Preserving and promoting the value of the ancient bonsai mai nu line

In Thanh Nhut commune, there are about 1,210 households growing mai nu. The number of households participating in the ancient bonsai profession is 308, with about 323 workers in the area doing the profession, most concentrated in Thanh Lac Dong hamlet and Tan Thanh hamlet.

From the bonsai growing profession, many families have become well-off and have legitimately become rich.

Among them, many households specialize in growing mai nu to sell seeds and create works of art. Some households use garden land to intercrop mai nu raw materials, then sell them to artisans to create valuable works of art. Currently, there are about 12,454 pairs of finished bonsai trees, 12,454 pairs of semi-finished trees, and about 119,761 raw material trees.

According to artisans, the Go Cong mai nu tree, especially the mai chieu thuy nu variety with its ancient appearance and unique shaping art, is not only a bonsai with high aesthetic value, but also bears the cultural mark of the Go Cong land. In particular, the mai chieu thuy nu tree has many bumps that resemble a monkey's face, so it is also called nu mat monkey.

The value lies in the many knots, which have formed a series of ridges over time, and the skin has a characteristic gray color. Many artisans love it and are willing to pay a high price for long-grown roots, which are specially shaped and have many philosophical meanings.

The shape of each tree is due to the skillful hands of the artisans. The bumps and roughness of the roots, trunks and branches of the Go Cong mai chieu thuy nu are due to nature. That is what creates the uniqueness, creating a typical brand for the land of Go Cong in general and the cradle of the mai chieu thuy nu Thanh Nhut in particular.

From the monkey-face mai nu tree, artisans have created medium, small, and mini bonsai. In addition, artisans have created ancient bonsai works of the mai nu tam cang, ngu thuong, tam tong, tu duc, ancient bonsai following the example of Uncle Ho... To serve the taste of mai nu players, villagers often grow bonsai, creating flying dragon shapes into beautiful animal shapes such as dragon, unicorn, turtle, and phoenix.

According to artisans, the technique of growing bonsai apricot trees must follow the correct process, and growers must spend a lot of time taking care of them. Apricot trees can be propagated by cuttings, grafting or grafting and grown on many different types of soil. The average profit of a household growing bonsai apricot trees is from 100 to 300 million VND/year, depending on the type and market price.

Comrade Pham Van Trong, Vice Chairman of Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee, leaders of Go Cong Tay district and delegates visited the mai nu chieu thuy exhibition.

In addition, households in the craft village also introduce products on social networks such as Facebook, Tiktok, Zalo... expanding consumption channels, contributing to promoting products to attract potential customers as well as meeting market demand and many different customers at home and abroad.

Chairman of the Ornamental Plants Association of Go Cong Tay District, Le Van Hanh, said that for the people here, growing mai nu is not only a hobby, but has become a high-income business. In recent years, growing mai nu has brought a prosperous life to many families. Thanks to mai nu, many families have built spacious houses and raised their children to be successful in school.

It was even more favorable when the Go Cong mai nu tree was granted a Certificate of Trademark Registration "Mai chieu thuy nu Go Cong" by the Intellectual Property Office in December 2021, opening up many prospects for the Go Cong mai nu village, including Thanh Nhut commune, and introducing the potential, advantages as well as enhancing the brand value of the product to customers and connoisseurs inside and outside the district.

Thereby, helping the subjects growing and trading Go Cong mai nu products have conditions to expand exchanges, trade with partners inside and outside the province, including exporting abroad. In addition, the Tam Binh unicorn tail bonsai (The production and trading establishment of the Tam Binh unicorn tail bonsai in Tan Thanh hamlet, Thanh Nhut commune) was granted a Certificate of Copyright Registration by the Copyright Office in 2017.

In 2018, Tam Binh Ancient Lion Tail Ornamental Plant Production and Trading Facility was certified as one of the Top 50 favorite brands voted by consumers. In 2024, the monkey face mai nu - ancient lion tail ornamental plant product of this production facility was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product. And recently, the People's Committee of Go Cong Tay district held a ceremony to announce the Decision of the Chairman of the People's Committee of Tien Giang province to recognize Thanh Nhut Ancient Mai Nu Ornamental Plant Craft Village.

PROMOTING UNIQUE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL VALUES

Speaking at the ceremony to announce the Decision of the Chairman of Tien Giang Provincial People's Committee recognizing Thanh Nhut Ancient Mai Nu Bonsai Craft Village, Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Trong said that the ancient mai nu bonsai craft has a history of hundreds of years, with products that are not only beautiful in form, but also imbued with the cultural and spiritual values ​​of the people here.

From the bonsai growing profession, many families have become well-off and have legitimately become rich.

The ancient bonsai products made by the skillful hands and dedication of artisans have contributed to enriching the local cultural identity and become valuable works of art. The ancient bonsai craft village of Mai Nu has created a unique economic and cultural mark, promoting the shift of the rural economic structure and enhancing the local brand.

In recent years, the mai nu bonsai profession in Thanh Nhut commune has developed strongly, attracting more and more households to participate in production and business, contributing to improving people's lives. This demonstrates the increasingly clear role of the craft village in the local economic structure, which is no longer a sideline profession but has become a spearhead in developing the rural economy in the direction of ecology - art - culture.

In addition, the official recognition and protection of the Mai Chieu Thuy Nu Go Cong brand has created favorable conditions for the product to access a larger and more sustainable market, including export potential in the future.

The value of mai nu trees is not only economic, but with the winding shapes and ancient appearance of each mai nu tree, it is the inheritance from many generations of artisans, a place to preserve the cultural memory of the craft village. The mai nu craft of Thanh Nhut has created a vibrant cultural space, both artistic and contributing to building a new countryside with its own identity.

The establishment of Thanh Nhut Ancient Mai Nu Ornamental Plant Craft Village is a right step in preserving, developing and affirming the value of traditional crafts. This is also the basis for the locality to continue to receive support in planning, technology, vocational training, trade promotion, product promotion and building a value chain from production to consumption.

In order to manage, maintain, preserve and develop craft villages in the coming time, comrade Pham Van Trong suggested that the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Department of Industry and Trade, the District People's Committee, and the People's Committee of Thanh Nhut commune pay more attention to continuing to propagate and implement policies to support the development of craft villages, in which it is necessary to focus on creating favorable conditions for production establishments and households in craft villages to participate in trade promotion activities, expand markets, invest in building infrastructure for craft villages, etc.

At the same time, deploy to enterprises, production and business households in the craft village to access mechanisms and policies for development such as: Craft village development projects, vocational training policies, credit... Along with that, regularly mobilize and guide households and production establishments in the craft village to actively participate in the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program; organize training classes, impart vocational skills, improve skills for young artisans, create conditions for the Mai Nu Ancient Bonsai Craft Village to develop sustainably.

QUÊ ANH - KIM LAN

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/kinh-te/202504/lang-nghe-kieng-co-mai-nu-thanh-nhut-luu-giu-phat-huy-gia-tri-dong-kieng-co-mai-nu-1039956/