Preserving Muong Chanh pottery making

Mr. Hoang Van Nam's family, Noong Ten village, Muong Chanh commune, still maintains the pottery making profession.

Local people say that under the rice fields in Muong Chanh there is a precious type of soil that is both soft and flexible, which is rarely found anywhere else, that is kaolin clay. Local people use this type of soil to make pottery. In daily life, people use this type of soil to make jars, pots the size of several people hugging to store utensils, preserve food... From there, the pottery making profession in Muong Chanh was gradually born.

Ceramic products are handcrafted from local clay.

Mr. Hoang Van Nam, Noong Ten village, has many years of experience in making Muong Chanh pottery. Although he is 80 years old, his movements of kneading clay, creating molds, and creating ceramic products are still agile. While working, Mr. Nam told about the "golden age" of Muong Chanh pottery in a slow, sincere voice: Since ancient times, Muong Chanh pottery has been famous in the Northwest region. Pottery such as jars, pots, and jars were used to store seeds, salt, fish sauce, wine, etc. In places where water sources are scarce, ceramic jars and pots used to store water are very precious. And when getting married, the inheritance parents leave to their children often includes two precious objects: a bronze pot and a water jar.

Ceramic jars and pots have long been valued as valuable as silver coins. At first, Muong Chanh people made pottery for their family's daily needs. Later, the good news spread far and wide, and people from other localities came to know about it and brought money, silk, chickens, and pigs to exchange. Gradually, pottery became a commodity.

From clay, under the skillful hands of artisans create ceramic bowl products.

“I don’t know when the Thai people in Muong Chanh started making pottery, but since I was a teenager, I followed my father to make pottery and then brought it to the market with my mother to sell or exchange for food. In the 1970s, my wife and I started making pottery ourselves to earn money to send our children to school and pay for our living expenses. After finishing our farm work, my wife and I took the time to make pottery. At that time, dozens of households followed the profession, and the kilns in the village were red hot all year round,” Mr. Nam recounted.

Kaolin clay used to make Muong Chanh pottery.

All members of Mr. Nam's family participate in making pottery; women process raw materials, turn the wheel, arrange the products; men shape, place the pottery in the kiln, and fire the pottery. Because it is handmade, a pottery product is very elaborate and goes through many stages. After each rice harvest, he and his children go to the field to find soil. The kaolin clay must be dug about 1 meter deep. When he gets the soil, he incubates it in a small hole under the floor, covering it with a piece of glass to keep it moist for later use. The mined clay is processed, softened, and then shaped on a turntable and with some specialized tools for cutting, smoothing, bending, and smoothing... The pottery is shaped from the bottom, to the body, and mouth. Finally, it is decorated with patterns such as engraved lines, water waves, or raised patterns depending on each different type of product.

After being shaped, the pottery is carefully dried under the floor and then put into the kiln. To color the pottery, the craftsman takes chestnut leaves and puts them in the kiln and then covers the kiln door. During the incubation process, the chestnut leaves burn, creating black smoke that permeates the product and creates the characteristic gray-black color of Muong Chanh pottery.

The time to fire pottery takes a day and a night, then it is kept in the kiln for about a week, creating durability until it cools completely before being taken out of the kiln. Passionate about the profession, during nearly 50 years of making pottery, Mr. Nam has created thousands of diverse ceramic products.

Mr. Hoang Van Man, Den village, Muong Chanh commune checks the quality of ceramic products.

Saying goodbye to Mr. Nam’s family, we went to Den village to meet Mr. Hoang Van Man’s family, one of the three households still maintaining the pottery making profession in Muong Chanh commune. In Mr. Man’s warm handshake to welcome guests, I felt the roughness and calluses of the potter’s hands.

Born into a family with a tradition of making pottery, from a young age, Mr. Man followed his father to learn how to choose clay, molding techniques, and create pottery. Visiting the pottery display area, we were impressed by the space where pottery was arranged neatly but with a strong traditional feel.

Enthusiastically lifting each vase and jar of various sizes, Mr. Man introduced: The beauty of Muong Chanh pottery is that it is completely handmade, without glaze or coloring. Pottery here is always different from pottery in other regions, attractive because of its rusticity, characteristic black and gray glaze; although there are not many decorative patterns, it is primitive and rustic but durable and light, so many people seek to buy and collect it. Previously, the most popular Muong Chanh pottery products were utensils for daily life, so it did not require high levels of craftsmanship. But later, when life became more prosperous, I produced more decorative items, souvenirs such as flower vases, ceramic statues, incense jars... improving the form and design according to customer requirements. Every time I produce a batch of quality pottery, it helps me gain more experience, thereby increasing my respect and love for the traditional pottery profession.

Muong Chanh pottery has a characteristic dark gray color.

Having gone through many ups and downs in the pottery profession, the greatest wish of potters like Mr. Nam and Mr. Man is to create ceramic products that not only serve daily life, but also honor the unique cultural values of the nation; preserve and teach the profession to the next generation so that the traditional pottery profession is not lost.

Currently, Muong Chanh commune has implemented many solutions to preserve traditional crafts, such as: Organizing a pilot model to experience pottery making in the locality; mobilizing people to continue production, harmoniously combining traditional elements and modern trends, to create ceramic products that meet consumer tastes; introducing and displaying ceramic products at events inside and outside the province; connecting many businesses and units to learn and link product consumption markets... so that Muong Chanh ceramic products can continue to develop.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/van-hoa-xa-hoi/luu-giu-nghe-lam-gom-muong-chanh-pBMegKCHg.html