Preserving the 700-year-old craft of net weaving, the people of Yet Kieu commune (Gia Loc district, Hai Duong province), the hometown of the famous general Yet Kieu, are still diligently practicing their traditional craft. Net weaving is creating jobs and income for many workers, especially the elderly.
Clip: People of Yet Kieu commune (Gia Loc district, Hai Duong province) still preserve and develop the traditional net weaving profession. Clip: Nghia Le - Vu Ly.
A commune in Hai Duong has a traditional net weaving profession, producing hundreds of tons of nets for caged fish farming per year.
Yet Kieu Commune is located in the Northwest of Gia Loc District, Hai Duong Province, on the Dinh Dao River (also known as Dao River). In Yet Kieu Commune, many traditional crafts are preserved and developed. Among them is the net weaving craft in Ha Bi Village, the hometown of the famous General Yet Kieu, the first commander of the Tran Dynasty's navy.
Mr. Le Cong Am, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Yet Kieu Commune, said: Mr. Yet Kieu was born and raised in Ha Bi village, also known as Quat village (now in Yet Kieu Commune, Gia Loc District, Hai Duong Province). This place has a net weaving profession that has existed for hundreds of years.
Ha Bi village (Yet Kieu commune, Gia Loc district, Hai Duong province), the hometown of the famous general Yet Kieu, is where the traditional net weaving craft is still preserved. Photo: Vu Ly.
"Since the 13th century, the net weaving profession in Ha Bi village has developed strongly. According to legend, on the day of victory, King Tran held a celebration ceremony, bestowing gifts and rewards on the generals who had contributed to defeating the enemy.
Yet Kieu was awarded the title "First Commander of the Navy" by the king and was rewarded with many benefits, but he did not accept them. He petitioned the king to allow the villagers who fished with nets on the river to have 3 meters of land on both sides of the river to dry their nets without having to pay taxes, and the local authorities were not allowed to obstruct him," Mr. Am added.
Continuing this tradition, up to now, the people of Yet Kieu commune are still preserving and maintaining the net weaving technique.
Mr. Pham Vinh Thanh (left) is the fourth generation in his family to follow the traditional fishing net weaving profession in Hai Duong. Photo: Vu Ly.
Following Mr. Am’s instructions, we went to meet Mr. Pham Vinh Thanh, one of the people who is developing the net weaving profession. At the age of 60, Mr. Thanh is still agile, resourceful with a strong body and tanned skin.
Mr. Thanh confided: I am the fourth generation to follow the net weaving profession. Since I was a child, my parents, aunts and uncles taught me the profession. But when I became proficient, I joined the army. It was not until 2015, after retiring from the army, that I decided to "start a business" with net weaving. At first, it was because of my wish, my love and the desire to "keep the fire burning" of the traditional profession. Then it was to create more jobs for people in the village and commune.
At that time, the demand for nets for fish cages increased sharply. In Ha Bi village, there were many people with many years of experience in weaving nets. Seeing this, Mr. Thanh boldly opened a production facility, processing fish cages and nets for aquaculture.
Mr. Thanh's production facility mainly processes cage fishing nets from Japanese, British, and American used nets. Photo: Nghia Le.
Through traders, Mr. Thanh imports used net cages from Japan, England, and America. Used net cages that can hold hundreds of tons of fish will be processed by him into many small net cages, which can hold 8-12 tons of fish, suitable for aquaculture farms in Vietnam.
During 10 years of operation, Mr. Thanh's production facility imports and sells each year from 2-300 tons of fish cage nets, aquaculture nets, construction nets, fishing nets, nets, etc. The facility is currently producing and consuming products nationwide, and has exported products to Laos.
Each type of net cage produced by the facility has a different price, depending on the size of the product. The two best-selling products are nets for 8-10 tons of fish, priced at VND3,500,000/net; nets for 12 tons of fish are priced at VND4,000,000/net. The products have a shelf life of 5 years. Each year, Mr. Thanh earns about VND1 billion in profit from this production facility.
Traditional net weaving creates jobs for many elderly workers
Mr. Thanh's net production facility in Ha Bi village currently has an area of over 1000m2, focusing on processing and manufacturing finished products, with 12 workers. In addition, Mr. Thanh also opened another facility in Long Hai town (Long Dat district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province) to import and process nets, creating jobs for 12 people.
Mr. Ngan's production facility is creating jobs for many elderly workers in Ha Bi village. Photo: Nghia Le.
According to Mr. Thanh, the net weaving profession requires sewing techniques, especially the technique of creating knots, so that the knots are even and firm. Net weavers not only need to be skilled in the profession but also have to be diligent, hardworking, meticulous, and careful. Because just one error in the mesh can cause a lot of loss for the farm owner.
Tools for net weaving are also simple. Because it is made from quality nets, workers only need pliers, sharp scissors, net pins and net patches to create finished nets.
The traditional net weaving profession of Yet Kieu commune requires diligence, meticulousness and carefulness of the worker. Photo: Nghia Le.
Mr. Thanh's production facility operates year-round. At the production facility, workers are paid daily with an income of 280,000-300,000 VND/day. The workers here are mainly elderly people with many years of experience.
Ms. Vu Thi Xuyen (68 years old), a worker at the workshop, said: "People here have all learned to weave nets since they were young. In the past, to weave nets, we had to do many steps, from preparation steps such as spinning jute and hemp fibers to have threads to weave the net. This process still produces durable, strong products but is very time-consuming. If the workshop did not process cage nets, it would be difficult for us to make a living from this job alone."
Nowadays, mainly processing products, Ms. Xuyen and 11 other workers in the workshop can process 1 ton of cage nets/day. Depending on the results of the work, workers can earn 5-9 million VND/month.
From the net weaving profession, people in Ha Bi village, Yet Kieu commune (Gia Loc district, Hai Duong province) have a stable income, from 5-9 million/month/person. Photo: Nghia Le.
Mr. Le Cong Am, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Yet Kieu Commune (Gia Loc District, Hai Duong Province) said: "We always encourage people to maintain and develop traditional occupations. In the commune, there are still a number of households that still practice net weaving. These production facilities have created jobs for many workers, mainly elderly workers. In the coming time, we will continue to plan the development of traditional net weaving and form craft villages."
Along with the net weaving profession, the people of Yet Kieu commune also preserve the fishing profession on Dinh Dao river, the river associated with the childhood of famous general Yet Kieu. The traditional rowing boat is still preserved, becoming an indispensable feature of each Quat Temple festival season. Every year, in the first and eighth lunar months, people in fishing villages gather at Quat Temple in Ha Bi village to commemorate the merits of famous general Yet Kieu and pray for a bountiful fishing season.
Source: https://danviet.vn/xa-nay-o-hai-duong-la-que-huong-mot-danh-tuong-co-nghe-700-nam-tuoi-gia-van-lam-ra-tien-20250320074030297.htm
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