Bamboo leaf hat weaver Kieu Duc Minh

Tien Yen is a land that still preserves many traditional cultural features of ethnic minorities such as the Dao, Tay, and San Chi... The people here also maintain and preserve some traditional rattan and bamboo weaving crafts. In Bac Lu village, Ha Lau commune, Mr. Kieu Duc Minh, a Tay ethnic minority, is currently the only artisan in the commune who still preserves the traditional craft of weaving bamboo leaf hats.

Mr. Kieu Duc Minh is currently the only artisan in Ha Lau who still preserves the craft of weaving.

Mr. Kieu Duc Minh's family has revived the craft of making bamboo leaf hats a few years ago. Besides weaving wide-brimmed hats in the traditional style, he also explores and creates new designs to meet the diverse needs of customers.

Bamboo leaf hats are a familiar item among the ethnic minorities in Tien Yen, widely used in their daily lives and work. These hats accompany the people to the fields and gardens, and children wear them to school. The leaf hat is not only a means of protection from rain and sun, but also holds cultural stories, intertwined with the lives of each individual.

Two styles of bamboo leaf hats created by Mr. Minh: the pith helmet style (left) and the traditional wide-brimmed hat style (right).

These hats are meticulously woven, involving many steps and made entirely by hand. It takes 1-2 days to complete a single hat, not including drying time. The hats are woven in two layers: a lower layer of loosely woven bamboo to give the hat its shape, and an upper layer with denser weave to enhance its aesthetic appeal. Between these two layers of bamboo, a layer of large, tough, and durable forest bamboo leaves is placed. The leaves are processed by boiling, then dried before being used as the lining inside the hat.

While skillfully finishing the unfinished knitted hat, Mr. Kieu Duc Minh shared: In the past, the people of Tien Yen only wove wide-brimmed hats and conical hats made of bamboo leaves. I have been researching and experimenting with weaving bamboo leaf hats based on the design of modern conical hats to make them more compact and practical, suitable for various daily activities.

The hat is woven in two layers; the lower bamboo frame is looser, while the upper layer has denser stitches to enhance its aesthetic appeal.

The process of lining the hat with bamboo leaves.

Compared to conical hats, weaving bamboo leaf hats is much more difficult. While conical hats only require a straight frame, the curved shape demands skill and experience from the maker, who must weave, bend, and tighten the bamboo strips to create the hat's form. Once finished, the hats are dried in the sun for 3-4 days or hung above the stove to prevent mold. Mr. Minh may then apply a layer of glossy paint to the finished hat to enhance its appearance and ensure its longevity.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this meticulousness, attention to detail, and skillful craftsmanship that the bamboo leaf hat of the Tay ethnic people in Tien Yen district is considered a unique handicraft product, showcasing the skillful hands and aesthetic sense of the artisans.

Besides weaving hats from bamboo leaves, Mr. Minh also weaves other products such as chicken cages, carrying poles, and trays.

The woven products, especially the bamboo leaf hats created by Mr. Minh, have been identified by Ha Lau commune, Tien Yen district, as potential products to be developed into tourist souvenirs associated with the cultural village of Ha Lau commune.

Mr. La Van Vy, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Lau commune, Tien Yen district, said: "To prevent the decline of traditional woven products and utensils, the commune has encouraged artisans to participate in preserving handicrafts made from rattan and bamboo. To date, Mr. Kieu Duc Minh's family has restored many products, from hats, baskets, carrying poles, chicken cages, etc., participating in the Ha Lau market and contributing to the development of tourism in the commune."

The conical hat made by Mr. Kieu Duc Minh is present at the markets as concrete evidence of the unique characteristics of the land and people of the high mountain region, and also demonstrates human creativity in utilizing natural materials to serve their lives, living in harmony with nature.

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