In the days of Tet, Dia Linh village, the only village in Thua Thien Hue, still keeps the profession of casting statues of Mr. Cong Mr. Tao, which is busy with the supply of products to the market.
According to traditional Vietnamese custom, Tao Quan, the god in the kitchen, will fly to the sky on the 23rd December of the lunar month to report everything that happened in the past year. To show their sincerity, families will make a modest tray of rice to send Mr. Apple back to heaven. Along with the preparation of the rice tray, the altar of Mr. Cong, Mr. Tao was also cleaned by the families, the statue of Mr. Tao was renewed to pray for a lucky and complete year. Over hundreds of years, that custom is still preserved by the Vietnamese.
Because of such religious need, the people of Dia Linh village (Huong Vinh commune, Huong Tra town, Thua Thien Hue) continue to keep the tradition of shaping the statue of Mr. Cong and Mr. Tao serving the ritual of bringing Mr. Apple back to heaven.
Before the Lunar New Year, the people of Dia Linh village (Huong Vinh commune, Huong Tra town, Thua Thien Hue) molded a statue of Mr. Cong and Mr. Tao serving the ritual of bringing Mr. Apple back to heaven (on the 23rd of lunar December).
To prepare for the season of making Mr. Tao statue during Tet holiday, from the 7th of August of lunar calendar, the statue maker went to select areas to buy yellow clay, less impurities in reserve. The clay purchased must be filtered clean, smooth and smooth, then put into the printing mold.
Statues of Mr. Cong and Mr. Tao are finished and will be sun dried.
Each kiln will be about 2,000 statues and must be baked for 2 days to be able to make.
After being baked, the statues of Mr. Apple are painted by people in color and then sprinkled with glitter powder to look more eye-catching. The statue will be exposed to the sun to create durability and stiffness.
Practitioners must be meticulous in painting and sprinkling glitter powder to create statues of soulful Mr. Cong and Mr. Apple.
The statue of Mr. Cong and Mr. Apple will have 2 main colors: dark red (by lacquer dyeing) or pink (after being fired the statue is covered with paint, decorated and attached with glitter).
Products are perfect for supply to the market on the coming December 23rd. Statues of Mr. Apples are not only supplied for Thua Thien Hue market but also in the southern provinces.
Working hard, waking up early at night but the economic efficiency is not high so many people in the village can no longer keep their jobs, currently in Dia Linh village there are only a few households that continue to stick to making statues of Mr. Tao. .
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