The journey of bringing bamboo roots to the world of 50-year-old artisans

After finding old bamboo roots once, artisan Huynh Phuong Do tinker and successfully sculpted shapes from that stump.

Buddha-shaped bamboo roots – Hoi An’s “specialty”

Visitors to the ancient town of Hoi An, whether they buy it or not, are impressed by the special Buddha image bamboo stall. It is the stall of Uncle Huynh Phuong Do located in the handicraft market in Hoi An ancient town, featuring Buddha and God statues made of bamboo. The smiling Buddha statues seem to be inviting guests to the small booth.

Uncle Do is the first artist to create handicraft products from bamboo. The job came to him just by accident, when he was caught in a flood with only a few bamboo roots. As a carpenter, he began to chisel into bamboo roots to relieve his sadness, it has become his profession until now, calculated for more than 30 years.

He selected the Buddhas and Gods in Vietnamese culture, especially Tam Da: Phuc – Loc – Tho, the buddhas who mean wealth, luck and longevity in Eastern culture.

These flavors are very popular with Vietnamese people, so they are very accessible to domestic tourists. At the same time, it is also a special feature in Eastern culture to introduce to international friends. Later, he carved many other characters such as Jesus or the Dalai Lama.

To create a work, Uncle Red took more than 2 hours to carve, cut and before that 11 stages. The hardest part of creating a handicraft product is choosing the right shape to create the right character image.

For example, with bamboo with long roots, it will be saved to form Mr. Loc with a long beard – representing the wish for the owner to live a long and long life. As for the short bamboo roots, the image of the god of wealth and the earth is created.

From the smile, the corners of the eyes when smiling, the beards of the statues are carefully cared for by Uncle Red. Each handmade statue will give a different facial expression and smile, no two pictures are the same.

The difficulty of the artist is to breathe life into each product, so that each Buddha has a happy smiling face but must have his own features, so that each product is a unique copy, it is impossible to find a second one. . “Then that’s the precious thing about handicraft products,” Red uncle shared. “Opening the label” is an important process and only Uncle Red, the creator of this craft, can create a vivid effect in each statue.

Although it takes so much effort, Uncle Red always “seduces” customers to take pictures freely without charge. With the commitment of “comfortably taking pictures, no charge”, many curious customers also feel comfortable with his charming smile.

Even the owner is more enthusiastic to the point of styling for guests to take pictures. If the guest is interested, he is also willing to take a bamboo root down to “village”. His enthusiasm is probably what makes the Red Bamboo Hoi An brand – something that everyone must experience when coming to the old town.

Each statue costs from 200,000 VND to 500 thousand VND or more depending on the size. Expensive, cheap depends on the perception of each person, but for a handicraft item, a product of lasting value at the same time, and unique, the price is not a measure of it. Vivid Buddha statues made of a Vietnamese material are what make up a specialty of Hoi An, but for those who come to buy and stay, it certainly comes from Uncle Do’s hospitality.

Journey to bring Hoi An bamboo to the world

While receiving me, Uncle Red always kept an eye on customers, including passers-by. He always said a few words “Hello, Hi” to foreign customers and was ready to invite them into the booth to visit. Everyone was surprised with his English when he was able to communicate fluently with guests.

He shared, trading for more than 30 years in Hoi An land has forged him the ability to speak many languages, such as English, Chinese, … to facilitate communication and introduce products to customers. At the middle age, Uncle Red is still studying foreign languages ​​so that he can bring special bamboo roots to international friends.

There are guests who have bought bamboo roots for decades, when they come back, they share with me that they are still surprised by its durability. Over the years, the old bamboo tree with the Buddha image is still smiling.

Uncle Red shared, in addition to learning how to speak the language to trade, he also tries to promote this original image of Hoi An bamboo through social networking channels such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram. With the help of her daughter, the image of Hoi An’s typical bamboo roots has been crossed beyond the Vietnamese border, becoming a spiritual gift of international guests when they have the opportunity to visit Da Nang. Nang – Hoi An.

When asked what he would do to promote these bamboo roots, Uncle Do said he was cherishing vocational training for the next generations. Currently, there are many people who can carve bamboo roots of Buddha images similar to Uncle Red, but talking about the vividness is still not equal to the father of the profession. That is why he wishes to be trained professionally, so that he can bring what is most soulful to his successor.

I asked him if he wasn’t afraid of being robbed of his job, Uncle Red just smiled and said: “Life is born, old, sick, and dead, and then at some point people will die. But when they die, there are still people who keep the fire of the profession. This is a pride for me. If I can’t pass the craft on to posterity, then it’s a pity.”

The original Hoi An bamboo of Uncle Do Tre is still there, receiving thousands of visitors every day to visit Hoi An. Whether buying gifts or not, tourists still feel the hospitality of Hoi An people through the smile of Uncle Red and the smile of the statues.

Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)

Đăng bởi: Thảo Nguyễn