Young artisan keeps memories on woodblocks

Today's people keep the old profession

Young artisan Nguyen Cong Dat leisurely carried the wooden table and neatly arranged the woodblock engraving tools beside it. The toolbox contained more than a dozen different types of knife and chisel tips. Small, square pieces of wood were neatly placed in front of the table and he sat cross-legged as if preparing to enter a meditation session. Only then did artisan Nguyen Cong Dat begin his woodblock engraving work.

Mr. Dat said: "Many centuries ago, my hometown was famous for its woodblock printing. Thanks to this traditional craft, people's lives were prosperous, as the song goes: "Dinh Sinh, Quan Seu, Chua Trang/In those three villages, there is no food" (Sinh, Seu, Trang are the Nom names of three villages: Thanh Lieu, Lieu Trang, Khue Lieu today). When Western printing techniques were introduced to our country, the woodblock printing craft gradually disappeared. Traces of a“Vietnam's first "printing center" faded away.

Mr. Dat tells stories about his craft village clearly and in detail like a veteran artisan. Since childhood, artisan Nguyen Cong Dat has loved carving and drawing. Having learned a little bit of the craft from his uncle and other artisans in the village, he painstakingly chiseled, carved, engraved, and printed seals - the first products of any artisan in the craft village. Growing up, loving the profession, Mr. Dat still firmly took the entrance exam for the interior design major at Hanoi Open University. After graduating from university, he worked as a traditional art decorator, embossing sacred animals and patterns for temples and pagodas. But it seemed that the woodblock carving profession had caught up with him, after a short time working in the profession, he decided to return to his hometown to practice wood carving.

Talking about his affinity with the woodblock printing profession, Mr. Dat said that in his first year of university, he visited the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam (Hanoi) 4 times. Every time he went, he tried to find data related to the woodblock printing profession. If he did not know Chinese, he would copy it to go back to his hometown and ask the village's elders, or he boldly went to the houses of Professor Le Van Lan, historians Duong Trung Quoc, and Tang Ba Hoanh to ask. "I found stele No. 1 at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam, which clearly stated that Mr. Luong Nhu Hoc's hometown was Hong Luc village, Truong Tan district, Ha Hong prefecture (Ha Hong prefecture used to be a part of Hai Duong province today). Understanding the ancestors of the profession and the profession made me even more passionate about researching"...

Seeing that their son was passionate about the profession, Dat's parents did not stop him. He spent his own money many times, traveling all over the South and North to learn the art of woodblock printing of his ancestors. Wherever he heard of woodblocks, he would go there. To read woodblocks, he did not hesitate to learn Chinese and Nom characters. Dat said that many people often do not pay attention to the fact that in the scriptures and ancient books using woodblock printing techniques, there is an introduction about the compiler and engraver of those prints. This part is often printed by the elders on the first or last page of the book. Through his field trips to learn, Dat realized that most of the ancient woodblocks were made by artisans in Thanh Lieu village. "I also know that the artisans in Thanh Lieu are not only hired engravers, but they are also very rich in cultural and linguistic knowledge. Many books are made almost entirely by the elders in the village, from composing the text, writing, engraving to binding the book..."

According to Mr. Dat, woodblock printing is an ancient printing technique that requires meticulousness and skill of the artisan. The wood chosen to make the woodblock must be fresh and straight, with few branches, and 40-60 years old. The wood must go through many stages of sawing, drying, etc. Only when it meets the standards can the embossed letters be engraved on it to create a complete print. The printing paper must be Do paper or Xuyen paper to ensure the quality of the print. After that, the woodblock is rolled with Chinese ink, the paper is pasted on it, then rolled gently and evenly, and left for a few minutes for the ink to dry before the print is complete. The most special thing is the horizontal knife used to engrave letters by the artisans of Thanh Lieu village. The knife has a handle made of buffalo horn, turned round, and grooved in the middle. The blade is made of steel with a crescent-shaped notch. It is this crescent-shaped notch that helps the engraving of letters to be flexible, with clear light and dark strokes.

On average, each wood carving takes an artisan 3-5 days to complete. Many carvings take several weeks, even several months, depending on the length of the words and the theme requested by the customer. There are lines as thin as a strand of hair, as small as a grain of rice, but the artisans of Thanh Lieu village can still do them.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Trang, one of the elderly artisans of Thanh Lieu village, said: "It was thought that the woodblock carving profession of Thanh Lieu would be lost because of the development of printing machines and very few people like this profession nowadays. Luckily, there are still young people who love the profession like Dat. Although he is still young, Dat is eager to learn, passionate about the profession and determined to restore the profession of his father. Dat is rekindling the "fire" of woodblock carving and printing in Thanh Lieu with us."

Determined to revive the craft village

Reviving the woodblock printing craft of our ancestors is currently facing many difficulties, but Mr. Dat is not discouraged. Mr. Dat shared: "There are many ancient crafts in the world that seem impossible to restore and develop, but in fact, through experiential tourism and research applied to real life, they can still be revived."

What makes Dat so confident in his journey to restore the craft village? According to researcher Nguyen Dinh Hung, Vietnam Institute of Han Nom Studies, young artisan Nguyen Cong Dat has passion, knowledge, a thirst for learning and high determination. Dat has been working with many other artisans and young people to carry out a project called "Back to the village". The project has 4 very clear goals. From preserving and developing the woodblock printing craft to creating valuable applied products and moving towards turning Thanh Lieu into a tourist destination to experience and learn about traditional craft village culture, attracting domestic and foreign tourists. "With a methodical approach, young people like Dat will achieve certain successes. Dat, along with young people and artisans of Thanh Lieu village, have achieved positive results when in early September, the nearly 600-year-old woodblock printing craft was recognized as a craft village by the People's Committee of Hai Duong province," said researcher Nguyen Dinh Hung.

Mr. Dat said: "The two world documentary heritages and four national treasures currently in Vietnam all have great contributions from artisans of Thanh Lieu village. Therefore, the woodblock printing profession deserves to be respected and preserved."

Mr. Dat and other young people who love woodblock carving are taking steps to nominate Thanh Lieu woodblocks as a national intangible heritage. At the same time, he is also coordinating with Chu Dau Ceramic Joint Stock Company to research and put woodblock images on ceramic products, introducing woodblock culture to friends around the world. In addition, woodblock images have been printed on bricks to decorate some cultural spaces, both traditional and modern. Mr. Dat also hopes to soon develop Thanh Lieu woodblock carving village into a cultural tourist destination associated with experiences of growing flowers and ornamental plants in his hometown of Tan Hung.

Memories of time will remain forever on woodblocks and young people who love their profession and are passionate about learning history like young artisan Nguyen Cong Dat are rare and worthy of respect.

After nearly 600 years of development, Thanh Lieu woodblock craft village has left many valuable heritages recognized domestically and internationally such as: Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks, Vinh Nghiem Pagoda woodblocks (Bac Giang) or Phuc Giang School woodblocks (present-day Ha Tinh) which were honored by UNESCO as "Documentary Heritage of the Asia-Pacific region". In addition, the woodblocks stored at Bo Da Pagoda (Bac Giang), Tram Gian Pagoda (Hai Duong), Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh woodblocks of Dong Nhan Pagoda and Dau Pagoda woodblocks, all in Bac Ninh, are four national treasures, marking an important mark of Thanh Lieu craft village, which is considered the first "printing center" of Vietnam.