Xuan La craft village in Hanoi’s Phu Xuyen district has been producing traditional toys for kids for generations, but is this old trade about to bite the dust?

As a kid I used to play with a special kind of toy made by an old man who lived in the neigbourhood. The simple toys are known as ‘to he’ in Vietnamese and are made out of rice. I had presumed that these toys were now virtually extinct as kids prefer flashier modern toys and computer games, but actually some of the old artisans are still around.

In Xuan La village, an unofficial ‘to he craft village’, 40km from downtown Hanoi, Dang Van Ha, an 82-year-old artisan still knuckles down to work everyday. In his front yard, his grandchildren are stirring the food dye into rice flour. The old man dexterously takes out lumps of sticky rice and quickly produces a dozen animals and flowers as the children watch with wonder.

He happily discloses his secrets, perhaps, in the hope anyone who is listening will take over the trade when he’s gone. Ha tells me a ratio of 10 per cent glutinous rice mixed with 90 per cent ordinary rice is needed. The mixture is ground until it becomes smooth. Water is then added and the mixture is kneaded until its soft and gloopy. Next, the dough is boiled in water until it floats on the surface. It’s removed, cooled then coloured with natural products – home-grown vegetables or fruit, usually.

“I’m not sure when people started making to he in the village. I just know that when I was a child, both my grandfather and father learned from older artisans how to make to he,” says Ha who first started making the toys in 1947.

Before the advent of computer games, DVDs and cheap electrical toys, generations of kids from the north to the south of the country would have played with to he. The toys are not common anymore, but they are also not done and dusted.

A few years ago, Ha’s grandchild, Dang Van Kha displayed some to he at a school fair in Ha Dong. By chance, the school’s principal saw the dolls and was quite impressed. She asked Kha to perform a to he-making demonstration for the whole school. Word spread. Soon, other schools asked Kha to come and show pupils how to knead to he.

Kha is delighted as he’s made some money! But her grandfather will also be pleased that the art of to he gained a new lease of life.

His grandchild has even demonstrated to he-making for foreigners. Aware that some curious foreign tourists like to see each stage of the process, many hotels and restaurants now invite some young to he artisans to ‘perform’. The young to he makers will sit on a small bamboo mat and wear a traditional costume while kneading the dough.

Another of Ha’s grandchildren, Dang Dinh Tien, won the highest prize at Xuan La’s to he contest 2010 and now sells to he at Westlake Water Park. He hopes one day to establish a company to produce and sell to he on a larger scale.

But can to he realistically compete? Nguyen Van Thanh, the head of Xuan La’s to he club, believes that people consider to he artisans to be nothing more than street vendors. The artisans are typically prohibited from selling products in public places, like parks and zoos. As a result many artisans have been discouraged from making to he. It’s estimated there are just over 30 people still active in the trade. Once, there might have been as many as 500 people gainfully employed by the to he industry.

Perhaps, it should be seen less as a business, and more as a cultural tradition that should be preserved. With this in mind, the Hanoi People’s Committee, the Department of Trade and Industry and other related authorities are contemplating creating a cultural park where artisans from craft villages could showcase their products.
Source: Time-out