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Craftsmen from Phuong Danh forging village were performing forging techniques at exhibition of Binh Dinh traditional crafts villages. Photo: Van Luu |
After reading a 100-page book about Phuong Danh forging village by Dinh Ba Hoa, we can visualize “portrait” of the village.
Phuong Danh forging village is one of four traditional crafts villages (weaving, forging, trading and cultivating) at the then Dap Da town. Its name Phuong Danh originates from the locality Tay Phuong Danh, which locates around Do Ban citadel. Its land is too barren to cultivate but perfect for the forging. That’s the reason why most of the first settlers here are forgers.
Like other crafts village, Phuong Danh forging village was spontaneously established. It developed from household scale production model to community scale trade organization. In its first phase of development (before 1945), the village was called an organizational forging service; each of household which had 3-5 people was a member of the service. Owner of each forging furnace was father who was also the foreman. Sons were assistants while wife, daughters and daughter in laws were fitters or bellow blowers. There was an unwritten rule that any villager or any person from other localities wanted to open a forging furnace had to bring wines and betel to Tay Phuong Danh, make a thanksgiving to founders of the forging industry. Representatives of the founders at Tay Phuong Danh would assign skilled forgers of the village to set fire to the furnace as the wish of prosperity for the owners. As time passes by, the community-scale forging model changes to production group, crafts village cooperative and now crafts union. Units of the union are households, like before. Each household keeps their own know-how, performs their business on their own, manage the whole production lines to distribution networks themselves.
The forging industry expands to other localities of An Nhon district, forming clusters of forging villages like those at Nam Tan – Nhon Hau, Nhon Phuc, Binh Dinh town, etc. The forging industry is hard but needy all year round. The forgers, thus, don’t worry about the hunger and poverty.
Every year, on the 12th of the 2nd lunar month, Phuong Danh forgers gather together from all corners of the country to organize anniversary in memory of the founders. Each family at Phuong Danh village has an altar to worship the founders.
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