Hue preserves craft villages for socio-economic and tourism development

Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The ancient capital of Hue in central Thua Thien-Hue province has for many years managed to preserve craft villages which have become destinations for tourists from both at home and abroad.

Hue was the capital of Vietnamese monarchy dynasties for more than 300 years (1636-1945), including 13 dynasties of the Nguyen family, the last feudal dynasty of Vietnam. The city, therefore, became a gathering place of many traditional crafts, including unique crafts originating from the system of office crafts or ancient craft villages serving the royals and the elites exclusively.

After hundreds of years, Hue today is still a palatial city with golden palaces, citadels, mausoleums, temples and countless treasures from feudal times, which makes the city a unique cultural heritage .

Creating that unique and massive heritage complex was none other than the royal craftsmen and artisans of the Nguyen dynasty. There were masters of handicrafts in Hue as well as from all over the country who were summoned to the capital by the Nguyen kings to serve the royals. With skillful hands and great creativity, the artisans created masterpieces of art that satisfied the royals and remained as priceless treasures.

During the Nguyen dynasty, there was a special agency that looked over the crafts, which was the craft-office. The main task of the office was to supervise the construction of palaces, the creation of palace items as well as the minting of money and weapons and shipbuilding. Under the umbrella of this craft-office system, there were bureaus of crafts such as carpentry, masonry, casting, ceramics, jewelry, embroidery and carving, which gathered talented craftsmen and artisans from all over the country.

According to history, from the reign of King Gia Long (1802-1820) to the beginning of King Tu Duc's reign (1847-1883), the number of craftsmen in Hue was enormous due to the need for construction in the capital. Workers directly working for the royals alone reached into the thousands.

The royal craftsmen of the Nguyen dynasty were all selected for their outstanding skills and talent. Some were so talented they were honored by the kings with titles and property. For example, there is the father and son of goldsmiths Cao Dinh Do and Cao Dinh Huong, who are considered to be the ancestors of Hue’s jewelry industry. They were given authority positions for their talent and contributions during the Tay Son dynasty and continued to be respected and allowed to keep their titles during the reign of King Gia Long, so that the jewelry industry could be preserved and to prosper in Hue.

According to research, the territorial expansion of the Nguyen lords, then the capital formation of the two dynasties Tay Son and Nguyen, brought businessmen and skilled workers from all over the country to come to Hue to seek opportunities. The process gradually transformed the city into a homeland of Vietnamese traditional crafts, where many crafts and skilled craftsmen had incredible conditions and opportunities to flourish.

According to the research of Vu Thanh Huy at Hue University, the province of Thua Thien Hue currently has 110 craft villages consisting of nearly 30 traditional crafts and groups of crafts. Many have been formed and developed over a long period of time and some newer crafts were imported. Many crafts have been successfully preserved and well developed such as bronze casting, fine art carpentry and the processing of agricultural products.

With the efforts of the city's administration and local artisans, the local craft villages have been preserved and developed, thereby contributing to Hue's socio-economic and tourism development./.