Economic and social development towards a sustainable direction in Van Lam Embroidery village (Ninh Hai, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh

I hope that the findings of Van Lam embroidery village will help me learn more about the villages of Vietnam, and the role of trade villages in the country industrialization and moderniz

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

INSTITUTE OF VIETNAMESE STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

-

DO THI HONG THU

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE DIRECTION IN

VAN LAM EMBROIDERY VILLAGE

MASTER’S THESIS Major: Vietnamese Studies

Code: 60 31 60

Supervisor: Prof Dr Truong Quang Hai

Hanoi - 2011

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5

COMMITMENT 6

INTRODUCTION 7

CHAPTER 1: SEVERAL BASIC QUESTIONS OF REASONING AND METHODOLOGY OF VAN LAM TRADE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 13 1.1 History of the question study 13

1.2 Concept and features of traditional trade villages 18

1.2.1 Concept of traditional trade village 18

1.2.2 Classification 21

1.2.2.1 Trade villages 21

1.2.2.2 Traditional trade villages 21

1.2.3 Features of traditional trade villages 22

1.2.4 Role of trade villages in economic and social development 26

1.2.5 Sustainable developing trade villages 30

1.3 Factors influencing the formation and development of trade villages 33 1.3.1 Geographical position 33

1.3.2 Demands of the consumers and economic pressure 34

1.3.3 Professional skill level of the artisans and qualified workers; traditional techniques and long-standing experience of trade villages 35

1.3.4 Regulations of trade villages and the government’s policies 36

1.4 Study viewpoints and methods 40

1.4.1 Study viewpoints 40

1.4.2 Study methods 40

Chapter 2: REAL SITUATION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF VAN LAM EMBROIDERY TRADE VILLAGE (NINH HAI – HOA LU – NINH BINH) 41

2.1 Geographical position and natural condition Error! Bookmark not defined

2.2 Shaping and developing process of the embroidery trade in Van

Lam trade 41

2.2.1 History of the embroidery in Vietnam 45

2.2.2 Forming and developing process of Van Lam embroidery village 48

2.3 Real situation of economic development 52

2.3.1 Situation of development and number of embroidery businesses 53

2.3.2 Scale and level of growth of the trade village 55

2.3.3 Economic structure 57

2.4 Real situation of social development in the trade village 59

2.4.1 Population and workers 59

2.4.2 Families and lines 60

2.4.3 Relics and landscapes 61

2.4.4 Festival 65

2.4.5 Infrastructures 66

Chapter 3: ORIENTATION AND SOLUTIONS FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY IN VAN LAM EMBROIDERY VILLAGE 68

3.1 Assessing the real situation of development of Van Lam trade village from the sustainable viewpoint 68

3.1.1 Economic effect 68

3.1.3 Environmental meanings 83

3.1.4 Difficulties and challenges in the development of the trade village 84

3.2 Orientation of sustainable development of Van Lam embroidery village (Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province) 88

3.3 Some solutions contributing to sustainably develop Van Lam embroidery 90

3.3.1 Production materials and renovating product designs 90

3.3.2 Consuming markets 91

3.3.3 Investment 92

3.3.4 Land and production premises 93

3.3.5 Developing human resources 93

3.3.6 Protecting trade village environment 94

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………

REFERENCES 100

LIST OF ILLUSTRATED TABLES AND GRAPHS

commune from 2007 to 2009

60

Table 3.1 Export value of lace embroidery businesses from 2007 to 2009 71

agricultural workers

74

embroidery businesses from 2007 to 2009

76

Graph 3.2 Contribution rate to Ninh Hai commune budge of lace

embroidery businesses from 2007 to 2009

77

Table 3.5 Activities to maintain and develop traditional lace

embroidery scale of businesses from 2007 to 2009

82

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude and deepest respect to Prof.Drc.Truong Quang Hai, my supervisor, who enthusiastic instructs and conveys basic knowledge to me, as well as contributes valuable ideas to help me complete this thesis

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people of Van Lam communes for their enthusiasm in supplying me information during my field work

COMMITMENT

I hereby declare that the researched results in this thesis are absolutely honest Information and results published in this thesis are my researching work If there is any shortcoming, I will bear all responsibilities before the training unit and the law

Date: / /2011

Signed

Do Thi Hong Thu

Ninh Binh locates in the south of the Red River Delta at the gateway from the North to the South Therefore, it becomes an important strategic hyphen for the North - South traffic Ninh Binh is also the crossroads of three major cultures that are Red River, Ma River, and Hoa Binh Hence, this is the land of history and culture with many traditional villages such as Van Lam lace embroidery, Kim Son sedge fine arts, Ninh Van stone carvings, Phuc Loc carpentry, Van Long bamboo mat weaving, and Binh Khang rock garden Artisans in traditional villages with skilled hands and creative minds make products are not only beautiful and valuable but also contain elevated values for the land and people of Ninh Binh

Referring to Ninh Binh, people think of the Hoa Lu ancient capital of Dai Co Viet under two dynasties of Dinh and Pre-Le It is also the start of the

Ly dynasty However, maybe not many people know about Vu Lam royal step-over place (It is now Van Lam hamlet) This is where the ancient King Tran Thai Tong after defeating Nguyen Mong invader for the first time (1258) ceded the throne to his son, Hoang Crown Prince, and became the King’s father He then came to Vu Lam Mountain to lead a religious life and build

Vu Lam royal step-over place The area of Vu Lam ancient mountains is now Van Lam village in Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province

In the second resistance to struggle against Nguyen – Mong aggressors, once

a gain the King and mandarins of the Tran dynasty chose Vu Lam mountains

as their revolutionary base, consolidated forces, counter-attacked Thang Long imperial capital city, and defeated the invaders to gain the national independence

The reason for choosing this place is that this is a dangerous mountain area with the Ngo Dong River flowing through in the front, and rocky mountains and valleys behind in order to maneuver in both on land and in water The names of land and people in Van Lam village today still strongly remains their historical stamps of those days such as Truong Thi field for holding maneuvers, Ben Thanh for gathering naval forces, Tuan Cao village for mandarins to notifying the King, Hanh Cung village for the King’s residence, and Thai Vi temple where Tran Kings are worshipped According

to records in the history books, when the King Tran Thai Tong (Tran Canh) and his court came to Phi Van Son to build the revolutionary base to fight the Nguyen - Mong for the second (1285) Mrs Tran Thi Dung, mother-in-law of King Tran Thai Tong had passed on the lace embroidery to the people of Van Lam, Ninh Hai [43, tr.1248] Since then people have involved in embroidery Van Lam embroidery village now locating in Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province, becomes the “kingdom of lace embroidery” that

is famous throughout the country

With the pride “Fields all four sides are not equal to having a job within reach” and “A rolling stone gathers no moss”, Van Lam people is more proud when this traditional embroidery has contributed to create job for hundreds of unemployed workers This increases income and improves people’s life to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and transfer agricultural - rural economic structure Embroidery products with variety of designs attract many tourists at home and abroad

However, today, along with the rainstorm development of scientific and technological revolution, the application of new scientific and technological achievements into production has freed the labor of many people Machines are taken the place of manual labor Accordingly, embroidering machines, drying equipments, and units used to design patterns, product lines, and modern embroidering technology gradually develop and replace manual embroidery Embroidery by hands is also facing sharp competition with machine-made embroidery and garment industry On the other hand, under the influence of the market economy, pressure on capital, market, product design, and price has made many villages to transform their trading form Along with this, the traditional craft has greatly deformed Van Lam embroidery village is not an exception of the influencing impact rules of the market economy However, in the future, whether the embroidery has been maintained in the Van Lam village or not? Alternatively, will the Van Lam embroidery suffer the same fate as some other villages? Therefore, the conservation and development of a traditional village in the context of modern society has meant both keeping national cultural characters creams, and contributing to solve the problem of “not involved in agriculture but still staying in homeland”

Developing trade villages not only transfers the rural economy, contributes to the increase of trade industry density, and reduces the proportion of agriculture, but also conserves national cultural and historical values The special thing is that most of the villages in Vietnam locate on the axis of convenient transportation both on land and in water Tourism of traditional craft villages in Vietnam is becoming attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists because of long-standing cultural values and specific crafts in each area Visitors can not only observe the peaceful landscape of the Vietnamese countryside, learn about the job ancestor, and make the acquaintance of artisans, but also directly participate in the production process of the local handmade products Van Lam embroidery village is such a village In this province, Tam Coc - Bich Dong tourist area is named “dry Ha Long”, annually attracting a large number of tourists

Developing economy and society in a sustainable way in trade villages

is a new direction and a major challenge for many trade villages in the process

of industrialization, modernization, and market economy opening Although Van Lam village has a great advantage for trade and tourism development, Van Lam embroidery village is now facing many challenges Therefore, its socio - economic development should be in a sustainable and long-term direction Although Van Lam embroidery products have been present in many countries around the world, in general the development of Van Lam embroidery village still has many limitations The embroidery bases are small and in unprompted development without coordination and combination The work of trademark registration and product quality improvement is still limited, not well exploiting tourism potential of trade villages The market for product consumption is not stable On the other hand, at present and in the coming years, the area of commune’s farmland has declined rapidly The number of people without frequent employment is increasing, putting a greater pressure on labor and job Therefore, in the future, the development of embroidery villages aims to promote the advantages and potentials of a local traditional handicraft Since then, trade villages will be promoted in a sustainable and long-term way, contributing to the transfer of local economy This is an essential requirement and a concern of all levels and sectors in the province

Learning about the traditional embroidery in Van Lam not only sees the rise and fall development of the village, but also contributes to promote local tourism in order to popularize its trade name and preserve a traditional

village Hence, I chose the topic “Economic and social development towards

a sustainable direction in Van Lam embroidery village (Ninh Hai, Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh)” for my MA thesis with the instruction of Prof.Dr Truong Quang

Hai I hope that the findings of Van Lam embroidery village will help me learn more about the villages of Vietnam, and the role of trade villages in the country industrialization and modernization process

2 Goals and meanings

Through studying the economic and social development of Van Lam embroidery village, we wish to generally assess the natural and social conditions of Van Lam trade industry; real situation of the trade village (products, consuming market, price, labor force, material source, local policy

on this trade village, and the impact of trade village development on people’s life) From then, we will propose solutions to deal with the social and economic development of Van Lam trade village in a sustainable way

In my thesis, I use the method of area studies to research a trade village

of traditional embroidery, connecting its development with tourism activities, and building and developing a tourism form of trade village in Ninh Binh

3 Sources of materials

It can be said that the materials play a very important role in the research work Especially, when doing research on Vietnamese village community, the materials are profound The materials may be in written form,

or handed down from generation to generation They would be photos, epitaph, or genealogy However, no matter what the materials are, they should

be verified and compared, especially with the unwritten form With Van Lam embroidery village, the materials of the village are not much They mainly exist in unwritten form, theogony, and legends Hence, we have to select and verify collected information, then comparing with written materials, epitaph, and family genealogy to make accurate and scientific conclusions with specific, clear and coherent quotations

In addition, we cannot disclaim the value of written materials that agencies and individuals have done thorough researches of Van Lam

embroidery trade village such as: Ninh Binh general monograph (2001),

Names of villages and communes in provinces in the North of Vietnam (1999); Ancient capitals of Vietnam in the past and at present; Ninh Binh celebrities

(2000); Names of villages and communes in Vietnam at the 19 th century

(1981); Countryside inspiration; Vietnam traditional crafts and their trade

ancestors (2000), and Ninh Binh monograph (2010) Materials archived in the

one National Archive Center, libraries of Ninh Binh province and Hoa Lu district, and works focusing on trade villages were inherited We consider them the suggesting perspectives and orientations in my study

4 Study subject, scale, and methodology

Van Lam embroidery village is selected to be my case studies However, I did not focus on any specific field but the exploitation of the economic and social factors that make up the look of a Vietnamese traditional village and an age-old handicraft village Therefore, the study subject of the thesis is the Van Lam village space (in Ninh Hai commune, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province) with its compositions such as landscape; natural environment; economic, cultural, and religious activities; and festivals They are the factors making the appearance of Van Lam village from traditional to modern time in the continuous development of the national and local history

When doing research and learning about Van Lam embroidery village,

we apply the interdisciplinary approach and the combination of history, sociology, cultural education, and economics At the same time, we use a number of methods such as document analytical and comparative methods, statistical method, sociological survey method, observation method, and

analysis synthesis method

CHAPTER 1: SEVERAL BASIC QUESTIONS OF REASONING AND METHODOLOGY OF VAN LAM TRADE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT 1.1 History of the question study

Studies of Vietnamese village community have been conducted for hundreds of years, concentrating in books to record the location, land, climate, natural resources, habits, customs, religious beliefs, culture, and history They

include Geography written by Nguyen Trai (15th century), Gia Dinh general

chronicle by Trinh Hoai Duc, and Nghe An book of Bui Duong Lich Then, in

17th and 18th centuries, the Vietnamese village communities had been outlined

through a set of travel stories of Western traders such as Description of

Kingdom of people from North Vietnam (S Baron), History of people from North Vietnam (Richard A.), and A travel to the North Vietnam in 1688 (W

Dampier) Although each foreign scholars had different perspectives on the Vietnamese village communities, they all had a common study goal of serving

the invasion, domination, and exploitation of the French in Vietnam

After the first World War, studies of the Vietnamese villages were conducted more widely In addition to foreign scholars who were interested in finding out about the Vietnamese, a number of domestic scholars also learnt about and explained customs and habits of Vietnamese rural areas Their

books included Vietnamese customs of Phan Ke Binh and Village problem of Ngo Tat To The most remarkable book of this period was Farmers of the

Tonkin delta published in 1936 by Pierre Gourou This was a sophisticated

research projects, accessing many different aspects of the Red River Delta and considering Vietnamese villages in a comprehensive structure from material

to spiritual life Commenting on this book, Professor Dao The Tuan said:

“The Pierre Gourou’s study book of the Red River Delta, the most populous

one in the world, the cradle of Vietnamese civilization, is an unique work of the social geography Although it was published from the 1930s, after more than 70 years, it has still been a topical question As there have been many changes in politics, economy, and society in this area, the basic features and problems have still existed until now”[12, pp.3] Therefore, this book can be

considered a pioneering work for the studies of Vietnamese village communities in the northern midland plains in the future

After the August Revolution in 1945, although the country still faced many fierce difficulties and hardships, studies of the village communities were still being implemented with small number In this period, we could

mention the books Rural areas in Vietnam by Nguyen Hong Phong The

author approach was in ethnological point of view and referred to the many basic issues of Vietnamese rural areas, such as: feudalism and public land, land ownership in rural Vietnam under French colonial regime, patriarchal family structure, structure of rank and village community management, and spirit of rural communities From the revolutionary practical situation,

historical requirement, and land reform work, the book Peasantry of Qua

Ninh and Van Dinh was collected and republished in 1959 The book mentioned problems of the farmers such as land of the tillers, their role in the revolution, and their life under the colonial mechanism By the late 1960s,

Toan Anh released his book Old way including six volumes: Festivities (upper and lower volume), Vietnam religion (upper and lower volume),

People of Vietnam, and Vietnam villages This book introduced in details

about habits, customs as well as structure of traditional villages in Vietnam

After the country became united and peaceful, to serve the reconstruction, and building the country, the question of Vietnamese rural communities still attracted attention, learning, and research of many scholars

In 1977 and 1978, the Institute of History published the book Rural Vietnam

in history with two volumes With 21 papers, first volume focused primarily

on village economy, regime of land ownership, industry, commerce, and the role of villages in the struggle to defend and liberate the country Twenty six papers of the second volume focused on social and political institutions of the villages, village culture and ideology, assessed the village heritage before the socialist revolution, and introduced the world’s communes and Bao Lac mountainous villages In the form of gathering research papers of famous scholars such as Vu Huy Phuc, Nguyen Dong Chi, Vu Khieu, Dang Nghiem

Van, Ngo Duc Thinh, Truong Huu Quynh, and Phan Huu Dat, villages and communes were studied in many sociological, psychological, and historical

views The goal was trying to give a general picture of the Vietnamese

villages, their strengths and weaknesses, historic position, and traditions in society today [41, pp.10]. In order to unravel the ancient sites in historical record in a systematical, detailed, and sufficient way, in 1981, the Institute of

Chinese literature and demotic script published the book Names of

Vietnamese villages and communes in the beginning of 19 th century from Nghe Tinh province to the North Also studying of village communities, the

book Names of villages and geography of the Northern provinces in Vietnam

of Ngo Vi Lien consisted of two parts The first was listed by names of the Northern villages with the of districts, mountain districts, and provinces The second part was considered a Northern geographic dictionary transcribing phonetically geographical names into Han scripts It introduced the population

of villages, communes, and provinces according to the 1927 census It was also accompanied by written descriptions of specific villages, so that the readers could know immediately the districts and provinces that those communes belong to, as well as their political and administrative features The book is a handy reference for the extraction and lookup of the readers as well as researchers of the villages in Vietnam In 1984, Tran Tu, an

ethnologist with his book The organizational structure of Vietnamese

traditional villages in the North, profoundly presented the organizational

aspects of the Vietnamese village such as gathering in hamlet, blood line, age, machinery of government, side, association, and group Among those the explain of “12-year cycle age” in traditional society is considered a major contribution In the general studies of Vietnamese village communities, it is

worth to mention the name of Prof Phan Dai Doan with the book Vietnamese

village communities - several economic, cultural, and social issues The book

focuses on analyzing key issues from the past to present, and from economic

to cultural and social structure of villages in Vietnam It pointed out clearly that land ownership and economic household is very important in the strategy

to develop the villages into a model of socialism-oriented market economy,

ensuring a harmonious combination between modern civilizations with traditional cultural villages Although just aiming at the villages in the North and northern Central Vietnam, the book is an useful referential material for researchers and policy makers in Vietnamese agriculture, farming, and rural

areas In 1994, the book The experience to manage organizations of

Vietnamese rural areas in history co-written by Prof Phan Dai Doan and

Prof Nguyen Quang Ngoc mentioned issues of reasoning and reality of the rural management experience in history on aspects of administration, civil institution, and village institution At the same time, it provides researching material source of rural political and social institutions up to now Village culture is one of the content attracting the attention of many scholars Prof

Phan Dai Doan has always concerned about the villages His book Several

problems of Vietnamese village culture in history about village culture, family

culture, convention, and human behavior towards the nature partly contributes

to the conservation of village culture The book Vietnamese village is pluralist

and tight is a collection of valuable researching paper on Vietnamese villages

of Prof Phan Dai Doan Prof Dr Nguyen Quang Ngoc in the book preamble

stated “Vietnamese villages are now on a change, but the sublime ideas and

essences filtered in his researching and training life of the Vietnamese villages will probably never change.” [11, pp.10] It should be mentioned books focusing profoundly on learning about a specific village They include Prof Nguyen Quang Ngoc’s historical PhD thesis of Some business villages

in the northern delta in the 18th and 19th century It presents the economic context of Vietnam in the 18th and 19th century and the appearance

socio-of business villages in the northern delta such as Da Nguu, Bao Dap, Phu Luu, and Dan Loan; at the same time pointing out their characteristics In

addition, there is a book named A Vietnamese traditional village in the

northern Plains: Understanding the economic-social structure of Dr Nguyen

Hai Ke The book is about Duc Tu village (Dong Anh district, Hanoi) basing

on materials of land register, convention, and family register It presents questions of population, land, public and private field, family, family line,

ancestor worship, as well as managing social organizations in the economic and social structure of traditional villages of the northern plains

The culture of wet rice cultivation has permeated deep into the unconsciousness of each Vietnamese people The agricultural culture with the core of village culture dominated all activities from production to people’s daily life Therefore, since the renovation time, the question of village community has been more interested, particularly the role of village economy

in the country’s development process Hence, the number of studies of village community is more and more increasing However, they focus mainly

on the study of traditional trade villages that show the national cultural cream

The book Talented hands of our ancestors published in 1990 by Prof Phan

Dai Doan and Prof Nguyen Quang Ngoc mentioned the traditional excellent crafts once representing the country’s civilizations, national proud, and the talent creation of our ancestors However, they also clearly pointed out the contribution of these crafts in the economy in the past, at present, and in the future This book becomes a referential material for those interested in research on traditional craft villages and their trade ancestors In 1995, the

book Bat Trang traditional ceramic village with the chief authors of Prof

Nguyen Trung Que, Dang Dinh Tuc, and Do Hong Tuyen brought out a full review of the real economic - social situation of Bat Trang ceramic village The book also gave developing directions in accordance with the Party and State guideline on the country modernization and industrialization Another

book, Vietnamese traditional crafts and their trade ancestors of Dr Do Thi

Hao published in 2000 presented the appearance of traditional crafts and their trade ancestors in the mind of the artisan To point out that the culture of trade villages is the integration of all habits and customs, village life, community unity, professional cream, and talented artisans, preserving for future

generations, the book Traditional Craft Villages in Vietnam written by MA

Bui Van Vuong was published in 2002 The work clearly showed the role of Vietnamese traditional craft villages in the country civilization and culture history, as well as the need to conserve and develop typical traditional crafts with economic values They include Bat Trang ceramic village, Chau Khe

gold and silver carving village, Dong Xam silver carving village, Kieu Ky thin gold leaf making village, Quat Dong embroidery village, Van Lam embroidery village, and Dong Ho block print paintings village In 2003, the

book The development of traditional trade villages in the industrialization

and modernization process of Prof Dr Hoang Ngoc Hoa and Prof Dr Vu

Van Phuc focused on clarifying what traditional trade villages are and their role in the economic and social development over times At the same time, basing on the analysis and assessment of potential and real developing situation of traditional trade villages in innovating years, the authors pointed out the direction and proposed solutions to develop traditional craft villages

In the book Traditional villages in the process of industrialization and

modernization, author Tran Minh Yen (2004) basing on the basic study of

some basic theoretical issues of traditional villages, analyze and assess the real situation as well as moving trends of traditional trade villages in rural areas Then, the author brings out his/her oriented views and solutions to develop traditional trade villages in rural areas This aims to accelerate the industrialization and modernization process up to 2010, especially until 2005 However, the limitation of these two books is focusing too widely on theoretical research, not analyzing any particular case to clarify the issue

Van Lam embroidery village has been mentioned in the books of

traditional crafts such as Traditional handicraft villages in Vietnam (Bui Van Vuong); Countryside inspiration (La Dang Bat), and Ninh Binh monograph

(Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences) However, these books have just mentioned an overview of Van Lam embroidery without any systematic study

1.2 Concept and features of traditional trade villages

1.2.1 Concept of traditional trade village

Formerly, traditional trades were formed, survived, and developed in a certain region or village From those major production areas, trade villages, towns, and communes have been formed with the most basic features that are traditional techniques and technologies, and skilled artisans and artisans

Handicraft products have been made to be both goods and artistic objects, bearing national characteristics

In Vietnam, there are trade villages that have been formed and existed for hundreds of years; their with products are well-known at home and abroad such as Bat Trang ceramics village (Gia Lam, Hanoi), Dong Xam silver carving village (Thai Binh), and Van Phuc silk village (Ha Dong, Hanoi) et cetera However, there are some villages appearing due to the agricultural economic restructure such as Ninh Phuc flower village (Ninh Binh)

Hence, the concept of trade village is understood in many different ways

Prof Tran Quoc Vuong thought that trade villages (such as ceramics villages of Bat Trang, Tho Ha, Phu Lang, and Huong Canh; bronze casting villages of Buoi, Vo, He Nom, Thieu Ly, and Phuoc Kieu; the paper making villages of Buoi area and Duong O; iron forging villages of Canh Dien, Phu Duc, and Da Hoi) still do small farming and breeding (pig and chicken) and have some other secondary jobs (weaving, making soybean jam and tofu) However, they are outstanding with a traditional sophisticated handicraft, even professionally or unprofessionally They have merchant guilds (organizational structure), supervisors and their assistants along with some They give their whole mind to their profession with a certain technological process “A rolling stone gathers no moss” They live mainly by that job and make handmade artistic goods that have become commodities They have marketing relationship with markets of the surrounding areas and with urban markets and the capital (Ke Cho, Hue, and Saigon), and eventually planning

to expand to the whole country and exporting abroad These trade villages have little better known for a long time (with hundreds or a thousand years of age) People know their names and the names of those villages have gone down in history, folk songs, and proverbs, and they become folklore heritage[4, pp.38-39]

Prof.Dr Hoang Ngoc Hoa and Prof.Dr Vu Van Phuc in their book

“Developing traditional trade villages in industrialization and modernization

process” said that “Trade village consists of a group of people living in a village (hamlet) They have one or several jobs that are separated from agriculture to be independent businesses Income from those occupations makes up a great proportion of the total product value of the village” [28, pp.13]

Researcher Bui Van Vuong believed that “Trade village is a center producing handicrafts and a place gathering together many craftsmen and households specializing in a traditional trade They have a combination and support in production and sale with the form of guilds and small and medium enterprise system They have the same professional ancestor and members always aware of the convention to comply with social institutions and families The combination and support each other in term of job, money, technique, and young worker training among families of the same clans and merchant guilds in the job history and development formed the trade village in their traditional residential unit and village.” [5, pp.13-14]

Hence, it can be seen that the concept of trade village focuses on the following contents

First, the trade village is understood as an economic and social institution in rural areas, composed by two factors of village and profession It exists in a certain geographical space, including many households that live mainly on craft Among them, there are economic, social and cultural combinations

Second, trade villages in our country have been formed and developed according to the request of labor assignment and specialization process in order to meet the development needs of rural areas Hence, they have the characteristics of wet rice cultivation and self-sufficiency economy However, the noticeable thing is that in those villages, people involved in handicrafts and live mainly on the income from those jobs make up a large proportion of the villages’ total population

Today, when the science and technology has made fast progress, the division of labor according to the specialization direction is more professional

People apply mechanical and semi-mechanical technologies to do faster and more convenient production However, the concept of traditional trade villages

in our country is still understood that most of the people of those villages involve in traditional jobs or a few lines specialize in some hereditary jobs Nevertheless, the jobs are not transmitted in a copy and imitated way; they are improved with creativity and bear the age echo to make their products have unique features that are different from the products of others, villages, and regions

1.2.2 Classification

1.2.2.1 Trade villages

In our country, today there are many trade villages Hence, the classification of trade village is extremely difficult There are many ways to classify trade villages; however, they can be roughly divided in two ways:

+ By the number of trades:

- Villages of a trade: Have only one trades besides farming

- Villages of many trades: Have more than one trades beside farming + By nature of trades:

- Traditional trade villages are the ones that have appeared for a long time and still existed today

- New trade villages are the ones that appear because of the pervasive development of traditional trade villages, or are imported from other provinces Some of them have just been formed because of some localities’ policy of creating jobs for local people They send workers to other areas for vocational training and then come back to guide the local people

1.2.2.2 Traditional trade villages

Basing on traditional trade groups, it can be divided into four types of traditional trade villages that are corresponding to four traditional trade groups, namely:

- Traditional trade villages specializing in producing handmade artistic items such as pottery, porcelain, silk weaving, wood carving, stone carving, and embroidery

- Traditional trade villages specializing in producing goods for production and daily life such as blacksmith work, carpentry, masonry, welding, iron casting, and construction materials

- Traditional trade villages specializing in producing goods for ordinary consumption such as textiles, sedge mat, conical hat, and clothing

- Traditional trade villages specializing in processing foods such as rice millwork, making rice vermicelli, and seafood processing

1.2.3 Features of traditional trade villages

 Features of techniques, technologies, and products

It can be said that the first characteristic is traditional handicraft technique and family secret Production tools are mainly handmade by the artisans to manufacture handmade products Products require not only skills but also experience accumulated over many generations of the artisans These experience then become trade secret and can be only passed to children in the family and clan These factors create the specific quality and aspect for the products to make them more enduring, better, and different from products of the same job elsewhere This feature also specifies the nature of labor and products of the traditional trade The products are determined by the skills and

dexterity of the artisans

In the past, because of small capital, narrow production space, and small farming, technologies were slowly improved and replaced This greatly affected production process, lowering the labor productivity, wasting working time, and producing products with bad and uneven quality Especially, the technical backwardness greatly influences the production environment and health of workers However, today with the harmonious combination of modern and traditional technologies in the manufacturing process, special important advantages have been brought They are the creation of labor productivity with many times higher than manual method Products are with

high quality, reducing heaviness and hazard for workers and providing main income to change the rural social face Although modern sciences and technologies develop and contribute to the technical innovation and products’ quality improvement in some certain production phases, traditional technologies are still at top priorities making the tradition of the products For instance, in making fine art furniture, people apply modern technology in cutting wood and polishing products In other carving phases, people must use traditional manual tools such as awls and chisels with the artisans’ ingenuity and sophisticated skills Even some occupations still use conventional technologies such as pearl inlaying, lacquer, embroidery, and weaving

As the traditional manufacturing technique and technology has a long history and it is passed from generation to generation, traditional products have their own unique and distinctive features They show the originality and art of the products with unique characteristics of each village and region that are not common anywhere For instance, the ceramic products of Bat Trang are different from those of Dong Nai; Dai Bai bronze-casting products are not similar to those of Thua Thien - Hue; and Ninh Van village’s stone products (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh) are different to Non Nuoc stone products (Da Nang) Artisans with their skillful hands and creative mind have transmitted the breath of life and specific art character to each product Customs, traditional festivals, historical and cultural vestiges, and the desire to conquer nature are naturally and closely reflected in handmade products by talented hands of the artisans Therefore, traditional handicrafts are products of economic activity with high artistry, combining material culture and spiritual culture and often bearing single nature Handicraft products are made by each individual; hence, they cannot be mass-produced This makes the products have their own nuances and attraction; thus, traditional products are often expensive with not many modern models This is the main cause leading to limited competition and expansion of product consuming markets Several unique products not only meet the domestic needs but also are exported to many countries, gradually attracting international friends such as products of ceramics, wooden carving, embroidery, and silk weaving

 Economic-social features

At first, crafts were secondary jobs of agricultural households to create more income and work in their leisure time However, later due to the specialization in labor division, the productivity and product quality has being increased Products not only meet consumers’ demand but also can be exchanged mainly in rural markets Therefore, in trade villages, the artisans are also the farmers In addition to farming time, having a secondary job in their native land is a great advantage for people to improve their life and increase their income They can both cultivate in their land for foods and create valuable handicrafts to exchange with other commodities in the market This is a basic and popular characteristics of traditional craft villages in Vietnam Especially, the appearance of traditional crafts meets almost basic and essential needs of the rural people It has a positive impact on promoting agricultural production and service activities, contributing to build the rural economic and social infrastructure and improve people’s cultural standards

As handmade products require skilled artistic and technical proficiency with meticulous lines, handiwork of the artisans is used mainly They are skilled, ingenious, and creative with aesthetic self-determination They decide everything from production, processing, and repair to sale In order to develop traditional crafts, the role of artisans is very important They are the core force

of the production process and product innovation These people teach and hand over directly to the members of the family or lineage The training is handed over from generation to generation, becoming a trade secret that each member of the families has responsibility to conserve Hence, traditional crafts have been conserved in each family and are not popular outside, even there are secrets being transmitted only to sons This trade-transmitting method has the advantage of keeping trade secret in each craft village and training talented artisans Its limitation is that techniques and trade secrets are not widely spread to other localities If we do not find a reliable successor, the trade will be lost in a certain time

Therefore, after peace was restored, the agricultural cooperative movement was promoted in the 1960s Many state-owned businesses and teams involved in traditional craft industry were established and developed People paid more attention to vocational training and transmitting in the form

of household, individual, locality (district, commune) and state Traditional crafts develop in many places, attracting many unemployed people in the countryside and bringing benefit to the state and locality Since the innovation, the vocational training has been a combination between old and new methods They still open vocational training schools and courses; some training classes are with method learning by doing under the instruction of artisans to ensure that the trade secrets have been still preserved

To bring the handmade products to the consumers and make they know about these products, the market factor has a very important meaning, deciding the existence and development of each trade village First, the decisive factor of the production process is market to supply raw materials In the past, with small production, the markets of raw materials were mainly market on the premises However, today they are developed to a network of individuals and businesses in other areas and localities that professional supplying big contracts for households and production units in trade villages

In addition, the capital market is also one of the factors promoting the development of traditional occupations Capital for production development can be self-funding, appropriate, and loaned in order to expand production scale and maintain the development of trade villages Traditional credit forms

of loans, lending with interest, taking part in a tontine, and making make guilds are still common in traditional trade villages

Trade villages appear to meet the demands of production and consumption of the people; hence, consuming markets are mostly in rural areas Later, when the production was developed, the exchange of goods was extended The system of rural markets developed; market systems increased

in trade villages, rapidly meeting the demands of exchanging, trading, and consuming products of craft villages However, due to people’s low income

and purchasing power, product consumption capacity was limited and unstable Since the transition to market economy, there is a shift in the production relation in rural areas, strongly influencing the production and development of trade villages From collective production to household production, the use of family labor resources is taken full advantage The production time is shortened, especially creating initiative in purchasing materials, changing models, and consuming products of households Even many traditional crafts have a foothold in the domestic market and expanding

to foreign markets such as ceramics, porcelain, textiles, silk, and embroidery Until now, these goods are still liked in France, Japan, and China However, foreign markets have very strict requirements for product quality, type Trade villages should be keen on accommodating the demands in order to bring great profits but still keeping the feature of Vietnamese distinct culture in each product

1.2.4 Role of trade villages in economic and social development

 Developing trade villages contributes to impulse rural economic

structure transition towards the direction of industrialization and modernization

Developing traditional craft villages is considered an important solution

to maximum mobilize available resources in rural areas such as natural resources, raw materials, skills and techniques of craftsmen in the manufacturing and exploiting process to produce more products with good quality to effectively serve people’s consuming needs Through the development of traditional handicraft villages, this contributes to turn agricultural structure transfer, self-sufficient and self-support production to the modernized and industrialized rural economy, industry and services, and the production of many commodities This is seen as a direction to change the face of rural areas, the production structure, labor structure, employment structure, the structure of output value and income structure of rural population with resources from the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors During that shift, traditional villages with very positive role contributing to

increase the density of industry, small-scale industry and services, narrowing the density of agriculture and changing labor from low-income agricultural production to non-agricultural occupations that have higher incomes Therefore, the appearance of the traditional craft villages aims to change the structure of rural economy to create a diversified economy with a change in economic structure, diversity, and richness in term of product type

In addition, the development of traditional handicraft villages not only changes the structure of the rural economy but also positively influence on agricultural production For instance, when the processing industry develops, the requirement of raw materials from agriculture should be more numerous and diverse with better quality Therefore, in the agriculture, we must form agricultural specialization areas, creating higher labor productivity and product diversity Farmers before that request will decide to invest in the fields that bring the most benefits Thus, if formerly the farmers focused only

on growing rice, they will now switch to plant food crops and fruit trees to earn more money with permitted natural conditions Thus, it can be seen that the transition of agricultural production structure is because of the influence

of production and market needs Therefore, it also leads to a widespread development; the supply exceeds demand and products cannot be sold The production will come to standstill

 Trade villages contribute to create jobs, raise income, improve

people’s living standards, and built new rural areas

To solve the employment problem in rural areas, in recent years, the Party and State have made significant measures such as promoting international labor cooperation, bringing people to build new economic areas, intensive cultivation, and developing trade and services However, these methods can partly solve employment for workers in rural areas; they cannot solve all the jobs for superfluous workers On the other hand, in rural areas, the land is narrowed due to urbanization and the development of industrial and export processing zones Capital to expand the production is limited The number of superfluous workers is increasing, creating employment for

workers in rural areas is an urgent requirement with great political and social meanings Therefore, developing traditional craft villages in rural areas is considered a strategic solution, both for economic growth and social security The model of “Not doing agricultural work but still living in rural areas” in Vietnamese villages today is a significantly practical model because it attracts not only local workers but also people in adjacent regions to come to work for such as villages of Dong Ky, Van Phuc, and Bat Trang (Hanoi) Moreover, the development of traditional craft villages has created jobs for workers and brought about many other services such as food processing This will creates good conditions to develop the industries of breeding and recycling of waste

materials

With the policy to develop traditional handicraft villages, the average income of a people involving in handicraft making is always higher than agricultural workers’ earning Even the farmers can take their leisure time to

do traditional craft to raise their family income According to the survey result

of the Department of Agricultural, Forestry Processing And Rural Industries

in 1997, the average monthly income from professional activities of a regular worker is VND 430,000 in specialized businesses, VND 236,000 for specialized households, and VND 186,000 for part-time job households These are equal to 1.6 to 3.9 times comparing to the income of agricultural workers, and 1.5 to 3.5 times of the minimum wage However, in some particular trade villages such as Dong Ky (Bac Ninh), the income of skilled labors can be up to VND one million and 1.5 million [27, pp.51] Also thanks

to the development of traditional craft villages in Vietnamese rural areas, people’s living standards are gradually improved improving, and the face of rural Vietnam has been innovated People who have naturally known only farming now have secondary job to improve their life, gradually saving money to build houses, buy furniture, and invest in their children’s education

In trade villages, the percentage of rich and well-off households is often high; the rate of poor households is very low and there is virtually no hungry household Income from craftwork makes up a large proportion of the total income, giving people a comfortable material and spiritual life For instance,

in Tan Le village (Thai Binh), the rate of well-off and rich households make

up nearly 80% of the total local households; in Bat Trang village (Hanoi), the average per year of low-income households also reaches VND 10 to 20 million, and of the average household is VND 40 to 50 million Rich households’ income may be up to a VND hundred million a year [31, pp.72] Even in some villages, the farmers have bravely stopped farming and opened businesses to become the owners of small and medium enterprises to further promote traditional craft Van Lam embroidery village is not an exception to that rule

Thanks to the development of traditional craft villages, people’s economic and cultural life is significantly improved, along with the rural construction and renovation towards the direction of modernization The real nature of the process to build new countryside face is to develop and perfect the system of infrastructure in villages such as roads, power transformer stations, communications, schools, clinics, health and hygiene healthy environment These will be premise to exploit the resources and advantages of each region, promote the development of commodity production, expand the exchange of goods among regions, and improve the living standards They contribute to decrease the gap between urban and rural areas, promoting the rural urbanization

 Trade villages contribute to conserve national cultural values

The historical development of traditional craft villages has been connected closely with the nation’s historical development It is a factor that creates that culture and is the most concentrated expression of the national cultural identity

It can be said that traditional crafts can exist and promote their potential

in the environment of trade villages Trade villages here are groups of population living to form a village or a guild organization (trade streets like Hang Dao, Hang Bac, Hang Luoc, Hang Bong, and Hang Trong) They are both administrative units and cultural communities with traditions, customs, and beliefs (worshiping temples and shrines), way of life, and labor

production They also hold the features of the nation in general, and the specific characteristics of each trade villages in particular They even become cultural symbols in the mind of people living far from home Well-known products bring fame for villages and streets such as Ha Dong Silk, Bat Trang ceramics, Bien Hoa pottery, Ngu Xa bronze casting, Dong Ho folk paintings,

Yen Thai do paper, Tan Chau silk, Nga Son sleeping mat, Dong Xam silver

carving, and Chau Khe gold carving The products of traditional craft villages are the quintessence, exchange, and development of cultural values and civilization of ancient peoples The foreigners know about Vietnam through traditional handicraft products that have Vietnamese national cultural identity Hence, traditional handicraft products can be considered as valuable cultural heritages that our ancestors have leaf for the next generations Thus, in the process of industrialization, without a sense of craft conservation with national cultural identity, the unique cultural features will be gradually lost in oblivion Therefore, the maintenance of traditional industries and the conservation of national cultural identity are essential and significant It preserves cultural values of Vietnamese people in the process of industrialization and modernization

1.2.5 Sustainable developing trade villages

According to the most common way of understanding, the development

is to raise people’s awareness such as improving living standards, educational conditions, health, equality, and opportunities Economic growth is just an element of the development In addition, ensuring politic rights and interests

of citizens is considered a broader goal of development Therefore, it can be understood that development is creating good conditions for the people living anywhere to be satisfied with their needs, to have good consumption of goods and services, to enjoy cultural achievements, to live in a healthy environment,

to enjoy basic human rights, and to be ensured social security

Today, when the society becomes more modern, people have quick advances in science and technology This is the basis for rapid economic growth, and improvement of people’s material and spiritual life The people

have to face with contradictions and challenges that arise in that developing process The reverse of the development put people before sharp challenges and conflicts such as problems of population, environment, natural disasters, epidemics, poverty, social evils, ethnic and religious conflict, and terrorism The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing Hence, the humankind needs to work together to find solutions to match development and social stability Thus, the sustainable development strategy is formed from initial idea in the field of environmental protection It is improved gradually in factual situation to deal with severe conflicts in economic growth, social stability, and environmental protection Sustainable development becomes a global strategy for human life and the prosperity development of the entire human race

In the early 1980s, IUCN with its President Gro Harlem Brundtland

first gave the definition of sustainable development: “Sustainable development

is to meet the current needs but not harming the ability to meet the needs of future generations.”[40, pp.40]

In the Earth Summit on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janerio (Brazil) in 1992 with 179 participating countries, the concept of sustainable development was once again reaffirmed Ten years later, in 2002, the World Summit held in Johannesburg Republic of South Africa with 196 participating countries complemented and completed the concept of sustainable development: “Sustainable development is the developing process with the close, reasonable, and harmonious development of three sides They are economic development, social justice, and environmental protection” Hence, with this definition, “sustainability is not a technical problem to be solved but a vision for the future, ensuring an itinerary and helping us focus

on a set of values and the theoretical principles to guide our actions” [40, pp.40]

Vietnam is a country early participating in the world process of sustainable development The Ninth Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party (2004) approved a strategy of economic and social development phase

2001-2010 It was said that “Quick, effective, and sustainable economic development is going together with progress, social justice, and environmental protection” and “Developing economy and society connects closely with to social protection and environmental improvement, ensuring the harmony between artificial environment and natural environment and conserving biodiversity.” To achieve that sustainable development goal, many legal documents of the State have been approved Many of the sustainable development contents have come to life and gradually become inevitable trends in the country development It can be said that the 153/2004/TTg Decision on “Strategic orientation for sustainable development in Vietnam” (Agenda 21 of Vietnam for short) issued on August 17, 2004 by the Prime Minister was considered an important strategic framework It is a great orientation as a legal basis for concerned ministries, branches, localities, organizations, and individuals to implement and coordinate to act This aims

to ensure a sustainable development of the country in the 21st century In order

to gain effective results of the sustainable development, Vietnam has set out a general goal of achieving complete material, richness in spirit and culture, the equality of citizens, unanimity of the society, and the harmony between men and nature The development must combine closely, reasonably, and harmoniously three aspects of economy, social development, and environmental protection Among those, the particular goal of economic sustainable development is to achieve stable growth with reasonable structure

to meet the requirements of improving people’s life, preventing declination in the future, and avoiding to leave a large debt burden for future generations The goal of social sustainable development is to achieve good results in the implementation of social progress and justice and ensuring nutrition and quality of health care for the people All people have opportunity to learn and work, reducing poverty and limiting the rich and poor gap among social classes and groups Social evils must be reduced The justice between interests and obligations among members and generations in the society should be enhanced We have to maintain and promote the nation’s diversity and cultural identity, and constantly improve the civilization level of their

material and spiritual life The goal of environmental sustainable development

is reasonably exploitation, economically using, and effectively using natural resources Preventing, treating, and effectively controlling environmental pollution Living environment, national parks, reserves, biosphere reserves, and biodiversity should be well protected Environmental regression should

be overcome and environmental quality should be improved [40, pp.151]

Thus, sustainable development is not only carried out in a department, locality, and organization It becomes a common goal for the whole nation Trade villages are not exception to that rule In the trend of industrialization and modernization, the development of trade villages is one of the best conditions to change the face of rural areas, and reduces the inequality between urban and rural areas However, the sustainable development direction is more emphasized along with the development, some trade villages are facing the threats of environmental pollution, social evils arising, and rapid but not stable economic growth Van Lam embroidery village is not an

exception to these challenges Therefore, I choose the topic “Developing

economy and society in a sustainable way in Van Lam embroidery village (Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh)” with the desire to contribute to finding solutions for

sustainable development of trade villages This contributes to enhance the position and role of trade villages in the process of economic restructuring transition in rural areas in order to industrialize and modernize our country

1.3 Factors influencing the formation and development of trade villages

1.3.1 Geographical position

It can be said that geographical position has an important meaning for the formation, survival, and development of any traditional trade village In general, trade villages in the northern Delta often have advantageous geographical positions in terms of transportation and sources of raw materials These ensure frequent and continuous professional practice Handicraft products are provided not only to the villages but also to the whole country and abroad Thus, when setting up in business, professional ancestors usually

pay much attention to geographical position, especially the “market and riverside” factor as if the transportation is convenient, it will be easy for the product consumption, trade development, and attraction of many people The talent of workers is mainly due to their learning and improving However, the geographical location and trade village environment is vital for the prosperity

and survival of the industries

Formerly, the trade and exchange of goods was primarily conducted by waterway or carriage and wagon After the French had invaded our country, they built railways and expand motorways to serve the colonial exploitation; the transport in our country was changed However, the riverside factor still played an important role in the sale and purchase of products and raw materials for production In addition, the village market factor also contributed

to the consumption of products If lacking of the raw materials or the riverside factor, the Vietnamese traditional handicrafts villages can hardly develop and

be well known everywhere such as Dong Ho woodblock paintings, Bat Trang ceramics, Ha Dong silk, and Quat Dong embroidery

1.3.2 Demands of the consumers and economic pressure

Consumers’ demand is very large and diverse The demands can be the needs for food, clothing, accommodation, and travel, or worship, religion, and popular beliefs that have existed and developed during thousands of years of history and culture

Formerly, when there was no modern machine and the economy had not strongly grown, everything from household appliances, production tools

to worshipping objects, weapons, and musical instruments were hand made with rudimentary production means However, traditional experience and extremely sophisticated techniques had made handmade products become popular in the society at that time They not only met the needs of people in the country but also became objects paying tribute to neighboring countries

By the early twentieth century, the mechanical industry began to develop in Vietnam Machines and industrial equipments brought to our country by the French made our crafts have a significant development

Machines have been used in some of stages in the handicraft production such garment industry, wood exploitation and processing become semi-manual occupations (half-mechanical and half-manual production) In addition, the traditional crafts with traditional technology are still being developed such as embroidery and weaving Especially since the 1930s, Vietnamese handicrafts have been liked by Western countries; thus, the demand of exporting handicrafts has increased more than before The growing demand created conditions for the policy of making traditional craft villages in the North proper of the French authorities in Indochina Trade villages participated in some fairs in Hanoi and Marsei (France) Several skilled artisans were sent to France to participate in fairs and performed the process of making exquisitely crafted products

Thus, a need for crafts will create traditional craft production Good quality and perfect products will be liked and trusted by the consumers The greater the demand is, the more sustainable the production of trade villages reaches

1.3.3 Professional skill level of the artisans and qualified workers; traditional techniques and long-standing experience of trade villages

It can be affirmed that the artisans play a huge role in the development

of industries and trade villages The hands of talented artisans have made valuable and sophisticated products with unique cultural values, contributing

to honor trade villages The artisans with love for their industries have patiently taught their children and young people day in and day out and year after year using the method of “learning by doing” and “learning through practicing” This has created a team of skillful artisans at the villages Like this, the generations of artisans have created unique and sophisticated products to enrich their villages and bring honor on life

As the characteristics of craft production is that the grandparents, parents, and children work in the same industry, in a trade village, three have been some generations of artisans do the same production and business Formerly, as the economy in northern delta area was self-sufficient and self-

produced, the handicraft production was taken place year-round or seasonally with a close technological process People themselves went to purchase raw materials and processed those materials to make products; and finally the products were sold by them However, people could hire workers and artisans

of other areas to work in some heavy and complicated production phases For instance, Bat Trang ceramic village often hired pottery firing workers from Ha Dong (called kiln guild); each group included four to six dedicated workers to fire the kiln and worked in ceramic burning technique Today, the production

in Bat Trang has changed significantly Many phases of the ceramic making process in Bat Trang have been specialized There are households specializing

in making glaze and colors; some artisans have specialized in designing for many households Families of artisans or skilled workers self-produce their models and produce according to the market demand or orders

Most of trade villages use their long-standing techniques in the production process However, each craft has its own production techniques Those techniques include many phases, from exploiting and processing raw materials to bettering the products and selling to the consumers During the production of handicrafts,

it is indispensable to use techniques and long-standing experience Although many villages share a craft and use the same technique, each technical phase

is different from one another This depends on the creativity and the art of each artisan That is the reason to explain why even with the same profession and producing the same products, this village’s products cannot substitute the product of other villages; and this artisan cannot replace the position and the role of others

On the other hand, the existence and development of traditional handicraft villages is due to long-standing experience passed from artisans and skilled workers from generation to generation The secrets then become the property of each family, linage, and trade village They are not easy to be revealed outside but are kept carefully as treasures and optimal weapons to compete with other villages

1.3.4 Regulations of trade villages and the government’s policies

Previously, in the northern delta villages, conventions were considered

a legal system that was implicitly recognized and coexisted with the legal system of the centralized feudal authority They became a kind of villages’

“rules” that people often said “Imperial power bends to suit rural customs” Conventions are the specific rules of the local laws ensuring the sustainability and consistency in all activities of the villages On that basis, industry guilds, associations, and families also set up their professional regulations in the form

of oaths that have been passed on from generation to generation Family members and guilds must strictly comply these oaths For instance, Chau Khe silver and gold carving (Hai Duong) worships the professional ancestor Luu Xuan Tin who started up the silver ingot casting for the court in the 15thcentury Filigree workers have very strict professional rules Every year on the occasion of Spring rites (from 1st to 12th of the second lunar month) and the Autumn rites (from 1st to 12th of the eighth lunar month), Chau Khe gold and silver workers hold a ceremony to worship its Tutelary god and professional ancestor at the communal house and temple in the countryside and in Hang Bac (Hanoi) They have explicitly defined that people making golden counterfeit products and silver wares mixed with copper, lead, or tin,

or giving short weight (using false weight or intentionally changing the scale) shall be punished by the villages, families, and guilds People with minor offence will get the pecuniary penalty; ones with mortal sin with be beaten on the yard of the professional ancestor temple; or they will even be expelled from the industry guild or driven out of the village

Especially with the issue of trade secret, the professional law also defines clearly Trade secret is handed down only in the family and guild For instance, Dong Xam such workers have a good sense of preserving their profession; even when they work far away from the village, they are not allowed to break the rule They have not transmitted the trade outside as well

as not taught their daughters as they will marry to men in other linage and village Hence, they hand over and teach only their daughters-in-law, their sons, and their grandson (children of the sons) If someone wants to learn the

trade, he/she must be allowed by the trade guild head The learner has to hold

a initiation ceremony to pray for manna from the trade ancestor

Those strict regulations of the trade villages, guilds, and linage have preserved the professional secrets through from generation to generation, creating specific nuance for trade villages However, these also inhibited the development of industries in the country, creating a local nature Each trade village is a exclusive, closed, and inviolable area

If the system of rules and oaths in trade guilds and lineages has kept the profession, the system of government’s policies and laws ensures the sustainable development of trade villages

Formerly, the feudal state and French “protection” government issued policies to develop handicraft production According to the “Vietnam records

of Historian” of Ngo Si Lien, in the Ly - Tran dynasty, the national economy strongly developed; craft goods and agricultural products were abundant; Van Don and Van Ninh sea ports in the eastern coastal were opened with a rain-storm development Later, many major ports specializing in export and direct trade with foreign traders appeared such as Pho Hien (Hung Yen), Thuan An (Hue), Hoi An (Da Nang), Phan Thiet (Binh Thuan ), and Ben Nghe, Nha Rong (Ho Chi Minh City) In addition to exported agricultural, forestry, and marine products, handicraft items were also exported like products made of

pottery, wood, rattan, do paper, silk, jade, ivory, horn, gold, and silver Even,

to encourage people to use domestic goods, in 1743, Le Thuan Tong King and Trinh Giang Lord assigned people to carve and print great sets of books such

as “Four Books” and “Five Classics” in paper They issued an order to people and candidate to buy domestic books, not the Chinese ones

The feudal state also had talent-encouraged policies for skilled workers who created sophisticated products and grandiose art works and architectures such as nominating “Unusual talent marquis”, “Academic Royal proclaimed”, and “Hundred houses of the nine grades of mandarin system”

When the French invaded and exploited the colony, there were also many active methods to make craft and handicraft villages prosper such as

holding fairs in Hanoi and Marseille (France) to represent and exhibit crafts and artisans’ production performance for the visitors At the same time, the French also opened a school of Indochinese Fine Arts and Fine Arts practice

in some provinces and cities; so that the decorative and plastic arts in our country had been inherited and renovated

Since 1945, under the democratic republic mechanism, the development of traditional handicrafts exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries created favorable conditions for the development

of traditional handicrafts However, it also created a paradox that commodities were produced massively without attention to profit and loss; many artisans were turned into workers doing outwork Hence, when the international situation changed with the disappearance of Soviet Union and Eastern European countries’ markets, and the subsidy mechanism was over, the craftsmen faced with full of hardships Many famous and long-standing traditional handicraft villages could not adjust themselves to the present situation, degraded, and collapsed However, there are many villages that are dynamic in production and doing business They know how to inherit traditional technique and experience, and improve the design and quality of the products They always look for new markets; hence, they can stand firmly and continue to strongly develop

Especially, in the 5th conference of the Party Central Committee in VII session (1993), the resolution of economic, cultural, social, and technological development of the country emphasized on “Developing traditional industries and villages, and new industries including home craft industry; industries of manufacturing consumer goods and exported products; industries of exploiting and processing non-agricultural raw materials, types of production services; and people’s living standards” Once again this policy was emphasized in the orientation and tasks of the 5-year economic developing plan phase 2001-2005: “Expanding trade villages and developing industrial and handicraft units that produce fine art items; bringing preliminary treating and processing industry to rural areas; developing service sector supplying

materials and techniques; exchanging agricultural products in rural areas; and rapidly increasing employment in the non-agricultural sector” It can be seen that our Party and State have paid great attention to crafts and traditional trade villages, seeing them as an integral part of the economy, culture, and society

to take the country towards the industrialization and modernization Thanks to the policies and laws of the State and Party that directly influence the sustainable development of traditional handicraft villages

1.4 Study viewpoints and methods

1.4.1 Study viewpoints

- Viewpoint of village system: Van Lam embroidery village is considered a part of a system of Vietnamese trade villages Thus, it has a close and mutual relation with the whole system, even it has to move according to the system rule They study of all natures of Vietnamese trade villages has its practical value; at the same time, it can be applied in organizing and developing trade villages sustainably

- Viewpoint of sustainable development: Developing trade villages in a sustainable way is now a direction of many traditional craft villages in Vietnam in the process of rural and agricultural industrialization and modernization Developing trade villages in a sustainable direction is to protect natural resources and environment, and enhance the conservation and promotion of local cultural value It enriches the national culture, particularly ensuring the sustainable economic and social development with great efficiency Sustainable development is the harmonious combination of current needs and future demands in term of production and consumption fields in order to achieve a balance among economic, social, and environmental factors Therefore, in this paper, we use the viewpoint of sustainable development in evaluating the potential, analyzing the real situation, and proposing solutions to ensure the development of Van Lam embroidery village

1.4.2 Study methods