The first artisan to successfully weave lotus silk in Vietnam

Phung Xa (My Duc, Hanoi) used to be a long-standing traditional craft village famous for silk weaving. However, if you come to Phung Xa and ask about silk weaving, the answer of the locals here is "only Mrs. Thuan still follows the silk making profession". The unique lotus silk products of artisan Phan Thi Thuan are known, but how to make them sustainable, to develop, to improve them is not simple.

For this purpose, the seminar "Artisan Phan Thi Thuan - lotus silk - Current situation and solutions to reach out to the world" was organized by the Phan Business Club in the North in coordination with a number of agencies and units.

Born into a family of four generations of weavers in Phung Xa, Ms. Thuan has been involved in the silk weaving profession since childhood, so she has a lot of experience and understanding of the stages of traditional weaving. Accumulating the experiences left by her ancestors, artisan Phan Thi Thuan has found a way to "train" silkworms to weave silk cotton blankets.

Since 2017, in addition to traditional silk products, Ms. Thuan has painstakingly researched weaving silk from lotus silk. After days of hard work with lotus silk threads, it took 2 years for the artisan to be able to launch the product, the first lotus silk scarves. Artisan Phan Thi Thuan became the first person in Vietnam to make lotus silk.

Each lotus stem is brought into a tank to clean the mud and remove all the thorns to facilitate the process of drawing the thread. To get the lotus silk, the worker uses a knife to cut around the lotus stem, then pulls the silk, and rolls the lotus silk into a round shape. The technique of using a knife to cut requires precision, if it is too deep into the lotus stem, the silk will break and become short, and pulling the silk also requires skill. It takes a worker 1-2 months to learn how to do it, and when skilled, he can only make a small amount of lotus silk each day. The drawn silk is put into a tube and put on a reel. All stages are done by hand.

Artisan Phan Thi Thuan said it takes about 4,800 lotus stems to make one piece of silk, and it takes 1 month and 7 days to produce one towel woven from lotus silk.

How to improve and bring products to the international level

Unique lotus silk products made by the hands and efforts of Phung Xa village craftsmen contain and crystallize great cultural values ​​and have gradually become known to the domestic market. Products made from lotus silk have been recognized as 5-star OCOP products.

According to artisan Phan Thi Thuan, in 2024, designer Bui Cong Thien Bao used lotus silk to make the design "Lua Nang Sen" and was performed by Miss Huynh Thanh Thuy in the Miss International 2024 contest in Japan. The product is used as a gift at major international events. However, what this artisan is always concerned about is the output for the product, how to maintain, preserve and continue to develop lotus silk products in particular and Phung Xa silk products. Ms. Thuan is willing to teach and pass on the profession to anyone who wants to learn.

At the seminar, Chairman of the Phan Family Business Club in the North, Phan Hong Thuy, said: "Learning more about lotus silk products, we are even more proud of the enthusiasm and dedication of artisan Phan Thi Thuan, a daughter of the Phan family. Artisan Phan Thi Thuan has always worked hard to preserve and develop the best of the traditional silk-making profession left by our ancestors. Our current task is to work with artisans to preserve this unique silk product, expand the market, and bring lotus silk and Phung Xa silk products to the international market. We will take action and I believe that we can do this and do it well."

During the discussion, many representatives from units and business clubs of other families also expressed their respect and will join hands to cooperate with the President of the Phan Family Business Club in the North in preserving and developing lotus silk products.