Associations of fellow-countrymen and craft guilds in Thăng Long-Hà Nội
VGP - Members of fellow-countrymen associations would hold meetings, visit and help each other in times of need, and maintain strong relationships with relatives and neighbors back home. A delegate would be sent annually to offer sacrifices and contributions to build temples and roads in their home villages.
Since King Lý Thái Tổ
moved the capital from Hoa Lư to Thăng Long-Hà Nội in 1010, many dynasties have
reigned from Hà Nội, and each of them has brought talented people to the city.
At first, groups of skilled craftsmen from villages around the capital built
pagodas, houses and did numerous crafts such as sculpture, silver and gold
jewelry, bronze, lacquer and cloth dyeing. The product they made depended on
the village they came from. For example, Đan Loan villagers (Hải Dương
Province) made dyed cloth on Hàng Đào Street; Chằm villagers made shoes on Hàng
Hành Street; Đình Bảng villagers (Bắc Ninh Province) made horizontal lacquered
boards (engraved with Chinese characters and trimmed with gold) on Hàng Hòm, Hàng
Bông Streets.
Normally, craftsmen did not move to the capital permanently. Rather,
they returned home at harvest time (as they continued to plant crops, in
addition to practicing their craft), or if there were no jobs in the capital.
Many of these craftsmen were successful and became quite wealthy. However, they
remembered their hometowns. To do so, they set up “associations of
fellow-countrymen” among people from the same village who came to do business
in Thăng Long. They came together to build communal houses and temples to
worship gods and patrons of their home village. For example, Quất Động
villagers from Hà Tây Province, worked as embroiders on
Some craftsmen also established crafts guilds, which were in charge of
product quality control and maintaining the trading reputation of the
craftsmen. Annually, these guilds would meet at a celebration of the “Founder’s
Day” to discuss their experiences. They also set up a fund to collect donations
for newcomers, or for those dealing with unexpected expenses. The associations
would also buy raw materials en masse, to get a cheaper price. An example of
such an association was the blacksmiths guild, which met twice monthly at