Foreign tourists show special interest when touring Hang Bac street which house various sophisticated silver stuff (Photo: Vietnam Pictorial) Hanoi (VNA) - Hang Bac is viewed as the“most expensive” among Hanoi’s 36 old streets. In the past, people living onthis street relied on three major jobs, involving silver ingot and jewellerymaking, and money exchange.
Those three jobs originated from threecraft villages famous for making gold and silver jewellery in the north of ChauKhe in Hung Yen province, Dong Xam in Thai Binh province and Dinh Cong inHanoi.
In the 15th century, Minister of InteriorLuu Xuan Tin, a native of Chau Khe village of Hung Yen, was assigned by a courtof the later Le Dynasty (1428 – 1789) to set up a workshop making silver ingotsin the Thang Long imperial city, which is currently Hanoi.
At that time, silver ingots and gold barswere used as money. Tin brought artisans from Chau Khe to the capital toestablish the workshop. After a while, along with making ingots, artisans beganmaking patterns for gold and silver jewellery.
In the early years of the 19th century,under the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802–1945), the workshop was relocatedto the central imperial city of Hue. Most of Chau Khe artisans remained inThang Long and set up a community at the area which is now Hang Bac street.
From then on, artisans of Dinh Cong andDong Xam craft villages came to settle down in the street. That marked thebirth of Hang Bac street which specialises in crafting gold and silver jewelleryin Hanoi.
Along with the manufacturing and trading ofsilver, shops in the street exchanged silver ingots for chips. Therefore, inthe colonial rule of France, the street’s name in French was Rue de changeurs(silver-exchange street).
Various sophisticated gold and silverjewellery works were crafted by artisans in Hang Bac street. In technicalterms, experts classify their products into two types, including those withoutpatterns such as rings and women and children’s earrings and bracelets, andthose with patterns.
Artisans in Hang Bac street usually make typicalpatterns in their gold and silver jewellery, with four mythical creatures ofdragon, kylin, turtle and phoenix being the most popular. The image of dragonis crafted with the nimble hands of the artisans under a number of themes.Different styles such as eight creatures, eight valuables and eight types offruits, among others, are also meticulously crafted in gold and silver platesand trays.
On gold and silver objects, artisans couldalso carve the images of human or plants symbolising people’s virtues in theeastern culture of truc (small bamboo), mai (ochna flower), orchid andchrysanthemum.
In all carved jewellery made of gold andsilver, there are two prominent characteristics, which are artistic form andmeticulous and lifelike patterns.
At present, the street stretches only about0.5 km, but there are hundreds of ateliers of all sizes established bysilversmiths and goldsmiths. Many of those shops are equipped with machines ofmodern technologies from foreign countries, yet there are still families whomaintain the traditional method of manually crafting jewellery.
Not only keeping the job which is passed downto by ancestors, residents in Hang Bac street are also able to maintain thetraditional lifestyle of the people in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Many households aregood at doing business and become rich, but they still lead a humble life andvalue trust, and stand ready to support others in life as well as in doingbusiness./.
VNA
