merger, An Nhan commune has nearly 2,000 households producing in the craft village, creating stable jobs for more than 3,700 local workers.

Mr. Vu Van Tan, the owner of a blacksmith workshop with many years of experience in blacksmithing in Ban Mach village, An Nhan commune, said: “The merger of commune-level administrative units has brought certain changes to social life. In localities with traditional craft villages, the new names for villages and communes after the merger are a matter of concern for many people, because the names not only reflect the cultural history and local identity, but also connect people with their homeland, promote the image of their homeland and craft village products.

Ly Nhan and An Tuong communes have many similarities in culture and history, and have similar traditional craft villages that support each other. The new commune names are also appropriate, each commune retains its own characteristics in the new name, thus creating high consensus and unity among the people.

Regarding the preservation and development of traditional craft villages, changing the commune name does not affect the traditional profession much, because the craft villages already have a solid position and a stable consumer market.

Furthermore, the merger of commune-level administrative units helps craft villages have the opportunity to expand their scale and support each other in production and product consumption.

With more than 60% of households in the commune raising snakes, recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a traditional craft village, in January 2025, Vinh Son commune (Vinh Tuong) merged with Tho Tang town (Vinh Tuong) and took the new name Tho Tang town. After the merger, Tho Tang town has a natural area of ​​8.6 km2 and a population of nearly 25,000 people.

With outstanding quality, the products of Ban Mach blacksmith village, An Nhan commune (Vinh Tuong) have a stable consumer market. Photo: Nguyen Luong

Mr. Phung Van Xuan, a snake breeder for more than 20 years in Residential Group 3, Tho Tang town, said: "Snake breeding in the old Vinh Son commune has existed for a long time, with its own unique features that few other places have.

Currently, the products of the craft village have a brand name, a stable consumption market, most of the snake products are exported to China with a purchase price of about 600,000 VND/kg of commercial snake, 50,000 VND per snake egg, bringing stable income to the people.

After Vinh Son commune merged into Tho Tang town, named Tho Tang town, the output of snake products consumed in the craft village was not affected.

Previously, Vinh Son commune was planned to build Vinh Son Craft Village Industrial Cluster, attracting investment in industrial and handicraft sectors, encouraging livestock farming in the direction of farms and family farms, and moving snake farming out of residential areas.

However, due to difficulties in site clearance, the project has not been implemented. With the merger of two localities into one, the natural area has increased, creating new development space. The Standing Committee of the Tho Tang Town Party Committee has established 3 propaganda and dialogue teams to speed up the project's site clearance progress.

Direct the Town People's Committee to strengthen inspection and supervision work, ensure that industrial clusters are built with synchronous technical infrastructure, meet the needs of production and business premises, create jobs, contribute to the restructuring of the local economy, and minimize environmental pollution in residential areas.

In addition, continue to implement the Plan of the People's Committee of the old Vinh Son commune on the program of coordination with the Department of Science and Technology to transfer modern science and technology in snake farming to the villagers, especially the technology of processing and diversifying high-quality products from cobras, evaluating the medicinal effects of products from cobras raised in the village to develop into a national brand, expanding the consumption market.

The province currently has 29 craft villages, of which 20 are traditional craft villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee. The craft villages create jobs for about 55,000 rural workers.

The implementation of administrative unit mergers in communes with traditional craft villages does not lose the unique value of the craft villages; along with that, the expansion of boundaries and rearrangement of administrative units in a streamlined, effective and efficient manner create favorable conditions to promote production and business development, attract investment, expand the scale and enhance the brand of traditional craft villages.

Hoang Son

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/126989/Giu-gin-ban-sac-lang-nghe-truyen-thong