Vac Village, also known as Ke Vac or Canh Hoach Village, is located in Xu Doai, Thanh Oai District. This place preserves the ancient image of the largest paper fan making village in the North. Among the modern high-rise buildings, there are only a few families still following the profession to this day.
Vac fans first appeared in the mid-18th century, about 200 years ago. The fan making profession was started by Mr. Mai Duc Sieu - who is considered the founder of the village.
Later, many families in the village followed the profession, initially selling mainly to people in surrounding villages. Since then, Vac villagers have exported their fine and precious fans.
Ms. Mai Thi Choi, over 70 years old this year, continues the profession left by her father. Sharing with Lao Dong newspaper, this artisan from Vac village said: “Mr. Mai Duc Mau is my father, the first person to create the needle-piercing technique on fans as it is today. In 1946, Mr. Mau and the young people in the village made a fan as a gift for President Ho Chi Minh on his birthday and it is now on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum as a famous souvenir of Vac village”.
Since childhood, Mrs. Choi was taught and passed on the profession by her father. After more than 50 years of working in the profession, she is now known far and wide as the golden hands of Vac village.
Due to her age, Ms. Mai Thi Choi expressed about the acupuncture step on paper fans: "Now I am old and not healthy enough, so I only accept acupuncture but not all the steps of making fans."
Normally, it takes Ms. Choi about 30 minutes of needlework to complete a complete fan, but depending on the complexity, it will take more time. On average, she makes 20 to 30 fans a day.
"People usually order all year round, especially when there are events or traditional programs, there will be more orders," the female artist shared.
When she inserts needles, Choi arranges them into patches of different sizes. While this method is quick, it doesn’t allow for more intricate patterns. When a customer wants a more elaborate design, she often asks an artist to sketch out the image first and then insert the needles.
Nowadays, in addition to Do paper, there are many other materials. Although Do paper fans have gradually disappeared, there are still artisans who strive to preserve this ancient cultural beauty like Ms. Choi.
