June 01, 2017 | 21:39 (GMT+7)
Bac Kan boasts unique traditional costume of the Tay people
PANO – Though the indigo-blue traditional costume of the Tay women in the Northern province of Bac Kan in particular and other provinces in general looks simple, surely it is uniquely wonderful. However, one of the problems is that the weaving and sewing of this traditional costume is running the risk of falling into oblivion.
It takes time to make a set of costume of the Tay women. They have to grow, collect and process cotton to make fabric before dyeing and sewing the fabric into a complete set of clothes.
A woman (R) in the traditional Tay costume
According to La Thi Van, a Tay ethnic minority in Khuoi Tau village, Phuc Loc commune, Ba Be district, Bac Kan province, people often sow cotton seeds in late lunar March or April. From the end of lunar June to July, people will collect cotton. She said, “Cotton does not require watering or fertilizers. A field of about 1,000sq.m can bring enough cotton for weaving about 45 meters of fabric.” After picked up, the cotton will be dried and squeezed to get rid of seeds. Then, the cotton will be carded and rolled in bars for weaving into white fabrics. Van said, about 20 years ago, people in the area still grew cotton, but now very few people do that.
The dyeing takes the same process as the carding of the cotton. First, the indigo trees are soaked in water for one to two days. The pulps are then thrown away. The soaked water is mixed with lime and left there for two or three days for the indigo powder to curdle. In the next step, aromatic leaves of trees like guava, tropical almond, etc. will be boiled and mixed with indigo powder. The fabric is then put into the boiling liquid for dyeing. As the dyeing process goes, one side of the fabric is dyed twice while the other is dyed once to make a green side and a black one.
Traditionally, the Tay people wear long tunic with an indigo-blue waistband, satin trousers, an indigo-blue turban and canvas shoes. The Tay women often wear silver jewelry to add more colors to the costume. Previously, only when getting wedding did the Tay women wear traditional indigo-blue costume and they had to bring to the husband’s home a set of self-made bedding.
At present, the Tay women wear the traditional indigo-blue costume whenever they join festivals and weddings. Therefore, a lot of Tay women want to relive the weaving craft and preserve the traditional indigo-blue costume of the ethnic group.
Translated by Huu Duong