The La is anxious to preserve

(NB&CL) La Khe silk was once considered the quintessence of Thang Long, a heritage that has been mentioned in folk songs and proverbs for hundreds of years. However, that heritage is gradually sinking into oblivion, and those who hold onto the heritage must face the reality of holding on and preserving the craft day by day. Lacking practitioners and passers-on, La Khe silk is at risk of becoming nothing more than a memory.

The La people are unfamiliar with the La.

In mid-October, thousands of people came to the exhibition “The La - A Thousand Years of Weaving” at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam to touch and feel the original silk products of La village. Western visitors were surprised by the ancient wooden weaving machine, which was completely powered by human power, but produced a soft fabric with beautiful patterns.

Domestic customers, if they are young, seem to only care about the finished product, they compare the thickness, shine, softness with imported silk, because they think that this is simply a product of a certain craft village. But many older people cannot hide their surprise, because in their minds, La silk has long been lost. Now the silk is introduced as being made by La villagers themselves, following the traditional formula, making them half-believing, half-doubting.

That skepticism is understandable, because for the past few decades, few people have known about the presence of La silk (La Khe village, Ha Dong, Hanoi ) on the market. La village silk was once considered the quintessence of Thang Long, and has entered the consciousness of the people of the capital. The song "La silk, Buoi silk, Phung silk/Van Phuc silk, Mo Bon silk" refers to these famous products. But now, most of the villages that make this weaving craft have disappeared, only Van Phuc silk village still preserves the craft. It is a joy that La silk products still exist in contemporary life, but there is also a regret, that is, La village only has artisan Le Dang Toan following the craft.

Artisan Le Dang Toan - the only person who still holds all the secrets of La Khe weaving. Photo: VOV

But what is more surprising is that many people in La Khe village do not know that an ancient craft that has created the village's "brand" still exists. Artisan Le Dang Toan said that a fellow villager who came to the exhibition shared with him that, at first, they vaguely heard about the La exhibition and thought it was just a fair-style booth. When they saw a lot of news on television and newspapers, they came to see the exhibition and were surprised by the "uniqueness" of the display and learned that his family still maintains the ancient craft.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh, Toan's wife, recounted that on the last day of the exhibition, a group of students from the village school went to the Temple of Literature for an extracurricular activity, and they brought green bean cakes. When asked where green bean cakes were a specialty, they answered in unison that they were from Hai Duong . But when asked what was famous in our homeland, none of them could answer!

“Many elders from La Khe living in Hanoi heard about the exhibition and came back, each with their own story. After decades of absence, The La only remained in their memories and stories, and now they proudly recall it. The most touching was an old man who, upon seeing the La exhibition, insisted that his children and grandchildren take him to visit. Holding the silk in his hand, he was moved to tears as if he had seen a precious keepsake that had been lost for a long time. He said that his grandfather was the one who was summoned to Hue by King Minh Mang to be in charge of weaving silk for the royal court. Now that he sees that The La still exists, he said that he is very satisfied.”

Foreign tourists learn how the looms of La village move.

There is still the worry of "losing job, losing name"

The silk weaving profession in La Khe was officially recorded in the 17th century. The traditional products of the village are silk, cloud, sa, cinnamon, ice, xuyen... made of silk, serving from the king's costumes to the everyday clothes of the people. La villagers use tight threads but place them loosely to create thick yet airy fabrics. In particular, one of the secrets that makes La Khe silk different is the use of hammock sets, which makes the threads twisted and very tight. Silk products woven in this way are not only soft and cool in the summer, keep warm in the winter, but also have the advantage of being durable, not stretching or shifting after a period of use.

Therefore, the La was once chosen as an item to present to the king, La village used to be a private weaving workshop for the Hue capital, at that time La villagers did not farm but only weaved. There was also a long period when La village men were exempted from military service and other corvée duties by the feudal government so that they could focus on weaving silk to supply the royal court. During the prosperous period, La village textile products appeared at major world fairs and were very popular. To this day, many museums in France and some European countries still display Vietnamese royal ao dai, sewn on La village silk.

People learn about La Khe silk products.

However, due to the changes of the times, the craft of weaving high-end goods in La Khe gradually faded away as people switched to using fabrics made from cheap chemical fibers. About twenty years ago, the government organized to restore the weaving craft but was unsuccessful because the products were not sold. Of the dozens of people who were taught the craft by artisan Nguyen Cong Toan at that time, today only Le Dang Toan remains in the profession.

Ms. Bach Hong An - former Head of La Khe Cooperative, who was also the one who "called" Mr. Toan to relearn the ancient craft, when he was still wandering around "setting up" weaving machines in craft villages, commented that perhaps the profession had chosen the right person. Because Mr. Toan could do every stage of the craft, from building machines, designing patterns, dyeing to silk winding and weaving. If he were not such a "multi-talented" person, perhaps the La Khe weaving profession would have been lost. Following the footsteps of the ancients, there are now 9 ancient silk patterns that Mr. Toan has restored, such as: Four sacred animals, four nobles, longevity characters, lotus flowers, and two cranes... with the same sophistication and intricacy as "the time of our ancestors".

As for Mr. Toan, after returning from the exhibition, when the hustle and bustle had subsided, his worries were still there. Without the support and companionship of all levels and sectors, many problems would be beyond the reach of him and his family. Therefore, although he has become more well-known, he still decides to "quietly" work as he has done for the past two decades.

“Currently, although there are two more assistants, I am the only one who knows the “secret techniques” of the profession. Many people in the village do not even know what I do, so how can we say that there are people following and learning the profession? Preservation here is just a matter of holding on, keeping the profession day by day,” said Toan.

Visitors visit the exhibition "The La - A Thousand Years of Weaving".

Mr. Toan also worries that his products still do not have an official distribution channel. Apart from a few well-known customers who come to buy directly, the majority have to be sold at a store in Van Phuc. There, among the myriad of eye-catching silks, the La silk, no matter how good or beautiful, cannot stand out in the eyes of customers. What is more regrettable is that when people ask, no one introduces it as the La silk, a product of La village. They generally say that it is a high-end product of Van Phuc craft village. No one advertises for other people's products, so, in addition to worrying about losing their profession, La Khe artisans also worry about losing their name.

However, both Mr. Toan and Ms. Quynh believe that they can preserve the precious weaving profession of their ancestors when they are supported with land to renovate the factory to be more spacious. Several tourism companies have come to them, expressing their cooperation to bring tourists to visit and experience the weaving factory. There are also very large garment enterprises that want to cooperate in vocational training and expand production...

“It is our responsibility to persevere in preserving and developing this heritage, because if we want to make money, there are many other easier ways. We want to preserve the quintessence of the traditional La but are also willing to cooperate to spread the beauty of a cultural symbol, to together contribute to preserving a precious heritage that is gradually fading away,” said Ms. Quynh.

Khanh Ngoc

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/the-la-khac-khoai-bao-ton-post318202.html