Visiting Xuan La To He Village

From our ancestors' time, the craft of making tò he (traditional Vietnamese figurines made from rice dough) was also known as the craft of "sculpting animal figures" because the figures sculpted back then were only animals like chickens and pigs... but most commonly, they were sculpted figures of birds.

Regarding the name "tò he," it may have come from the fact that in the past, some people used to mold dough into the shape of a tò te horn to attract customers' attention.

Over time, the "to te" sound from the horn became familiar, associated with those who made clay figurines, and was corrupted into the name "to he".

The main ingredient for making tò he (traditional Vietnamese figurines made from glutinous rice) is rice flour mixed with a small amount of glutinous rice in a ratio of 10 parts rice to 1 part glutinous rice. This mixture is thoroughly mixed, soaked in water, then ground into a fine paste, boiled until cooked, and kneaded quickly. Afterwards, the dough is formed into small balls and each ball is dyed a different color.

The four primary colors are yellow, red, black, and green. As for pigments, the long-time artisans of Xuan La village always prefer to use natural colors, mainly derived from edible leaves or vegetables. For example, red can be obtained from gac fruit, yellow from turmeric, and green from melaleuca leaves or galangal leaves...

Heritage Magazine