Tricky technique: A foreigner tries weaving linen cloth with a traditional loom of the Mong people (Source: VNA) Linenhas been the fabric of life for the Mong people in Ha Giang province for along, long time.
Theingenuity of this ethnic minority in making this fabric from scratch, dyeing itwith different colours using no chemicals, and making beautiful garments hasturned every Mong woman into a colourful flower blooming amidst the rockymountains they call home.
Inthe past, most linen garments, which take years to finish, were tailored formembers within just one family, but over the years, as more people discover thebeauty of the fabric and the work done on it, a joint effort is being made towiden its reach.
TheHop Tien Linen Co-operative in Lung Tam village, Quan Ba district, is one ofthe spearheads of this effort, and it has succeeded in marketing the linengarments to the lowlands and beyond the country’s borders.
“Linenis the treasure of Lung Tam village,” said Vang Thi Mai, who heads theco-operative. “Throughout Ha Giang province, as long as there are Mong People,there will be linen. However, it is Lung Tam village that has succeeded inpreserving, promoting and making our traditional products flourish.”
Atpresent, the co-operative has 130 traditional looms, creating jobs for 135people, both villagers and others in the vicinity. All its nine productiongroups are based in Lung Tam, with every household getting involved in onestage or other of the production process.
“Mongpeople in the village are very happy and not anxious anymore, because ourtraditional job has been successfully restored and developed, and we are ableto introduce one of our culture to both domestic and international friends,”Mai said.
TheHop Tien Co-operative makes more than traditional clothes. Using thetraditional textiles and patterns that have been passed down from theirancestors, they have creatively produced a variety of modern householddecorative items like pillow cases, wallets, curtains and tablecloth.
Makingthe fabric is a lot of work. Mai said the whole process includes more than 21stages, all of which are done manually.
First,the flax plants are planted and tended on the most fertile farmland. They areharvested after over two months and dried to make threads. When splitting thethreads to get the sheaths, the Mong woman has to be extremely careful in orderto acquire threads of the same lengths and not break them halfway.
Theflax sheaths, bound in sheaves, will be crushed in stone mortars to softenthem, until only the tough threads remain. These will be bound once again tomake longer threads. After boiling them several times in water mixed with ashand bee wax, the linen threads become softer and whiter. This is when the Mongwomen bring their looms into play.
Thecloth that is woven will be washed again to whiten them as much as possible.The next step is spreading the cloth on to logs and flattening them withflagstones that have been scraped with bee wax.
Thecolouring stage is also a meticulous process. The cloth is dyed with naturalcolours of extracted from local plants. In order to get the correct shade ofindigo black, the weavers have to dye the cloth several times over severaldays. The cloth is submerged in the dye for about an hour, drained andsubmerged again. This happens five to six times, or even more.
Thecolours of the cloth are determined significantly by weather conditions. If itis sunny, it takes from three to four days to finish dyeing the cloth, but ifit rains, the process can take up to two months.
“Despiteall the hardship, it is the natural colours and handmade production that makeour products unique,” Mai said.
Revivinga tradition
Maisays every member of the Hop Tien Co-operative has worked hard and dedicatedthemselves to the success of restoring the community’s traditional skill.
Havingbeen the chairwoman of the commune women’s association for more than 20 years(1989 – 2006), Mai understands well the difficult lives that Mong women haveexperienced.
“Thevillagers used to live in great poverty. No matter how hard they worked, bothat home and on the farm, they were still poor,” the 54-year-old artisanrecalled.
“Mongwomen are not only industrious but also skillful. At the age of 13, besideshelping their families work on the farm, they have been able to spin, weave,embroider or sew. I thought, why we can’t we weave our fabric to sell to othersand better our lives?”
Thetraditional weaving tradition of the Mong was struggling against the appearanceof modern clothes in their markets towards the end of the 1990s. Young girlsdid not stick to the habit of working on the looms like their ancestors andfewer women were wearing their traditional, homemade dresses. The skill ofweaving, passed through generations, faced the risk of disappearing.
Wantingto preserve the cultural treasures of her community and to improve their livingstandards, Mai, with the support of her husband, encouraged other villagers tocontribute funds to establish and join the Hop Tien Linen Weaving Centre, whichwas set up in her house in 1998. There were barely 10 members then.
In2000, Mai received support from a project aiming to preserve and developtraditional craft villages, launched under a cooperation programme betweenVietnam and Sweden.
Ayear later, in 2001, her efforts received another boost when the local People’sCommittee allocated land for setting up the Hop Tien Linen WeavingCo-operative, enabling the construction of a workshop, helping stabilisingproduction.
Soon,Mai realised that it was not enough to produce, the products had to bemarketed.
“Atfirst, I travelled down the mountains alone, bringing the products along withme, to join many trade fairs in Hanoi and introduce them to potentialcustomers,” Mai said.
Theopportunities to visit various souvenir, art and handicraft shops made her moreaware of what the market demanded, what would sell.
“Weneeded to make many more products of better quality, adding souvenir items likescarves, handbags and tablecloth.
“Internationalvisitors, particularly those from Japan, French and Canada, enjoy our line ofproducts and their indigo colour.”
Manyof them have travelled long distances to reach Lung Tam village and signedlong-term contracts with the co-operative.
Outsidesupport
Tosustain its growth, the Hop Tien Cooperative has collaborated with the Centrefor Development Support of Vietnamese Trade Villages and Craftlink (anot-for-profit organisation seeking new markets for traditional artisans) topromote and introduce their linen to international markets.
Thedemand for the linen products of high quality and unique patterns increasedrapidly, together with the number of villagers joining the cooperative.
Acooperation agreement with Association Batik International, a Frenchorganisation focusing on vocational training, has opened a new page in thedevelopment of the co-operative. Under the agreement, its members have theopportunity to get more training and enhance their skills, enabling them tomake products more beautiful and of higher quality.
Atpresent, the co-operative’s traditional linen products are sold in souvenirstores throughout Vietnam, including in prestigious hotels like Nikko andHorison. They are also found in some outlets in France, Japan, Canada, Britainand Switzerland.
Co-operativemembers are happy to see their traditional skill thrive and happier that itprovides them with a decent income.
“Working in the co-operative provides me witha stable income of about 2.3 million VND (approximately 100 USD) per monthafter harvest,” said Sung Thi Mi.
“Ido not have to travel far to work anymore and my children can attend school.”
Thebest news is that more and more Mong girls have become interested in weaving,and this enables them to support their families financially.
HangDuong Thanh, vice chairman of the Quan Ba District People’s Committee, said theadministration was taking the first steps towards developing community-basedtourism in Lung Tam village.
“Thiswill offer an opportunity for visitors to experience local life as they discoverthe Ha Giang Stone Plateau.
“Traditional linen products of the village willbecome souvenirs that travel to different countries, bearing features ofhighland cultures.”-VNA
VNA
