The "Kingdom" of Brick Kilns Becomes a Contemporary Heritage

Once flourishing, thousands of brick kilns in Vinh Long have been wiped out. To preserve the values left by their ancestors, the locality has established a project to preserve the contemporary heritage of brick kilns.

About the "kingdom" of brick kilns

According to many elders in the area, from 1990-1995, along both banks of Tien River, Co Chien River, Mang Thit River, Thay Cai Canal... brick kilns were seen everywhere.

The "kingdom" of brick kilns along both banks of Thay Cai canal, Mang Thit district, Vinh Long province has become a contemporary heritage.

But the most numerous are along Thay Cai canal. Running from the beginning of the canal in My Phuoc commune to the Mang river junction, Nhon Phu commune, Mang Thit district, hundreds of brick kilns stretch out as far as the eye can see.

In addition to the tangible and intangible heritages that have been recorded and recognized, the brick and pottery kiln area is also a heritage of production methods and unique traditional production tools. Recently, domestic and foreign tourism experts have surveyed, and tourists have experienced and learned about brick and pottery production activities and learned about the lives of the villagers. This shows a good sign and the potential of tourism in this heritage village is gradually being affirmed. Currently, there are 364 households committed to keeping 653 brick kilns that have stopped operating to do tourism . Vice Chairman of Mang Thit District People's Committee Nguyen Chi Quyet

At its peak, the entire Vinh Long province had more than 2,000 brick kilns, of which 80% were concentrated in Mang Thit district, with more than 12,000 workers participating in production, nearly 50 million products per year (accounting for about 50% of the industrial production value of the entire Vinh Long province). However, due to increasing production costs, outdated technology, competition, and reduced market demand, the red brick and ceramic production industry in Vinh Long has declined. "In the past 10 years, the entire province has had more than 1,200 brick and ceramic kilns demolished, currently the number of brick and ceramic kilns remaining in the province is about 850," informed Mr. Lu Quang Ngoi, Chairman of the Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, in My Phuoc commune, used to own two brick kilns and dozens of workers. Mr. Hung said that since he was born, he has seen brick kilns towering over his homeland. When he grew up and got married, his parents divided him a garden located along the Thay Cai canal. He and his wife chose the profession of producing terracotta bricks to start their business. "When the craft village was at its most prosperous, my brick kiln worked almost day and night, boats docked to get bricks, and transported raw soil to and from the port busily. This profession supported the whole family, and the children had the opportunity to study," Mr. Hung shared. However, for many years, his family no longer produced bricks. Although regretting having to say goodbye to the traditional profession, Mr. Hung, like many other brick production establishments, soon changed their profession, stabilizing their livelihood with durian and red-fleshed dragon fruit gardens right on the land where they used to produce bricks.

Why desolation?

Also located on the banks of Thay Cai canal, the ceramic brick production facility of Mr. Duong Chi Hien in Nhon Phu commune, Mang Thit district is still in operation. Mr. Hien said that he has been in the business of producing terracotta bricks for more than 30 years.

Tourists visit Vinh Long red pottery production area.

"When I was young, I worked for my relatives' brick kilns. From there, I accumulated experience and capital to own my own brick kiln. In 2004, I started my business, pooling all my money to invest in building the first kiln. At that time, the bricks produced were not enough to sell, so after only a few years I was clearly better off. Then in 2007 and 2008, I built two more kilns," Hien said. Then the traditional craft village fell into decline and became desolate for more than a decade. In the trend of developing production technology, the traditional handmade brick and ceramic craft village was visibly weaker. The price of raw clay increased, the price of fuel (rice husk) also increased, leading to high production costs, unable to compete with similar products on the market. "According to calculations, with a traditional single kiln, to burn a finished brick in 7 days and nights, 350g of rice husk is needed. With a continuous kiln (from 6 adjacent kilns, using the heat from one kiln to burn the adjacent kiln), each brick only needs 120g of rice husk. The quality is the same, the burning time is the same, but the fuel cost is reduced by more than half, so the traditional brick kiln certainly cannot survive," Mr. Hien analyzed the reason why Vinh Long brick and ceramic village lost right at home.

From desolation to heritage

Not wanting to turn his back on the traditional profession, Mr. Hien spent time researching and understanding market needs to adjust production and create suitable products to maintain production.

During its heyday, Vinh Long had more than 2,280 brick kilns, contributing 50% of the local industrial production value.

From simple brick and tile production, Mr. Hien has partially converted to red ceramic production. Because they are all products made from baked clay, red ceramics are still combined with burning in a brick kiln with a ratio of 50% handicraft ceramics, 50% tube bricks, and tile bricks. "I mainly make decorative handicraft ceramics, decorative red bricks, serving tourists," said Mr. Hien. According to Mr. Hien, when the Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee approved the Mang Thit contemporary heritage project and the planning project to build a brick and ceramic kiln area to become a unique local craft village tourism product, he felt like he "struck gold" and took the lead in participating. He shared: "I immediately started building a red ceramic coffee area, displaying Vinh Long handicraft ceramic products, combined with a check-in stop for tourists. I also opened the door for visitors to experience the brick and ceramic production process at my kiln. For tourists who want to explore other places, I have invested in a tourist boat to travel on the river." Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee Lu Quang Ngoi said that the ancient kilns that have been abandoned for more than a century will be restored and arranged as a unique outdoor art exhibition space of Vinh Long. "The contemporary heritage of the "kingdom" of ceramic bricks is the crystallization of the creative labor production process that our ancestors have painstakingly created for over 100 years, so it must be preserved and its value promoted, becoming a product of craft village tourism, community tourism, combined with unique experiences in the future," Mr. Ngoi added. Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/vuong-quoc-lo-gach-thanh-di-san-duong-dai-192250103005140078.htm