Ninh Vân Stone Carving

When the discussing Ninh Van Commune of Hoa Lu District, people from all over the country know their traditional handicraft. That is stone carving. It is an aesthetic and technical profession, making perfect fine-art products from rough stones by skilful craftsmen.  

Stone products include statues, animals and birds, stele, ornament tanks, large pocerlain vases, flower-basins, tables, chairs, beds, incense-tables, thrones, bridgs, gates, door-steps and beams. There are aslo fine-arts products and aritcles made of stone like tea cups and pots, ashtrasy, dishs and photographs.

All these things are carved lively and skilfully with exquisite, lissom patterns. Hands and and brainpower of craftsmen seem to have miracles.

Ninh Hải Embroidery Village

Ninh Hai Commune in Hoa Lu District has been famous all over the country for its lace embroidery. It is said that this is the land of lace embroidery.  

Legend has it that King Tran Thai Tong abdicated in favor of his son when he was 40 years old in 1258. He became the King’s father and went to Vu Lan Mount area to live a religious life (in Ninh Hai Commune, Hoa Lu District). He also set up a base to lead the second war of resistance against the armed force of Yuan-Mong Dynasty (the Chinese dynasty founded by the Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan) in 1285. Madam Tran Thi Dung was the Great Tutor Tran Thu ‘s wife, she came to teach Van Lam Hamlet people her skill of lace embroidery. Thus, this profession has been here for 700 years.

Currently, in Ninh Hai Commune every family has many kinds of embrodery frames, some frames are as big as a mat, some are as small as a hand. The skilful embroidery worker has made fine-art works from small threads and big and small colorful cloths. Embroidery patterns are exquisite and charming, they are also very lively and smooth as they are painted. Lace-embrodery productst are diverse ; such as bed-spreads, curtains, pillow-covers, tabler-covers, napkin, handkerchief, paintings and photos.

Kim Sơn Sedge Fine-Arts

Sedge appeared in Kim Son two centuries ago but it has played an important role in the district’s economy. The Kim Son people have used this material to make many products like mat, carpet, baskest, trays, boxs, dishs, cups, tumblers, bags and hats.  

About sedge products, sedge-mat weaving should be mentioned first. Mat weaving is a creative, hard and careful manufacture; from the process of choosing, drying and dying sedge to have a scarlet and fast color; the jute must be small and strong for the process of weaving. The worker who weaves flower-patterns on the mat must be brisk, flexible, and sharp-eyed. He must have a skill of weaving to make patterns accurately without mistakes. The worker who “lao coi” (insert sedge) must be well-balanced with the weaving worker. There should be careful and smooth cooperation between “lao coi” worker and weaving worker.