Thanh Tien paper lotus show off their gentle beauty.

The one time imperial capital of Vietnam, Hue is presently renowned for being the city of festivals and for holding many ritual worshiping ceremonies, thus flower cultivation and votive paper making for the purpose of worshipping developed.

A problem the community faces is that the weather isn’t conducive for flower cultivation, especially around Tet when fresh blossoms are in high demand. To overcome this dilemma the villagers in Thanh Tien took up the craft of making paper flowers.

Every year, around mid-tenth lunar month, after sowing rice for the winter-spring crop, the villagers begin to make paper flowers, and in mid-twelfth lunar month, flowers of diverse colours are seen in all houses.

The process of making flowers is a year-long endeavour that includes harvesting and drying the bamboo to be later split, dyed and polished, after which it is stored, along with the paper, in houses that are resistant to termites and humidity. 

 

Paper flower making requires the artisan’s patience, thoroughness and talent.

Thanh Tien paper flowers are diverse in colour and types, such as orchids, apricots, chrysanthemums, roses, gerberas, dahlias and many more. The production process includes a number of steps. Once the artisan decides on the colour, he or she stacks several sheets of paper together then chisels out the shape of the petals. This way the petal shape is uniform. Next the petals are formed into flower blossoms and glued to bamboo branches. Each branch will have 9 or 10 flowers because the locals say these are auspicious numbers. A single flower tree can have anywhere from 300 to 500 branches and as spring rolls around it is not unusual to see a flower vendor parading along the street with a huge tree flung over his shoulder.

In the past, paper flowers were used for rituals or worshipping ceremonies, but nowadays they are a part of everyday life. During Festival Hue 2010, in Thanh Tien Village, a special event titled "Colours of Thanh Tien" was held. In a traditional Ruong house of Hue, visitors were treated to an exhibition of paper lotus flower making by skilled Thanh Tien artisans. One local elderly commented that the craft disappeared for about half a century and was delighted to see its revival.

Thanh Tien artisans introduce the art of making paper flowers.

Making paper lotus is a painstaking job. Lotus petals are made from poonah paper or painting paper, and lotus stems from dry rattan plants. To colour the lotus petals is the most difficult process because it requires the petals having colours to be changed from rose to pink, then white. Pink lotuses represent supreme power, white for purity and violet for the traditional beauty of Hue, but all manifesting the beauty of the land and people of Hue, especially the talent of Thanh Tien artisans.