In Hanoi's Old Quarter, there is still a blacksmith working hard at the street corner, determined to keep his father's profession. That is Mr. Nguyen Phuong Hung (born in 1960) - the last blacksmith in the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Ward, Hanoi.
With his hands deftly continuously putting pieces of metal into the furnace, his face blackened by coal dust, his clothes drenched in sweat under the 1,000-degree heat of the furnace, Mr. Nguyen Phuong Hung is the embodiment of a blacksmith from ancient times who still maintains his ancestral profession. He is also the third generation to use this forge as a livelihood.
Talking about his fate with the profession, Mr. Hung said that he is the third generation in his family to follow the blacksmith profession, passed down from his grandfather. He started working at the age of 10, initially helping his father with simple tasks such as picking up coal and lighting fires before officially learning the profession. Mr. Hung is proud that thanks to this blacksmith stove, his father was able to raise seven children to adulthood and receive proper education. When he was young, Mr. Hung hated blacksmithing because he had to endure the dirt, sweat and sweltering heat of the coal furnace.
Mr. Hung's "business" is just a small space, about 2-3 square meters wide, located right on the street, opposite the bustling traffic at the beginning of Lo Ren Street. The special thing is that this family store does not have fixed opening hours. Mr. Hung works completely freely, without following a set schedule; whenever he feels like it or has customers, he starts. Normally, he opens from 7am to about 5-6pm, but if he is busy, he can extend his work until 10pm.
Mr. Hung recalls that when he was a child, Hanoi's Old Quarter was always bustling with the sound of hammers and anvils from dozens of manual forges throughout the alleys. However, the development of society and the appearance of spacious construction material stores have gradually "overwhelmed" the traditional forges. Many families were forced to change jobs, doing related jobs such as iron welding, making stainless steel products, or precision mechanical processing. To date, on the whole old quarter, Mr. Hung is the only person who still persists in the manual forging profession. However, this job still brings a stable income for his family.
For blacksmithing not only requires health and a strong spirit, the worker must also be skillful and meticulous so that each movement is truly graceful and highly precise.
Sharing with reporters, Mr. Huy, a regular customer, brought a worn drill bit to the store. He shared that he had planned to spend millions to buy a new chisel bit, but decided to ask Mr. Hung to examine it. After a while of observing and working, Mr. Hung quickly repaired the drill bit. Mr. Huy could not hide his joy: "Luckily, Mr. Hung was there. Thanks to him fixing it, I did not have to spend millions of dong to buy a new one!"
For decades, the blacksmith has watched his street change. People come and go, shops open and close... Every day, passersby see him diligently doing his work as if he doesn't care about anything else.
In the age of technology development, no machine can replace human hands, especially in jobs that require dexterity and meticulousness like blacksmithing.
That is why, for more than ten years now, when needing to buy or repair household iron items such as drill bits, scissors, screws, etc., many people still come to Mr. Nguyen Phuong Hung's forge.
" There have been many people who came to learn this profession from me, but after a while they found it too hard so they gave up," Mr. Hung shared.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/nguoi-tho-ren-cuoi-cung-giu-lua-tren-dat-pho-co-lo-ren-426114.html
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