The artisan keeps the cultural soul in the Mid-Autumn lanterns

VHO - Every full moon of August, when the sound of drums and lion dances resounds throughout the streets, I return to the small house at the end of the alley on Ly Tu Trong Street, Thanh Sen Ward, Ha Tinh Province. There, there is an old soldier who has turned 75 this year - Mr. Truong Viet Dung, one of the few artisans who still persist in making traditional Mid-Autumn lanterns.

The old soldier with star lanterns with pictures of Uncle Ho

In the small house of Mr. Truong Viet Dung (born in 1950, residing in Thanh Sen ward, Ha Tinh province), the space is lit up by the shimmering colors of star lanterns, carp lanterns, jade rabbit lanterns... The sound of scissors cutting paper, the sound of knocking on bamboo frames, mixed with his gentle smile, makes this place seem like a "corner of childhood" left in the middle of a noisy city.

Traditional handmade Mid-Autumn lanterns shimmer with color in front of Mr. Dung's house

Generation 8x like me still has vivid memories of the bustling Mid-Autumn lantern procession nights. Children dressed in their best clothes, holding sparkling cellophane star lanterns, singing lantern songs as they walked. The procession stretched from the beginning of the village to the end of the lane, then gathered in front of the cultural house to break the feast. Candies and fruits were displayed everywhere and on the trays of food there was always a picture of Uncle Ho. The full moon illuminated the sweet childhood…

Those memories suddenly came flooding back when I heard Mr. Dung calling out: “Look at this lamp I made, is it beautiful?”. I exclaimed with delight: “It’s so beautiful, sir!”. The old artisan’s eyes suddenly lit up with indescribable joy. For many years, he had put his soul into each lamp with all the care and affection like that.

The star lanterns that Mr. Dung makes all have a picture of Uncle Ho in the middle.

Few people know that before becoming a lamp maker, Mr. Dung was an intelligence soldier of General Department 2, participating in the fierce fighting in the Quang Tri battlefield in late 1973. He was injured in a bombing raid and carries the consequences of war to this day.

When peace was restored, he was demobilized, went to driving school and worked at Ha Tinh Construction Company 4. In 1990, he retired due to disability. And from then on, fate brought him to the profession of making handmade Mid-Autumn lanterns - a seemingly simple profession but requiring meticulousness, patience and great love for traditional culture.

All the lamps are made carefully and meticulously by Mr. Dung...

“In the past, children were very excited, every Mid-Autumn Festival the whole village would go out carrying lanterns and feasting. But now, with the proliferation of video games, this profession is gradually fading away. I keep this profession not to make a living, but because I want to preserve a beautiful cultural feature for future generations,” Mr. Dung confided.

To complete a star lantern, the craftsman must go through many steps: splitting bamboo, bending the frame, gluing colored paper, and attaching shiny nylon. “To make a star lantern, you must close the room door so that the wind does not wrinkle the nylon. Most importantly, there must be a picture of Uncle Ho in the middle of the star, to have the right meaning,” said Mr. Dung.

With the mascot-shaped lamps, he also makes use of plastic waste such as straws, cake boxes, bottle caps, etc. to create them. With his skillful hands, he transforms discarded materials into colorful carp, rabbits, or peacocks. He said that through each lamp, he wants to send children a message about protecting the environment, appreciating and recycling the small things around them.

...by talented hands from cardboard and scrap materials

As he gets older, his health gradually weakens. Due to his illness, he has to go to Hanoi for treatment every month. This Mid-Autumn Festival, he only accepts orders for about 70 lanterns, and has to turn down the rest despite many customers' eager orders. Most of his customers are offices, schools, and families. Some people buy them once and use them for many years because his lanterns are sturdy, meticulous, and durable.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (resident of Thanh Sen ward), a customer who came to buy a lantern, shared: "Mr. Dung's lanterns have soul and are very durable. Every year I order them to decorate for my children to play on the Mid-Autumn Festival. I want my children to understand the value of traditional culture."

Extending the cultural source

For Mr. Truong Viet Dung, the profession of making Mid-Autumn lanterns is not just a simple joy for children. Behind each bamboo frame and cellophane sheet is a whole source of culture preserved, extending from family to community. Although he is old and weak, he still keeps the profession until now because of his father - Mr. Truong Quang Lien, a former officer of the Ha Tinh Department of Culture.

Mr. Dung carefully kept his father's certificates and medals and placed them solemnly on the altar.

He said his father was once awarded the Medal for the Cause of Preserving National Culture by the State. In his memory, the image of his father devoted to the work of preserving heritage instilled in him the belief that culture is the source, the key to unlocking the spiritual strength of the nation.

“My father is a cultural worker. As his son, I have to continue and preserve a part of the Vietnamese soul. A Mid-Autumn lantern is not just for playing, it is a memory, a history, a source of national culture,” said Mr. Dung.

Perhaps that is why, for many years now, he has kept the habit of wearing his old military uniform when sitting at the table making lanterns. He said that it is not only a nostalgia for a time of war but also a silent message to the next generation: to have bustling Mid-Autumn nights, many generations of fathers and brothers have fallen on the battlefield; and right at this moment, beyond the border, on remote islands, there are soldiers who still guard day and night to keep the peace for children to carry lanterns under the moon.

For many years, Mr. Dung still wears his soldier uniform, proudly standing next to the sparkling star lanterns.

Returning from the battlefield, experiencing the ups and downs of soldier life and everyday life, Mr. Dung is still working hard with bamboo, colored paper and small candles. For him, making lamps is not about calculating profits, but about preserving a part of the Vietnamese soul, about holding on to childhood memories for many generations in a modern life that is sweeping away too many values.

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the small house at the end of Thanh Sen Ward’s alley is brightly lit with colorful lanterns. In that warm atmosphere, every morning, a few elderly men and women from the neighborhood come over to the porch, sit around a pot of green tea, sip the sweet and sour tea and chat next to the star-shaped lanterns drying on the wall.

The Mid-Autumn lanterns he makes the most are star lanterns with Uncle Ho's picture attached.

Talking to Van Hoa Newspaper, Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Nga - Vice Chairman of Thanh Sen Ward People's Committee said that Mr. Truong Viet Dung is one of the few artisans still attached to the traditional Mid-Autumn lantern making profession in the area.

“In the context of the market being flooded with industrial toys, traditional Mid-Autumn lanterns are a way to remind the community, especially the younger generation, of the beauty of traditional culture. The perseverance of artisan Truong Viet Dung not only preserves a craft, but also contributes to fostering pride, respect, and continuation of national cultural values ​​from the smallest things,” said the Vice Chairman of Thanh Sen Ward People’s Committee.

The small alley on Ly Tu Trong Street is bustling with people coming and going these days. Mr. Dung's neighbors often stop by to relive the colorful memories of their childhood on the Mid-Autumn Festival night.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/nguoi-nghe-nhan-giu-hon-van-hoa-trong-nhung-chiec-den-trung-thu-172672.html