For generations, the Van Kieu people living beneath the majestic Truong Son mountain range have been accustomed to smoking tobacco using pipes. Therefore, pipes have become a familiar item in their lives and a distinctive cultural feature. Today, with modern life, the number of Van Kieu pipes is dwindling. Only a handful of people still know how to make them. However, with a special passion, Mrs. Ho Thi Ua (73 years old), from Loa village, Ba Tang commune, Huong Hoa district, Quang Tri province, still strives to maintain the tradition of pipe making.
Ms. Ua is willing to teach the art of making tobacco pipes to those who are passionate about this traditional craft. -Photo: ML
Since childhood, the pipe has always been a familiar sight to Ua, as his grandparents, parents, and those around him often used them. Ua always wondered what was so special about the pipe that made it so intimately connected to people. From then on, Ua spent time learning how to make pipes from his grandparents and mother.
The process of making a pipe is not easy, and the materials are also very difficult to find. After many years of learning and practicing pipe making, by her youth, Ua had mastered the craft and has been dedicated to it ever since. "Making tobacco pipes is not an easy job. The most difficult thing is finding and selecting the right clay. Shaping the pipe, creating the stem, and controlling the firing temperature are also meticulous and require extreme care," Mrs. Ua shared.
According to Ms. Ua, the main ingredient for making tobacco pipes is pure clay, free from impurities. This type of clay is characterized by its softness, smoothness, and pliability. The outermost layer is red, followed by a gray layer, and then a black layer. The process of transforming clay into tobacco pipes is not simple; it requires the artisan to have extremely skillful hands, diligence, and patience. All stages of pipe making are done entirely by hand, with the artisan preparing the clay herself. After the clay is collected, it is kneaded until it reaches the desired softness, pliability, and smoothness.
Next, each individual sample, about the size of a chicken egg, is rolled up. Each sample is then meticulously and carefully molded into the shape of the pipe. Another crucial step is creating the vents within the pipe, ensuring proper airflow while maintaining its distinctive shape and aesthetic appeal, allowing the user to fully enjoy the unique flavor of the tobacco they grow and process themselves.
To do this, Mrs. Ua chooses a piece of iron wire, bends it to fit the pipe, heats it to a high temperature, and then skillfully threads it through the pipe's body. After completing this step, the pipe is dried thoroughly in the sun. Next, it is reheated by burying it completely in kitchen ash overnight, ensuring that the temperature gradually warms up and remains high for an extended period to harden and strengthen the pipe while preventing cracking.
After a night of heating, if the pipe has completely changed from black to red, take it out and wrap it in a thick layer of rice bran. The purpose is for the bran to gradually absorb the heat from the pipe.
When the product cools and reaches the required temperature, it turns a thick, dark black color. For user convenience, Mrs. Ua extends the pipe stem with a short, hand-sized piece of bamboo root, which is wrapped with thin, decorative copper or aluminum rings to enhance its aesthetic appeal and prevent the tip from breaking. Due to its meticulous nature, not many products are made, mainly catering to the preferences and habits of some elderly people in the area.
Now over 70 years old, although her eyesight is no longer sharp, her hands are no longer nimble, and the income from making tobacco pipes is not much, with a love for the craft passed down from her ancestors, Mrs. Ua is determined to preserve the profession until her health no longer permits it.
Ms. Ua expressed her concern: “Making tobacco pipes is not simple at all. Finding the materials is difficult, and the process of making the product is even more challenging and time-consuming, so very few people want to learn this craft. I am old now, and I fear that after my death, the craft of making tobacco pipes will disappear. Therefore, I earnestly seek out people who are passionate about this traditional craft to pass on the pipe-making techniques, so that future generations will know that within the cultural heritage of the Van Kieu people, there are still tobacco pipes that have accompanied the lives of the people in western Quang Tri for many years.”
Minh Long
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nguoi-phu-nu-van-kieu-niu-giu-nghe-truyen-thong-188570.htm
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