The brick-making industry in Ninh Hoa has developed for a long time; however, it has been found to be difficult to do research on this traditional industry. At the end of 2015, two folk cultural researchers Ngo Van Ban and Vo Trieu Duong released a book titled "Brick-making industry in Ninh Hoa District in the past" after many years doing fieldwork and working hard on the research. The book of over 300 pages is a meticulous scientific work which gives the readers quite many interesting information.
The brick-making industry in Ninh Hoa has developed for a long time; however, it has been found to be difficult to do research on this traditional industry. At the end of 2015, two folk cultural researchers Ngo Van Ban and Vo Trieu Duong released a book titled “Brick-making industry in Ninh Hoa District in the past” after many years doing fieldwork and working hard on the research. The book of over 300 pages is a meticulous scientific work which gives the readers quite many interesting information.
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The book introduces the readers not only the making of different types of brick and roofing bricks in Ninh Hoa in the past hundreds of years but also detailed information of each type, such as design, size, production tools, manipulation, and drying.
Although the book is about an industry of a land, the writing is not dry with just only expressions of brick making but also comprises many narrative elements as well as idioms and proverbs. In addition to giving information about the typical factors of Ninh Hoa District, the two authors introduce the readers quite many customs and practices in the field of brick and roofing brick of ancient people in the land. Especially, the authors spent two chapters writing about a unique binder called “O duoc” and discoveries of brick-making industry of Cham people in Ninh Hoa. The information given in the two chapters is valuable not only in the construction sphere but also the field of culture and history.
It can be said that the plenty of information about the brick making industry connected with the knowledge about the land’s culture, history, custom and practices helps the work of researchers Ngo Van Ban and Vo Trieu Duong to have depth and be attractive to the readers.
Anh Nhat
Translated by H.N
