Special features of Chuong village conical hats

The traditional conical hat making village of Chuong village is located in Phuong Trung commune, Thanh Oai district, about 30 km from the center of Hanoi capital. The conical hats here are famous throughout the country for their five characteristics: strong, sturdy, durable, elegant, and beautiful.

The conical hat is a rustic symbol of Vietnamese culture. Photo: VGP/Thuy Linh.

Artisan Ta Thu Huong (52 years old) said: To make a conical hat, it must go through 10 stages: crumpling leaves, drying in the sun, drying in the dew, ironing leaves, splitting leaves, plucking rings, spinning the spathe, sewing the hat, weaving, cracking the waistband and covering it with three layers of leaves. To have a complete hat, the hat maker must be careful in every stage, patient and skillful with every needle and thread.

Specifically about the stages of making hats, Mrs. Pham Thi Nu (70 years old) said: "First is choosing the leaves. The leaves are brought back to be crushed in sand and then dried in the sun until the green color of the leaves turns silvery white. Then the leaves are placed under a handful of rags, quickly pressed with a plow blade so that the leaves are flat but not brittle or torn. The hat ring is made of small and even bamboo and reeds, when joined, it must be round and not patchy or rippled. Chuong village hats have 16 layers of rings to help the hat be durable but still soft. Next, the craftsman arranges each leaf into the hat ring, a layer of bamboo and another layer of leaves, then sews. Sewing is a stage that requires the craftsman's skill because if not skillful, the leaves will tear immediately."

The talent of the Chuong village craftsmen is that the seams of the crocheted threads are hidden when sewing, and when looking at the hat, all you see is the neat stitches… When the hat is finished sewing, the craftsman heats it with sulfur gas to make the color of the hat pure white and to prevent mold.

More elaborate hats will be decorated with colorful paper flower and leaf motifs or with many loops of thread sewn together at two opposite points to tie the hat strap...

Making hats is one of the most important steps.

According to the artisans in the village, in the past, Chuong village produced many types of hats for many classes such as three-tiered hats for girls, conical hats, long hats, hiep hats, and conical hats for boys and noble men.

During the development period, Chuong village was the place to provide many types of traditional hats such as non quai thao, conical hats made of old and living leaves. In which, the quai thao was used for the elderly to wear when going to pagodas. The conical hats made of old and living leaves served women who did farm work because this type of hat was very sturdy and could withstand the rain and sun with people in the fields with many different uses.

Through the ups and downs of time, the conical hat making profession is no longer as prosperous as before, the people of Chuong village still diligently sew each hat, the elderly pass it on to the young, the adults teach the children, and so the profession continues, they firmly believe and silently preserve the conical hat as both a tradition and a cultural feature that cannot be allowed to disappear.

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/dac-sac-non-la-lang-chuong-196771.html