Pottery Village Bat Trang

Locating 10 kilometres far from Ha Noi to the southern-east, Bat Trang Village has a history of over 500 years. For a long time, it has been famous for pottery products that last can last eternally regardless of time. These products were used by not only the luxurious imperial families at the imperial capital Thang Long but also the farmers working on the paddy fields.

According to The Chronicle Records of Dai Viet, the name Bat Trang first appeared in 1352. However, the rustic annals stated that in Ly Dynasty (1010 - 1225), people coming from Bo Bat Village, Ninh Binh Province have settled here and named this land Bat Trang Village. The inhabitants from Bo Bat Village chose this area to set up their careers because there was a great amount of white clay (porcelain clay) that was supposed to be good for manufacturing pottery with high quality. Furthermore, this land lay besides the bank of Red River and that would be convenient for traffic, transporting and trading goods. Plenty of household commodities made in Bát Tràng have been brought overseas to become offerings as a tribute to China from the 15th century.

Nowadays, visiting this pottery village, travellers can still see the vitality of a traditional trade village which is warmed by thousands of pottery kiln burning all day. The residents no longer use charcoal or straw to bake pottery as in the past but now they set fire with industrial kiln run by gas in order to reduce the pollution and also increase inferior products.
As the craftsmen said, the popular subjects of pottery products from Bát Tràng are dragon, phoenix, parallel poetic sentences, patterns, scenery, landscape with human, flowers, nature, etc. All these themes have reflected the spiritual and philosophical life of Vietnamese people. In the past, the majorities of products were worshipping objects. Though, today Bát Tràng potteries are various, especially household commodities such as bowls, dishes, vases, jars, kettles, and so on. Besides, there are other diverse art objects or souvenirs which are different from types to shapes. They are dishes hanging on wall, flower pots, model statue and relievo that are all manufactured with high technology and skills. Many collections of Bát Tràng pottery have reached the climax of art and techniques in making porcelain and pottery in Vietnam.

Someone travels to Bat Trang these days can also enjoy the interesting scenery of the village in which exist an "urban Bat Trang" together with the "ancient Bat Trang". The tradition and the modernity intermingle with each other in manufacturing thought and running business of pottery artisans and also in the appearance of the Pottery Village Bat Trang.

Source: Vietnam Simple