The first impression when meeting businessman Ly Ngoc Minh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Minh Long I Company Limited, is his distinctive Southern accent, tall and slender figure, and kind face. Over 50 years of establishment and development, the "king of ceramics" of Vietnam, with his lifelong love for the land, has made Minh Long reach the pinnacle of ceramic art, bringing products to all 5 continents.
Success only comes to those who keep striving.
Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh was born in 1953 in Song Be (present-day Ho Chi Minh City), which is considered the cradle of Southern ceramics.
He said his love for ceramics was passed down from his grandfather, who was originally from Fujian, China, and had lived in Binh Duong since the beginning of the land. His grandfather left his father several ceramic kilns at the Cay intersection - Chinh Nghia town. His father died early, so his mother both made ceramics and did business to support her children. His siblings went to school during the day and cut paper flowers at night to earn money to help their mother.
Due to difficult circumstances, Mr. Minh had to drop out of school after the third grade, so the knowledge about pottery, glaze, and color he acquired was acquired by himself without having to go to school. At only 16 years old, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh replaced his mother in managing several pottery kilns. To escape poverty, there was no other way but to explore and create more advanced glazes for porcelain.
“Perhaps I inherited my mother’s diligence, patience, bravery and decisiveness. She always taught me to go ahead, to do things earlier than I expected, not to wait until the storm comes to build a house, to work hard, to stay up late and wake up early.” Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh said.
Trying to make pottery from scratch, Mr. Minh said his life was full of bitterness, paying the price for countless failures.
But without experience, without daring to do and dare to take responsibility, one cannot find the blue glaze color hidden in a three-dimensional space, which the Chinese call the faded Vu qua thien thanh (blue after the rain); or the red paint color (royal red) of ceramics.
Mr. Minh said life is always a journey forward, opportunities are for everyone and success only comes to those who constantly strive, so when doing anything, whether small or big, always try your best.
In 1970, Minh Long I was established, when Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh was 20 years old. From here, he began to build a laboratory, with his friend focused on research, improving the design and patterns, finding the formula to create more brilliant and beautiful western glaze colors, making the company's ceramic products more noticeable, starting to be exported, and the selling price was therefore also higher.
After the country was unified, ceramic production and business were somewhat interrupted. Mr. Minh switched to doing many jobs to make a living such as toothpaste production, soy sauce making, wine making and agriculture .
He said there were times when he thought he could not return to his profession, when his family started growing cabbage and papaya to make a living, and agricultural production was quite developed. Because of his personality, he was passionate about everything he did and learned carefully. He grew apples as big and sweet as pears, and very sweet and fragrant papayas that were ordered a lot by traders in Saigon, and then he also grafted seedlings to sell.
But after a period of interruption and the general difficulties of the whole country, in 1980 his passion for ceramics urged him to return. Minh Long restarted commercial production.
In 1990, Minh Long was one of the first private enterprises to receive an export license, and for the next five consecutive years, the proportion of exported goods accounted for 98% of output. In 1994, Minh Long shifted its focus to the domestic market.
Later, Minh Long split into Minh Long 1 and Minh Long 2, in which Mr. Duong Van Long followed the direction of industrial porcelain, while Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh followed the direction of fine art ceramics. Minh Long 1's high-end porcelain currently accounts for about 90% of the domestic market.
Make products that meet the criteria of "4 no, 4 yes"
Minh Long ceramics is currently one of the most prestigious and high-quality ceramic brands not only in Vietnam but also in the world . Mr. Minh said that when he returned to making ceramics, both he and the ceramic artisans at that time never thought that one day the most advanced technology in the world would be applied to produce ceramic products under the Minh Long brand.
After many years of research and absolute love for ceramics, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh has done what seemed impossible. That is to produce high-quality ceramics at a temperature of 1,380 degrees Celsius, meeting European standards by using the single-fire method. Firing once at a temperature of 1,380 degrees Celsius helps the glaze layer to have high hardness, high gloss, less dust and no toxic substances, at the same time creating a difference for the product.
Switching to one-time firing technology and many other innovative and breakthrough improvements has helped Minh Long save maximum costs and improve quality.
Minh Long 1 products have covered all market segments, with thousands of different designs for use in hotels and households. In particular, products made by businessman Ly Ngoc Minh are often chosen as gifts for heads of state in important diplomatic events of Vietnam.
After a journey to reach the pinnacle of ceramic art, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh recently returned to fulfill his burning desire from his youth: to make the best products for Vietnamese people.
It took him nearly 15 years to research the technique and create the health-preserving ceramic line. This product has a thermal shock resistance of up to 800 degrees Celsius, the pinnacle of ceramic cookware in the world when it comes to preserving the flavor, color, and nutrients of the food...
"Human health is the most valuable asset. I may not be a nutritionist, but creating products to contribute to protecting public health and improving the quality of life is something I have always cherished throughout my life. Any business must think about profit, but for me, besides profit, there are many things I want to aim for ," Mr. Minh affirmed.
He has devoted his whole life to the earth and ceramics. He said that a ceramic product to him must meet all the criteria of “4 no’s, 4 yes’s”: no time, no borders, no gender and no age; has art, has culture, has style and has soul. To achieve this, Minh Long has used all natural materials along with standard machinery and equipment to produce standard products.
Heritage for the next generation
Sharing at the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Patriotic Emulation Congress for the period 2025-2030, in which he was one of the advanced models honored, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh said he always thought that a product not only has its tangible value, but also an important intangible value, which is the culture and personality of the product expressed through the messages given.
That's why he always researches how to bring Vietnamese culture and personality into his products.
Minh Long products are very diverse and modern, but the common point is that they always represent Vietnamese culture. The most prominent is folk culture expressed through life, images of people, homeland and country... and royal culture with symbols representing the soul of a nation.
“Any Vietnamese person who leaves their country is filled with nostalgia for their homeland and its people. That is why when I created the product line called Hon Viet, I focused on expressing familiar and familiar images of the countryside, the country, and the people of Vietnam. Or in the more high-end product line called Son Ha Cam Tu, I included the mascot, the lotus flower, which represents the traditional culture of our country, the descendants of the dragon and the fairy.
Not only Vietnamese people, through the products, foreign customers also understand Vietnamese culture, homeland and people. Whatever product I make, I want users to understand and feel about my country and my people. businessman Ly Ngoc Minh shared.
Or the more high-end products that deeply represent the culture of Vietnam are the Dong Son drum patterns. He said he has shown this culture since the Minh Long products were first launched. But over time, looking back, he still feels that it is not "permeable" enough for today's youth, so he continues to innovate, only when the children feel and love it, will they "permeate" the profound culture of their country.
He shared his life of more than 50 years of ups and downs with the pottery profession. He realized that if he wanted to pass on and inspire the cultural quintessence of the country to the young generation, so that they could understand and love it, and from there love their homeland and country; and also so that the world could understand the country, the Vietnamese people, and the culture of Vietnamese craft villages, he was determined to make a ceramic museum.
There are many products in the ceramic museum, but they focus on two main points: Vietnam, the Vietnamese nation, and the Vietnamese people. Many products bear historical imprints, demonstrating the skillful techniques of Vietnamese ceramics from the past to the present.
Each work displayed at the museum, Mr. Minh said, took 5-6 years, 10 years, even 20 years to complete, but all contained the feelings of the potter, who loves beauty. Each work is his intense love, always eager to bring the Vietnamese ceramic industry to new heights.
From now on, the world will know that Vietnam also has beautiful ceramic works, created by talented people. These ceramic works carry within them the story of perseverance, the desire to conquer the peak, and the cultural imprint of the country.
"People say that God will reward those who have a good heart. I thought about it and found it to be true. Because when people have a good heart, they always do good things. When people have a good heart, they rarely give up because the desire and destination of a good hearted person is not money, but something more noble than money.
The most valuable legacy I leave behind is not the factory or material achievements, but the entrepreneurial culture, corporate culture, from the way of working, the professional expertise and the spirit of always learning. That is the sustainable value for future generations to inherit, continue to strive, and achieve many achievements in the field of ceramics as well as other fields." Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh said.
With his contributions, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh has received many achievements such as: Title of Typical Vietnamese Entrepreneur (2006); Title of Labor Hero in the Renovation Period (2007); Title of Meritorious Artisan (2013); Golden Entrepreneur of the 21st Century (2016); Title of Vietnam Glory marking 30 years of Renovation (2017)... He was also honored to receive the Third Class Labor Medal from the President (1999); Second Class Labor Medal (2004); First Class Labor Medal (2010); Certificate of Merit and Commemorative Medal from the Emperor of Japan (2017) and many other certificates of merit. | |
Source: https://baolangson.vn/ong-chu-minh-long-toi-muon-nguoi-ta-hieu-dat-nuoc-toi-dan-toc-toi-qua-san-pham-5064285.html
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