Traditional Handicrafts of Vietnam
Their Cultural Characteristics and Position in Vietnamese Life
Traditional handicrafts contribute to Vietnam their unique products and interesting cultural facts
In the past, handicrafts had a humble status in an economy dominated by agriculture and in the conventional social classification, the artisans stood after the intellectual and the farmers, a relatively low position. Overall, handicrafts were not always warmly supported by the rulers and had to deal with strong competition from Chinese products. Only the best guilds could live entirely on their crafts. To the rest, handicrafts were just trades supplementary for agricultural production. However, Vietnam still has a wide variety of traditional handicrafts some of which have developed into arts.
The artisans, especially the professional, of the same craft tended to gather together where is good for their business and found their guilds and their own villages. Special attention was paid to the local resources. Therefore the distribution of handicrafts is strongly affected by natural conditions. Customarily a handicraft is linked to the name of the village where the artisans most excel in it, which is a kind of brand name. The most famous “craftsmen villages” are usually near trading centers like Hanoi, Nam Dinh, Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). In the old quarter of Hanoi, some streets are named after the crafts of the guilds that used to dominate there.
In the old days, good artisans were generally more well-to-do than farmers and even officials. The masters of the crafts won favour and honour from the royal court which came under the form of yearly orders and gifts. However, the prejudices of the society were strong and few people wished to become professional craftsmen. Therefore, the crafts were passed down chiefly from father to son and professional handicrafts were more or less family business. Whatever the circumstances are, the artisans always have high respect for their trade for that is not only their means of living but also the heritage from their ancestors and keeping the crafts alive is ever the first priority of any guild.
Most famous handicrafts of Vietnam are pottery, weaving and embroidering, carpentry, making lacquerware, making traditional pictures and inlaying mother-of-pearl. Techniques of the crafts have been developed and perfected through many generations of artisans. Therefore, the products are very refined. The competition pressure and conventional moral code of artisans ensure their quality. In addition, as they are made by hand, they bear personal touches of the creators and if their makers are the masters, they are literally pieces of art. They also reflect the local conditions and culture.
Vietnam's traditional handicrafts suffer greatly from the modernization, the two wars and the inappropriate economic policy of the period from 1975 to 1985. The industrial products had a great advantage of price and productivity over the traditional hand-made ones. The wars killed good artisans and together with them many secrets of the crafts. The compressed economy of the 1975-1985 period discouraged the survival of traditional handicrafts. Fortunately, they have a chance to stay alive after the economic reform in 1986. The market wants the goods to have art and creativity thus the uniqueness of traditional handmade products have attracted attention and investment of entrepreneurs. That combined with the efforts from veteran artisans and enthusiastic handicraft lovers leads to the successful survival of the handicrafts. Now the crafts are treasured and preserved because they again bring prosperity and fame.
Reference:
Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh and Dana Healy, “Aspects of Vietnamese Culture”, The Gioi Publisher
