Basic HTML Version
Hoa Dynasty (1450) by craftsman Bui
in Nam Sach.” Makato wrote a letter to
Ngo Duy Dong, former Secretary of Peo-
ple Committee of Hai Duong province,
to identify the precious vase.
Following this, officials carried out
a dig to collect information about the
ancient pottery village. The Department
of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai
Duong excavated Chu Dau in April 1986
and the results surprised many, as relics
of a pottery making centre were found
for the first time.
Since then, there have been eight
excavations in Minh Tan and Thai Tan
communes to the depth of two meters
over a 70,000 sqm area. Many ancient
pottery relics have been unearthed and
more than 100 ceramic kilns found.
The findings have helped local peo-
ple learn more about their ancestors’
lives. Before, when digging a pond or
building a house, people usually found
spacers and tray holders which they did
not know about and so simply used as
toys for children.
Chu Dau pottery products have
also been found in two sunken ships,
one in the Pandanan Sea (The Philip-
pines) and another off Cham Island in
central Vietnam.
More than 340,000 pottery prod-
ucts, including 240,000 that are ful-
ly intact, have been salvaged, which
proves that Chu Dau ceramic products
were traded widely.
Experts highly appreciate Chu Dau
pottery because it is as thin as paper,
as pure as pearl, as white as ivory,
and as sounds like a bell when tapped
carefully. Form, enamel, and decorat-
ing details all reach perfection. Made
by painting, carving and embossing,
all the products of Chu Dau village are
gorgeous, harmonious, and sophis-
ticated. Patterns and decorations on
the pottery depict Vietnamese tradi-
tions and the life of the Red River
Delta people.
Today, Chu Dau pottery products
are exhibited in 46 museums world-
wide and the aforementioned 54cm
vase has been valued at $1million.
THE REVITALIZATION OF
CHU DAU POTTERY
Today, few of Chu Dau’s people
are skilled at this craft. Their poor liv-
ing is derived mostly from farming and
mat knitting. In early 2000, Nam Sach
born Nguyen Huu Thang, now chair-
man of Hapro Corporation in Hanoi
carried out a project in his homeland
to produce exported pottery to recover
its brand name and develop tourism in
the village.
With the support of local people
and the authorities, Chu Dau Ceramic
JSC opened on an area of over 33,000
square meters with the total invest-
ment for the first phase at VND24 bil-
lion. Around 20 craftsmen from Hanoi,
Hai Duong, Bien Hoa and Binh Duong
worked together to research the an-
cient Chu Dau pottery and 178 pottery
workers were selected and trained.
The first batch was exported to
Spain in 2003. Since then, Chu Dau
pottery has become well known and
been ordered by many other countries.
According to the company, not
only foreign, but also local people now
care more about the products. Recently,
it has received many orders from local
customers. The brand of Chu Dau pot-
tery seems to be resuscitated.
Not limited to trading pottery prod-
ucts, the Hai Duong People Committee
has made many moves to develop the
village’s tourism. The road connecting
National Road No.5 to the village has
been upgraded and the temple wor-
shiping Dang Duyen Thong – one of
the craft’s greats - has also been re-
paired. Moreover, the Chu Dau Com-
mune Pottery Museum, where kilns and
other vestiges found in excavations are
displayed, has been upgraded.
To introduce Chu Dau pottery to
many people, the Chu Dau Ceramic
JSC also built an exhibition house on
a 1,000 square meter area, which has
been chosen to hold the international
tourism day and introduce new tours to
the village.
A project to maintain and develop
pottery production and tourism has
been completed. The project aims to
build satellite producing villages to ex-
tend the production and create thou-
sands of jobs in surrounding areas.
The opening of the Chu Dau an-
cient pottery village’s tourism program
on April 27 was one of the main ac-
tivities to start National Tourism Year
2013 – Red River Civilization. The pro-
gram includes: exhibiting ancient and
modern pottery products; building a
Viet pottery map; honouring excellent
craftsmen; visiting Chu Dau Ceramic
JSC to see the pottery making pro-
cess and ancient ceramic collections;
visiting Chu Dau village to enjoy the
beautiful sights of the land and exca-
vated sites; plus the Chu Dau village’s
history competition.
49
timeout
RED RIVER DELTA TOURISM