Preserving the Rural Soul

Preserving the Rural Soul

More than 1,000 objects of farming tools and daily utensils of farmers, such as ploughs, rakes, sickles, lime-pots, coloured lanterns, stone mortars, etc., which have existed for some centuries, are displayed at the "museum of rural utensils" by Nguyen Quang Manh, the owner of Vinh Hoa Camera Shop in Bac Giang City.

Manh has spent dozens of years collecting and preserving objects for young generations. "I was born in Hoai Thuong Village, Lien Bao Commune, Tien Du District, Bac Ninh Province which is well-known as the village of first doctoral laureates.

Although I did not farm, the image of industrious and simple-hearted farmers, particularly my mother who was constantly bent over to husk and pound rice to keep the family is deeply imprinted in my mind".

During the years of evacuating to Yen Dung, a rural area in Bac Giang Province, to avoid the US bombs, he and the children in the village used to raise buffalo, cut glass, draw up a net and catch fish and crab together.

When returning to the city, the sweet memories about the rural area inspired him to preserve something for young generations. According to him, almost all farming tools in the past, such as ploughs, rakes, sickles, rice pounding mortar, etc., were made by farmers so they are bulky, rough and heavy.

When traveling to any rural area to take photos, he often saw objects being left in gardens, so he bought them at a cheap price.

However, it was very difficult to transport them to the city. Together with the support of his wife, Nguyen Thi Thanh who was born and grew up in the countryside, he has, so far, collected more than 100 stone mortars, which are displayed at a corner of his garden.

He said the mortar is a tool that helps farmers to make rice and an important one in the Vietnamese legend about Chung (square sticky rice) cake and Day (round sticky rice) cake - the products of the wet rice civilization.

His collection also consists of over 200 ancient lime-pots of different sizes which are displayed everywhere throughout his house. He explained that farmers in the past considered the lime-pot as a talisman. Old women used to chew betel and areca with lime or use lime to kill insects and drive out demons. Therefore, every family has a lime-pot and called it "Mr.Binh Voi".

At present, the old and rudimentary farming tools and rural utensils are gradually being replaced by modern objects. If they are not preserved, young generations will not know how their ancestors lived and farmed. For Nguyen Quang Manh, collecting and preserving rural objects reflect his love for the countryside and will help future generations understand more about the life of the farmers in rural areas in the past.

Nguyen Quang Manh has collected objects since the 1970s, so his collection now consists of thousands of objects. He always wishes to have a large space to display all collected objects and establish a " Museum of Rural Objects " to preserve the rural soul for future generations.