Pottery has been one of the most important inventions for thousands of generations, pottery has been associated with the lives of Vietnamese people since ancient times. With the creativity and skilful hands of potters, Vietnamese ancient pottery has become an extremely popular art form. The journey of Vietnamese ceramics has been through many different stages, covering each historical period. Starting from Vietnamese pottery around the first 10 century AD. Today, more than 2000 years ago, the technique of making Vietnamese ceramics became popular. From China, Vietnam's ceramics profession with its existing level and traditional experience has been quickly absorbed, mastered and developed, creating different nuances, and becoming one of the few countries with glazed ceramic products that were born early and are constantly developing. Currently, Vietnam has many famous ceramic brands such as Minh Long ceramics, this is one of the most famous and trusted ceramic brands by customers today. Minh Long ceramic products are mainly high-class ceramics, carefully invested in designs. The second most prominent brand to mention is Dong Trieu ceramics, which is one of the famous ceramic brands of Vietnam that exports a lot to European countries. Dong Trieu ceramics not only creates quality products, but the design of Dong Trieu ceramics is also sophisticated and durable, so it is trusted and loved by international friends. There is another famous Vietnamese ceramic that is Bat Trang ceramics, Bat Trang ceramic brand is considered one of the ancient ceramic brands of Vietnam. Experiencing many events, ups and downs of history, the artisans of Bat Trang village have constantly learned, improved, and applied technical techniques to create product lines that are more and more suitable and diverse with the needs of customers. customer demand.
In addition to the three famous ceramic brands mentioned above, in the central region, there is also a famous pottery village, which is Thanh Ha pottery village. Thanh Ha Pottery Village is located on Pham Phan Street, Thanh Ha Ward, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province. Thanh Ha Pottery Village has located only about 4km from the centre of Hoi An ancient town. Thanh Ha Pottery Village is a traditional craft village established in the 16th century. Previously, the Pottery Village was established in Thanh Chiem village and then moved to Thanh Ha district, Hoi An. Besides the history of many ups and downs of the port city of Hoi An, the handicraft village of Thanh Ha also had a glorious time in the 17th century, when it was traded on the Silk Road on the sea. Thanh Ha ceramics is special because it is made of brown clay, which is dense, flexible and has strong adhesion. Therefore, if you walk through Hoi An Ancient Town, you will see that the main colours are brown, yellow, and purple. This is the colour of the earth, the colour of the wood and also the colour of the tiles, all made from Thanh Ha pottery village. Thanh Ha potters are not only skilful and creative, but also people who love their work, love their homeland and cherish and entrust their products to them. You can also make your products with your imprint, here you will experience pottery making by the local people. Currently, Thanh Ha village still maintains this method to this day. Currently, Thanh Ha Pottery Village has become an attractive destination for domestic and international tourists, especially since Hoi An Ancient Town was recognized as a "World Heritage Site".
Currently, in Thanh Ha pottery village there is a museum about ceramics, also many people call this place Thanh Ha terracotta park. Regardless of the name, this place is also an appropriate destination for visitors to learn the history, as well as the development of Thanh Ha ceramics over the centuries. To get to Thanh Ha ceramics museum, we will follow the road along Thu Bon river from Hung Vuong street to Duy Tan street, Thanh Ha district of Hoi An city. You will come across a large museum, where many Thanh Ha ceramic products are displayed. Thanh Ha Pottery Museum was built and invested by architect Nguyen Van Nguyen, who is also a resident of Thanh Ha village. Thanh Ha Pottery Village is a well-known name for the people of Hoi An ancient town. Thanh Ha pottery village has experienced many ups and downs over time, to this day, the craft village here still exists. After more than 500 years, the kiln flame is still burning red, and human hands still cherish each movement of shaping pottery with turntables and clay over time. Thanh Ha Pottery Park has started construction in 2011. After 4 years of construction, the museum was opened on April 30, 2015, this is the national reunification holiday in 1975. But it was not until 2016 that the museum began to welcome the first guests. . Thanh Ha Pottery Museum has a fairly large area. The ticket price to visit the museum will be about 50,000 VND. The operating hours for visitors to the museum will be from 8 am to 4 pm on the same day. One inconvenience is that at the museum here, there is no parking garage and you have to park your car at neighbouring houses.
After buying the entrance ticket, I started to step inside the museum. The Museum of Ceramics rises high with brick walls reminiscent of the ancient Roman arenas in Greece. There is a large lake at the entrance to the museum grounds. Outside the museum's courtyard is beautifully arranged, with ceramic products made of terracotta, the campus is planted with a lot of shady trees and purple lotus blooms under the water, giving visitors a wonderful experience. Guests feel light and relaxed. The museum will consist of 2 buildings, the exteriors of which are designed in the style of the Cham-Pa people, all built entirely of terracotta. The building on the right represents a kiln, displaying traditional ceramic products from all over Vietnam, from Thanh Ha ceramics to Bat Trang ceramics, and Phu Lang, Vinh Long ceramics… The building The left side has the form of a kiln. This building is a space to display documents, pictures and ancient artefacts of Thanh Ha ceramic village. The most attractive thing to visitors when coming here is probably the miniature ceramic works simulating world wonders and many famous landscapes of Vietnam. They are all made of terracotta and the talented hands of artisans in Thanh Ha pottery village. Visitors will be surprised to see the Sydney Opera House.... Or the Pyramids, the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa next to the White House, the Statue of the Goddess next to Buckingham Palace. There is also the Taj Mahal, this is the pride of the Indian people, the symbol of eternal love and one of the 7 wonders of the world.
Entering the main building of the museum is a display of ceramic works from all the famous pottery villages of Vietnam. Inside the building consists of 3 floors, everything here is arranged scientifically so that visitors can learn about different Vietnamese ceramics. This building is made entirely of terracotta, so the temperature inside the house is quite cool compared to the outside. According to the long-time workers in Thanh Ha pottery village, the stage of pottery making is from soil preparation, brush polishing, and manual kneading on a turntable. Until creating Thanh Ha ceramic products, they are very elaborate and meticulous. Through the incubation process to maintain moisture, then knead and stir until it is soft, then begin to create the thumbnails for each work. There are sophisticated ceramic products with high requirements, which need to go through the terracotta filtration process up to 2-3 times to remove impurities inside the soil. After the kneading steps, the pottery will be cast and dried in the sun for a day. then cooled to create natural patterns or decorative motifs when necessary, finally put into a kiln and fired with dry firewood at the right temperature, with just one mistake sometimes it will turn the whole batch into a whole batch. debris. The first floor is displayed with art paintings, I like the paintings made from oil paint. Every time I look at each word, I think of different forms, I am an art lover, so the works here are like a treasure to me. Above and above the third floor are displayed many statues of Buddha and the mother of the countryside, these are the topics that artists often choose to create works. The top floor of the building has a balcony, stepping outside is a row of bougainvillaea planted throughout the terrace balcony, looking down is a phoenix tree blooming with red flowers. This makes me feel very surprised, as this species blooms only in the summer. The 3rd floor also displays artistic sculptures, these statues are made in the style of Champa culture. You can see that although the Champa kingdom no longer exists, the works are still handed down to this day and Thanh Ha pottery village is the place to promote the quintessence of the ancient Champa kingdom.
To the right of the museum will be another building, this one is not as big as the main building. Inside the first floor is a place for visitors to rest and learn about Thanh Ha pottery village, to get to the second floor there will be a small path leading to the ladder. The 2nd floor is the place to simulate the pottery scene of Thanh Ha people, here you will learn each stage to make a ceramic work. On the walls, are sculpted pictures of the people of Thanh Ha pottery village and the small streets of Hoi An ancient town.
As far as I know, the author of the museum is architect Nguyen Van Nguyen, who has studied architecture, designed very carefully and created a perfect, lively and beautiful museum. He is one of the young architects, it is his love for terracotta and Thanh Ha pottery village that has made him determined to build the Thanh Ha ceramics museum. If you come to Hoi An ancient town to travel, you should not miss this 500-year-old pottery village. Coming here, you will be able to visit and experience pottery making with your own hands, Thanh Ha people will be the guide for you to make Pottery. My article on Thanh Ha Pottery Village Museum ends here, thank you for reading my article today, Goodbye, and I'll see you in my next article.