A dragonfly having wings should fly away
A kid would capture you otherwise
The image of an dragonfly, having strong attachement to many countryside kid generations’ childhood, which intermittently is hovering over the pond sides, or under the village’s bamboo hedges, always reminiscences of everyone’s memory. For now, dexterious craftsmen at Tay Phuong pagoda commune, Thach Xa, Thach That district have used bamboo materials to create such lovely live dragonflies, which could “cling” onto every site by their beaks to many people’s amazement and enjoyment.
As for children, bamboo dragonfly is an interesting game; for adults, dragonfly is an eye-catching piece of decoration in their sweet home; for overseas Vietnamese and international friends, drgagonfly is a simple gift with deep feelings of their homeland. Due to that reason, the product of bamboo-made dragonfly produced at Thach Xa has become widely popular. Though under extreme sunshine heats, the appeal of dragonfly has prompted me to head for Thach Xa for visit and further inquiries. Meeting with Mr. Nguyen Van Tai, who has for more than 10 years been associated with dragonfly, while he is swift-handedly sharpening the bamboo, and open to share “the secrets” of the handicraft making. According to him, the most important thing of dragonfly making is the selection of bamboo material. There are a plenty of bamboo trees planted in the locality, yet to make sure of the softness, elasticity and durability of the bamboo, he and other dragonfly makers have to travel far away to provinces of Hoa Binh, Ha Giang, Vinh Phuc, ect,. To purchase materials. After scraping the outer barks, bamboo is aired and dried to avoid mould and dampness. And then, bamboo is split into small tapes, it is up to the size of a dragonfly to piece together the components as body and wings. The most difficult thing in the process of shaping a dragon is sharpening the tail and curving the head properly so as to when it is placed on the flat ground, the dragonfly looks real. In order for the dragonfly place balancedly and leaningly , the craftsman has to calculate rightly that the balance should be kept in-between the length, width of its body and the wings. The next step is to firmly stick the dragonfly wings by glue.
To make the dragonfly more beautiful and charming, the village craftsmen has added more lovely decorations and designs on it. Each dragonfly stands to be a lively picture bearing deep souls of the Vietnam countryside, so Thach Xa dragonfly always has its own unique attractiveness. It is not only a dragonfly to be made here, with their skillful hands, the craftsmen in Thach Xa but also have been able to create butterflies, birds, turtles, pigeons,.. made from bamboo in various sizes and colours up to the clients’ tastes. However, according to Mr. Tai, dragonfly is still the first choice of visitors. Coming to Thach Xa in summer time, one could see an atmostphere of much busier and more bustling village that guests crowdedly go in and out, watching craftsmen’ exercises as well as making orders for the products. The income source from such items seemingly to be “rustic” has helped the people in this village get out of poverty. It depends on the sizes of bamboo tapes to make dragonfly with differrent body lengths: 10cm, 12cm, 15cm, 18cm. Viewing hands of the craftsmen continuously sharping, painting, sticking parts together, once could acknowledge that their workmanship dedicated to each dragonfly making is not small at all. Thanks to the balance of two wings, a dragonfly can stop on the finger, tree branch or table margin like the real one. This is truely a unique feature of Thach Xa bamboo dragonfly. With the cost of only from 2,000 to 50,000 dong, customer may choose to buy a lovely dragonfly (subject to size).
Craftsman in Thach Xa Village attentively draws decorations on dragonflies
Simple but creative bamboo dragonfly is a pleasant product in Thach Xa village. At present, bamboo dragonfly is the souvenir gifts during the traditional festival of Tay Phuong pagoda. Thach Xa branded dragonfly has appeared at thousand festivities big or small, on display at gift stalls, entertainment attrations at all the corners of the country and has managed to tap such highly demanding markets as Britain, Frnace, Russia, Sweden. In recent years, quite a few number of households in Thach Xa have coordinated with a number of social associations: Centre for Children Study and Sponsorship, My Ha Noi,.. to implement the project on study and conservation of Vietnamese Toys. Besides, There are a lot of faraway people coming to Thach Xa to learn the handicraft.
With the unique handicraft product, the seasoned craftsmen in Tay Phuong commune have introduced a nice toy to the kid world, which has born peaceful and bucollic imprints of the Vietnamese countryside. It is delighted to see that children in Thach Xa, apart from their studying schedules, are becoming ever more devoted and passionate to craft appealing dragonflies, in an effort of “materializing the dreams” for Thach Xa’s bamboo dragonfly to “fly ever higher and further”.
Song Huong