Luy Lau is an old land, the one used to be a province under the Chinese Domination of Vietnam in the 2nd centure A.D. – the major economic, political, cultural and Buddhism center of ancient Vietnam. The land is located on the bank of Duong river of Sieu Loai province, later the Thuan Thien province, now belongs to Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province. Here lie the ancient Luy Lau ramparts with the relics of the once splendid pagodas, residences and monuments. The land also preserves a line of unique, traditional ancient ceramic, dating back to over 2 millenniums ago: the Ancient Ceramic of Luy Lau.
The old Bat Trang village, which in previous times belonged to Bac Ninh province, the town of Kinh Bac, is a renowned ceramic village, which stories the couplet asserting the value of ceramic materials used in Luy Lau:
“White Soil Mountain crafting, mud turned into treasure
Red Flame Kiln enlightening, clay forged into gold”
It is little known that the famous “Mud turned into treasure” of Bat Trang Ceramic are “Dan” porcelain and “Su” porcelain; in order to make them, craftsmen need to use the clay in the area of Dau Pagoda, and the reputed Bat Trang bricks are the products made of Dau Pagoda clay – turning “mud into treasure”. Dau Pagoda itself is located on the land of Luy Lau, the land of precious ceramic materials of Vietnam.
Nonetheless, after many historical events including the end of the Chinese Domination of Vietnam, and afterwards, the formation of many urban areas in the North of Vietnam, Luy Lau ceramic line seemed to “move” across Duong river, Luoc river and Thai Binh river to form the new ceramic centers of Nam Sach, Chu Dau and Hai Duong that flourished in the next centuries. Since then, Luy Lau ceramic for a long time only stayed in the memories thanks to the collected artifact; and recent excavations in Bai Dinh – Ha Man showed the remnants of the ancient pottery kilns laying low in centuries;
Thanks to the passion, enthusiasm and effort of Luy Lau Ceramic craftsmen, the ceramic flame was ignited again in the multi-thousand-year cold kilns. Their determination to keep the ceramic flame burning on their mother land and their unparalleled, art standard skills emerged in the vintage style bring the aesthetic value of Luy Lau ceramic to the top of Vietnam ancient ceramic. This has been confirmed again in the Luy Lau Ceramic Conference held on 4th July, 2007, attending the amired experts in history, architecture and archeology like Duong Trung Quoc, Hoang Dao Kinh, Vu The Long, Dang Dinh Diep, Nguyen Viet etc., all of whom showed great appreciation of the ancient ceramic line. Master Tran Quoc Vuong when alive was very attached with researching the ancient land of Luy Lau. His vision of the ceramic combines of the essential elements: Earth – Water – Fire, together with the skillful human hands creating a creativity potential from producing technologies, local materials and craftsmen’s aesthetic eyes, creating a wide, vivid diversity of every single local area, age or Luy Lau craftsman himself.
The uniqueness of Luy Lau cultured ceramic products is the harmonization, elegance and beauty, combining traditional value and modern design, together with characterized materials in each classical products (kettles, jars, vases, censers, artistic statues and pictures, Ly Dynasty and Tran Dynasty’s dragon and phoenix heads, etc.) and other historical features creating an unique style, which is separated from current other remaining ceramic lines, but at the same time sticks closely to the root of the very much ancient ceramic land of Luy Lau.
The very enthusiasm and creativity of Luy Lau dedicated craftsmen have brought this land’s ceramic line great success and won many prestigious awards in exhibitions, with the like of:
- Vietnam Golden Globe Awards 2005
- Viet Land Gold Star Awards in APEC exhibition 2006
- Vietnam Elites Awards in WTO exhibition 2007
- Vietnam Iconic Entrepreneurs and Businesses Golden Awards 2008
- One of the 10 major products in the Thang Long Grand Millennium Ceremony
Current global trend is globalization and the knowledge economy. The 21st century’s economy with the essence of intelligence in each product is the major concern of many countries. The characterized ceramic products combine harmonically national unique traditional and cultured values and global advanced technologies.
Nowadays, the ideas are not limited by shapes and types, but Luy Lau Ceramic has found its way to creativity to match the brand name of the old land, and a renowned ceramic line in the past as well as present and future. The special feature – the ancient enamel of Luy Lau – brings out the shimmering, miraculous beauty that can only be found in Luy Lau ceramic products: all the ingredients are made from the clay and cinder of the incinerated “Dau” tree (Mulberry) of the famous Dau land.
Whatsoever, Luy Lau Ceramic has become the historical impression that in our modern days is known as “Brand name”. Therefore, it is safe to say that Luy Lau Ceramic has already had a very longstanding brand name. Luy Lau Ceramic totally stands out from other ceramic lines, and deserves the title of the symbol of Vietnam Ancient Ceramic. “Luy Lau Ceramic until the modern days is the finest of the characterized traditional ceramic lines of the ancient Vietnam, and represents all the Northern local ceramic lines.” said the famous historian Duong Trung Quoc.