The story of La Chi cotton

Not flashy, not ostentatious, the traditional costumes of the La Chi people in Hoang Su Phi, Ha Giang province have the simple beauty of the quiet indigo color. In each cotton thread, each stitch carries the image of the mother, of the grandmother, of each generation of La Chi women. And quietly, peacefully, the La Chi people wear their traditional costumes every day, like the wordless memories that the land and people have written together.

Ban Phung with terraced fields stretching like silk ribbons, entwined with the clouds and sky. In the midst of that vastness, people can still easily see the image of La Chi women in traditional costumes. La Chi people do not wait for festivals to wear traditional costumes, they wear it every day, going to the fields, going to the market, working in the fields.

To make a traditional costume, it must go through 13 manual stages with rudimentary tools.

The simplicity at first glance of the traditional costumes of the La Chi people turns out to be created through a manual process that lasts an entire season. All stages are “self-sufficient”, the La Chi people not only weave clothes for each other but also weave solidarity.

On the carefully selected land, cotton is planted in February. If the weather is favorable, after 6 months, the cotton will bloom into round clusters, signaling the harvest season. The whole village seems to live in a unified rhythm, each pair of hands taking turns harvesting and drying the cotton, sharing the work, intertwining rhythmically like a symphony.

The La Chi women living nearby gathered in small groups, some rolling cotton, some picking cotton, some spinning thread, some weaving cloth. Laughter mingled with the creaking of the looms, mixed with the indigo scent of drying cloth wafting in the breeze from the distant mountainsides.

Traditional costume of La Chi women.

Each piece of fabric is dyed indigo, then dried over and over again so that the indigo gradually permeates the fabric with a rich, dark color. The indigo scent is like a distinctive mark of the cotton-weaving season, spreading throughout the space, filling the sky. When it’s time to embroider, around the red fire in the middle of the stilt house, the women gather together, their hands moving quickly, their eyes admiring each thread, each simple yet affectionate pattern, as if connecting each other’s hearts through the fragile yet strong threads. Some whisper to each other about how to do it, how to mix colors, four-petal flower patterns or delicate borders, others listen attentively, each word slow but profound. Because, for the La Chi people, embroidery and sewing are one of the top criteria to evaluate the qualities, ethics, dexterity and diligence of women.

Wearing clothes made by oneself is a way to affirm that culture is not just for preservation, but to live with the times. When society changes, many people look for ready-made clothes, but La Chi people still choose to make their own clothes, to preserve their identity.

The La Chi women are quiet and resilient, not only the keepers of the family, but also the storytellers with their hands and hearts. Through each cotton thread and stitch, they tell the story of a small ethnic group in the high mountains but never lose their soul and character.

Khanh Linh (Ha Giang Newspaper)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/cau-chuyen-tu-soi-bong-nguoi-la-chi-227894.htm