In a small house filled with the scent of withered leaves, Mr. Le Van Tuy, 56 years old, sat next to the hat frame, his hands folding leaves and sewing the brim rhythmically as if by natural reflex. With his hands moving so quickly over the layers of white leaves, I understood why this man had spent his life weaving the soul of the countryside onto each brim of his hat.

“Born into a family with 4 generations of hat making, since I was 5 years old, I got used to sitting next to my mother to help pick leaves and arrange brims. At 12 years old, I mastered every stitch and thread, and then my love for hats grew with me, becoming an endless passion,” artisan Le Van Tuy shared.

Artisan Le Van Tuy sews conical hats.

According to artisan Le Van Tuy, to make a beautiful Chuong village hat, the craftsman must go through many elaborate steps. The leaves are carefully selected, crushed in sand, dried in the sun until they turn silvery white, then flattened to be soft and smooth without tearing. The hat ring is made from bamboo ribs, whittled down, skillfully joined to make it round. When the frame is completed, the craftsman arranges the leaves on the mold, inserts a layer of bamboo spathe, covers it with another layer of leaves, and sews it in place. “Sewing is the most difficult step; if you are careless, the needle can tear the leaves and ruin the hat,” Mr. Tuy shared.

The year 1999 marked a major turning point when Mr. Tuy received an order for a hat with a diameter of 1m, requiring the leaves to be seamless, not joined. “I designed a new frame myself, choosing each leaf to be long, white, thin and flexible. The hat was too big, my wife and I had to sit and sew for many days to complete it,” Mr. Tuy recalled. The success of the special hat not only helped his name become known to many people but also opened up a new direction: From just diligently preserving the profession passed down by his ancestors, he began to create designs with a contemporary breath while still preserving the soul of the Chuong village hat.

Those persistent efforts helped Mr. Tuy receive the title of artisan from the Vietnam Craft Village Association in 2016; and was recognized as a Hanoi Artisan by the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee in 2019. In 2021, he established a conical hat production facility bearing his name, bringing creative products to domestic customers and exporting them abroad. His conical hats were granted a 4-star OCOP certificate in 2022.

Having been involved in the profession for more than half a century, artisan Le Van Tuy has witnessed many changes in the life of Chuong village. The joy of weaving leaves and bending rims every day is still present, but in his eyes he cannot hide his worries about the future of the traditional profession. Currently, the number of young people learning the profession is decreasing, while the skilled workers are gradually getting older. The story of preserving the profession, therefore, becomes more urgent.

Concerned about this situation, Mr. Tuy devoted much of his heart to passing on the craft. He opened vocational training classes for those who wanted to learn the craft, and actively participated in teaching at schools. Every time he received an invitation from a school, he eagerly prepared the materials in advance. He was happy to bring the breath of the craft village closer to young people.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam, an officer of the Department of Culture and Society (Thanh Oai Commune People's Committee) said: "Artisan Le Van Tuy is not only good at his job but also passionate about teaching the steps of making Chuong village hats. He also actively improves designs, combines modern decorations, opens classes to guide experiences and promote the craft village, creates stable jobs for women and the elderly, and contributes to honoring the cultural values ​​of his homeland."

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/ha-noi-hao-hoa-thanh-lich-nguoi-det-hon-que-len-vanh-non-la-912791