The talented hands of the Mong and Dao Tien ethnic women breathe life into the fabrics with the delicate traditional beeswax pattern painting technique.
Surprisingly, with only seemingly simple tools such as bamboo and forest trees, these artisans have created impressive and eye-catching works of art.
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| Dao Tien ethnic artist Ly Thi Huong. (Photo: Phuong Thao) |
The process is elaborate and sophisticated
For the Mong ethnic group (Mong Du, Mong Xanh), before drawing patterns with beeswax, the fabric surface (usually linen) must be flattened and the traditional flattening method called fabric rolling is extremely unique.
They put the cloth on a round log, use a large rock to press down on the cloth, then stomp evenly on both sides until the cloth is flat. The person doing this step must be very skillful to keep balance. At first glance, it looks like the artists are performing a circus act.
In the most meticulous stage of beeswax painting, the Mong people use a pen to paint with a bamboo handle and a pen tip made from trapezoidal pieces of brass with a small space in the middle to hold the beeswax.
When drawing, the pen will be dipped in melted beeswax, then placed parallel to the fabric surface, gradually tilting along the drawing until the beeswax is completely melted. The thinner the pen tip, the more beautiful and easier to draw the pattern.
In addition to the traditional drawing method above, Mong ethnic women in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh have now combined aluminum molds with pre-engraved patterns to make the drawing process faster and more convenient.
Particularly for the Mong Du and Mong Xanh ethnic groups, popular patterns are mouse feet and squares along the fabric and a variety of other motifs.
According to Dao Tien ethnic artisans in Cao Bang, beeswax is taken from two bee nests that have existed for a long time and have been protected by local people until now.
When choosing a suitable day around June and July of the lunar calendar to hold the beeswax festival to collect wax, the Dao Tien men go to the cave to poke for wax, then the villagers will contribute rice, chicken, incense to pray and invite the shaman to come, after the prayer, they will collect the wax. After returning, the beeswax will be continuously cooked until it becomes blocks of beeswax used for painting.
Artisan Ban Thi Lien shared that after the beeswax is formed into lumps, it will be divided among the whole village. In a good harvest year, each household will get 2kg of wax, in a bad harvest year, only 1kg, just enough to print skirts for Dao Tien women.
The Dao Tien ethnic group's drawing tools are made of thinly shaved bamboo, bent into a triangular shape (called Goèe) with different sizes depending on the pattern.
In addition, Dao Tien women also use flattened chit leaves to draw - a type of leaf that Cao Bang people often use to wrap cakes and bamboo tubes of different diameters.
In particular, the patterns on the skirts of Dao Tien women in Cao Bang province are different from those of other branches in other provinces and cities, with the same characteristics as the name of the ethnic group, which is the shape of a coin (chun thop) representing the desire for a prosperous life and the shape of a hill (chun chun), symbolizing the mountainous region, about the lifestyle of Dao Tien people - relying on nature to create products to serve life.
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| Mong people's beeswax painting tools (Photo: Le Nhan) |
Each painting technique has its own special features, but all require concentration and meticulousness from the practitioner because beeswax is difficult or impossible to edit when painted.
Nowadays, the technique of painting beeswax on fabric of the Mong people in Hoa Binh has obvious improvements: industrial beeswax is used more, tools with ready-made patterns and small electric wax heaters are used, to suit the needs of the market, making more products with more diverse colors, while bringing convenience to the maker.
With the Dao Tien ethnic group in Cao Bang, the stages, tools and patterns are always consistent and unchanged, bearing strong traditional cultural features with close ties to nature and spirituality.
After the designs are drawn, the fabric is dyed in indigo and dipped in boiling water to remove the beeswax, revealing the patterns with their characteristic natural color. The steps are all very complicated, laborious and take more than a month to complete.
Promoting and preserving national cultural values
The technique of painting beeswax on fabric is one of the unique cultural values of the Mong and Dao Tien ethnic groups, deeply rooted in both material and spiritual life.
Therefore, Mong and Dao Tien women are always highly conscious of preserving and promoting these values. Every family has beeswax painting kits. From young to old, from mother to child, then grandchildren, there is no one who does not paint with beeswax on fabric, Ms. Lien shared.
Beeswax painting on fabric is not simply a technique of drawing patterns on everyday clothing, but has now been introduced as a form of tourism experience for domestic and foreign tourists in local tourist villages. At the same time, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has provided funding to open classes to teach beeswax painting on fabric to the younger generations, in order to preserve this traditional technique.
Recently, in the cozy atmosphere of the event “Beeswax – Indigo” at the Vietnam Women’s Museum, many young people enjoyed the experience of drawing patterns with beeswax on linen and wooden fabrics and wearing traditional costumes of the Dao Tien and Mong ethnic groups with patterns made from beeswax painting techniques.
Participating in beeswax painting on Mong fabric, Tran Thu Ha excitedly shared: “I feel that the patterns on the costumes are very beautiful, diverse and have many different meanings. I have learned about these symbols before, but did not have the opportunity to experience them directly.
I feel the event is really good and meaningful, in a way it helps me spread the culture of ethnic people to young people right in Hanoi."
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| Two artisans in costumes with traditional Dao Tien motifs. (Photo: Phuong Thao) |
Ngoc Cham, after trying on the traditional costume of the Dao Tien women, said: "I have never experienced wearing a costume like this before, so I feel very new."
Unable to hide their excitement, the beeswax artists at the event expressed their joy at promoting the traditional beauty of their people to the people of the capital and helping to strengthen solidarity among the ethnic groups.
Dao Tien ethnic artisan Ly Thi Huong shared: “I hope many people know the beauty of our traditional costumes, and can come to Hoai Khao, Nguyen Binh, Cao Bang to understand more about this culture.”
And artisan Ban Thi Lien: "I am very happy to bring the cultural characteristics of the Dao Tien ethnic group to the people in the capital. I hope to spread the beauty of the costumes to all regions of the country."
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