Cat Cat is a typical Mong village in San Sa Ho commune, about 2km from the center of Sa Pa town (Lao Cai province), located peacefully at the foot of Hoang Lien Son mountain range. Besides rice and corn cultivation and livestock raising, Cat Cat villagers also nurture and promote traditional handicrafts very well, in which the most prominent are linen spinning and weaving. There are many handicraft products here that make many tourists coming to Sapa linger and fall in love.
The profession of spinning linen and weaving in Cat Cat village has been maintained and passed down for generations by H'Mong women through the custom of grandmothers/mothers teaching their children/granddaughters when they reach marriageable age.
There is a custom that on their wedding day, H'Mong girls will wear dresses that they weave themselves with all the pride, care and passion.
The main material to make brocade products is flax fiber, because flax fiber is both soft and tough, so when woven into fabric it will be very durable.
The dresses show the girl's ingenuity, diligence, and gentleness, while also conveying the desire for fertility, peace, and happiness. According to Hmong custom, the deceased must be buried in a linen outer garment so that their soul can return to reunite with their ancestors.
In Cat Cat village, every house has a loom and every woman knows how to spin linen and weave fabric.
The Hmong women's looms are simple, but for generations they have woven smooth, square, and beautiful fabrics.
The pieces of fabric, though simple and rustic, contain the meticulousness, regularity, and proficiency of the craftsman through each weaving stroke. It depicts the life of the people here, simple, modest, yet still sophisticated and steadfast in the mountains and forests.
Through many seasons of joy and sadness, the women in Cat Cat village still diligently spin linen, whitt thread, weave fabric and embroider.
After dyeing and drying, the craftsman moves on to the step of applying beeswax to the fabric to make it smooth and using a wooden roller to grind it on a flat stone until the fabric is shiny.
No matter how rapidly life outside changes, in this quiet village flowers still bloom, birds still sing and women still spin and weave because that is how they were born.
Heritage Magazine
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