Laminating gold by hand in Hanoi’s old village

Visiting historical relics and temples, visitors often see the gilded Buddha statues, horizontal lacquered boards and parallel sentences. Over a long period of time, these worshipping items are still beautiful. Most of them were made by talented hands of artisans in Kieu Ky village, Gia Lam district, Hanoi.

The Bodhisatta Kwan Yin statue at But Thap Pagoda - one of the typical gilded products of Kieu Ky village.
This statue was made in 1656 and until now it is still beautiful thanks to the gold layer inlaid by Kieu Ky workers.

Kieu Ky is the only village in Vietnam where the sheets are made from pure gold and silver, called old sheets, used exclusive for products in the village. Craftsmen only make decorative sheets from tin, called new sheets, outside the village where they go to practice the craft. Each household puts its own distinguishing characteristics on the products. That  is why craftsmen can easily pinpoint who the manufacturers of the works are among their fellow villagers.

1/10 tael of gold can be laminated into a large sheet,
 then cut into small square pieces of 1cm long to
 inlayon worshipping items.

Coming to Kieu Ky, visitors find themselves in the busy life of the locals. Most of the villagers are peasants, but they hardly have any free time because, over 50 households engaged in the craft employ hundreds of the old and young alike.

“This job requires experience, technique and sophisticated work before becoming a sheet.”- old craftsman said. First, pine resin is mixed with gelatin glue processed from buffalo skin. The  mixture is then mixed with special raw paper pulp, then cut cut  into 4cm x 6cm pieces. Small pieces of gold, sandwiched between those sheet, are hammered for nearly an hour before becoming a complete products.

The last stage of the work is to take the gold sheets out of the “moulds”, but this is by no means a simple task, as only a gentle breath would be enough to blow them away.

In recent years, together with the growth of the economy, various pagodas, and shrines are being  restored, creating a chance for the development of the craft in Kieu Ky, as the demand for  the sheets skyrockets.

The horizontal lacquered board and parallel sentences at Kim Ngân temple in Hàng Bạc Street, Hanoi..

Large volumes of the sheets are exported to Japan and Thailand, and this injects a new vitality to the craft. Kieu Ky craftsmen can feel proud because they have successfully restored and developed the unique legacy passed down to them by their ancestors.

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