Vinh Long is one of the Mekong River Delta provinces with large reserves of alum clay, so it has advantages and conditions for the formation and development of brick and tile occupations over the past century and later development to pottery. Vinh Long has long been known as the “Capital of Brick Kilns” and “Kingdom of Red Pottery,” with the most traditional brick and pottery craft villages in the Mekong Delta.
To get to the craft village, take the Co Chien river from My Thuan bridge, where the Tien river splits into two branches, to Mang Thit river, where we can see countless brick and pottery kilns sprouting up, looking like the towers glow red in the sun. If we have never grown up and once seen that scene in reality, we must be surprised “oh” a sound – at its beauty. This brick and pottery village stretches nearly 30 kilometers through Vinh Long’s Long Ho and Mang Thit districts.
Making bricks and pottery here is closely linked with stories of livelihood, interesting spiritual stories, and ups and downs in the development of the craft village over generations. The people here have clung to the profession for many generations; each brick formed is closely associated with the sweat and emotions of the workers, closely associated with their lives; over time, the techniques passed down gradually crystallized skillfully, and the raw earth became useful products for the people through the skillful hands of the craftsman. In the beginning, this location only specialized in making bricks and tiles such as: bricks, pipes, cottage bricks, yin and yang tiles, primarily using manual methods and rudimentary tools. This will gradually improve.
Vinh Long’s pottery industry had developed by the 1980s. At the time, the company was pioneering investment in the production of pottery using long kilns powered by waste wood fuel. Technically, it is the same as in the Eastern regions, but in terms of products, it is unique in that Vinh Long red pottery is a typical type of unglazed, different in production materials, and the red color of clay when cooked creates the typical color of potteries in this region. Vinh Long’s red potteries did not receive an export contract until 1993. Vinh Long’s pottery production increased dramatically between 2007 and 2008. Many businesses invested in expanding production and conducting self-research to improve the manufacturing process. Product categories have also grown more diverse, particularly potteries, which have been exported to Europe, America, Australia, and some Asian countries. potteries developed during this time period with two main product lines, decorative potteries for garden and interior construction, and were enriched by a number of research and development enterprises. Brick thrived and was exported to neighboring countries, the most popular of which was Cambodia.
How to bake bricks and potteries of the kilns here to create such great products is also a process of drawing on many generations of ancestors’ experiences. The temperature increase and decrease in each stage of burning brick and pottery kilns was primarily through the experience of the worker who felt the heat through his eyes and looked at the fire at the mouth of the kiln. Over time, the main raw material used to burn bricks and potteries is rice husk, with a temperature analyzer system to facilitate the fire watchman to make sure that the finished product must be beautiful and of high quality. quality and characteristic color of Vinh Long red pottery brick.
Vinh Long’s pottery production has its own distinct characteristics. Typically, each manufacturing facility is a house with a separate workshop. There are large factories that employ tens or hundreds of workers. When the children grow up, there is a succession, on the land that their parents give them, they will build more new kilns for production, so it is easy to see the brick kilns here closely, the producing households that are close to each other also often have kinship relationships.Vinh Long’s pottery production has its own distinct characteristics. Typically, each manufacturing facility is a house with a separate workshop. There are large factories that employ tens or hundreds of workers. When the children grow up, there is a succession, on the land that their parents give them, they will build more new kilns for production, so it is easy to see the brick kilns here closely, the producing households that are close to each other also often have kinship relationships.
Over time and the development of society, pottery brick villages are gradually affected. The problem of environmental pollution, the trend of the demand for goods of the markets changes, etc. Gradually many establishments shrink, many people have to change jobs to make a living. However, the profession that clings to the life of workers and people here over the years, when leaving and switching to another profession, is a very sad regret.
Implement Prime Minister’s Decision No. 567/QD-TTg dated April 28, 2010 approving the program to develop unburnt building materials until 2020; Prime Minister’s Directive No. 10/CT-TTg dated April 16, 2012 on increasing the use of unburnt building materials and limiting the production and use of baked clay bricks, Vinh Long and some provinces In the period 2013-2020, the city developed and implemented a project to reorganize the pottery brick production industry. As a result, nearly 600 facilities with nearly 1,100 round furnaces have received dismantling assistance. Another 155 furnaces are expected to be unloaded by the end of 2020. In order to preserve and promote the value of traditional craft villages, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is currently advising the Provincial People’s Committee to develop the Mang Thit Contemporary Heritage Project to maintain and preserve over 1,200 kilns. remaining bricks, thereby linking this place with tourism development of the province, in order to both preserve the craft village with a tradition of over 100 years, retain the inherent cradle of pottery bricks of the land of Vinh Long and the desire from a traditional village. traditional craft, will quickly become an attractive tourist destination for domestic and foreign tourists. Hopefully with the determination of the authorities in the province, the pottery village in Vinh Long will continue to be maintained in the direction of tourism; can still create beautiful and unique products keeping the soul of Vinh Long pottery tiles in order to introduce and promote traditional features and typical products for generations in Vinh Long to tourists, to customers around the world. where, bringing Vietnamese soul and Eastern culture to domestic and foreign markets, to friends around the world.
Source: Vinhlongtourist
