Định Yên

Định Yên sits in Lấp Vò, in Đồng Tháp, among canals and rice fields not far from the Hậu river. Sedge grows well in the brackish and freshwater fields of the delta, and for around a century the village has woven it into sleeping mats. Mats were sold in a market that began in the dark small hours, where traders came by boat to buy before dawn, and the lamplit night mat market became the image by which the village was known across the south.

Most households in Định Yên still have some link to the trade, though the work has changed. Many looms are now partly mechanised, and plastic mats compete on price. But the village still dyes its own sedge in big pots of colour and lays it out to dry along the roads and lanes, so that on a sunny day the village is striped red, green and violet. The patterned mats, with names, double-happiness characters or flowers woven in, are still made for weddings and for Tết.

A good sedge mat is tight and flat, with no gaps when you hold it to the light. The strands should be even in width and fully dyed, with colour that goes right through rather than sitting on the surface. Edges should be firmly bound so the mat does not fray. A new mat smells of grass, and it should feel cool and slightly springy when you lie on it.