Bach Lien
Located in the suburbs of Hanoi, Bach Lien village is reputed for its production of ink brush. There are only two areas where these brushes are sold: Bac Ninh and Nam Dinh. Perhaps because this is an area where confucianists, who mainly used ink brushes to write, lived back then.
Legend has it that the way of selling brushes in these two markets is very unique. The brush sellers usually sit in a tall, covered hut that cannot be seen. Buyers standing below would say the type of pen they want to buy, then the seller would drop the requested brush down in a small basket. After that, the buyer would take the brush and put money back in the basket. Just like that, the seller and the buyer never know each other.
Later, Quoc Ngu replaced Chinese characters to become the national language. After which, the French popularized iron pens to match the handwriting of Quoc Ngu, making the brush craft in Bach village gradually disappear. Nowadays, even though ink brushes are no longer used, it still serves as a symbol representing the studious culture of Vietnam
