The person who breathes life into to he figurines

Tò he is a pure rural folk toy that has entered the spiritual life of many generations of Vietnamese people. With skillful and dedicated hands, those who make Tò he "transform" the inanimate clay into creative and colorful works of art.

Vietnam.vn would like to introduce to you the photo collection "The person who breathes soul into to he" by author Tran Duc Hanh. The photo collection was taken by the author of the image of Artisan Dang Van Hau, Xuan La village, Phuong Duc commune, Phu Xuyen district, Hanoi , who has spent more than 20 years learning, researching and improving to he products. The photo collection was submitted by the author to the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam", organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications . Artisan Dang Van Hau, Xuan La village, Phuong Duc commune, Phu Xuyen district, Hanoi has spent more than 20 years learning, researching and improving to he products. According to those who still preserve the craft in Xuan La village, the craft of making to he appeared about 400-500 years ago. In the past, making to he was a folk culture in the countryside of Vietnam, especially in the North. Initially, to he was a product for worshiping, so it often had the shape of animals. That is why to he in the past was also called "bird toy".

The ingredients for making to he are sticky rice and regular rice, mixed together, soaked in water, then ground or pounded into flour; sticky rice is easier to make and the product quality is better. The finished dough is kneaded thoroughly until it is not sticky, then shaped into small balls and boiled. To he artisan Dang Van Hau in Xuan La village said that the important thing is the technique of boiling and making the dough according to the weather. In winter, the dough is more flexible than in summer.

The artisan who makes the figurine will "fight" with the colors and mold them. The colors used to dye the dough are also taken from natural sources, from leaves and edible vegetables. For example, red from gac fruit, black from Eclipta prostrata, green from betel leaves and galangal leaves. It takes many elaborate steps, especially the dough making stage, to create a shiny and colorful figurine. Not only keeping the traditional craft of Xuan La clay figurine village alive, with his talent and passion, young artisan Dang Van Hau also brings the craft of making dough figurines to a large number of people and tourists at home and abroad. For children as well as adults, domestic and international, people can preserve those toys for a very long time, can last up to 3 years and at the same time, artisan Dang Van Hau is also creating a set of to he. It is a set that can participate in the process of creating those products and from there will stimulate the creativity of the players, especially children." In some regions in the North, people also call it "con banh" because besides the shape of animals, people also mold the dough into banana bunches, areca nuts, pig's feet, sticky rice plates... to create a tray of offerings to go to the temple to make offerings. Later, the product was attached to a trumpet, at the tip of the trumpet was brushed with a little malt, when blown it made a "tò te" sound, so maybe people called it "tò te", later it was mispronounced as "tò he". Nowadays, artisans of Xuan La village still directly make and teach their children the village's products. The craft village of making to he figurines in Phu Xuyen is a unique craft village with many artisans with "golden hands". They are very skillful and meticulous to create products with a strong folk character, helping to improve the economic life of the people. Currently, the to he product has been recognized as a 4-star OCOP product. Local people hope that the People's Committee of Hanoi, the Department of Industry and Trade... will continue to have promotion programs, open more points to introduce and sell OCOP products, traditional craft villages so that the to he craft village of Phu Xuyen district in particular and Hanoi craft villages in general will be known to many people, domestic and foreign tourists. In 2024, the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam" will continue to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website   https://happy.vietnam.vn is for all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and over. The contest aims to honor individuals and groups with positive information products, making practical contributions to the propaganda and promotion of a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world . Thereby helping people in the country, compatriots abroad and international friends access authentic images of the country, Vietnamese people, Vietnam's achievements in ensuring human rights, towards a happy Vietnam. Each contest category (photo and video) has the following prizes and prize values: - 01 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND - 02 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND - 03 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND - 10 Encouragement Prizes: 5,000,000 VND - 01 most voted work: 5,000,000 VND The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Announcement and Award Ceremony and Certificate on live television of Vietnam Television.

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