101-year-old lady masterfully sews royal pillows
At the age of 101, Tri Hue from Thua Thien Hue still works hard every day handsewing royal
pillows to keep the traditional profession.
In Thua Thien Hue, the people are no stranger to the name Tri Hue (or mother Tri Hue,
residing in Giap Dong village, Huong Can, Huong Toan, Huong Tra town)
For many years now, her home in Giap Dong village has also become a familiar address for
locals and tourists, especially young people who love the traditional craft of sewing royal
pillows.
Tri Hue meticulously sewing a pillow
Her full name is Cong Ton Nu Tri Hue and as a descendant of the royal family, she was
allowed to enter the palace from a young age to learn sewing and embroidery.
According to Tri Hue, the traditional pillow has many folds for folding or opening at will and
was often used by kings and mandarins in the past. Pillows are used to support your head,
back, and arms while reading, reciting poetry, drinking tea, etc.
Because it is used a lot in royal places, people are used to calling it a royal pillow.
She is diligent in every stage, from cutting fabric, making pillowcases to sewing pillows...
“To make a pillow, you must first cut a piece of fabric according to the size, then sew it into a
square, tear the cotton beam to make it perpendicular and finally sew to connect the pillow
into 5 sections,” shared Tri Hue
Almost all stages of pillowmaking are carefully handcrafted by Tri Hue. Particularly, the
sewing stage of the pillow cover has been replaced by a sewing machine in recent years.
“I still have the strength to keep my job and pass it on, because that's the joy, the reason for
living. I have passed the profession on to my daughter-in-law and grandchildren, but I only
give them a 7 or 8 point, the rest needs my help to finalize," said Tri Hue.
The traditional pillow products from the old lady are diverse in color, with bold patterns of palace culture
The profit from making this type of pillow is not high since it takes a lot of time, now in Thua
Thien Hue, there are almost only Tri Hue's family keeping the job alive.
To perfect a royal pillow product, 3 people in the family worked together for 3 days. Each
product on average costs about 1.8 million VND, depending on customer requirements.
Tri Hue’s 69-year-old daughter-in-law Le Thi Hien said that in recent years, the royal left
pillow product has become more known thanks to a number of tourists coming to visit
directly and buy it as a gift. .
Besides, now there are young people in Thua Thien Hue who have connected and promoted
through social networks to help support the sale of these products.
