INTANGIBLE CULTURAL- DINH YEN MAT WEAVING VILLAGE – STAY AT HUYNH DUC HOTEL

Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province is not only known as the homeland of immense rice fields, rich gardens, but it is also the "cradle" of the traditional mat weaving industry everywhere - Dinh Yen mat village. In 2013, the mat weaving industry in Dinh Yen commune, Lap Vo district, Dong Thap was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Dinh Yen mat village was formed hundreds of years ago. Located next to the Hau River, this land has a lot of dunes, mudflats to develop well all kinds of materials that are father and strabismus to make products. The former indigenous people also do not know if the village ever existed. According to researchers, the residents of Dinh Yen matriarchal village originated from the Northern coastal plain (Thai Binh and Nam Dinh). When going to the South, the exiles brought with them traditional weaving mat.

Presently, mat weaving is concentrated mainly in two communes of Dinh An and Dinh Yen, especially Dinh Yen - where 70% of households follow mats making, concentrated in the hamlets: An Loi A, An Loi B, An Khuong and An Binh. Through their skillful hands, every year, the households here produce millions of projection products with bright, smooth and durable patterns that are favored by the domestic and foreign markets

Coming to the village, visitors will be surprised and enjoy the bustling labor atmosphere full of vitality of the people here as attractive, clinging to visitors' footsteps. This place is always colorful, from indoors to the alley with blue, red, yellow, white, purple strands etc. along with the loud laughter of the boys and girls mixed with the rattle of the weaving machine echoes from the end of the alley. You will feel the warmth, closeness of the people here, in them always radiate the openness with the passion for the traditional work that their ancestors passed down.

The mat weaving industry requires special craftsmanship and craftsmanship to create durable and beautiful projection products. To complete a projection with images, sharp colors and less fade, it takes quite a bit of work.

According to a longtime worker in An Binh hamlet, to make a projection requires the worker to choose the fibers that are regular, neither too big nor too fine. The strands are carried away in the sun for 30 minutes to an hour before dyeing all kinds of blue, red, purple, yellow ... in boiling water. To dye correctly, it is difficult to fade, it must be cooked up, dipped in small squint beams, depending on the density, you can dip 2-3 times or more. After that, the squint continued to be exposed to the sun for another session before being weaved.

When the weaving is finished, the worker takes the mat to cut the cover, sew the fabric and sunbathe. Among the mats, flower mats and shell scales are most difficult to weave because it requires the distribution and capture words so beautifully and exquisitely. To weave a machine usually requires 02 people, today, with modern weaving machines, just 01 person to pierce is enough.

Dinh Yen mat includes all kinds of white mats, patterned prints, storks, ornate wedding mats. Product projection of all kinds and colors and patterns; from white mats to cotton mats (shell scales, aged tea, chess ...) with affordable prices, suitable for all consumers.

In the past, Dinh Yen mat village was best known as Cho mat market (ghost market), because the group market at night, lasting about 02 hours and then the market. The starting time of the market group is not stable. The next night market hours are set on the night before and change but the buyers and sellers always know the time. This is a unique traditional culture of Dinh Yen people, although it is a market, the projection market is not like any other kind of market nationwide.

Explaining the reason why the market only sells at night, Mr. Tran Van Nghiep, who lives in An Loi A hamlet, has more than 50 years in the profession. Previously, due to the fact that people were busy working in the fields or working on mats, they could not afford to sell at night. Boat traders also trade other places during the day, leaving at night to anchor to buy. Therefore, the market often meets at night in the fragile smoke of smoke and the cool breeze on the river. In the ancient pagoda yard, under the light of climbing oil, the marketers go back and forth, quietly as ghosts ... Therefore, Dinh Yen mat market is also known as ghost market or hell market. However, at present, according to the needs of the market, mat weaving and trading have changed somewhat.

Coming to Dinh Yen today, we will no longer see the bustling atmosphere of the "ghost market" every day, mainly because the rural transport system has been invested quite completely, the means of transportation have can go deep into the village to buy products directly and conveniently quickly.

Weaving mat creates the main source of income for many households, creates jobs, helps to stabilize the economy, and contributes to improving the lives of rural people. Despite ups and downs, hardship, the people of Dinh Yen with the hereditary profession still nurture and pursue to weave mat. Try once to visit Dinh Yen mat village, admire the vibrant colors in this river!

Source: thamhiemmekong.com