That knitting profession is Thu Sy

That knitting profession, the gabion – a means of livelihood since ancient times

Thu Sy commune is only about 7km from the center of Hung Yen city. This commune has 5 villages and 1 neighborhood, in which there are 2 villages of Noi Lang and Tat Vien with many people work knit it more than that.

Knitting has been around since prehistoric times, because knitting tools are closely associated with the livelihoods of agricultural residents. However, no one knows exactly when knitting in Thu Sy started. People only estimated that they appeared a few hundred years ago at least.

Ms. Luong Thi Huyen, a resident of Tat Vien village, said that according to legend, the village communal house worships the goddess Nguyen Thi Hue, who has the merit of transmitting the profession to the people, but the specific time is unknown. Initially, the people of Thu Sy knit it mainly, later knitting shrimp baskets and shrimp baskets. The profession used to be very developed, and people still passed on the folk song:

My hometown is a hard land with a job knit it have a shrimp farming business.

Currently, both Tat Vien and Noi Lang villages have about 500 people work knit it, gabion. The main ingredients for knit it old bamboo or cork. In the past, raw materials were available locally, but now people often have to go to some places to buy them.

Mr. Bui Van Lai, a craftsman, shared his profession knit it, the gabion is also quite picky, many technical stages are difficult. First, the worker must skillfully split many different types of spokes to serve the job knit it and gabion. Many crafters are very skilled.

Nan after splitting neatly and clearly divided into categories. The bamboo turns into suffering, the bamboo turns out to be miserable, and the bamboo turns out to be miserable. After cutting the spokes, they must weave into a circle, then start knitting from the bottom up. Only real spokes can be knit, there are two main types of spokes: long spokes from beginning to end and connecting spokes. The technique of splitting spokes is very important, deciding whether it is beautiful or not.

To complete one piece, the craftsman needs at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. Knitting requires meticulous dexterity and a firm grasp of the knitting technique of each part. Often the elderly, although poor eyesight, have a faster knitting speed than young people, because of their dexterity and experience.

A beautiful dress must be knit in balance, the stitches and layers of knitting are even inside and out. Finished knitting products have oval shape, two solid ends, pointed tail, small round mouth.

Technology knit it and baskets are similar. However, knit it The worker must make the frame, knit from the middle to the two ends and do not need to use the core. Knitting from the bottom up. The nan for knitting gabions is a bit thicker than the nan knit it. When knitting gabions often put the core inside to keep the frame. The easiest way to knit is to cut the gabion mouth, the most difficult is the waistband, the rim of the mouth and the tail.

Customers who buy that “connoisseur” often shake that head. If the tip is hard, it is standard and durable, and if it is soft, it is weak and quickly damaged. Thu Sy people said, there are 3 basic sizes including: large, medium and small sizes for each purpose of catching different types of fish.

In order to increase its durability and have a beautiful glossy brown color, people often hang it, gabion on the kitchen attic to avoid termites, if there is smoke in it for a certain time, it will help, the color is very beautiful.

Keep that knitting as a cultural beauty

Mr. Luong Son Bac is over 80 years old this year, Mr knit itfrom a young age and still hard at work work. Mr. Bo said that, at present, it is quite difficult to consume such fish and baskets, because few places still go to catch copper fish.

He often had to cycle to some low-lying districts such as An Thi, Phu Cu (Hung Yen), or to the whole district of Phu Xuyen, Ung Hoa (Hanoi), and then back to Bac Ninh – Bac Giang to be easy to digest. consume. To hang that maximum and put it on the cart, Mr. Bo had to work hard for 2 hours.

Profession knit it once brought the main source of income for Thu Sy people. A white finished product costs about 20,000 – 25,000 VND/piece; Those are smoked with brown cockroach wings, beautiful gloss, and are sold for about 30,000 – 40,000 VND/piece. Mr. Bo said that on peak days, he could sell hundreds of them, but there were also days when he cycled for nearly a hundred kilometers and couldn’t open the goods.

Although it is no longer the main income-generating profession, Mr. Bac and many Thu Sy people still love the job and want to keep it as a cultural beauty. Mr. Bo said, “Sometimes there are groups of foreign tourists coming to experience the craft village, the villagers are very happy and warm to welcome them.

As for photographers and cultural researchers, they often come back, they often encourage us to keep the job, so we don’t have the heart to quit, even though the current income is not much,” said Mr. Bo.

The image of Mr. Bac on a cart with hundreds of them, gabion crossing the field of canola flowers has created a picture of a peaceful Thu Sy village and imbued with the culture of the Northern Delta.