The sedge mat (cai chieu) is a popularly used item in Vietnamese daily life. Sedge mat weaving is one of traditional handicrafts in Hoi An, specific to villages and households in Cam Kim Island. Here, local artisans use the sedges (cay coi) to make colorful and durable mats as one of main sources of income. In guided tours, the local guide will take visitors to the house of the artisan to watch how he/she weaves the mat and then try their hand. This experience is absolutely special and fun. Now let’s HoiAn Day Trip Company tell you the information about the mat and sedge mat weaving in Hoi An Vietnam.
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• Content by Tam Le, founder of HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD
• Designed by Giang Cong Minh, co-founder of LS E&C LTD and his team
• Photo by Dang Cong Loi, Dao Xuan Son, Tam Le & others
History & Origin of Sedge Mat Weaving in Vietnam
In Vietnamese history, the sedge mat weaving was introduced by Pham Don Le (1457-1531), a literature mandarin in the Later Le dynasty (1428-1788), after his visit to China.
Pham Don Le (man) was borned in 1457, in present-day Hung Ha district, Thai Binh province. His biological father was a fisherman, and his biological mother sold beverages at a boat ferry. At age of 3, he got lost and his parents couldn’t find him. After that, a rich couple adopted him. Everyday, he went to the school with his adopted father, and here, he demonstrated his intelligence.
In 1487, in the reign of Le Thanh Tong king, Pham Don Le joined an imperial examination for the first time, but achieved the highest score. After that, he had the best performances in two other rounds. Le became one of a few people who could win three times (at different levels) in the entire Vietnam’s history.
When Pham Don Le was a principal graduate, he returned to hometown, to thank ancestors and parents. Meanwhile, his parents told him that they found him by the river before, and he was just their adopted son. After that, he decided to search for his biological parents, instead of working for the government immediately. Many days later, he met a lady at a beverage store at the boat ferry. She said that she didn’t go anywhere to let her son easily go back, and her son had a mole in the middle of his left foot. Le checked and it’s correct. Then, he lived with her until she died.
After his mother’s death, traditionally Pham Don Le had a 1-year mourning period. At that time, he realized that the mat in the village wasn’t beautifully made. He wanted to look for ways to improve tools and techniques for villagers.
Later, Pham Don Le returned to the capital city, and worked for the government. The king appointed him to be Vietnam’s envoy and he would go to China. On the journey in this country, at Guilin region, he saw locals weaving the mat better and faster than ones in his mother’s village. For that reason, on his next visit, he bought a loom and brought it to the village. Here, he told people to research everything about it, and to find ways to copy it. However, nobody could be patient enough, and then he did it by himself. As an intelligent man, he not only knew how to produce the same loom, but also how to improve it (to make better mats). He taught this knowledge to locals.
Pham Don Le also researched successfully the way to use sedge (cay coi), a grasslike plant in swamps, to make more durable mats.
When stopped working for the government, Pham Don Le returned to his adopted parents’ village in Hai Duong district. Here, once again, he taught locals how to weave mats by sedge. After his death in 1531, villagers built a temple to worship and honour him as ‘Mat Ancestor’. They also organize a festival on the sixth day of the first lunar month every year to pay homage to him.
Historians believed that the sedge mat weaving tradition in Hoi An started in the late 17th century-early 18th century. ‘Vietnamese sitting on sedge mats’ was mentioned in the diary of Christoforo Borri (an Italian Jesuit missionary) in 1621.
How to Use Sedge Mat in Vietnamese Daily Life
In Vietnam, people will use a sedge mat to place on the floor to sit on in a meeting with friends or in parties or in meals during the day. Every Vietnamese family has one mat at least to use in these times (although they already had tables and chairs already). On the bed, it’s possible to see a mat too. It’s called ‘sleeping mat’ where people sleep on it. During the summer, this mat makes the sleeper feel cooler. On the beach, because it’s light, people bring the mat (with food and drinks) and then sit on it to cool off, eat and drink. If do not have, eateries there also give one mat to customers. For that reason, mat is a necessary item which Vietnamese should have. Sedge mat weaving households and families are always busy.
In temples, mats with dragon, phoenix or other holy animals, are used to hang in the front of altars where the god or ancestors are worshipped. This way is to show respect to them.
After a few weeks or when it’s dirty, local people will wash the mat, dry it in the sun and then use it again when it’s fully dry.
Better to Know about Sedge (Cay Coi)
Sedge (cay coi, cay lat) is the main material to make a mat in Hoi An. It’s a grasslike flowering plant growing in riverine swamps in all rural areas of the city, especially Cam Kim Island.
There are many types of sedge, but local artisans just use cay lat don (cay coi don) to weave the mats because it’s long, evenly tapered, and more durable. They will plant it in the first lunar month of the year, and collect it for 3,4 years after that. Interestingly, this grass can grow in both fresh-water and brackish-water swamps. In the year, there are two seasons: 4th-5th lunar months, and 7th-8th lunar months.
These are steps in the process to have sedges for sedge mat weaving:
Step 1: local people use a sickle to collect the culm of sedges in the field by hand.
Step 2: Spit the sedge into two and then sun dry on the road or the yard. Dried sedges will be white.
Step 3: Dye dried sedges by industrial colorings. There are 4 basic colors to choose: red, yellow, purple and green. At first, artisans will put colorings into a pot of hot water and then dried sedges. After that, it’s just needed to wait.
Step 4: Dry dyed sedges in the sun again. The ones of the same color will be packed together. For awesome pictures, photographers often visit mat making villages in Hoi An when this step is on going.
Step 5: Bring dried colorful sedges to home and then ready to weave the mat.
Tools & Steps to Weave Traditional Mat in Hoi An
To make one mat, local artisans need a traditional weaving loom, dried sedges, long bamboo sticks, low stool, knife, etc. To see a full process with every step and learn how to weave the mat from the locals, visitors need to visit rural villages in Hoi An countryside and then find houses of artisans.
In traditional belief, local artisans will choose an even day in Tet or Vietnamese Lunar New Year festival, between 4th and 10th days to weave the first mat of the whole year. In common, they choose 6th or 8th days to do it.
Guided Tours to Cam Kim Island
These are guided tours to Cam Kim Island where visitors can meet local artisans who have woven sedge mats:
– Cam Kim Tour by Bicycle
Photos, Videos about Sedge Mat Weaving in Hoi An
Here are beautiful photos and videos about sedge mat weaving in Hoi An:
