"If I don't study, who will my children and grandchildren follow?"
In the memory of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhum (80 years old, Gian Bi village, Hoa Bac commune), in the past, brocade was the fabric that every Co Tu girl when she reached adulthood wished to wear. However, not everyone had the chance to own it, because hand-woven brocade was very expensive. Back then, in the Co Tu lowlands like Hoa Bac, she only occasionally saw rich people using it. Then, in the 80s of the last century, Mrs. Nhum no longer saw anyone weaving brocade. "About 40 - 50 years ago, the brocade weaving profession of our people no longer had any workers following", Mrs. Nhum said sadly: "Even my mother here cannot learn the profession left by our ancestors...".
The Co Tu brocade weaving craft in Da Nang City has revived but is facing many difficulties.
Therefore, in 2018, when the local government organized brocade weaving classes, Ms. Nhum told her daughter, Dinh Thi Tin (48 years old), to try to attend. Her words of encouragement also included the wishes that she did not have the opportunity to fulfill when she was young. 20 sisters from Ta Lang and Gian Bi villages were gathered into the Co Tu Brocade Weaving Cooperative in Hoa Bac commune. Two excellent brocade weavers in Dong Giang district (Quang Nam) directly taught the class, imparting basic to advanced skills.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai (46 years old, living in Ta Lang village) was fascinated by the fabric lines and patterns on the brocades of the women in Nam Giang, Tay Giang, Dong Giang (Quang Nam) and always wondered why the Co Tu women in Hoa Bac could not weave. Learning that the brocade weaving profession had long been lost, Ms. Mai immediately invited other women in the village to learn the craft.
The first days of school were really difficult for the sisters... "We were used to using machetes and hoes, going to the fields in the morning and coming home in the evening. Now, in front of the loom, my hands kept shaking. There were times when I wanted to put down the loom and go to the forest... But the traditional craft of our people has been lost, if we don't learn it in our generation, who will our descendants follow?", Ms. Tin shared.
Through the first difficult days, Mrs. Tin and the other sisters gradually got used to the clicking sound of the loom. The hands and feet of the sisters and mothers, from being clumsy, gradually became agile with the movements of spinning, stretching the thread on the loom, threading the thread, attaching beads... When they were proficient, they mixed the threads themselves, weaving the patterns that they had previously been fascinated with, Mrs. Tin became passionate without realizing it.
NEED OUTPUT FOR PRODUCTS
After more than 1 year of apprenticeship, and 1 year of advanced study, Ms. Tin has learned and improved many skills to weave the brocade that she wants. The mismatched and misaligned fabrics have gradually been replaced by eye-catching fabrics with sophisticated weaving lines. The beads are also threaded into the threads in a more balanced way. Now, after 4 years of studying and pursuing her passion, Ms. Tin can weave many different types of fabrics, such as ao dai fabric, vest fabric, backpack fabric, handbags, scarves, etc. The traditional brocade of the Co Tu people is favored by many international tourists and follows them back home on flights.
Urgent need to preserve Co Tu costumes
According to the People's Committee of Da Nang City, although the brocade weaving craft has been restored, the products are not enough to supply the community. The Co Tu people in the city have to order brocade from the mountainous districts of Quang Nam and Ha Luoi (Thua Thien-Hue). The brocade of the Co Tu people in Da Nang still retains the traditional patterns but the material is industrial fiber. The People's Committee of Da Nang City assessed that if it is not preserved in time, in the near future, the traditional costumes will be lost and the traditional cultural identity cannot be restored.
However, not many women have the same high skills as Ms. Tin. Because of her passion, she can stay in this profession, but it is not easy to make a living because the income is too low. "Each day, the fastest way is to weave a piece of fabric about 40 cm long. If you work diligently and without errors, you can make 2 pieces of Ao Dai fabric per month, and at most, you can sell it for less than 2 million VND," Ms. Tin said.
Ms. Le Thi Thu Ha, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hoa Bac commune, said that since 2018, the commune has oriented the Co Tu people to restore the brocade weaving profession. Workers have learned to weave fabric, make their own costumes, decorations, etc. "However, brocade weaving only stops at restoring cultural features and making tourism products. Developing the profession to develop the economy and increase income is not possible, because there is no product output, the price of materials for weaving fabric is quite high...", Ms. Ha acknowledged.
In the Project to support and promote the culture of the Co Tu ethnic group in Da Nang City for the period 2022 - 2030, the People's Committee of Da Nang City also set a goal to restore and develop the brocade weaving profession. The good news is that Da Nang will support traditional costumes for 100% of Co Tu students and teachers (2 sets/year). In the coming years, in addition to tourism products, with thousands of new costumes that need to be sewn, brocade weavers will have steady work, contributing to the revival of this traditional profession...
(to be continued)
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