VietNamNet Bridge - Over the years, the ancient village of Co Chat in the northern city of Nam Dinh has been well-known for growing mulberry and raising silkworms.

During French domination, Co Chat silk thread was so well known that in the early 20th century the French built a factory to unravel silkworm cocoons in the village to use villagers professional skills and the great potential of the mulberry growing and silkworm raising area along the Ninh River.

Since then, the silk thread making craft in Co Chat Village has developed substantially. Before 1954, merchants from other regions in the country came to the village to buy silk thread and then sell it at Do Che Wharf, a busy port in Nam Dinh.

In 1942, Pham Ruan, a weaver from Co Chat, brought his silk thread to participate in a fair. It was held in Hanoi by the Southern government to display famous products from traditional craft villages nationwide; he won the grand prize of the Governor’s Palace of North Vietnam.

The elders in the village are still in the habit of making silk thread to use the traditional method to preserve their ancestors’ craft while the younger generation uses modern machines and invests in workshops to increase the productivity of silk thread. The village’s silk thread is provided to not only the local market but exported to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

The process of making silk thread lasts about 30 days, from silkworms eating mulberries and creating cocoons to reeling silk.

The silk thread is then rolled around a tube and dried. At present the silkworm cocoons from this village do not meet the demand for production, so villagers have to buy from other provinces such as Thai Binh, Ha Nam and Lam Dong.

VNE/VNP/VNN