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Craft village

Chuông

The conical hat village: palm leaves bleached in the sun, bamboo rings, thread so fine the stitching disappears. The market in the communal-house yard, six times a month, has sold nothing but hats for three hundred years.

Women in Chuông village stitching conical palm-leaf hats on bamboo frames, finished hats stacked in a sunlit yard, Chuông village, Red River Delta, Vietnam
Women in Chuông village stitching conical palm-leaf hats on bamboo frames, finished hats stacked in a sunlit yard, Chuông village, Red River Delta, Vietnam

The conical hat village: palm leaves bleached in the sun, bamboo rings, thread so fine the stitching disappears. The market in the communal-house yard, six times a month, has sold nothing but hats for three hundred years.

Craft
Conical hatsNón lá
Where
Thanh Oai, Hà Nội
Practised since
c. 300 yearsHat market six times a month
Material
Palm leaf, bambooStitched with nylon or silk
On LangSoul
RecordedNot yet carried

01 — The story

Three centuries of hats in one yard

On market mornings in Chuông the communal-house yard is white with hats before the sun is properly up.

On market mornings in Chuông the communal-house yard is white with hats before the sun is properly up.

Chuông is a village of the Hà Nội plain, south-west of the city, and its name is close to a synonym for the conical hat in the north. For about three hundred years it has made hats for farmers, traders and the women of the delta, along with the finer flat and ribboned hats once worn for festivals. The market still runs on the lunar calendar, on the days ending in four and zero, and it opens early, while the air is cool. Buyers came from across the north, and the hats left the yard by the stack on bicycles and shoulder poles.

Hat-making is household work, and in most homes several generations sit together, one ironing leaves, another shaping rings, another stitching. The leaves come from palm forests in the central provinces and are brought north in bundles. The craft has felt the competition of cheaper hats from elsewhere and of a younger generation leaving for factories, but the market is busy and the village still makes for daily use as well as for visitors and stage.

A good Chuông hat is light, evenly white and perfectly round, and the stitching is so fine and so even that it nearly vanishes into the leaf. Hold it up to the light: the layers should be smooth with no wrinkles, and the rings evenly spaced. The point at the top should be sharp and true. Thick, uneven stitches and a heavy feel point to quick work. Hats made for special occasions sometimes carry thin paper cut-outs or verse between the layers, which show only against the light.

02 — The technique

What makes Chuông hats

A hat is nothing more than leaf, bamboo and thread, and every one of them is prepared by hand.

I

Leaves ironed flat

Palm leaves are dried, then pressed flat with a heated iron over a cloth until they are smooth and pale.

II

Sixteen rings

Thin bamboo is split and shaped into a set of graded rings, and set on a wooden frame to give the cone.

III

Two layers of leaf

Leaves are laid over the frame in two layers, sometimes with a lining of bamboo sheath between, and trimmed to shape.

IV

Stitching that disappears

Each ring is stitched to the leaf with fine thread in tiny, even stitches. A good maker's stitches are almost invisible.

Words you will meet

Nón lá

The leaf hat, the conical hat of Vietnam.

Lá nón

The palm leaf used for hats.

Vành nón

The bamboo rings that hold the shape.

Quai

The chin strap, often a ribbon of silk.

03 — Visiting

Visiting Chuông

Come on a market day and arrive early; by mid-morning most of the trade is done. Away from the market you can watch hats being ironed and stitched in open doorways, but these are working homes, so ask before you photograph or step inside. Write to us if you would like an introduction.

From Hà Nội
About an hour by car
Best season
Autumn and spring; check the lunar calendar for market days
Look for
Near-invisible stitching and even, smooth leaf
Ask about a visit Ask about a visit

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