Son Dong statue sculpturing village

Son Dong Village in Hoa Duc District, Ha Noi is known as the largest place for sculpturing statues of Buddha in Viet Nam. It is also famous for the traditional craft of carving red-lacquered statues in the ancient style.

For over 300 years, the craft has been preserved and developed by devoted and talented artisans. One of them was Nguyen Duc Dau (1898-1988). In 1986 when the national economy started the renewal process, Dau coordinated with Ha Noi College of Fine Arts to organize training courses in sculpturing statues for people in his commune. Since then, the craft has developed and the village now has 300 households engaging in the craft and about 4,000 skillful sculptors.

The main products of the village are statues of Buddha, saints, national heroes and sacred animals for worshipping, such as horses and cranes. Here, the artisans only use the core of jackfruit trees to create statues because this type of wood is quite durable and rarely cracks which is suitable for making worshipping objects. During sculpturing, each artisan has his own secret to make unique products. Particularly, the artisans in Son Dong have become famous for the technique of sculpturing the faces on the statues. Thanks to the artisans’ skillful hands, the statues look refined with details of soulful and merciful expressions.

In Son Dong, the technique on red-lacquer trimmed with good is rather sophisticated which uses gold and silver litmus. To further develop the traditional craft, the villagers have invested in modern machines and advanced technology, and specialized production. Each workshop takes responsibility for one stage, such as sculpturing, painting and designing.

Thanks to their unique beauty, the products of Son Dong Village are seen in most of the pagodas and temples in Ha Noi and the North. There are also exported to the US and the UK to meet the demand of overseas Vietnamese.