Keeping the traditional fire alive amidst the challenges of time

(CLO) Located about 30km south of Hanoi, Dong Cuu village, Thuong Tin district, is famous for its traditional embroidery craft for generations. This is not only the place that embroiders the unique dragon robes in Hanoi but also a famous embroidery village for the costumes of the spirit mediums in the Mother Goddess worship.

Embroidery village is hundreds of years old

According to the information recorded on the royal decree, Dong Cuu embroidery village worships Mr. Le Cong Hanh, a Doctor during the reign of King Le Than Tong (1637), as the founder of the embroidery profession. Legend has it that after a trip to the North, he learned the embroidery technique there and then brought it back to pass on to the people, including the people of Dong Cuu village.

Unlike neighboring villages in the district that embroider lace, embroider pictures, embroider flags, embroider Ao Dai,... Dong Cuu Village is the only embroidery village in the North that specializes in embroidering royal robes for kings. However, in order to maintain the craft village, in addition to embroidering and restoring royal robes, Dong Cuu villagers also produce embroidered products for festivals, especially costumes for mediums.

Thanks to the skillful and meticulous hands of artisans, products from Dong Cuu village have become famous throughout the country.

It is known that decades ago, the people of Dong Cuu village mainly worked in forestry, but due to low productivity, people's lives were still difficult and deprived, so gradually, they switched to focusing on traditional embroidery. Up to now, Dong Cuu village has up to 80% of households working in embroidery and thanks to that, people's lives have improved and the economy has also developed.

Concerns about succession

Dong Cuu village embroidery has a long history, spanning hundreds of years, originating from the feudal period when embroidery products were commonly used in the royal court and temples. The embroidery profession here has been passed down from generation to generation, maintained and developed over time. However, besides efforts to preserve and promote the value of the profession, artisans in the village are still worried about inheriting the traditional profession when those values ​​are gradually being lost.

Faced with the concern that old values ​​are gradually disappearing, Ms. Dam Thi Pha, owner of Doc Pha sewing workshop in Dong Cuu village, shared: “In Dong Cuu, the embroidery staff are usually long-time workers. Although she has been working in the profession for 20 years, she sees that not many people still follow the profession, partly because of cheap labor and high professional requirements. Embroidering a dragon robe takes about half a year but the profit is not much. There are many reasons from income issues to job requirements, so there are not many meticulous workers left to research, the embroidery profession is also fading away and gradually losing its value.”

Embroiderer at Doc Pha workshop.

It is known that the craftsmen in Dong Cuu village are all experienced, skilled and have been in the profession for a long time. Embroidering a dragon robe depends on the needs of the party requesting the restoration. For small dragon robes, the restoration time is 5-6 months, while restoring large dragon robes by hand embroidery takes up to a year to complete.

Embroidery seems simple and easy, but in reality it is very hard work, requiring meticulousness, patience and high concentration. Up to now, although there are many workshops in neighboring communes that also embroider dragon robes, they are only machine-made reproductions or produced from cheap processing workshops.

Dong Cuu craft village not only restores eye-catching royal robes but also embroiders “royal scarves and royal ao dai”. The spirit of spirit mediumship is no longer strange to traditional cultural values, however, in Dong Cuu village, spirit mediumship scarves and ao dai also face many challenges. Currently, processing workshops have sprung up, so the craft village has to compete highly, which also affects the profession.

Sharing with reporters, Ms. Pha said: “Nowadays, being copied or robbed of customers is too normal. Whatever model we deliver, people will copy it, but the market goods are still market goods. Customers know right away which product is which. In addition, business is difficult now because we have to compete with other craft villages. Now, people are imitating and even devaluing the market, unlike in the past. Along with the development of technology, young people are importing goods to sell, taking goods from other places."

Ms. Dam Thi Pha is the owner of Doc Pha garment factory in Dong Cuu village.

Sharing more about the difficulties of Doc Pha sewing workshop in particular and sewing workshops in Dong Cuu village in general, Ms. Pha also said that the profession is gradually fading away. Partly because the young generation does not understand and research the profession of embroidering dragon robes, lacking knowledge leading to the restoration of dragon robes or embroidering royal robes and scarves lacking soul and substance, partly because now machines are developed, so they depend on machines and cannot improve their skills.

Mr. Nguyen The Du, owner of Du Bien embroidery facility and Chairman of Dong Cuu Traditional Embroidery Association, shared more about the difficulties: "Unlike the older generation, the younger generation now focuses on quantity and emphasizes profit, so the quality of the products is poor, along with the sale of goods at a low price, which greatly affects the value of the profession."

Keeping the passion for the profession amidst the challenges of time

To become a famous traditional embroidery village as it is today, Dong Cuu village has gone through a long process of effort, persistently building its brand and promoting creativity, inherited from many generations. Currently, Dong Cuu embroidery village is gathering talented, dedicated artisans, ready to teach the craft to everyone, to preserve and develop the traditional embroidery craft. The village's core artisans always preserve the ancient embroidery techniques, keeping the traditional features in every stitch, not chasing after tastes or profits, along with prioritizing quality over quantity.

Dong Cuu embroidery village, Thuong Tin district.

As the Chairman of the Dong Cuu Traditional Embroidery Association, Mr. Du said: “Currently, Dong Cuu embroidery village is trying to combine tradition with modernity to keep up with the era of technology and developing society. In the village, there are also a large number of sewing workshops investing in computerized embroidery machines, which partly support artisans in hand embroidery. Applying computerized embroidery technology also helps to make product prices more suitable to the market and the needs of buyers because hand embroidery is often expensive and customers will find it difficult to accept."

Determined to maintain traditional values ​​so that the craft village does not fade away, Dong Cuu embroidery village has also taken the initiative in establishing the Dong Cuu Traditional Embroidery Association, and with the attention and support of the district and commune, it has also opened classes to improve the skills of young embroiderers. The elders and artisans also organize classes to teach the younger generation to preserve and promote the ancestral craft, in addition to maintaining the ancestral death anniversary on the 12th day of the 6th lunar month every year.

Article and photos: Thu Huyen, Thuy Linh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lang-theu-dong-cuu-giu-lua-truyen-thong-giua-thach-thuc-thoi-gian-post327150.html