When speaking about the weaving craft in Nam Dinh Province, it is impossible not to mention Co Chat Silk Village in Phuong Dinh Commune, Truc Ninh District because it is considered the cradle of producing the best quality silk thread. 

 

Over the years, Co Chat Village located near the Ninh River has been well-known for growing mulberry and raising silkworms.

According to the village elders, the business of raising silkworms and weaving silk thread in Co Chat has existed for a long time.

During the French domination, Co Chat silk thread was so well known that in the early 20th century the French built a factory to unravel silkworm cocoons right in the village to exploit the villagers’ professional skills and the great potential of the mulberry growing and silkworm raising area along the Ninh River.

Co Chat is an ancient village in Nam Dinh Province.

Since then, the silk thread making craft in Co Chat Village has developed substantially. Before 1954, merchants from other regions in the country came to the village to buy silk thread then sell at Do Che Wharf - a bustling port in Nam Dinh.

In 1942, Pham Ruan, a weaver from Co Chat, brought his silk thread to participate in a fair. It was held in the imperial city of Thang Long (present-day Hanoi) by the Southern government to display famous products from traditional craft villages nationwide, and he won the grand prize of the Governor’s Palace of North Vietnam.

Made manually or by machines, Co Chat silk thread is very delicate, soft and durable and has natural bright colours.

Nowadays, the elders in the village are still in the habit of making silk thread using the traditional method to preserve their ancestors’ craft while the younger generation use modern machines and invest in workshops to increase the productivity of silk thread.

 

Artisan Nguyen Thi Nghi reels silk thread using the traditional method.

The development of the craft of making silk thread in Co Chat provides jobs for a large number of workers in the region with an average income of about 2-3million VND/month. Some families in the village can earn more than 20million VND/month.

The village’s silk thread is provided to not only workshops in the province and neighbouring areas, but also is exported to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia at a price of 850,000VND/kg.

In terms of traditional techniques on making silk thread, Pham Thi Nhan, owner of a silk thread making workshop in Co Chat, said that the process of making silk thread lasts about 30 days, from silkworms eating mulberries and creating cocoons to reeling silk.

 

Co Chat is silk thread has a high quality despite being made manually or by machines.

The silk thread is then rolled around a tube and dried. She also added that at present the silkworm cocoons from this village do not meet the demand for production so she has to buy from other provinces such as Thai Binh, Ha Nam and Lam Dong.

Over the years, Co Chat silk thread has been evaluated as a special product in Nam Dinh and the craft has helped bring local people a comfortable life. For this reason, it is necessary for local authorities and people to preserve and further promote the traditional craft.

VNP