Thanh Ha Pottery Village: Hoi An’s Living Legacy
While Hoi An’s Ancient Town captivates with its golden lantern-lit streets, a short trip west leads you to a world of quiet tradition and timeless craft. For over 500 years, Thanh Ha Pottery Village has been a vital part of Hoi An’s heritage. Situated on the banks of the Thu Bon River, this is where the raw earth of Vietnam is transformed into beautiful, durable ceramics.
A Legacy of Master Craftsmanship
The artisans of Thanh Ha have been perfecting their craft for centuries, passing down techniques from one generation to the next. They use a special clay and a deep understanding of heat and fire to produce pottery of incredible quality and unique color. Depending on the time and temperature in the kiln, a piece can emerge with hues ranging from a light pink to a deep red or even an ink-black. When you tap on a finished piece, you can hear a clear, ringing sound—a testament to its exceptional strength.
One of their most iconic products is the yin-yang roof tile, a key element of Hoi An’s ancient architecture. These dark red tiles are not just beautiful; their unique shape and composition allow for excellent ventilation, keeping houses cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Get Your Hands Dirty
Thanh Ha isn’t just a place to observe; it’s a place to create. The village offers a wonderful hands-on experience in its workshops and museum. You can try your hand at the potter’s wheel and learn to shape a piece of clay under the guidance of a skilled artisan. It’s a chance to connect with the craft and create your own unique souvenir to take home.
Thanh Ha pottery products are made by very well-trained craftsmen. They use special clay mixing, burning and baking techniques, and heat modulations to bring out different colors. Depending on the time of burning and the temperature of the kiln, the color can be changed from pink, pink yellow to red, light brown and ink-black. Thanks to the special technique of processing soil and the combination of successive manipulations, the durability of their products is ranked at the top as compared to others in the country, and the brightness is the same as enamel. A soft and clear sound with echo can be heard by knocking on the product. Some products are offered on request or used for planting orchids; they are decorated with the sink and float vignettes that are simple but very nice. In the recent decades, Thanh Ha pottery products has been sold throughout the country and sometimes abroad (Canada, America, France).
Hoi An is very beautiful, but also very crowded. Thanh Ha pottery village can be busy too, but is a whole other world. Thanh Ha is still a pure village. Walking to the village you find easily a workshop museum, surrounded by the houses of several craftsmen where you can learn to work with potter’s wheel. The museum provides a special workshop, developed to rediscover yourself and your hidden abilities with just the use of clay and water.
Yin-yang tiles are a special product of Thanh Ha. The tiles are made from yellow clay mixed with sand without impurities. They are baked in fire wood, and are hard and dark red or purple when done, with straight edges, none bent, none warped, wine colored. Yin-yang roof tiles are a creation of the ancients for thickness, the rounded multi-composite shape forms a rainbow as you look down it, and this shape helps to keep space open for air and ventilate the roof. Thus, the yin-yang tiles are usually cooler in summer, and warmer in winter with a high life expectancy of 50 years before beginning to degrade. You could easily recognize the houses in Hoi An with yin-yang clay roof tiles made by Thanh Ha village.
