The story of Bat Trang's Soul

For generations, Bat Trang people have not only made pottery, they have talked to the earth, listened to the fire and breathed their soul into the glaze. The earth here seems to have a spirit. When in the hands of the craftsman, it is no longer a lifeless lump of clay, but turns into tea cups, wine bottles, water jars, incense burners, flower vases, each with a human shape.

*Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan visits Bat Trang craft village. Photo: Contributor*

Land - People - Profession

Bat Trang people say: "Making pottery is keeping the fire, keeping the earth, keeping the soul".

The Red River soil is supple, the kiln fire is blazing, and the workers’ sweat is salty. All three combine to create culture. The profession seems to be just manual labor, but in each glaze line, each touch is the patience of time, the humility of the worker, and the delicacy of the Vietnamese soul.

The pottery villagers are quiet, but each product is a “story” of the land. Some tell the story of the flood season of the past, some tell the story of love between couples, some tell the story of parents teaching the craft. Each crack on an old pottery pot, each stained glaze, is also a trace of time - indelible, but creating its own beauty.

Keep the fire - Keep the profession

There are winter days when the Red River is covered in fog, but the workers still stay awake to watch over the fire. The old kiln, glowing red at night, is the heart of the village. The elders say: “If the kiln is turned off for a day, the pottery village will lose its breath.”

Many young people leave their hometowns to work in the city. But then, as if by an invisible thread, they return. Because their homeland is not only a place to live, but also a place to belong. They return to continue the fire of their ancestors, to breathe new life into the soul of the old land.

Now, among the ancient houses and modern pottery workshops, Bat Trang still echoes with the sound of pottery wheels turning like the wheel of time, never stopping.

Pottery Soul - Human Soul

A foreign visitor once said: “Bat Trang pottery is not only beautiful in shape, but also has a soul”. That’s right. The soul of pottery is the soul of the Vietnamese people – industrious, creative, persistent and profound.

*Products of Bat Trang craft village were selected by Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan as gifts for distinguished guests. Photo: Contributor*

A Bat Trang ceramic vase does not need to be perfect, because true beauty lies in its imperfections. The small defect in the glaze, the slight deviation in shape, is the mark of the craftsman's hand, proof of labor, of a real person in an increasingly flat and mechanical world .

One late autumn afternoon, in the yard of an old house with bougainvillea trellis, three generations of Bat Trang potters sat together: a silver-haired old man, a middle-aged son and a young grandson playing with a handful of clay.

He said slowly: "The land cannot speak, but whoever loves the land will be answered by the land."

The father continued: "Fire does not know how to remember, but whoever keeps the fire burning will never go out."

The boy looked up, his eyes sparkling: "In the future, I will also make pottery, so that the earth will have friends and the fire will have people."

The three of them laughed. The afternoon light fell on the ceramic pots still warm from the fire. The birds called back to the village.

At that moment, we understood that: Bat Trang is not only a place to make pottery, but also a place to preserve memories, where three generations together shape the soul of Vietnam.

Six Thanh Hoang - the ancestral fire of the profession

Every year, when incense smoke billows in the village communal house, Bat Trang people bow their heads before the altar of the Six Thanh Hoang - the six respected founders of the village.

The ancients believed that one of the Six Patriarchs brought the pottery craft from Trang An - Ninh Binh to this land, teaching people how to shape clay, blow fire, temper glaze, and preserve human morality through each pottery line.

In the villagers' minds, soil is the body, fire is the soul, and the founder of the craft is the first breath of Bat Trang.

Thanks to the Six Patron Saints, the pottery craft has been passed down through hundreds of generations, and thanks to the hands of the craftsmen, the soul of the craft lives forever through time.

The ancestors pass on the profession - the children keep the fire. Fire reflects the earth - the earth blooms with people.

When the bells of the communal house ring in the wind of the Red River, anyone passing through Bat Trang can vaguely see something very sacred. That is the flame of the craft still smoldering in the soil, in the glaze, in the hearts of Bat Trang people.

Living Heritage

Today, Bat Trang is no longer just a craft village. It is a living museum of Vietnamese culture, where each house is a furnace of memories, each person is a page of craft history, each product is a greeting to the world.

Young artisans bring pottery to e-commerce platforms, combining visual arts, making mini pottery, experience pottery for tourists, or pottery with Dong Thap lotus flowers, Ha Giang Panax pseudoginseng flowers, Thai Nguyen tea scent... so that pottery is not just a product, but a story connecting the earth with people, connecting tradition with the future.

If you have the opportunity to visit Bat Trang, stop by a red-hot pottery kiln. Look at the craftsman holding the clay, shaping it like stroking a child’s hair. Then, you will understand that: “Preserving the pottery profession is not only preserving the profession, but also preserving the identity of the Vietnamese people, preserving the clay to speak, the fire to sing and the hands of the Vietnamese to create miracles from the most ordinary things.”

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/cau-chuyen-hon-dat-bat-trang-718479.html