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Vàng Thị Dế (born in 2002) hails from Thài Phìn Tủng commune, Đồng Văn district, Hà Giang province. Dế is one of the few young Hmong Gen Z individuals from a remote mountainous province who passed the university entrance exam. After moving to Hanoi, alongside her studies, Dế started her own business producing traditional Hmong raw linen fabrics. After graduating, Dế returned to her hometown to continue pursuing her dream of bringing Hmong brocade linen fabrics to the world, contributing to job creation for many women living in the border region.
From a small village, Nhèo Lủng hamlet has now become a major supplier of brocade linen in Đồng Văn. It is also a cultural tourism destination offering experiences of brocade linen weaving by the Mong ethnic people in Hà Giang.
The place where brocade linen fabrics are made.
My dream is to take brocade linen fabrics all over the world.
As soon as the sun rose, I hurried from the old town of Dong Van to Thai Phin Tung commune to meet De. She was dressed in traditional Mong clothing and greeted me at the gate of her house. De led me inside and began to tell her story. “To make a piece of raw linen fabric, the White Mong people have to go through many steps.”
In April or May, when the weather is fine, the Hmong people will sow flax seeds in the best plot of land on their family's property. They usually sow flax seeds first before planting other crops because the roots of the flax plant will penetrate deep into the soil and improve its quality. About two and a half months later, the Hmong will harvest the flax. The larger plants are left as seeds for the following year. The rest are dried.
The story of Thi De, a Hmong girl, and how linen fabric traveled the world.
The larger flax plants will be set aside for seeds for the following year. The rest will be dried.
The day before stripping the flax, the Hmong people take the flax stalks to dry in the dew in areas with abundant vegetation. Each flax stalk is separated into five thin strands, using the strength of all ten fingers. One hand rests on the flax, while the other uses the thumb and index finger to strip the flax. Typically, a Hmong person can strip three bundles a day. “For us Hmong people, the flax is the thread connecting this world and the other. We don’t strip flax at night because that’s when our ancestors come to visit,” Dế said.
When a Hmong person is three days old, they must have a roll of linen cloth to use as their name. This roll of linen cloth is kept in a chest until death, when it is taken away to be used as a covering. If the roll of linen cloth is lost, a shaman must be called to perform a ceremony, but it is often considered an omen, so the Hmong people guard the roll of linen cloth very carefully. After the flax has been stripped, the crickets use their strength to pull the fibers from the flax plant. The flax plant is then burned for firewood. The flax fibers are coiled and put into a stone mortar to be pounded. Pounding two rolls at a time takes two hours. Pounding the flax is extremely important because it softens the fibers, making the subsequent process of joining the flax pieces easier.
After joining the threads, the Hmong people wet them with water, twist them to make them thinner, soak them in water again, spin them, and then soak them in wood ash to create a white yarn. Finally, they put the flax threads on the loom to weave. The Hmong people weave cloth whenever they have free time during the day, diligently weaving on the looms passed down from their ancestors.
After being pounded and moistened, the traditional raw linen fabric is then rolled using a type of stone taken from the Nho Que River.
Before traditional raw linen is sold on the market, the Hmong people in Thai Phin Tung must use a type of stone taken from the Nho Que River to roll the fabric. They place the fabric under a round piece of wood, then place another large stone on top of the fabric, and use their feet to roll the fabric to make the linen soft. Through continuous efforts to learn science and technology, the linen fabrics from De village have been sold all over the world. Currently, the most important markets are the United States and Japan.
Through self-improvement, Dế was sent by the Ha Giang Tourism Association to Yunnan, China, to learn traditional fabric-making techniques. She brought new linen-making techniques and dyeing methods using new plant-based dyes to the Mong people in her village, contributing to increased fabric production and expanding the village's product reach.
It was lunchtime, and the meal was ready. Even though I was the only guest, Dế's parents had prepared a whole chicken to offer me. Dế smiled and said, "We Hmong people are very hospitable; we always offer a chicken to anyone who comes from the lowlands." The smoke from the cooking fire was still rising, and eating the meal felt so heartwarming!
