Traditional silk weaving in Nam Cao

There are few places in our country where the linen weaving profession has been preserved and developed to this day like in Nam Cao commune (Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province). After more than 400 years since its formation, despite ups and downs, the people of this traditional craft village still cherish and preserve the quintessence of the craft land left by their ancestors. According to recorded documents, the linen spinning and weaving profession here dates back to 1584. At that time, two ladies Tu Tien and Tu An returned to their hometown, Van Xa village, Bat Bat (old Ha Tay) to learn the profession of growing mulberry to raise silkworms, linen spinning and weaving to teach their children and grandchildren; both doing farming and handicrafts to make a living. The production tool is an owl-shaped loom, pedaled by foot and shuttled by hand.

However, when the country entered the renovation process, from 1986, this traditional craft had to face many harsh challenges of the market mechanism and began to fade away. Fortunately, since 1992, the craft in Nam Cao has been restored, the number of weaving looms has increased rapidly. At its peak in 2000, the whole commune had 1,568 weaving looms in operation.

Coming to Nam Cao linen weaving village today with Vietnam.vn , you will experience this traditional linen weaving profession with the processes, in which linen drawing is one of the stages left by the ancients, the craftsmen take advantage of broken cocoons that cannot be spun into silk, bring them back to draw by hand, then roll the thread and reconnect it into linen thread. The photo series "Traditional linen and silk weaving in Nam Cao" by author To Quang Manh will help you better understand the linen weaving process. The photo series was submitted by the author to the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam", organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

In the past, traditional products had simple names such as “nai”, “oak”, and “dui”, but only “dui” has been maintained the longest. If silk is softer, smoother, thinner and is pulled from a machine, then “dui” is also made from silk, but is pulled by hand, so it looks rougher and more coarse.

The hemp spinning or hemp extraction profession has not been replaced by any machine, it is still done entirely by hand and only people in the villages in Nam Cao still maintain this activity. In recent years, Nam Cao Silk Cooperative has welcomed many international delegations to visit, directly experience and learn about the hemp weaving profession.

According to experienced people in Nam Cao craft village, linen is not like silk. If silk fibers have a small curl, hand-spun linen is porous, so it will be warm in winter and cool in summer. Clothing products made from linen in Nam Cao have been exported to France and Europe, then to Thailand and Laos. Currently, linen weaving facilities in Nam Cao focus on exploiting the domestic market. Currently, there are still about 100 people in the village who make linen during the off-season to supply Dai Hoa linen weaving enterprise, where Mr. Dai has been a manager for more than 30 years.

With the everlasting values of Nam Cao craft land, in November 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism granted the certificate of "Linen weaving" and included it in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. This is a source of pride for this land, an important milestone in the journey of preserving and promoting the value of traditional craft villages in the context of current international economic integration.

In 2024, the Photo and Video Contest "Happy Vietnam - Happy Vietnam" will continue to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website. https://happy.vietnam.vn is open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and over. The contest aims to honor individuals and groups with positive information products, making practical contributions to the propaganda and promotion of a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world. Thereby helping people in the country, compatriots abroad and international friends access authentic images of the country, Vietnamese people, Vietnam's achievements in ensuring human rights, towards a happy Vietnam. Each contest category (photo and video) has the following prizes and prize values: - 01 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND - 02 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND - 03 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND - 10 Encouragement Prizes: 5,000,000 VND - 01 most voted work: 5,000,000 VND The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Award Ceremony and Certificate on live television of Vietnam Television.

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