Keep the forge red hot

Despite many difficulties and ups and downs in the profession, Mr. Cu Van Long’s blacksmith shop in Long Hay village, Muong Phang commune has remained red-hot for decades. Every early morning, Mr. Long and his son Cu A Nenh light the fire, pour coal, and hammer… to start the new day before doing other household chores.

It is called a blacksmith’s workshop but it is quite simple. There is only a small pit surrounded by rocks to serve as a furnace, a large, smooth iron block to serve as an anvil and an electric furnace fan. Yet from that primitive blacksmith’s workshop, thousands of knives, farming tools… have been produced and sold to people in the commune, in the province and to tourists from near and far.

Mr. Cu A Nenh, son of Mr. Cu Van Long, has only been taught the profession by his father for about 2 years. However, it seems that he has a genetic trait, so A Nenh's forging operations are as skillful and proficient as a veteran worker. Through his hands, steel bars are heated and forged to become knives and agricultural tools.

“Making a product is not too difficult. The important thing is to be careful and meticulous. In one day, I forged two knives, including the handle and the wooden knife case. Currently, forging knives is not done entirely by hand, but can use a fan to blow the furnace, a cutting machine, a grinder to shape it. However, the most important steps such as heating the iron, hammering the handle, making the handle, riveting and tempering the knife… still have to be done by hand,” Mr. Nenh shared.

Mong people in Long Hay village, Muong Phang commune preserve traditional blacksmithing.

According to Mr. Cu A Nenh, currently, the average selling price of a knife is about 50-300 thousand VND, depending on size and thickness. “There was a time when forging knives could support the whole family. However, now the products sell very slowly, almost only supplying to people in the village and commune, not yet displaying the products at tourist areas. But to keep the profession, we must find a stable output…”, Mr. Nenh worries.

Cu A Nenh's story is also the common concern of the Mong people in Muong Phang commune who are struggling to find a way to preserve the traditional blacksmithing profession. It is known that, in addition to Long Hay village, the Mong people in Long Luong 1, Long Luong 2, Long Nghiu villages of Muong Phang commune are still persistently keeping their blacksmiths burning.

In order to preserve the traditional blacksmithing profession, in 2023, the Department of Culture and Information of Dien Bien Phu City coordinated with the People's Committee of Muong Phang Commune to organize a training course to teach the traditional blacksmithing profession of the Mong ethnic group in Long Hay village for 15 students.

Knife forging tools of the Mong people in Muong Phang. Photo TL

Among the 15 students is Long Hay Village Chief Cu A Thenh. The young man, born in 1991, belongs to the younger generation but still wants to learn a traditional profession to contribute to preserving and developing his ethnic culture.

Nowadays, forging knives is not done entirely by hand, but can be done by using fans to blow the furnace, cutting machines, and grinding machines to shape them. However, the most important steps such as heating the iron, hammering the handle, making the handle, forging and tempering the knife… still have to be done by hand.

Mr. Cu A Nenh , Long Hay village, Muong Phang commune

Mr. Thenh shared: “Blacksmithing is a typical cultural product of the Mong people, but in the context of cultural integration and market economy , the Mong people's blacksmithing also faces many difficulties. Therefore, we are trying our best to preserve the blacksmithing profession and create many traditional products, bringing a stable source of income to serve our daily life and activities…”.

For a long time, products from the traditional blacksmithing craft of the Mong people have always been sought after. The current problem is how to build a brand for traditional blacksmithing products of the Mong people of Muong Phang, so that the products are present in the market, so that blacksmiths can make a living from their profession. This requires local authorities and functional sectors to guide and coordinate with companies and travel agencies to organize tours to visit, experience, and purchase hand-forged products. Only then can the traditional blacksmithing craft of the Mong people in Muong Phang be preserved; at the same time, it contributes significantly to the socio-economic development of the locality.

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