No need for colorful signs, the bouquets of Thuy Xuan fragrances themselves have a magical attraction and prominence, a special thing that can’t be compared anywhere else…

Thuy Xuan incense village is located on Huyen Tran Cong Chua street (Thuy Xuan ward, Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province), about 7km from Hue city center. Along with Vong Canh Hill, Tu Duc Tomb, this hundred-year-old landmark connects and creates an attractive tourist route and experience that visitors should not miss.

According to artisans in Thuy Xuan Hue incense village, incense making appeared here about 700 years ago under the Nguyen Dynasty. In the past, the village was a place to supply incense to the court, mandarins, and people in Thuan Hoa and Phu Xuan areas. Although it has undergone many changes over time, this Hue incense village continues to be preserved and developed. The previous generation passed the fire on to the next generation to preserve the family’s traditional craft; Each member joined hands, taking turns to make fragrant incense trees, serving the spiritual life of local people as well as outside the province.

A colorful little corner

If walking on the road at this right time, visitors will be extremely overwhelmed with layers of bundles of incense sticks of all colors blue, red, purple, brown, yellow, … very eye-catching with the fragrance. faint, gentle but full of antiquity. Thuy Xuan artisans not only focus on the quality of raw materials to create the vibrant colors of the incense, but are also very delicate when choosing to marinate the fragrance for the incense, not too strong but enough to make visitors feel the traditional features. Vietnamese life with the image of a family reunited in the early spring days.

Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Hong (34 years old, overseas Vietnamese in the US) shared: “Visiting the ancient capital, being able to set foot in Thuy Xuan Village is a very special experience for me. As a long time away from home, The atmosphere here helps me to recall the traditional breath of my ancestral homeland. This craft village is not only an attractive tourist destination but also a cultural land not to be missed.”

Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Hong took a commemorative photo at Thuy Xuan incense village

The incense in Thuy Xuan has a characteristic aroma and good quality. Most of the people here are doing incense making and living by making incense. The traditional profession of the forefathers has been deeply rooted in the flesh and blood of the people of Thuy Xuan village. They are passionate, love the job, diligent with the job from morning to night. They maintain the profession of making incense because the passion for the job is the main, because the incense is handmade, without the use of a beater, so the productivity is not as much as the machine, the price is very affordable, so the profit is only enough to take care of the meal. During the day, however, guests who come to buy incense, buy souvenirs or just to ask for photos are very happy, and welcoming with gentle and friendly smiles.

To make a incense tree, the first step is to choose the ingredients, which usually include: five traditional herbs with cinnamon, cardamom, pine buds, cloves, star anise, eucalyptus, cinnamon … mixed with water, mixed again together to make incense. After that is the stage of making the incense core, the incense core is made from finely chopped bamboo intestines, exposed to the sun for many days to dry and crispy. smell. Bamboo for making incense core is old bamboo taken from Nam Dong, Binh Dien, Phong Son forests. The incense powder is mixed and then wrapped around the incense core, so that it is thin and round enough to be dried in the sun. Although today there is an incense machine, the people of Thuy Xuan village still keep the traditional way of making incense, although it is more difficult but folklore, preserving the tradition and “soul” of the profession.

Tourists with beautiful Vietnamese antiques next to Thuy Xuan incense

Thuy Xuan incense village provides the market all kinds of incense such as: cinnamon, lemongrass oil, jasmine, scent remover, ring incense, agarwood buds, and most notably frankincense, Incense of the village does not use chemicals Using only natural flavors and ingredients that are environmentally friendly and healthy, should have a brighter yellow color than other types of incense and a pleasant characteristic scent. Tourists especially like to buy incense for family use on the full moon day, New Year’s Day or as a souvenir, or can also buy it to offer incense at monuments and temples when visiting the dreamland of Hue.

Huong Thuy Xuan was originally only brown and red, but over time, along with the increasing tastes of tourists, the people here have changed so that in addition to red, the base of the incense is dyed with more colors. new like yellow, blue, purple eye-catching. Therefore, on warm sunny days, dozens of shelves placed next to the road leading up to Vong Canh hill are illuminated by colorful colors, making Thuy Xuan incense village become a unique cultural beauty of the region. The ancient capital has been handed down and developed until now.

Ms. Le Thi Khuong is sitting crafting each incense stick

Ms. Le Thi Khuong (SN 1956 – owner of the O Quyt incense making establishment), an artisan with nearly 30 years in the incense making profession shared: “I am like a relative, like a friend, myself too. In the past, incense only served the needs of local people, but in recent years, the village has become a tourist attraction attracting tourists to visit and buy. Honestly, I feel happy because the profession of making incense is known by many people, has space for development and also helps us to add “dong to the field”.

Currently, Thuy Xuan incense has a low market price, some popular products such as cinnamon incense cost about 40,000 VND/bundle, agarwood buds cost from 60,000 VND/box. As for the incense alone, the price will be slightly higher, ranging from 80,000-200,000/bundle depending on the size, aroma and ingredients of the incense. This is also one of the reasons why the number of local incense makers has decreased over time.

Agarwood is one of the famous products of the Thuy Xuan incense village

Therefore, to preserve the cultural beauty of a craft village for hundreds of years, the brilliant colors of Thuy Xuan’s “flowers” are forever handed down, contributing a piece to the picture of the traditional handicraft village. In the Hue system, local authorities need to pay more attention to preserving and promoting the skills of craft village artisans. At the same time, promoting investment calling, creating favorable conditions for Thuy Xuan incense products to have the opportunity to expand consumption markets to many provinces and neighboring countries. With the advantage of tourism, it is possible to cooperate with travel centers to increase the number of visitors to visit and admire, contributing to promoting the image and folklore of the ancient capital to friends everywhere.

On December 6, 2021, the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue province issued Decision No. 3192/QD-UBND recognizing Thuy Xuan’s agarwood craft as a traditional profession in Thua Thien Hue province. Not only is the profession of economic development, the profession of making incense also shows the issue of spiritual culture and beliefs in the sacred land of the city. In the central sunshine, each bunch of incense leaning against each other, spreading and spreading like flowers, all the bouquets spread into shimmering and brilliant flowers in the sun, invisibly becoming a link. between reality and belief in the mysterious land of Kinh.