Discover the Truong Son mountain range through zeng patterns

Ms. Blup Thi Ha is a young person who has many innovations in weaving zèng.

The art and craft of weaving Zeng of the Ta Oi people has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage since 2016.

Patterns are the world around us

After fondling the cloth for a long time, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (34 years old, a tourist from Da Nang City) asked the Director of the Azakooh Blup Thi Ha Green Brocade Cooperative about the meaning of the patterns and motifs on the cloth.

“I looked at it and thought that the consecutive triangles were a scene of rolling hills. And that was the image of a man raising his hands to the sky, seemingly dancing…”, Ms. Huong guessed.

And as tourists see, Ms. Blup Thi Ha said, the Ta Oi ethnic people's zèng weaving products have stylized patterns from a visual perspective of the surrounding world.

“As a profession passed down through generations, the patterns and motifs have been preserved by generations, becoming decorative motifs on each piece of zeng fabric from ancient times,” said Ms. Ha.

According to researcher Tran Nguyen Khanh Phong, each pattern has its own meaning, contributing to the overall pattern in Ta Oi art.

Mr. Phong said that on the costumes of the Ta Oi people, weavers used 3 main types of shapes: triangles (4 styles); diamond shapes (2 styles); straight lines (1 style).

“With 3 types and 7 styles, although few, viewers do not get bored, do not feel monotonous, but feel and listen to the swaying of flowers and leaves, the joy of dancing people, the noisy chirping of birds and wild animals,” Mr. Phong commented.

From his research, Mr. Phong divided decorative patterns into 5 complexes with 76 different patterns on zèng fabric, including: animals, plants, objects, people, and worldviews.

The community tourism model, combining the introduction of traditional products with tours and tourist routes, has also been formed, contributing to the sustainable development of the weaving profession. Weaving products with strong identities are one of the items that many tourists to A Luoi love.

"Upgrade" for zèng

Artisan Mai Thi Hop said that the images often chosen to weave on the Ta Oi fabric frame are fish bones, spiders, bats, pheasants, butterflies. The plant patterns are diverse with palm trees, ferns, bamboo shoots... along with symbolic images of long houses, communal houses, stairs, fences, spikes...

In particular, the Ta Oi people always express their desire for the interaction between heaven and earth - humans, humans - gods, so the image of stars or constellations always appears on the Zeng panels. The most obvious type is the type of 4 diamonds arranged together to form a square; 4 diamonds arranged next to each other to form a straight line...

Ms. Le Thi Them, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of A Luoi district, said that the unique point of zèng is that right from the moment they touch the loom, Ta Oi women visualize and meticulously hand-sewn white beaded lines into patterns that stand out on a black background.

And to bring zèng to a wider audience, Director of Azakooh Blup Green Brocade Cooperative Thi Ha has come up with many creative ways to turn zèng into a product with a reasonable price but still imbued with indigenous culture.

A flower is “painted” with beads on a pair of women's clogs.

She has adopted the previous creations of her mother - famous Zeng weaver Mai Thi Hop - to make the fabric multi-colored, through woven threads in yellow, navy blue, green...

She also skillfully created new patterns that were consistent with traditional values. In 2021, the Green Brocade Cooperative was established with about 120 people, divided into weaving groups and product processing groups. The Cooperative has created about 30 products as souvenirs.

The gentle strokes of the scissors gradually paint a picture of the majestic wilderness without a single line or sketch.

“With only three main colors: red, black, white or accented with blue, purple…, the heritage zèng panels cleverly depict familiar images of the A Luoi wilderness where ethnic minorities Co Tu, Pa Koh, Ta Oi, Van Kieu, Pa Hy live. Looking at each zèng panel, visitors can freely imagine the poetic scenery of the mountains and hills, the scene of people dancing and having fun, or animals leisurely wandering in the old forest…”, Ms. Them said.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/kham-pha-dai-ngan-truong-son-qua-hoa-van-zeng-3147078.html