Vietnamese hand embroidery

Vietnamese hand embroidery is a 700-year-old tradition. Usually, tiny threads are used to create brightly colored pictures on cloth. It is a popular extracurricular activity for young girls in high school together with cooking and sewing.

It was a part of Vietnamese culture; traditionally, girls are expected to know how to decorate pillowcases, curtains and tablecloths with hand embroidery. Hand embroidery plays an important role in Vietnamese culture; traditionally, girls are expected to know how to decorate pillowcases, curtains and tablecloths with hand embroidery. Since the 1960s, hand embroidery has risen to the level of an art form with popular themes including landscapes, animals, flowers, religious scenes and Vietnamese history.

It’s not actually known when embroidery art arrived in Vietnam; tribute is often paid to Le Cong Hanh, who served as Vietnam’s envoy to China during the Ming Dynasty, as the founding father of the craft at the beginning of the 17th century. Le Cong Hanh is believed to have combined both Chinese and Vietnamese embroidery artistry creating the unique technique employed in Vietnam today.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange throughout the DMZ and other areas of intense fighting in an effort to defoliate the jungle and destroy the enemy’s food source. Agent Orange, the public later learned, contained a chemical dioxin that causes all sorts of problems in humans, including cancer, birth defects, you name it.

A generation after the war, the number of children born with birth defects in Vietnam skyrocketed. Caring for them became a significant challenge for their families and the government.

A number of the people with physical and mental developmental issues have been trained in the fine art of Vietnamese embroidery painting, a skill that defies most standards of patience and precision. Many now work in three workshops located within large centers built specifically for busses and other travelers on this busy highway. I do a little bit of needlework myself, but watched in awe as these individuals created remarkable works of art with needle and thread. 

Understanding the curiosities about Vietnamese traditional embroidery, Authentik Vietnam Travel offers tourists a chance to be immersed into the authenticity and the peaceful atmosphere of traditional craft village. Spending a day in Van Long - Ninh Binh, tourists shall not only be amazed by the beautiful landscape but also can admire stunning embroidered paintings, a variety of temple-style shop houses selling silk garments; landscaped rock gardens with small ponds garnished with orchids, sculptures, ferns and stonewalls embellished with colorful flowerpots and ancient Chinese calligraphy. Interestingly, tourists can learn how to use the needle and create their own embroidery artwork. 

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