Man collects stone mortars for 20 years, builds tower to preserve memories of a generation

The Than Nong Tower is located in Lam Thao Commune, Luong Tai District, Bac Ninh Province with an area of 20,000m2. With a rice grain design, built vertically, the Than Nong Tower is 15m high, divided into 5 floors. This is a unique destination, attracting visitors to Bac Ninh Province, both creating a landscape and serving an experiential culturaleducation model.

Shennong Tower is 15m high and divided into 5 floors.

Sharing about the idea of making Than Nong Tower, Mr. Tran Van Toan said that with the desire to restore the old space of the Northern countryside, after nearly 20 years of collecting old stone mortars from all over the country, he decided to design and build the tower with a team of engineers and architects.

"In many rural areas, as agricultural production becomes more and more modern, stone mortars, stone shafts, rice mills, etc. are thrown away on the roadside. Therefore, I have spent time and effort to collect them and build an exhibition area, so that future generations can know the history of the mortars left by their ancestors," he said.

Mr. Tran Van Toan spent many years collecting old stone mortars to make Than Nong Tower.

Mr. Toan said that this is the first stone mortar and rice culture exhibition area in Bac Ninh province, aiming at developing experiential services and sustainable tourism, contributing to promoting the socio -economic development of Luong Tai district and Bac Ninh province; at the same time, contributing to preserving, conserving and promoting the quintessence of Kinh Bac culture and rice culture.

“I hope this exhibition area will preserve and conserve the culture of the countryside, bringing agricultural culture, preserving the memories of a generation, a cultural and historical period of the Northern countryside. This will be an address for generations of students to experience and learn about the objects associated with the lives of previous generations,” said Mr. Toan.

About 100m from Than Nong Tower there is a large stone mortar stacked from hundreds of old stone mortars.

Building a tower with stone mortars is a huge challenge during the construction process. The construction unit must select stone mortars of similar sizes and transport them to the top.

The stone mortars are arranged into the Shennong Tower.

With the help of architect Nguyen Sanh - a famous artisan in researching and restoring ancient cultural spaces, the idea of arranging heavy stone mortars into the Than Nong Tower - the god of wet rice agriculture - became a reality.

“Building a tower with stone mortars was a huge challenge during the construction process. The construction unit had to select stone mortars of similar sizes and transport them to the top. In particular, these stone mortars are very rare outside, and it took time to collect them, so it took more than 2 years to complete,” said architect Nguyen Sanh.

Architect Nguyen Sanh.

Inside the Than Nong Tower, there are steps going up and down, designed in the shape of rice grains, built vertically. A complex of stone mortars, stone shafts for pulling rice, stone mills for grinding rice, etc. are arranged around the tower to form an exhibition area of stone tools associated with wet rice agriculture. The representative of the unit said that they are completing the sound and color system to help the tower change its vivid color according to the process of rice grains from green to ripe.

Inside the Shennong Tower there are steps up and down, designed in the shape of rice grains, built vertically.

Many miniatures are decorated outside the Shennong Tower.

At the end of November, the Vietnam Records Organization Council (VietKings) held an Asian record announcement ceremony for Than Nong Tower - the largest rice grain-shaped stone mortar tower in Vietnam.

Shennong Tower is considered a symbol of the god of rice civilization.

In people's belief, Shennong is the ancestor of agriculture, who taught people how to grow rice from ancient times and blessed farmers to ensure a peaceful and prosperous life with bountiful harvests.

Source vietnamnet

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