Bao Ha
Bao Ha Statue Village is a traditional craft village prominent for its sculpture and lacquer work over 500 years in Dong Minh commune, Vinh Bao, Hai Phong. This particular craft village is located 30km from the center of the northern port city of Hai Phong Bao Ha statue village also attaches many cultural and artistic activities, tourism in the Red River Delta. In particular, the statue-carving village in Bao Ha has more than a millennium, but specializes in sculpting Buddha statues and is considered the cradle of Vietnam's statue-making profession. With this, Bao Ha statue village was recognized as a traditional craft village in 2007. Tourists coming to Bao Ha handicraft village are amazed and mesmerized at the ancient statues and local puppet shows, and they love to visit puppet workshops or a variety of statues.
During the Minh dynasty (1407-1427), when Vietnam was invaded to work in factories, build tombs, temples... In more than 10 servings in foreign countries, Nguyen Cong Hue has learned a number of jobs to earn a living, including sculpting and lacquering. As soon as he was repatriated, Nguyen Cong Hue passed the profession on to the villagers. When he died, the villagers of Bao Ha built a temple, carved a statue to worship him, and honored him as the ancestor of the profession.
After 1945, when Vietnam took power, Bao Ha still maintained and developed the profession. Currently, Bao Ha has nearly 1,000 households doing the job, of which there are over 200 sculpting households with 20 production workshops. Products of craft villages are increasingly diversified and richer, besides traditional products (Buddhist statues, holy statues, puppets…), there are many new products suitable for the times such as worship products. altars, couplets ...), large and small statues of all kinds, contemporary statues, lacquer paintings... Every year, craft villages contribute 40% of the value of local industrial production
