Within the context of a research programme, conducted since 2003 in
partnership between IRD (French Institute of Research for Development), the
Vietnamese NGO PHANO and CASRAD at the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, a team of researchers and students have carried out a vast number of
studies on rural life, the activity and history of over forty craft villages in
the provinces bordering on Hanoi.
With their festivals and traditional industries, their communal halls,
pagodas, temples, and vernacular buildings, the villages around Ha Noi possess
a rich body of cultural, architectural and craft heritage. Less than one hour
from the capital are over 500 specialist craft villages, producing an array of
religious or artistic objects, as well as food products, industrial goods,
textiles, basketware and much more. Despite the trials and tribulations Vietnam has endured, these traditions have
remained alive; today they constitute the basis of material, social and
spiritual culture among the village communities of the Red
River delta.
In this book, the authors give an overview on craft villages
in the Red river delta. In which propose especially
10 itineraries:
-
Fine furniture & paper (Bac Ninh province)
-
Pottery villages (Bac Ninh & Bac Giang provinces)
-
Pottery, goldbeating & traditional medicine (Gia
Lam district)
-
Prints, metabeating & burnt bamboo (Bac Ninh
province)
-
Textile villages around Ha Dong (old Ha Tay province)
-
Lacquer, wood & horn (South of Hanoi)
-
Embroidery & inlaying (South old Ha Tay province)
-
Bamboo & wickerwork (Southwest old Ha Tay province)
-
Bamboo & rattan (West old Ha Tay province)
-
Food-processing villages (West of Hanoi)
Each including several craft villages and cultural villages
that contain architectural heritage of superior quality. Selection criteria for
villages when drawing up the itineraries were:
- Presence of a traditional craft dedicated to making
everyday or cultural and decorative goods
- Ancient craftsand those from which originate ancestor
worship during festivals
- About a dozen workshops to be visited, some of them
belonging to famous craftspeople
- Architectural heritage of superior quality (pagodas,
temples, dinh, etc)
- Presence of traditional markets
- Accessibility from Ha Noi
(Maps and pictures are
enclosed with each itinerary for illustrating)