Wooden boat building on the sunken island of Ha Nam - The secret of boats going against the wind

According to the stele and genealogy of the Tien Cong clan, nearly 600 years ago, a group of residents from Thang Long (Hanoi) and Nam Dinh sailed down the Red River, to the Bach Dang estuary, and set foot on the pristine Ha Nam island to reclaim land. After that, they used boats to transport soil to build dikes to reclaim land from the sea. Outside the dikes, they used boats to fish, transport, and trade, and inside the dikes they grew rice. The means of transportation to the mainland or to visit their homeland were all wooden boats. That is why the craft of building wooden boats on the submerged island of Ha Nam was popular. The boat builders in this area were mostly descendants of Tien Cong from the Vu, Nguyen, and Le clans.

Also from here, as a masterpiece of the Immortals with the skillful combination of understanding, skills and knowledge, it has produced a three-sided boat with bat-wing sails capable of going against the current and wind, helping fishermen to master the sea, with a full hold of shrimp and fish.

Thanks to its great contributions, Cong Muong craft village has been recognized and awarded royal titles by many feudal dynasties. Typically, in the 28th year of King Tu Duc's reign, the village was honored to be awarded the title "Craft village that benefits the country, benefits the family, benefits the people, and provides utensils". In the 8th year of Thanh Thai, the King continued to issue a royal decree praising the talented craftsmanship of the craftsmen here. In particular, during the resistance war against France and the US, the boats built by the craft village were not only closely associated with fishermen at sea, but also served as a means of transporting weapons and food, contributing significantly to the nation's victory.

Cong Muong is one of two traditional craft villages in Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province specializing in wooden boat building, not only bringing a significant source of income to people in Ha Nam island but also contributing greatly to the cultural picture of Quang Ninh province.

During the development period, the whole village had nearly 30 wooden shipbuilding workshops with about 500 workers, building 30 new ships/year. In 2014, Cong Muong craft village was recognized as a traditional craft village.

Despite its long-standing tradition and its unique cultural heritage, in recent years, Cong Muong craft village has been facing the risk of fading away and being lost due to the lack of orders. Currently, there are only about 10 workshops with a few dozen workers still trying to maintain the profession, but the work is very little, mainly maintaining and repairing boats, not building new ones.

From the wood to the fabric used to make the sails of the model boats sold to tourists, everything is the same as that of the boats that go out to sea.

One of the few families that still maintains a boat repair workshop in Cong Muong - Mr. Le Van Mieng (born in 1951) with more than 50 years of experience in boat building shared that regulations on fishing license quotas, along with the requirement that offshore fishing boats must be 15m or longer, have increased the cost of building ships. Finding large-sized wood sources to build ships is also increasingly difficult. Meanwhile, the demand for building iron and composite ships is increasing, causing wooden-hulled ships to gradually be forgotten.

Mr. Le Van Mieng's son - Mr. Le Duc Tuan (born in 1975) with more than 30 years of experience in boat building in Cong Muong confided that the wood to build long-hulled fishing boats in the areas as regulated is now basically gone, but that is not the main reason, because if there is a shortage of wood, it must be imported from other provinces or bought from abroad. With his experience in the profession, Mr. Tuan shared that the cost of building wooden boats of the same size compared to iron-hulled boats and composite boats, wooden boats are still the cheapest.

Mr. Le Van Mieng (right) has over 50 years of experience building three-sided boats with bat-wing sails that can go against the current and wind.

According to many elders in the village, it is not until now that those who are passionate about the craft village are struggling to find a new direction. In previous years, many households proactively switched to building iron-hulled and composite ships. They linked up, cooperated, and even sent their children to study and acquire modern techniques to adapt to the times.

At the same time, the People's Committee of Quang Yen town also actively connected businesses to Cong Muong, opening up opportunities to exploit experiential tourism, contributing to creating livelihoods for the people. However, when the transformation was just getting into gear, the Covid-19 pandemic suddenly struck. Without capital to maintain, many workshops were forced to close, and workers had to sadly turn to other jobs.

Looking at the model cabinet of three-sided boats with bat-wing sails to sell as souvenirs to tourists when coming to Cong Muong craft village, Mr. Le Van Mieng added that now there are no more customers ordering new boats, the workshop mainly repairs but there is not much work. Therefore, to remember, the villagers can only make models to sell to tourists, this model is like a miniature of the boats going out to sea, from the wood to the fabric material to make the sails.

Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Vien - Head of the Faculty of Tourism, Ha Long University (Quang Ninh province), said: the three-sided boat product is very unique and strange, nowhere else in the country. However, when turning the three-sided boat with bat-wing sail into a souvenir product, it is not effective because of the high cost, inconvenient for transportation, and difficult to become widely popular.

Mr. Duong Van Hao - Vice Chairman of Quang Yen Town People's Committee shared that Cong Muong craft village is facing many difficulties, while the local government has not yet had a truly suitable support mechanism. In the coming time, the town and relevant agencies will study and find solutions to preserve and develop the craft village, especially issues related to land, factories and exploiting the potential of experiential tourism.

Traditional craft villages are not only the “livelihood” of the whole village but also strongly connected with the traditional customs, festivals and rituals of the nation. Traditional craft villages are like a link between the past - present - future. Through the process of production and technical transmission, craftsmen have spread and maintained the profound cultural values ​​of the nation through generations.

Therefore, protecting and developing traditional craft villages requires the cooperation of national programs, local support policies, and the efforts of the craft villages themselves to adapt to the times.

On July 7, 2022, the Government issued Decision No. 801/QD-TTg "Program for preserving and developing Vietnamese craft villages for the period 2021 - 2030". The objective of the Program is to create jobs and increase income for people; protect landscapes, space and environment, build residential areas and cultural villages, contributing to promoting sustainable rural socio-economic development. By 2030, strive to restore and preserve at least 129 traditional occupations and 208 traditional craft villages at risk of fading or being lost; recognize 213 new occupations and 96 traditional craft villages; develop about 301 craft villages associated with tourism; over 80% of craft villages and traditional craft villages operate effectively. The program has the mission of maintaining and developing a team of artisans and skilled workers, creating a core to promote training, passing on the profession, practicing traditional crafts, spreading the values ​​of traditional craft cultural heritage in the community, especially for the younger generation; preserving and developing traditional craft skills, creating more valuable new products and works. Collecting, preserving and organizing exhibitions of typical and outstanding works of artisans, skilled workers, and outstanding artisans at all levels. Organizing the conferment and honoring of titles of skilled workers, artisans, excellent artisans, people's artisans, the golden board of Vietnamese traditional craft families and typical craft village products. Preserving and developing traditional crafts, traditional craft villages

Duc Duong

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nghe-dong-thuyen-go-o-dao-chim-ha-nam-bi-mat-cua-nhung-con-thuyen-di-nguoc-gio-post543619.html