History of Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village

Stone carving craft in Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village was started in the first half of the 17th century, by Huynh Ba Quat, a skilled carver moved from Thanh Hoa province, in northern Vietnam. He realized that local stone in the Marble Mountains was really good for carving different things.

In the beginning, people in Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village made small household items, such as mortars, pestles, or tombstones. For them, this was a part time job. Meaning that when they had free time, they would come to stone mines and carve something. Their main income still was from farming and catching fishes (both rivers and sea).

Poets, kings, government officials, and visitors often hired local carvers to carve their works of art on the walls of caves. Today, there are nearly 80 rock inscriptions seen in the Marble Mountains, written in Chinese and Nom letters.

When mining stone, local carvers find out that stone’s color at each mountain of the Marble Mountains is different. The ‘water mountain’ has pink marble, the ‘fire mountain’ has red marble, the ‘wood mountain’ has white marble, the ‘earth mountain’ has grey marble, and the ‘metal mountain’ has grey-and-white marble.

In the early 19th century, when Nguyen emperors at Hue constructed the new capital city; Local carvers and sculptors of Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village were requested to work there.

Over time, because of a high level of craftsmanship of Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village’s carvers, so many people requested them to make something, with a high pay. For that reason, in the area, girls had an interesting comparison: marrying a stone carver is better than the one from rich families. The reason is that the profession could give lots of money at that time. ‘Carving stone’ wasn’t a part time job anymore, and became a main income for villagers.

In 1990, to protect the Marble Mountains (a national scenic spot), local authorities didn’t allow carvers to mine in the mountains. After that, the stone has been imported from other places around Vietnam to serve the local industry. However, past mining activities led to dividing the Fire Mountain (Hon Hoa Son) into two. That’s why today we will see ‘ying’ Fire Mountain and ‘yang’ Fire Mountain, and six hills in the complex.  

In 2014, fine art stone carving tradition in Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village was recognized as Vietnam’s national intangible cultural heritage, becoming the first one of its kind in Da Nang. At the present, 314 households have continued this traditional handcraft, and many of which have 4-5 generations of professional carvers. Along Huyen Tran Cong Chua street, there are 150 households making and selling marble sculptures for tourists.

Every year, ‘Stone carver ancestors festival’ takes place on the 16th day of the 3rd lunar month by generations of local carvers. Temple for stone carver ancestors is at the foot of Moc Son (‘wood mountain’).

Today, local carvers of the village have worked in the city and other parts of the country.