Published:  00:00 Saturday - February 13, 2010

Thanh Tien paper flowers have long been considered sacred objects for Tet. They are changed once a year and are revered as unfading flowers.

Every year, colourful elegant paper flowers made in Thanh Tien village are sold before Tet in flower markets and some streets of Hue City.

Despite fresh and plastic flowers of different varieties available in the market, Thanh Tien paper flowers are indispensable on Hue family altars.

The paper flowers are made in the traditional craft village of Thanh Tien in Phu Mau commune, about 5 km from city centre on the lower section of the Huong (Perfume) River. I visited Thanh Tien village to learn about the incomparable flower-making trade in the ancient capital, however, I was most impressed by the paper flowers after painter Than Van Huy arranged them as installation art in his own garden during Hue Festivals 2006 and 2008.

According to village elders, paper flower making appeared in Thanh Tien about 300 - 400 years ago. It stemmed from the need for flowers to decorate temples and family altars during Tet which growers in the arid land of Phu Xuan – Hue could not meet. Thanh Tien paper flowers have been sacred objects during Tet for many years and have become a spiritual and cultural feature of this ancient capital.

The paper flower makers must be as careful and patient as flower growers. They must make preparations during the dry and sunny months such as splitting bamboo, shapening twigs and making cassava flower cups and buds, and paper leaves and flowers. Everything needs to be dyed, dried and carefully stored.

When winter comes, it rains continuously and Thanh Tien villagers begin to make paper flowers for Tet. They use various iron chisels to make masses of flower cups, buds, petals and leaves of different types of flowers such as apricot blossoms, daisies, roses and gerbera.

Then they make the flower petals complete with small wrinkles to make them look real. This most difficult work requires skill, patience and precision. Finally, the flowers are linked to the twigs in groups of 9 or 10 because these are lucky numbers.

The twigs are then attached to a tree and each tree consists of 300 to 500 twigs to be easy to transport to the market. During each Tet, a family usually makes from 7 to 10 “flower trees”, and even make up to 50.

Thanh Tien paper flowers are transported on boats and trucks to Hue city and adjacent areas and appear on the market from the beginning of the 12^th lunar month. Because transport is now more accessible, these paper flowers are also taken north to Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces, and south to Da Nang city and Quang Nam province.

A paper flower twig sells for only VND 2,000 to 3,000, however, the village can earn billions of Dong over Tet. The trade has expanded to Tien Non, Mau Tai and other villages and paper flowers are in great demand because cultural activities have been promoted. Thanh Tien village now produces paper flowers not only for Tet but also for the regular Hue Festival which is held every two years.

Thanh Tien paper flowers bring splendid colours to many family altars in Hue during Tet and have become a special cultural feature of the ancient capital. This year, people in Thua Thien-Hue and many other central provinces are overcoming the consequences of floods and fresh flower gardens have not recovered in time to meet the increasing demand during Tet. So paper flowers from Thanh Tien will make a suitable substitution./.