Women who keep the "soul of the profession"

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - While industrial zones are expanding and urban areas are becoming more modern, familiar images still exist in Thanh Hoa villages: the warm scent of incense, the hands weaving mats quickly or the trays of rice paper drying under the golden sun. Behind all of this are the figures of rural women - the silent "fire keepers", who are diligently extending the life of traditional crafts every day. They not only create a livelihood for their families, but also contribute to preserving the soul of the countryside.

Women and mothers in Tan Tho Handicraft Cooperative, Trung Chinh commune diligently preserve the traditional craft of weaving sedge.

In Dong Tien ward, mentioning the traditional rice paper making village of Dac Chau is mentioning the image of hard-working women skillfully spreading thin batches of rice paper and drying them under the golden sun. The profession has existed for many generations, but until now, the majority of the main laborers are still women. Mrs. Tran Thi Nhan confided: "Since I was little, my mother taught me how to make rice paper, spreading, drying and collecting them. Just like that, the rice paper making profession has supported my family from generation to generation, so for me, doing this job is not only to earn a living but also a way for my children and grandchildren to remember their roots."

In Tan Tien, Ho Vuong, Nga Son communes... the sedge mat craft has long been famous throughout the country. To improve economic efficiency and meet market demand, handicraft companies or large factories have switched to weaving mats by machine. However, in some small-scale production households, the sound of weaving frames still resounds, mainly done by women's hands. "Nowadays, there are faster and stronger mat weaving machines, but I still like to sit next to the manual loom. Weaving by hand takes a lot of time, but it shows the meticulousness and dedication of the craftsman. Buyers of traditional mats often rate hand-woven mats as soft, durable, and cool. Keeping this way of making is also keeping the craft that our ancestors left behind," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Duyen - a long-time mat weaver in Nga Son commune.

However, modern life with cheap and convenient industrial products has changed consumer tastes. Many occupations are at risk of being forgotten, especially when the young generation is less interested in following in their fathers' footsteps. The traditional leaf cake making village of Xuan Lap commune is an example. This is a traditional occupation that has been associated with local people for hundreds of years, especially famous during holidays and Tet. However, while the elderly still try to keep the profession as a source of pride, many young people in Xuan Lap choose a different path.

Ms. Do Thi Men in Xuan Lap commune said: "To make banh la, you have to go through many stages, from grinding flour, frying filling to wrapping the cake. Every stage is hard work, but the income is only a few hundred thousand per day, so young people are not very interested." That is the reason why, although he is a son of the Xuan Lap banh la craft village, Mr. Do Van Thanh did not choose to follow this profession. He said that life is increasingly developing, demand is increasing, market prices are also increasing, so his family's income cannot depend only on making cakes. "We know that making banh la is the traditional profession of our ancestors, but if we only make cakes, the income is not high. Meanwhile, there are many large-scale factories that have automatic banh la making machines with higher productivity, small businesses like my family find it difficult to compete, so we have to switch to business to improve our lives," Mr. Thanh said.

That reality makes many rural women in Thanh Hoa both work and struggle to find a new direction. They understand that keeping the profession is not only for themselves, but also for the whole village, for their homeland. A good sign is that more and more Thanh Hoa women know how to apply new thinking in preserving and developing traditional crafts. Not only simply small-scale production, many have joined cooperatives, boldly bringing products to large markets, including export.

In Trung Chinh commune, the women in Tan Tho Handicraft Cooperative have connected with businesses to export products to Japan and Europe. From baskets and trays woven from sedge, they have created handbags, decorative boxes, souvenirs, and sedge plates with many colors and shapes. These products both preserve traditional materials and meet modern needs. Up to now, the Cooperative has had 3 OCOP products with 4-star quality, creating jobs for 59 members of the Cooperative and hundreds of outside workers.

Director of Tan Tho Handicraft Cooperative Nguyen Thi Tham said: “To be able to develop the traditional craft of weaving from sedge is not easy, because this is a craft that not everyone knows how to do and the income from the previous craft was not high. But when I learned, handicraft products that are safe for health such as sedge baskets and sedge baskets are very popular in the foreign market. I was determined to call on people, teach them the craft, try to develop products, focus on quality and design to attract customers. From there, I gradually got larger orders, the value of the products was also increased, the income of the people was improved, more and more women in the commune asked me to teach them the craft and develop the craft until now”.

The road to preserving traditional crafts is still full of difficulties. The volatile market and competition from industrial products have discouraged many women. However, preserving the craft does not mean keeping everything the same, but combining tradition with modern creativity. It is the dynamism of many women that is helping to revive traditional crafts.

Article and photos: Phuong Do

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nhung-nguoi-phu-nu-giu-hon-nghe-260230.htm