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Chau Khe Village in Thuc Khang Commune, Binh Giang District, Hai Duong Province is known nationwide for its craft of jewellery making. Thanks to this traditional craft the village is changing for the better with every passing day.
Talking about the history of Chau Khe jewellery-making, Nguyen Duy Thich, a veteran artisan in the village said that in the 15th century, King Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497) ordered Minister of Interior Luu Xuan Tin to open a foundry to cast silver ingots for the court.
Receiving the king’s order he went to Chau Khe Village – his native village, to recruit some villagers and took them to the capital city of Thang Long to cast coins.
Over time, the foundry also made gold and silver items and soon became the most well-known address for jewellery making in the capital. Since then, Chau Khe villagers have considered Minister of Interior Luu Xuan Tin the ancestor of jewellery-making of their village.
According to the village elders, in the past Chau Khe villagers mainly grew rice and made jewellery in their leisure time to earn money.
Over the past ten years jewellery-making in the village has developed strongly thanks to the State’s new policy on encouraging people to develop traditional crafts.
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