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Being one of the most ancient carpentry villages, Lung Ha is now proving itself to be one of the most well-known worshipping production sites in Vietnam thanks to the burning passion and devotion of artisans.

Lung Ha carpentry village located in Yen Phuong commune, Yen Lac district, Vinh Phuc province is a conventional home-production craft village. This destination is nationally famous for the family worshiping products towards spiritual and ancient values.  Each carving line is dedicated and symbolizes the heart of Vietnamese generation.

On the land of “forest of gold and silver sea” which is rich in natural resources like Vietnam, many famous carpentry villages are born and developing. Lung Ha carpentry village is one of them. Beginning with just tens of households, the village currently has about 200 families continuing with the traditional wooden craft, both to preserve the profession left by their fathers and to earn more incomes. In order to maintain and continue a craft village for decades, carpenters have to take great care with meticulousness and devotion all of their heart and soul into their “spiritual children”.

Let’s follow us to the family of Mr. Nguyen Hong Quy, a famous experienced carpenter craftsman to discover all the beauty of his labor and enthusiasm. With over 30 years of age but more than 15-years of strong attachment to logs and paint, carpentry to him is like a “brainchild”. Each detail of punching, chisel, carving as well as sweeping is well-performed by the artist in a mature and non-forced manner. Mr. Quy shared: “Every day I get up at 4 or 5 am to prepare tools for hired workers, and after that we work together until noon. Although carpentry is hard, I am very happy because I can make more money for family and have lots of flexible hours. Sometimes when it rains, we will sit and drink tea and gossip”.

According to Mr. Hong Quy’s sharing, each fully-made product not only meets the demand of customers, but it also evidences the workers’ talent and experience. Therefore, the craftsmen have to pay great attention to and concentration to every little detail and step. If there is just a moment of ignorance, a deviating path of the stick is enough to ruin the whole product.

In addition to the beauty of sophistication and craftsmanship, the products of Lung Ha village are further highlighted when they are made up of the cheerful optimism, the love of life and the dedication to the job of the craftmen. Even though the worshipping products are aimed toward sacredness and original values, they conveys gentlness and cheerful features of their makers.

However, according to Mr. Duong, the maintenance and promotion of the village’s value in the future is posing many difficulties for local authorities and the people themselves. Because the consumption of goods is still challenging due to the unstable output. Besides, the need to work in industrial factories is attracting more young people in the village rather than take over their traditional jobs. Therefore, in order to encourage the preservation and development of cultural jobs, besides organizing competitions for craftsmen, the Lung Ha village and Yen Phuong commune leaders also encourage and award certificates of merit to cultural families, which makes great contribution to maintain the trade village. It can be said that carpentry has brought the people of Ha village many changes in their material and spiritual life. In the future, it is planned to expand the scale and applied technical machines to boost labor productivity.

As the economic market increasingly integrates with many foreign commodities, a lot of craft villages might be at risk of disappearance. However, with the spirit of loving the craft and the skillfulness for their products, the carpenters in Lung Ha will always play the role of keeping the soul and fire for this cultural carpentry village.