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According to village elders, in 11th-12th century, three Vietnamese were sent to China as the King’s envoys and they learned Chinese pottery arts. They were Hua Vinh Kieu from Bo Bat village, central Thanh Hoa Province, Dao Tri Tien from Tho Ha, and Luu Phong Tu from Sat Village, northern Hung Yen Province.
After returning to Vietnam, the three taught pottery in their villages. Mr Kieu taught Bo Bat people to make white clay pottery. The village later moved closer to Hanoi, and is now known as Bat Trang. Similarly, Mr Tu returned to Phu Lang; and Mr Tien to Tho Ha, teaching villagers to produce pottery with red, yellow and dark colored clay.
At the time, Tho Ha was an economic center for pottery, full of kilns, businessmen, and boats trading in ceramics. These days, young people only know of Tho Ha’s former fame through the splendid walls, roofs and houses made using broken pottery. Nowadays, there are no kilns left in Tho Ha.
The last pottery maker
Mr. Trinh Dac Tan, the last pottery maker in Tho Ha village.
Seeing the workshop from outside, nobody would think that it is a pottery enterprise until they see an old, small plate: “Tho Ha pottery cooperative.” The front yard is used to dry coal. The workshop looks desolate and there is no signal that it is operating. It is really sad that it has no longer running.
“I’ve stopped producing pottery for a year,” Mr. Tan said, breathed a sigh when VietNamNet’s correspondent asked him about his pottery workshop while making banh trang (rice paper). This is not a traditional trade but it is the source of income of Tho Ha’s residents at present. The yard of Tan’s house is also covered by banh trang.
“When I was demoralized, seeing my village’s ancient trade was dying; I thought that if I could revive the trade, I would earn high profit,” Mr. Tan recalled.
He spent five years to learn pottery making skills from the village’s elders. “Production specialization in Tho Ha pottery trade is very high, so each artisan is only expert at one or several stages of production. It took a lot of my time to learn secrets of all stages from many artisans. I’m proud to be the only one person here who knows the entire process.”
Mr. Tan established his pottery cooperative in 2005. However, the cooperative did not operate well because of high input costs, high rate of faulty products and unstable outlet. He invested hundreds of US dollars into the cooperative but he did not gain profit.
“I was still lucky because my family did not become beggars,” Tan said.
Last year, the local authorities decided to revoke the land plot that he hired to open his pottery workshop to build a school. Tan was upset because he was willing to suffer losses for several years more, as long as the local administration gave him a chance.
“That decision forced me and the pottery trade into deadlock,” Mr. Tan said.
The golden past does not return
The village’s chief, Mr. Cap Trong Viet, did not agree with Mr. Tan’s dissatisfied attitude. “The land use term expired so that piece of land was revoked,” Viet said.
He added that the local authorities had created favorable conditions for Mr. Tan to resume the pottery trade but the workshop did not work effectively.
“I do not believe that Mr. Tan can restore the trade. Even his son could not pursue the trade and has turned to make banh trang. But if Tan is determined, the authorities will help him find another place,” Viet said.
Viet said that all villagers wanted to restore the trade but they could not neglect the fact that there is no outlet for Tho Ho pottery nowadays.
“In the past, when we did not have plastic and metal products, nor Chinese ceramics, people still used pottery products. Now they choose modern products,” Mr. Viet said.
He pointed to several old jars on the yard and said that they are Tho Ha pottery products that he bought from other villages in Bac Giang province in a bid to maintain something of the past.
“There are not many Tho Ha pottery items in this village,” he explained.
The sad fact
Mr. Tan's previous pottery workshop.
“Tho Ha pottery is very hard and durable. When knocking them, the sound is likely to come from bells. Tho Ha jars do not absorb water like Phu Lang pottery. Products are not enameled and they must be in brown, the specific color of Tho Ha pottery. If Bat Trang pottery products are burned in 1,000 degree Celsius, Tho Ha pottery items must be baked in 1,300 degree Celsius. The fuel must be wood and grass, otherwise products will be broken or deformed.”
Mr. Cuong said that in the past, Tho Ha people earned their income from pottery only. Thanks to this trade, the village could build the largest temple in the region. Around 60 years ago, Tho Ha pottery products were sold very well so all villagers did this job. Rich families owned two kilns and others had one kiln.
After the northern region was liberated, villagers had to join state-owned cooperatives and Tho Ha pottery began to go down.
Mr. Cuong had the same thought with Mr. Viet, the village’s chief-- that there is no chance to restore the old trade because Tho Ha pottery products have become outdated.
“My son wanted to restore our family’s pottery kiln but I did not agree,” he said.
“Tho Ha pottery products are for daily use but today customers have similar products that are more durable and cheaper. If they have plastic baskets, they will no longer use bamboo baskets,” he explained.
“My wish is to rebuild a kiln to maintain the traditional trade and to serve tourists, not to produce commercial products,” he said.
But his wish is difficult to become reality because most of artisans who hold secrets in making pottery have passed away or are very old now.
“That’s the times! We cannot deal with it!” he said.
“For over 20 years we have not produced pottery. How can we restore it? Young people now cannot suffer the difficulty of the work, raw material to make pottery has been exhausted, as has land for kilns”, said Ms. Trinh Thi Ky, 78, another villager.
The gate of Tho Ha village.
In the early 1980s, Tho Ha villagers turned to making aluminum and plastic products, banh trang, and raising animals as pottery was gradually abandoned. Now, Tho Ha is known for its pigs and dry pancakes, and most recently the village special walls have attracted film producers, painters, and photographers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trinh Dac Tan has stated that he was determined to restore the old trade and to get rich from it.
“I’m a bear in hibernation. Later this year when I’m healthier, I will continue to fight,” Tan said.
He also shared with VietNamNet his specific plan. The time has ruined this trade and only the time can prove whether Mr. Tan can restore this trade.
Tho Ha – a tourist attraction
A narrow alley in Tho Ha village.
From Hanoi, tourists will have to pass several industrial parks and new residential areas of Bac Ninh, which are noisy and dusty. When they enter the area of Bac Giang province, they can feel the taste of the country life, especially when they go on the only path to Tho Ha village. This taste comes from the field, from banian trees, the river wharf and also from old red bricks which paves the way.
Tho Ha is surrounded by a bend of the Cau village, making the village a peninsular. The village used to be a commercial center of a region. Pottery wares of Tho Ha were transported to markets throughout the northern region from the Cau river wharf.
As time changes, the pottery-making trade has become the past. The remaining trace of an ancient pottery village, one of the three most famous pottery-making centers in northern Vietnam, is only walls which are built by pieces of earthenware. These walls have become Tho Ha’s specialty.
If Duong Lam is well-known for its ancient houses made by laterite, Tho Ha is remembered for its walls of earthenware. This village is also special for its “urban” characteristics.
A wall built by pieces of earthenware.
Along roads are very small alleys that run along high walls. These alleys are not wide enough for two big persons to walk through at the same time. Entering such alleys, one may feel like he is walking deeply into an alley of the Hanoi’s old quarter or of the ancient town of Hoi An, rather than a small village in Bac Giang.
The “urban taste” is also showcased in the jobs of local residents. Of 900 households, there is no family planting rice. All of them do craft jobs, mainly making rice papers. The village’s chief, Mr. Cap Trong Viet, says that the village earns up to VND70 billion ($3.5 million) from rice papers. On average, each family earns around VND80 million ($4,000) per year.
Though it is not the official statistic, it is very easy to realize the comfortable life of Tho Ha people.
Tho Ha people got rich in the golden time of pottery wares, in the 15th and 16th centuries, and now they get rich thanks to other craft trades.
Tho Ha is also known as the home to many descendants of the Trinh lords (The Trinh lords 1545–1787 were a series of rulers of Vietnam who controlled the powers of government while leaving a figurehead as king) during the war between the northern and southern Vietnam (between the Trinh lord in the north and the Nguyen lord in the south).
The village was also the shelter for many descendants of the Trinh lords when Tay Son Revolt went to the north. The relics of the Trinh lords are still preserved at the Tho Ha communal house, for example a pair of parrots (Trinh lords’ iconic animal) or a girl stroking a dragon’s moustache (considering as Trinh lords teasing Le Kings) engraved in the house.
In Tho Ha village, the Trinh is one of the two largest families.
Mr. Trinh Dac Cuong, 86, a former pottery artisan, says that Tho Ha people are skillful and good at doing business. Though they are not very successfully in studies, but it is not important because villagers always have good lives.
Modern houses in Tho Ha.
The village has Chinese script classes, which attract nearly 100 students from the surrounding region.
However, the urbanization does not neglect this ancient village when many more urban-styled houses are being built in the village. Roads are also dirtier.
On the other bank of the Cau River is Van An Ward, a new street of Bac Ninh city. This is a developing area with many modern works are under construction. How long can the “Tho Ha peninsular” preserve its ancient features?
Khac Giang
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