Pham Tran Canh is the last artisan in Chuong Village, Ha Tay Province, still producing non quai thao (flat-top hats).

LookAtVietnam Bridge - Khanh Linh gets to know a man who has made it his mission to keep producing his village’s trademark straw hats in his signature style.

Surrounded by dozens of pieces of palm magically woven into various round shapes, 80-year-old Pham Tran Canh is hard at work in his small house that doubles as a showroom.

He hardly pauses in his work to speak, engulfed in his latest order.

"A group of artists from Ha Noi ordered 12 hand-made flat-top hats for their upcoming show. It’s such hard work for my age, but I still want to do it and nobody can help me with the job," Canh explained.

Although one may think that dozens of people should be jumping to help this old man with his work, he’s right that he has to do it alone.

Canh is the only artisan left in Chuong craft village still pursuing non quai thao (flat-top palm hat) making methods. He is also almost alone in trying to preserve the traditional craft and was the first Vietnamese to introduce two giant flat top designs from Chuong Village, Phuong Trung Commune, Thanh Oai District, Ha Tay Province, to the world, at an exhibition in the Czech Republic and Germany in 2001.

Journey to the beginning

The palm hat maker came back to his village to resume making hats after spending a long time in the resistance war between the US and Viet Nam. After losing one leg, the wounded veteran refused to retire and started making the conical palm hats to support his family and indulge his lost passion.

"The palm hat, apart from being a tool to avoid the sun and rain, is a kind of jewellery for Vietnamese women. My village has created dozens of different styles to fit every period of time. However, it failed to fit in with modern life, so hat making as a career was put on the sidelines," said Canh.

Only when a group of artists came to the village and ordered some non quai thao for their show was the village reminded of the traditional dress. The craftsman decided to revive the craft, just as traditional materials, patterns, and moulds were on the brink of extinction.

"I had faith that I could do it. I watched my grandmother making this product thousands of times over. It’s still fresh in my memory," confirmed the artisan.

Reviving a lost craft, however, is not an easy task.

Canh spent days looking for information on the hat at the market, the pagoda, the theatre and any place he could find some insight on its style and size in the northern provinces of Thanh Hoa, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, and even Ha Noi. Step by step, the artisan dismantled the hat to uncover the secrets of the frame, brim, ironing and sewing techniques and decoration, then tried to rebuild every part of it.

After many trials and failures, Canh introduced his first original flat-top hat in 1989.

"Besides the skill and technique, it demands the artisan’s experience, mathematical calculations and a lot of patience," Canh said reflecting on his experience.

"It takes me a whole day to finish a flat top hat while five conical hats can be made in the same amount of time."

According to Canh, the most difficult part of the process is ironing the palm leaves. The bright green leaves from the northern province of Phu Tho and Lam Thao are spread out in the sun to dry. When the leaves turn blue and white, they must be collected just as they are perfectly aged. They are then moistened with dewdrops, ironed flat and cleaned with a towel. Next they are cut to fit the bamboo frame of the hat.

The craftsman needs to arrange the leaves onto the frame. Each hat needs at least 30 leaves, the final amount depending on which of the six sizes the person is making. After sewing all the leaves to the frame, the hat can be decorated with silk threads or a colourful silk chin strap.

The hat is now finished. All this work comes at a price tag of VND50,000 (US$3) for the smallest hat, 25cm in diameter, and VND300,000 ($20) for the larger hat at 60cm.

However, 60cm in diameter is not the biggest hat Canh’s got.

After 20 days in the making, Canh proudly shows off two 2m diameter flat-top hats he made for an overseas handicraft exhibition that toured Prague, the Czech Republic and Berlin, Germany seven years ago.

To make the hat, the artisan had to hang the giant bamboo frame from the ceiling and fill his small house with dry palm leaves to start the job.

"Nobody believed that I could do it. They just told me to stop dreaming about those hats, but I didn’t care," said the hat maker.

After a month, the two hats were finished to the villagers’ surprise.

Picking a replacement

"Among the 3,400 households making traditional products, Canh is the only man who knows how to make the flat-top hats. His contribution is substantial because it helps preserve tradition and contributes to the craft village, at the same time increasing the veteran’s income," said Pham Van Giap, vice chairman of Phuong Trung Commune.

As part of his effort to restore the craft, Canh opened a free vocational training class for 20 young people, including his four daughters and daughters-in-law so that they may learn the art. For his contribution, the Viet Nam Craft Villages Association granted the artisan the Ha Tay Traditional Craft Master Certificate in 2006.

"I want more people to know about Chuong Craft Village and traditional palm hat making," said Canh. "I would like to spread the word not only about the flattop, but of every hat produced in the village that has its own special quality and value difficult to find in this modern age."

(Source: VNS)