Hanoi (VNA) – Making embroidered shoe is a tradition of Xa Phang ethnic people in the northwestern mountainous province of Dien Bien, with women making the shoes, called “lien hai” in their language, for their family members.
As one of the 19 ethnic communities in Dien Bien, more than 2,000 Xa Phang people reside in the province. They live in villages and clans in such districts as Muong Cha, Nam Po, and Tua Chua.
Nowadays, the minority, part of the Hoa ethnic group, still uphold a number of their traditional and special cultural practices, including shoe embroidery. They have not only passed down their craft knowledge and skills but also educated younger generations on industriousness and patience.
Making shoes and sewing corlourful and unique patterns onto footwear demonstrates the subtlety, skillfulness, and creativity of local women. Each pair of shoes is an artwork imbued with makers’ sentiment, dreams, and hopes.
In their teens, girls are instructed by their grandmothers, mothers, and elder sisters in how to sew, mend, embroider, and make shoes. It is not hard to find local women sitting on doorsteps and assiduously working on every stitch to create beautifully embroidered shoes considered the reflection of Xa Phang women’s skillfulness and capabilities.
It takes Xa Phang women about 10 – 12 days to complete embroidering a pair of shoes.
Many steps go into a good pair of embroidered shoes. Preparations include the materials for making shoes, selecting the shoe type suitable for the wearer to make the soles, cut to create patterns and embroider decorations on the vamps. The final step is to sew up the vamps, straps and soles together to complete the shoes.
Locals have different types of footwear, including those for men, women, the elderly, as well as grooms and brides in weddings.
The shoes for the elderly and grooms are completely black and have rounded and enclosed toes. The ones for men, women, and persons of the middle age and younger are colourful and multi-patterned. The shoes for men in general are partly open at the toes and the vamps, while the footwear of women have closed toes.
The main materials for shoe making include fabric, bamboo spathe, sewing thread, embroidery thread, glue, paper and such tools as scissors, small knives, sewing needles, embroidery needles, and beeswax. The fabric for making the soles and vamps must be thick and durable. Xa Phang people often use hand-made soles of the Thai ethnic group.
The sewing thread is made from the bark of a wild plant species called “ma” by Xa Phang people. Fibre from this plant is tough, durable and hard to absorb water. To keep the thread smooth, unbroken and water resistant, makers often rub it against dry beeswax before sewing footwear.
The main material for making soles is dry spathes falling off from bamboo shoots. The spathes, always available in villages, are collected, pressed to flatten, and stored by local women for use when necessary. Meanwhile, to create the filling between two layers of the soles, makers have to cut wild bamboo leaves into small pieces and then boil, thoroughly pound and dry them to enhance the softness when the shoes are worn.
The glue to stick the soles is made from the bulb of a wild plant called “mua ri” by locals. After being washed and peeled, “mua ri” bulbs are pounded thoroughly, soaked in water and filtered to gain the extracted liquid which will be later boiled until well-cooked and as thick as glue.
Embroidery threads are also made from natural materials and have various colours such as red, pink, green, and yellow.
Shoe vamps are shaped by cutting white fabric whose outer side is covered by colour fabric serving as the ground for colourful patterns to be embroidered. Regardless of footwear for males or females, the embroidery method and main patterns are the same. The patterns include stylised flowers, leaves, and climbing plants along with geometric shapes like combined lozenges, zigzags, waves, and serration.
Embroidery threads with strong colours are used to create eye-catching patterns that partly demonstrate the strong personality and enthusiasm of Xa Phang people, as well as their confidence, optimism, and belief in happiness and good luck in life.
Joining vamps and soles is the final step. Local women use thick and durable threads to sew to form skillfully hidden seams, thus helping ensure the aesthetic and create perfect shoes.
It seems easy at first when people initially learn about shoe pattern creation and embroidery. But only when seeing Xa Phang women work do they realise how hard the embroidery is. It requires numerous skills, experience, and much concentration from embroiderers.
Nowadays, Xa Phang people are still maintaining the practice of shoe embroidery in many families. Girls are taught needlework by their grandmothers, mothers, and elder sisters when they reach the age of 10 – 12, which helps build up their awareness of preserving and upholding their community’s traditional culture.
Given its outstanding values, the making of embroidered shoes of Xa Phang people in Ta Sin Thang and Lao Xa Phinh communes of Tua Chua district, Huoi Leng and Sa Long communes of Muong Cha district, and Phin Ho commune of Nam Po district in Dien Bien province was listed as part of the national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on March 9, 2021.
The People’s Committee of Muong Cha district in coordination with the administration of Sa Long commune officially announced the recognition and presented the certificate of the national intangible cultural heritage at a ceremony held in Then Pa village on November 11, 2021.
As of June 2023, the province had 18 intangible cultural heritage elements named as national ones, including the making of embroidered shoes of Hoa (Xa Phang) people. The art of performing folk dances of Kho Mu people in Dien Bien Phu city and the districts of Dien Bien, Dien Bien Dong, Muong Ang, Tuan Giao, Tua Chua, Muong Cha, and Nam Po is another heritage, as is the art of Xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group. The Nao Pe Chau festival of Black Mong people in Nam Pong village of Muong Dang commune, Muong Ang district, is also one of the recognised heritages.
Others include the Kin Pang Then ceremony of the White Thai people in Na Nat village of Na Lay ward in Muong Lay town, the Hoang Cong Chat Temple Festival in Ban Phu Citadel in Noong Het commune of Dien Bien district, the water splashing festival of Lao people in Na Sang 1 village of Nua Ngam commune in Dien Bien district, and the art of creating patterns on traditional costumes of Mong Hoa people in Cong Troi village of Sa Long commune in Muong Cha district. Still others are the Ga Ma Thu ceremony of Ha Nhi people in Muong Nhe district, the “Men Loong Phat Ai” festival of Cong people, the “Tu Cai” (coming of age) ceremony of “Dao Quan Chet” people in Huoi Long village of Huoi So commune in Tua Chua district, the Pang Phoong ceremony of Khang people in Tuan Giao district, the art of “khen” (panpipe) of Mong people, and the new rice celebration ceremony of Xinh Mun people in Chieng Son commune of Dien Bien Dong district.
The final list of heritages includes the art of dance of Lao people in Dien Bien and Dien Bien Dong districts; the clan worship ceremony of White Mong people in Tuan Giao, Dien Bien and Dien Bien Dong districts; the blacksmithing craft of Mong people; and the art of making clothes of Ha Nhi people in Sin Thau, Leng Su Sin, Sen Thuong, and Chung Chai communes of Muong Nhe district./.