The talent of making Do paper fans with needles in Vac village

Hanoi - The more modern life becomes, the image of the old Do paper fan gradually disappears. However, Vac village still preserves the traditional cultural craft of fan making.

Vac village, also known as Ke Vac or Canh Hoach village, is located in Xu Doai, Thanh Oai district. This place preserves the ancient images of the largest paper fan making village in the North. Among the modern high-rise buildings, there are only a few families still following the profession today. Vac fans first appeared in the mid-18th century, about 200 years ago. The fan making profession was started by Mr. Mai Duc Sieu - who is considered the founder of the village. Later, many families in the village followed the profession, initially selling mainly to people in the surrounding villages. Since then, Vac villagers have exported various types of fine and precious fans. Ms. Mai Thi Choi, over 70 years old this year, continues the profession left by her father. Sharing with Lao Dong newspaper, this Vac village artisan said: “Mr. Mai Duc Mau is my father, the first person to create the needle-piercing technique on fans as it is today. In 1946, Mr. Mau and the young people in the village made a fan as a gift for President Ho Chi Minh on his birthday and it is now on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum as a famous souvenir of Vac Village.”

Artisan Mai Thi Choi is making needles on a fan made of dó paper. Photo: Phuong Anh

Since childhood, Mrs. Choi has been taught and passed on the profession by her father. After more than 50 years of working in the profession, she is now a pair of golden hands in Vac village, famous far and wide. Due to her old age, Mrs. Mai Thi Choi expressed about the stage of acupuncture on paper fans: "Now I am old, not healthy enough, so I only accept acupuncture but not all the stages of making fans". Normally, Mrs. Choi takes about 30 minutes to acupuncture to complete a complete fan, and depending on the complexity, it will take more time. On average, she makes 20 to 30 fans per day. "People often order all year round, especially when there are events or traditional programs, there will be more orders", the female artisan shared.

Acupuncture needle box of Ms. Mai Thi Choi. Photo: Phuong Anh

When she inserts needles, Choi arranges them into patches of different sizes. While this method is quick, it doesn’t allow for more intricate patterns. When a customer wants a more elaborate design, she often asks an artist to sketch out the image first and then insert the needles.

Image of a fan with needles in the wind with quite elaborate patterns made by Ms. Mai Thi Choi with great effort. Photo: Phuong Anh

Nowadays, in addition to Do paper, there are many other materials. Although Do paper fans have gradually disappeared, there are still artisans who strive to preserve this ancient cultural beauty like Ms. Choi.

Laodong.vn

Source: https://dulich.laodong.vn/kham-pha/net-tai-hoa-nghe-lam-quat-giay-do-cham-kim-lang-vac-1399046.html