Tru Son clay pot

Tru Son village, the only pottery-making village in Nghe An province, is located 20km southeast of Vinh city. Tru Son village, in Do Luong town, is often called the "earthenware village" where craftsmen make their pottery entirely by hand. To this day, Tru Son artisans remain passionate about their craft, preserving this traditional beauty for future generations.

To learn more about this traditional pottery village, Vietnam.vn presents the photo series "Tru Son Pottery" by author Nguyen Van Truc, helping you better understand how Tru Son pottery is made entirely by hand using only a potter's wheel, a few small rags, and thin bamboo strips for shaping and smoothing. To obtain suitable clay, villagers have to travel 7-10 km to Nghi Van commune, Nghi Loc district, or even to Son Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Because of the hardship and difficulty, the locals call this profession "selling bones to raise meat." The author submitted this photo series to the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest, organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications . Although handcrafted, the earthenware pots here have been imbued with exquisite artistry by the artisans, reflecting both the past and the present. Regarding the craft of making earthenware pots, even the elderly villagers don't know the exact origins; they only remember starting to learn from their parents at the age of five. After the clay is collected, the craftsmen carefully knead it and place it on a potter's wheel to create the initial shape of the round, beautiful pots. Then, with skillful hands, they smooth it out and dry it in the sun before finally firing it in a kiln.

The products of Tru Son pottery village are all handcrafted, requiring skill and dexterity, with most of the production process being undertaken by women in the village.

The products here come in a variety of types and sizes, meticulously molded and crafted by skilled artisans before being fired to create durable and beautiful earthenware pots for consumers. The craft of making earthenware pots here is likened to "selling bones to feed the flesh," as the production process is arduous and laborious, yet the income is unstable.

A batch of approximately 250-300 pottery pieces is placed in a triangular kiln built of laterite stone, covered with a layer of straw to retain heat. The pottery is then fired continuously for 4 to 5 hours using pine needles.

To produce high-quality pottery, the most important step is firing. For the pottery to be evenly fired, the craftsman must know how to monitor the fire and stop at the right moment.

The perfect earthenware products have been sold on the domestic market. With a plan to develop the Tru Son earthenware village for tourism and experiences, the People's Committee of Do Luong district will support the local government and people in building roads, production areas, exhibition points, and pottery-making experience points. This plan has been approved and aims to be completed and put into service for tourism by 2025. In 2024, the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest 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 open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and above. The competition aims to honor individuals and groups with positive informational products that make practical contributions to promoting a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world . Through this, it helps people at home, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends access authentic images of Vietnam, its people, its achievements in ensuring human rights, and towards a happy Vietnam. Each competition category (photos and videos) has the following prizes and prize values: – 1 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND – 2 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND – 3 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND – 10 Consolation Prizes: 5,000,000 VND – 1 Most Popular Entry: 5,000,000 VND. Winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Certificate Presentation, broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

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