500-year-old craft village in Quang Nam wiped out due to lack of successors

A time of glory

On October 18, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Nam confirmed that the People's Committee of this province has just revoked the Certificate of Recognition of An Phuoc Mat Weaving Village (Duy Phuoc Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam).

The reason for the revocation is that An Phuoc Mat Weaving Village does not have at least 20% of the total number of households in the area participating in the craft village activities; stable production and business for at least two consecutive years up to the time of requesting recognition, according to provincial regulations.

According to Mr. Le Hai - Chairman of Duy Phuoc Commune, An Phuoc mat weaving village has a history of more than 500 years, through 14 generations of prosperity. The village's mats have sophisticated patterns, harmonious and balanced colors, and have helped many people prosper. However, up to now, An Phuoc mats cannot compete with modern mats, and villagers have gradually abandoned the profession.

“For more than 5 years, people have stopped production, and no one in the village weaves mats anymore because they cannot sell their products. If the craft village does not operate, it will affect the recognition of the commune as meeting new rural standards. Therefore, the commune government has requested the province to revoke the recognition certificate of the craft village,” said Mr. Le Hai.

According to Mr. Pham Viet Tich - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quang Nam, out of a total of 30 craft villages and traditional craft villages recognized by the Provincial People's Committee (as of the end of September 2024), there are 16 craft villages operating at a stable level, mainly concentrated in craft villages such as fine art carpentry, broom making, incense making, fish sauce processing, seafood processing...

The remaining 14 craft villages are operating at a moderate level, not regularly maintained, and some craft villages are at high risk of disappearing.

The majority of workers in craft villages are middle-aged, elderly, weak, and have lost their ability to work; there is a lack of successors. This is one of the great challenges in the work of preserving, maintaining, and developing craft villages.

Need to change development direction

A good sign is that in Quang Nam, there are currently 96 cooperatives and 61 cooperative groups participating in the production and trading of products, goods, and occupations in traditional craft villages, creating jobs for more than 23,000 regular workers and more than 3,000 irregular workers with an average income of more than 5.2 million VND/person/month.

To survive, most craft villages have shifted to developing souvenir products, associated with tourism, initially bringing certain successes, such as the way of Tra Que vegetable village, Thanh Ha pottery village, lantern making in Hoi An, rattan weaving, brocade weaving in Bho Hoong tourist village (Dong Giang)...

According to Mr. Do Huu Tung, Vice Chairman of Dong Giang District People's Committee, developing craft villages associated with tourism has opened up a new promising direction for the locality.

“Under the skillful hands of the Co Tu people, materials such as rattan, bamboo, reeds, brocade... are transformed into very sophisticated handicrafts, containing the depth of the spiritual culture of the highland people, favored by tourists. After many ups and downs, the long-standing traditional craft of the people now has the opportunity to be restored” - Mr. Tung assessed.