Born and growing up in Ngoc Than village, Ngoc My commune, Quoc Oai district, and attached with family’s traditional carpentry since he was a child, craftsman Nguyen Ba Nghia has always persistently learned and passionately and enthusiastically devoted himself to making worship products featuring the spiritual culture of Vietnamese people.
Entering his house, we were attracted by the altar, horizontal lacquered board engraved with parallel sentences, worship throne, worship door, worship curtain, high and narrow table, and so on, which were sophisticatedly carved by him. He told us the names, meanings and longevity of these products. Only by contemplating the items and listening to him, we may understand his passion for the job. With 23 years of experiences, this young craftsman has made great contributions to preserving and promoting the traditional craft villages of the area.
Since Nghia was a kid, through his grandfather, he has been introduced to the carpentry, familiar with the pieces of wood or carved items in traditional houses. Moreover, he really loves drawing vivid patterns and motifs on the products made by his grandfather, and always finds pleasure in doing so. Therefore, he not only attended school but also learned the carpentry from his family. He then studied carpentry in Thach That district and Bat Trang village, and discovered the essence of carpentry in Taiwan and Japan. Gaining some knowledge and experience in the field, in 2001, he returned to his hometown and opened a workshop for producing civil furniture and making carved worship items.
Craftsman Nguyen Ba Nghia
At the beginning, he also encountered a lot of difficulties due to the small area of the indoor workshop and lack of investment capital for buying wood materials. However, he was financially supported by his family and relatives to maintain the workshop. Initially, he just made doors, couches, wooden beds, etc. After having much more capital, he expanded his workshop and hired more workers. Currently, he own 3 workshops producing civil wood furniture and high-grade wood carved products such as altar, horizontal lacquered board engraved with parallel sentences, worship throne, worship door, worship curtain, high and narrow table, and so on.
Worship products made by Nguyen Ba Nghia
Nghia is 37 years old, but he has 23 years of experience. The craftsman has always followed the motto “Integrating, not dissolving”, i.e. he can learn about the essence of products made by other countries to improve his products, but for the cultural products used in temples or pagodas, he will always maintain the methods passed by forefathers. He said “The products made in developed countries such as Taiwan or Japan have sophisticated and complex design, requiring absolutely precise and meticulous operation. I utilize their techniques and design to improve and diversify my products, meeting customer tastes and demands. However, in producing products used in temples or pagodas, I always follow the methods left by forefathers. With modern equipment, we can apply new patterns to create products that are modern and appropriate for our customers. ”
Thanks to the professionalism and meticulousness expressed in each product, together with his thorough understanding of spiritual culture of Vietnamese people, Mr. Nghia not only gain satisfaction and trust of domestic and foreign families, but also be entrusted with many large public worship production projects in temples, pagodas and communal houses over the country. In particular, in 2016, he made 60 sets of worship doors for Truc Lam Pagoda in Kharkov province – Ukraine. This project is a great honor for him, expressing the trust of customers not only at home but also abroad. With the increasing prestige, his workshop has brought him high income, helping him earn annual interest of from VND 300 to 500 million.
Besides, Mr. Nghia has provided jobs to 12 workers, with an average salary of VND 5 to 7 million. “I have worked for Mr. Nghia over 3 years, receiving monthly salary of VND 6.5 to 7 million which is enough for me to improve my family’s living condition. From my apprenticeship to my official employment, he has always thoughtfully instructed and guided me to do all things”, said Mr. Nguyen Tuan Vu, living in Thach Than commune, one of Nghia’s employee. The desire of Mr. Nghia is not only to help those workers improve their living condition, but also to train them for them to maintain and promote the local traditional villages.
When the civil carpentry and high-grade woodcarving of Ngoc Than village was recognized by the City as a craft village, the Association of Craft Villages was established and put into operation. Mr. Nghia has also participated in and contributed to the activities of the Association, mainly by providing vocational training courses for young people, that have been highly appreciated by the Association.: “Nghia has made a great contribution to the craft village by handing over the job, providing vocational training courses, promoting the job, and participating in all local programs which needs support and contribution. Nghia is not only a skilled craftsman, but also an enthusiastic keeper and developer of local traditional carpentry, I suppose”, said the Craftsman Do Dinh Thuong, the Chairman of the Traditional Carpentry Village Association of Ngoc Than village.
Thanks to his contributions to the traditional craft villages, in 2015, Mr. Nghia was the youngest person who is awarded the “Certificate of Wood Carving and Illuminating Craftsman” by Hanoi People’s Committee.
Ngoc Giang