Van Thuy: Preserving the indigo color forever

– With a simple indigo color, no embroidery or decoration, the indigo shirt – the traditional costume of the Nung ethnic group in Van Thuy commune, Bac Son district has a simple, rustic beauty, simply cut and sewn from indigo fabric made by the hands of women. Through the ups and downs of time, the indigo shirt still retains its own beauty, preserved and promoted by the people in Van Thuy commune.

Nung ethnic people adjust each other's clothes

Van Thuy is a commune in region III of Bac Son district with nearly 400 households, over 1,700 people, including 4 ethnic groups: Nung, Tay, Kinh, Dao living together, in which the Nung people account for 48% of the commune's population (including Nung Chao and Nung Phan Sling). The Nung people have lived here for a long time with many unique cultural features from cuisine to customs and practices, especially preserving traditional costumes.

According to the commune cultural officer, we went to Na Thi village to meet Mrs. Hoang Thi Niem, 60 years old, one of the people who is preserving the indigo dyeing method. Mrs. Niem said: Ever since I was a child, I often wore indigo shirts in my daily work and production. When I was 15-16 years old, my grandmothers and mothers passed on to me the secret to mastering the indigo incubation and fabric dyeing. In the past, indigo dyeing was done meticulously, but until now, I still maintain the dyeing method that the previous generation taught me. Every year, I grow indigo plants to dye fabrics and make clothes for my children and grandchildren in the family.

Ms. Niem told us more: A traditional costume of the Nung people includes a scarf, belt, long dress and pants (for women), while men only have a long dress. To have a set of indigo dress, one must go through many meticulous stages, from planting and harvesting indigo plants to dyeing, drying and sewing the dress. To dye 10 meters of fabric, 5kg of indigo plants are needed, the soaking, wringing and drying stages are repeated over and over again during 4 dyeing sessions. If the weather is favorable and sunny, the indigo fabric only needs to be dried in the sun for 10 to 15 days, but if it rains, this stage lasts a whole month. After being dried in the sun, the fabric becomes dark blue and can be used to sew clothes, scarves, hats, bags, etc.

Directly observing Mrs. Niem’s indigo dyeing process, we realized that manual indigo dyeing is a process that requires patience and perseverance from Nung ethnic women. From that meticulousness and care, the fabrics produced are durable, beautiful, with a fresh indigo color. Indigo fabric is very cool and clean, does not cause itching or skin irritation and is very durable. During the dyeing season, the hands of Nung women are also green with the indigo color.

Preserving the practice of manual indigo dyeing instead of industrial indigo fabric products is a solution to preserve and promote the cultural value of the ethnic costumes of the Nung people in Van Thuy commune. It is known that in recent years, the preservation and promotion of the value of indigo costumes have been of interest to the government and people, especially the young generation in the commune. Currently, about 80% of the Nung ethnic people in the commune have at least one set of traditional costumes, of which about 20% know how to dye indigo fabric. Every year, on special occasions such as Ban Cam festival (6th of the first lunar month); national solidarity festival... even on their wedding day, the bride and groom who are Nung ethnic people will choose indigo as their wedding dress.

Ms. Nguyen Dieu Linh, 27 years old, Ban Cam village shared: I am a Nung ethnic. Each member of my family has at least one set of traditional costumes. Every year, my family members often wear indigo shirts on holidays and Tet. I am very proud of the traditional costumes of my ethnic group, so on our wedding day, my husband and I decided to wear indigo shirts as wedding dresses, thereby contributing to preserving and conserving the cultural beauty of our ethnic group.

Together with the people, the Party Committee and the local government always pay attention to preserving the indigo dyeing craft as well as preserving and promoting traditional costumes. Mr. Luu Van Hoa, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: In order for the indigo dyeing craft and indigo clothing to not be lost, the Party Committee and the local government have actively encouraged and motivated people, especially the younger generation, to learn how to dye indigo; incorporated the regulation of wearing traditional costumes on holidays and Tet into the village's conventions and regulations; coordinated with the District Department of Culture and Information to conduct surveys, evaluate and propose solutions to preserve and promote the Nung ethnic costumes as well as indigo dyeing methods such as: actively propagating to people to preserve the indigo dyeing method; Encourage schools to encourage parents to sew ethnic costumes for their children to wear to school and on holidays, and at the same time include content about traditional costumes of the Nung ethnic group in particular and other ethnic groups in general in lessons so that students will love their ethnic costumes more... Every year, we organize activities that combine wearing ethnic costumes with sli singing on festivals and cultural festivals of ethnic groups in the area.

Ms. Do Thanh Loan, Head of the District Culture and Information Department, said: Van Thuy Commune is one of the places that has done a good job of preserving and promoting the cultural values of traditional costumes of the Nung Chao and Nung Phan Slinh ethnic groups. In order for the Nung ethnic costumes to continue to be preserved and promoted, the department has advised the District People's Committee to deploy a plan to implement the Bac Son District Tourism Development Project for the period 2021 - 2025, including exploiting tourism products associated with traditional crafts such as indigo dyeing activities of the Nung ethnic group in Van Thuy commune; coordinating with local authorities to propagate and raise people's awareness of the importance of preserving the cultural values of costumes. In the coming time, the department will continue to advise the District People's Committee to more synchronously and effectively deploy the contents and projects on preserving and promoting the values of costumes of ethnic groups in general and the Nung ethnic group in particular.

Arriving at Van Thuy commune, we can easily see lush indigo beds planted on hillsides, in home gardens or in people's fields. It can be seen that today, although there are many types of industrial fabric dyes and ready-made indigo dyes, the Nung ethnic people in Van Thuy commune still choose to dye indigo themselves using the traditional method for generations to preserve the beauty of the ethnic group and pass it on to the next generation.

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