Chu Dau Village

The name Chu Dau literally means "wharf". Chu Dau village in the northern province of Hai Duong was known only as a busy trading hub until evidence was uncovered that it used to produce ceramic vases that were renowned around the world. The story of Chu Dau's revival as a ceramic village began with a 1980 letter from Makoto Anabuki, Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, to Ngo Duy Dong, Secretary of Hai Duong Province's Party Committee. In this letter, Anabuki wrote that during a working trip to Turkey, he had visited Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul and was very interested to see an ancient Vietnamese ceramic jar on display. On the jar was written: "In the Year of 1945 of the 8th Thai Hoa reign, a ceramic maker of the Bui Family in the Nam Sach area drew on this jar just for fun." Makoto Anabuki asked the Party Secretary to find the origin of this valuable jar 4 years later. From the information given, excavations uncovered relics proving that Chu Dau village used to produce ceramic products of high artistic merit. The discovery that wowed pottery experts also shocked the local residents. Nguyen Minh Tu, is a village elder of Chu Dau, says: "I never knew there were pottery kilns in this village although I sometimes found pieces of glazed terra-cotta in my garden. Only when experts came to my house and conducted excavations did I learn that those were pieces of national treasures. My fellow villagers and I are very happy and excited to receive experts, even foreign experts, to our village to research the village's ancient craft of pottery."