Nearly 50km north of Hanoi, Tho Ha ancient village in Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province is famous for its traditional pottery craft and ancient architectural complex bearing the imprint of the residents of the Northern Delta.
The village has a unique location because three sides are surrounded by Cau River, one side is bordered by green hills. Most people in and out of the village have to take a boat across the river. Therefore, coming here, people feel like they are lost in a separate ancient world.
The first image in Tho Ha ancient village that impresses visitors when setting foot in the village is the simple boats parked by the wharf with old sycamore trees dropping their long shaggy roots into the river.
Children in Tho Ha ancient village perched on branches, laughter spreads on the water. Right on the wharf there is an ancient temple worshiping village god.
Next to the temple is a small shop, old wooden tables and chairs on the concave ground. The owner of the shop, with white hair, is kind, sitting and chewing betel like in a fairy tale. The roads in the village are narrow and are paved with traditional red bricks that have been worn down by time. The houses are close together, the roof tiles are tinged with moss.
The walls are not plastered, in some places just bricks, baked tiles or sarcophagus are stacked in layers, layers, creating a unique look in architecture.
Still the scene of the northern countryside, still the small winding alleys, but Tho Ha ancient village has a different feature because of the appearance of thousands of rice paper sheets covered in communal house and alleys.
The old pottery village has gradually disappeared, giving way to the profession of making rice paper rolls and rice noodles. Even so, walking along Tho Ha ancient village still see the shadow of pottery existing on each house wall, village road and even fence.
These are ceramic scraps such as jars, jars, and ceramic utensils used by villagers along with red bricks to build unique walls.
Pottery in Tho Ha ancient village has flourished since the 14th century. This is one of the three oldest ceramic centers of the Vietnamese people, next to Phu Lang and Bat Trang.
According to the genealogy of the craft village and the archaeological artifacts found, Tho Ha is one of the cradles of ceramics.
From the beginning of the pottery industry until the early 1990s, the whole village lived on pottery only. Tho Ha pottery has its own unique and rare features: high crockery, waterproof, bell-like sound, smooth, warm red-brown glaze color.
Thanks to pottery making, the life of the people in the past was more complete than in other places. The flourishing of the pottery profession has helped people build a complex of architecture of communal house, pagoda, village gate … with a majestic appearance.
However, about 20 years ago, before the changes of the market, Tho Ha pottery profession almost disappeared after nearly six centuries of existence.
The center of the village – Tho Ha communal house represents the spiritual and cultural space of the Vietnamese people with typical architectural features. The communal house has a large scale, the carvings show a clear and unique Le Dynasty style. The main themes shown on the architecture are the four spirits, the four precious flowers, stylized flowers, birds, animals and people. Around the communal house, the village roads, small and deep alleys also make Tho Ha village more mossy and quiet.
The steps of the house were built much higher than the road surface to resist the floating waters of the Cau River each coming flood season.
Entering the small alley, visitors feel like they are walking in the space of an oil painting with the typical tones of long-standing bricks and a very old architecture.
With the ancient beauty of ancient architectures and traditional crafts, Tho Ha ancient village is attracting many domestic and foreign tourists to come.
To learn more about Tho Ha ancient village, please contact with nobletour.net./.
