Van Phuc Village - a place that preserves the beauty of silk for a thousand years.

Việt Nam•23/11/2023

Through ups and downs, the thousand-year-old silk weaving tradition of the ancient village has been preserved. Moreover, Van Phuc is also a revolutionary village with many "red addresses" preserving important historical values.

Under the skillful hands of artisans, Van Phuc silk fabrics possess a unique beauty.

The silk weaving craft of Van Phuc village has been shaped and renowned far and wide thanks to the skillful artistry of its craftspeople. It's no wonder that folk wisdom still defines the village's silk brand with the saying: "The La silk, Buoi brocade, Phung brocade / Van Phuc patterned silk, Mo Bon brocade."

Speaking about the craft village, Mr. Pham Khac Ha - Chairman of the Van Phuc Craft Village Association - proudly "boasted" that in the past, Van Phuc silk was a product offered to the king, and its quality was recognized, winning many medals at trade fairs in Marseille and Paris (France) during the French colonial period. To this day, Van Phuc silk remains a unique brand that everyone in the village is proud to mention.

Despite its fame, according to the Chairman of the Van Phuc Craft Village Association, there was a time when Van Phuc silk entered a period of decline. At that time, many villagers abandoned the craft. They rushed to sell their weaving machines, dismantle their looms, and leave their villages to work elsewhere to make a living. The scene in the craft village was sad and desolate.

In 1977, Mr. Pham Khac Ha was discharged from the army after 8 years of participating in the resistance war against the US. Upon returning to his hometown, he witnessed villagers abandoning their traditional craft; some families with at least 5 generations of silk weavers had no one left to continue the trade. Having worked in the craft himself since he was ten years old, Mr. Ha became even more determined to revive the traditional profession.

Without hesitation, Mr. Ha borrowed capital to buy a weaving machine. The villagers, having abandoned their craft, laughed at him for going against the trend. Many called him eccentric, saying the craft didn't provide a decent living and clinging to it would only lead to more debt. Mr. Ha ignored all of their criticism. Heaven rewarded his efforts, and the silk weaving craft in the village gradually overcame its difficulties.

In 1991, recognizing the State's orientation towards developing a market economy instead of a subsidized system, Mr. Ha seized this opportunity and discussed with his family changing their business model, pioneering the private production movement in the locality.

To improve product quality and market competitiveness, he decided to invest in upgrading production tools and research the market to find outlets for his traditional silk products. To create differentiation, in addition to long-standing traditional products and designs, Mr. Ha created new products. A prime example is the floral silk product. This is a thin silk fabric with both raised and recessed floral patterns. The special feature of this product is that the raised flowers are smooth and glossy, while the recessed flowers can only be seen under light. To date, Mr. Ha and his family have opened a small business, and the craft provides a high income for the family.

Like Mr. Ha, who considers each loom and silk thread as his own blood vessels, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam is also a "nucleus" contributing to preserving the essence of the craft village. It is known that Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam is the daughter-in-law of artisan Trieu Van Mao, a famous figure in the silk village who possesses the unique secrets of weaving cloud-patterned silk, a soft and smooth silk like clouds, found only in Van Phuc.

When deciding to return to traditional crafts, Ms. Tam believed that if she was going to do something, she had to see it through to the end. Therefore, when she discovered ancient fabric samples, or when families sent her samples of silk from the past for restoration, Ms. Tam always tried to learn more. She visited each family in the village, asking the elderly to pass on and share their experience in making traditional silk. Some silk patterns took Ms. Tam up to a year to restore.

Besides being famous for its traditional silk weaving, Van Phuc is also a "red address," having been chosen as a safe zone by the Northern Vietnam Regional Party Committee. It played a significant role in the victory of the uprising to seize power in Ha Dong, Hanoi , and throughout Northern Vietnam.

Van Phuc was honored to welcome President Ho Chi Minh to stay and work there at the end of 1946, at the home of Mr. Nguyen Van Duong. It was there that President Ho Chi Minh wrote "The Call to Arms for National Resistance," rallying the entire nation to rise up and drive out the French colonialists. Many families in the village served as homes and workplaces for revolutionary cadres, such as the house of Mr. Nguyen Van Chatt, which housed Comrade Truong Chinh when he came to work in Van Phuc in July 1940. It also provided shelter and protection for Comrades Hoang Van Thu, Hoang Quoc Viet, Tran Dang Ninh, Le Lien, and others. To this day, these revolutionary relics are preserved by the people of Van Phuc and are a popular destination for students and tourists to visit and learn from.

Following the pace of urbanization, Van Phuc has now transformed. Besides its revolutionary spirit and the elegant beauty of its silk, visitors to Van Phuc can find joy in the myriad of colorful flowers at the ornamental plant market.

Van Phuc Flower Market was established in 2014. At this market, one can find everything from ornamental plants, bonsai trees, plant seeds, pots, fertilizers, to even plant stands. It's also easy to meet and learn about flower and plant cultivation from traders and garden owners from the outskirts of Hanoi, such as Thuong Tin, Me Linh, and Gia Lam. Most people come to the market to meet and socialize with customers, to stroll leisurely amidst the natural scenery after a hard day's work, and to receive free advice on planting and caring for flowers and plants. Besides that, the market is also famous for its stalls selling secondhand and antique goods, with a wide variety of items. Each time someone wanders here, they feel as if they've stumbled upon a whole world of memories.

Returning to the beauty of Van Phuc silk, Mr. Pham Khac Ha said that the silk village has developed remarkably. Today, to develop sustainable tourism and promote its products, Van Phuc has built silk streets combined with supporting industries to serve tourists. Besides selling silk products, production facilities also offer visitors the opportunity to tour and experience the production process, helping customers see the value and quality of the silk products and feel confident in their purchases.

"Recently, the Van Phuc silk weaving craft was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is a great honor for the people of Van Phuc, especially for those of us who work in the silk weaving industry. Those of us who work in this craft feel even more responsible for preserving it," shared Mr. Pham Khac Ha.

Leaving Van Phuc village as dusk fell, I still felt a lingering sense of nostalgia, a fondness for the sound of the looms, and the thrill of touching each square of silk. Above all, what remained behind the village gates was the hospitality of the ancient villagers and their determination to continue the silk weaving craft far and wide.

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