Table des matières

Acknowledgments

About the authors

Sylvie Fanchette

Preface to the new edition

Michael Digregorio

Preface

Foreword

Ancient craft amid by village cultural heritage

Handicrafts in the red river Delta: history repeating itself

• AN ANCIENT HANDICRAFT REGION INTEGRATED WITHIN AN ORIGINAL POLITICAL AND URBAN SYSTEM
• Ancient history: the importance of ties with China
• The Red River Upper Delta as cradle of Vietnamese handicrafts
• Exchange of goods and know-how with China
• Craft activities based on specific commercial relations between cities and villages
• The Quarter of the 36 Streets or 36 Guilds: the link between the trade town and craft villages
• Vietnamese cities as centres of power and trade
• Craft activities linked to rural market and communication hubs
• A plain that is subject to partial flooding during the monsoon
• The collectivist overhaul of the production system in craft villages
• The role of the state in supporting certain activities
• The role of co-operatives in disseminating and modernising handicraft techniques
• Craft activities wiped out by co-operativism
• THE ADVENT OF THE MARKET ECONOMY: WITH OR WITHOUT THE STATE
• The early days of Đổi Mới: some villages were ready for the market economy
• The failure of the collectivist system and the laxity of local leaders
• The entrepreneurial spirit of merchant villages: lawbreaking, derring-do and business acumen
• The 1980s and 1990s: the tough lessons of free enterprise
• Tapping into villagers’ initiative after decades in the co-operative straightjacket
• Modernising and choosing industrialisation: innovation and entrepreneurship
• The disappearance of the least profitable crafts in Hà Nội’s peri-urban area
• Historical perspective: rapid turnover, market adaptation and the ancestral roots of handicrafts
• Hà Tây: the province of a thousand crafts
• Bắc Ninh: cradle of Vietnamese civilisation, Buddhism and… trade
• CRAFT VILLAGES TODAY: NEW FORMS OF PRODUCTION
• Family-run businesses in craft village clusters
• Villages pooled into clusters
• The origins of clusters: high division of labour and specialised villages
• Villages as a densely populated and multifunctional space subject to the stress of growth
• Challenges to improving rural planning in the Red River Delta
• The difficulties of managing environmental challenges
• Labellisation of craft products
• PROMOTING THE CULTURAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF THE DELTA THROUGH TOURISM
• RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE: THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF HANDICRAFTS
• Revival of cultural heritage since Đổi Mới
• Festivals and the worship of crafts’ patron saints
• The symbolic nature of games and pastimes
• VILLAGES OF THE DELTA: A RICH ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE
• VIETNAMESE TOURISM SEEKS TO DIVERSIFY
• Growing demand for cultural tourism
• Tourism supply needs to diversify
• Why contact with foreigners is in the interest of many artisans
• A shared interest in craft villages
• Spreading the word about cultural tourism
• The Museum of Ethnology: a living museum on craft villages

Itineraries of craft villages and of cultural heritage

Craft village and cultural heritage itineraries around Hà Nội

Itinerary 1. Fine furniture & paper (Bắc Ninh)

• ĐÌNH BẢNG AND ITS HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
• GETTING TO ĐÌNH BẢNG
• The communal house (đình)
• ĐÔ TEMPLE
• ĐỒNG KỴ AND THE CLUSTER OF FINE FURNITURE VILLAGES
• GETTING TO ĐỒNG KỴ
• THE CONTEXT
• 4 x 4 (x 5)
• So how did the Dongkinese move from selling four-legged friends to making three-piece suites?
• Space: the final frontier
• THE (NEW) CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• A walk through Đồng Kỵ
• A walk through Phù Khê
• DÝÕNG Ổ, CHÂM KHÊ AND THE PAPER PRODUCING VILLAGES
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• Barking up the right tree
• A paper trail through Dýõng Ổ (Phong Khê)
• LIM HILL AND PHẬT TÍCH PAGODA
• THE RETURN OF THE MUMMY
• Another strange story for the road back to Hà Nội
• A lover’s discourse: fragments

Itinerary 1 b. Pottery villages (Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang)

• PHÙ LÃNG
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT(S): A POTTED HISTORY
• For whom the bell always tolls twice
• THINGS TO SEE
• The kilns
• The potters’ workshops
• The Velvet Revolution
• A few things to look out for:
• Annual festivals
• A walk round Phù Lãng
• THỔ HÀ
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT(S)
• WHERE DID ALL THE KILNS GO?
• THINGS TO SEE
• The communal house (đình)
• The Đoan Minh Pagoda
• Other interesting buildings and constructions to be seen throughout the village
• The annual festival

Itinerary 2. Pottery, goldbeating & traditional medicine (Gia Lâm)

• BÁT TRÀNG
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• Chinese ceramics please the eyes; Vietnamese ceramics please the heart…
• Eaux Rouges in first gear
• THINGS TO SEE
• THINGS TO SEE MORE CLOSELY
• Bát Tràng in the 1930s
• A potted glossary of baked clay
• 1) Preparing the clay
• 2) Shaping
• 3) Decoration and glaze (enamel, varnish)
• Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
• Etymological interlude
• Bát Tràng ‘Bricks’
• Firing
• THINGS TO SEE EVEN MORE CLOSELY
• THE ANNUAL FESTIVALS
• You break it, you pay for it
• A walk through Bát Tràng
• KIÊU KỴ
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• A STOPOVER BEFORE HEADING TO NINH HIỆP:
• GETTING THERE
• THE SITE AND ITS FESTIVITIES
• NINH HIỆP
• GETTING THERE
• THE SITE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFTS
• The reluctant herbalist
• THINGS TO BE SEEN
• A stroll through time in Ninh Hiệp

Itinerary 3. Prints, metalbeating & burnt bamboo (Bắc Ninh)

• LADY Ỷ LAN’S TEMPLE:
• GETTING THERE
• BÚT THÁP PAGODA
• GETTING THERE
• DÂU PAGODA
• GETTING THERE
• Festival at the Dâu Pagoda
• ĐÔNG HỒ BLOCK PRINTS
• LET’S GO TO ĐÔNG HỒ!
• THE CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• Money to burn?
• “Come up and see my polychrome etchings…”
• METALBEATING IN ĐẠI BÁI
• GETTING FROM ĐÔNG HỒ TO ĐẠI BÁI
• The Interbellum Generation… A description of Đại Bái
• THE ORIGINS OF THE CRAFT
• THE CRAFT TODAY
• Going environmental
• Let’s begin with some positive stuff
• Now for the less positive stuff
• A stroll around Đại Bái
• Mission: the Quest for the Holy Kettle
• XUÂN LAI: BURNT BAMBOO FURNITURE
• GETTING TO XUÂN LAI
• THE CRAFT
• A walk through Xuân Lai

Itinerary 4. Textile villages around Hà Ðông (Hà Tây)

• THE CONTEXT
• Sericulture for starters
• VẠN PHÚC
• GETTING THERE
• A STITCH IN TIME
• Weaving: a story
• MILKING SILK AND ITS ILK
• THINGS TO SEE
• CULTURAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN VẠN PHÚC
• Other things to see
• A workshop to visit: a helmsman among weavers
• LA KHÊ
• GETTING THERE
• A CRAFT HISTORY
• THINGS TO SEE
• LA PHÙ
• GETTING THERE
• LA STORY
• From silk to knitting, cheap sweets and market forces
• Frenzied activity: the fevered effervescence of La Phù
• A stroll from soft clothing to hard candy
• THE ANNUAL VILLAGE FESTIVAL

Itinerary 5. Lacquer, wood & horn (south of Hà Nôi)

• HẠ THÁI
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• My favourite matter just has to be lacquer…
• What is lacquer?
• Lacquer what?
• Lacquer why?
• Lacquer how?
• Lacquer what, exactly?
• Lacquer and the Fine Arts
• THE CRAFT
• Lacquer artisans who still use sõn ta (traditional lacquer)
• In Hạ Thái:
• In Hà Nội:
• “My heart longs for the lass with lacquered teeth…”
• A stroll between lacquer and places of worship
• NHỊ KHÊ
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• Sacred and profane xylophony
• NGUYỄN TRÃI, THE TONKINESE TALLEYRAND
• A walk through Nhị Khê
• THỤY ỨNG
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• DÝ DỤ
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• Divine idols
• THINGS TO SEE
• ĐẬU PAGODA
• The Return of the Mummy
• Tomorrow, I’ll burn the top…
• Next century, I’ll take off the bottom bandages…

Itinerary 6. Embroidery and inlaying (south Hà Tây)

• ĐẠI LỘ TEMPLE
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THINGS TO SEE
• CHỦ ÐỒNG TỬ TEMPLE (AT TỰ NHIÊN)
• GETTING THERE
• Lên ðồng: the medium is the message
• TỰ NHIÊN ÐÌNH
• Kind hearts and coronets (and nothing else)
• QUẤT ĐỘNG
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• WHY IS SO MUCH EMBROIDERY DONE IN QUẤT ĐỘNG AND IN THE SURROUNDING AREA?
• A stitch in plenty of time
• Stitched up?
• A description of embroidery, late 19^th century
• THE CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• Needle time: an old embroiderer still looks sharp
• In stitches
• CHUYÊN MỸ
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• WHAT IS WORK WITH MOTHER-OF-PEARL LIKE?
• WHAT KINDS OF OBJECTS ARE INLAID WITH MOTHER-OF-PEARL?
• WHERE DOES THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL COME FROM?
• WHAT IS ‘INLAYING’ EGGSHELLS IN LACQUER?
• WHAT ARE THE LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAYERS LIKE?
• The desertion of the village by artisans and the Đồng Kỵ Connection
• A walk through Chuyên Mỹ

Itinerary 7. Bamboo & wickerwork (southwest Hà Tây)

• CHUÔNG: THE KINGDOM OF THE CONICAL HAT
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• U or non-U?
• A folkloric hat-trick
• THE PLOUGHMAN’S LUNCH
• NON MULTUM, SED MULTA
• NON-STOP PRODUCTION
• A walk in Chuông
• Mr. Cảnh and his “craft that stops you starving”
• CANH HOẠCH
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFTS
• Fanning the flames of desire
• A walk in Canh Hoạch
• QUẢNG PHÚ CẦU
• GETTING THERE
• LÝU THÝỢNG
• GETTING THERE
• THE CONTEXT
• THE CRAFT
• THINGS TO SEE
• BỐI KHÊ PAGODA, ONE LAST STOP
• GETTING TO THE PAGODA

Itinerary 8. Bamboo and rattan (west Hà Tây)

• HỒ CHÍ MINH TRAIL MUSEUM
• GETTING THERE
• THE PAGODA TRAIL (AND ONE TEMPLE)
• GETTING TO PHỤNG CHÂU
• PHÚ LỊNH TỰ PAGODA
• PHÝÕNG BẢN TEMPLE
• GETTING THERE
• INTO THE KARST COUNTRY
• GETTING THERE
• TRẦM PAGODA
• THE TRĂM GIAN PAGODA (“PAGODA OF THE HUNDRED BAYS”)
• GETTING THERE
• The Meteorological Monk, or the Revenge of the Mummy
• GETTING TO THE BASKETWARE VILLAGES OF CHÝÕNG MỸ DISTRICT
• CHÝÕNG MỸ: ALL THE EGGS IN ONE BASKET
• CONTEXT
• The home of rattan: a basket case in the making
• PHÚ VINH
• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• Where it all began: the distant origins of bamboo craft
• The modern era
• The collectivist interlude
• Relations between villages, division of labour and the master-craftsman’s workshop
• Nguyễn Văn Trung: the rattan king of Phú Vinh
• ORGANISATION OF THE CRAFT
• RAW MATERIALS AND CRAFT CHARACTERISTICS
• An example
• The problem of export: 95% of Phú Nghĩa products are sold overseas
• A stroll through the basket village of Phú Vinh
• ÐÔNG PHÝÕNG YÊN
• GETTING THERE
• Ðồi Ba, Yên Kiên and Phù Yên

Itinerary 9. Food-processing villages (west of Hà Nôi)

• SÕN ÐỘNG, THE BUDDHA SCULPTORS’ VILLAGE
• GETTING THERE
• CONTEXT
• Sacred art meets ‘saucy’ animistic ritual
• CÁT QUẾ, DÝÕNG LIỄU AND MINH KHAI
• CONTEXT
• CÁT QUẾ: THE TAPIOCA VILLAGE
• GETTING THERE
• Initiative and diversification
• DÝÕNG LIỄU: CANNA STARCH AND CANNA VERMICELLI
• MINH KHAI:
• RICE VERMICELLI, CANNA VERMICELLI AND RICE NOODLE VILLAGE
• A walk through the food and agriculture villages
• THE PAGODA OF THE MASTER (CHÙA THẦY)

Craft villages

Cultural and architectural heritage

Festivals near Hà Nội

Glossary of Vietnamese words

Bibliography