HAI DUONG – Incense sticks 1.5 m long are made by people in Phuc Thanh commune (Kim Thanh district) for use in temples and pagodas during Tet; incense burning time is nearly 2 days.

Half a month before the Lunar New Year, the family of Mr. Do Van Tan, 54 years old, Duong Thai Bac village, busy making large incense products, used in temples and pagodas during Tet.

Duong Thai Bac village has nearly 40 households making incense, but only Mr. Tan’s family makes this kind of incense.

The core for making incense is the trunk of the tree that has been soaked in water, dried, light and flammable. One end is sharpened so that it can be easily inserted into the incense burner.

To make a complete incense stick, the step of stroking the incense is indispensable.

A mixture of boiled resin mixed with charcoal powder is smoothed over the trunk of the tree. The mixing ratio between resin fillings and charcoal must be reasonable so that the raw materials created are not too flexible because they will stick, or if they are not too dry, it will be difficult to lose the scent.

When the resin filling is still wet, the worker rolls the incense on the incense powder so that it sticks evenly and leaves it to dry. In order for the incense to burn for a long time, the incense maker repeats the above process 2-3 times.

“Depending on each request, incense powder is made from cinnamon, agarwood or sandalwood,” Mr. Tan shared.

The 1.5 m long incense sticks are dyed at one end, dried and packed in nylon bags. Normally, only on New Year’s Day when a guest orders Mr. Tan’s family, he makes a big incense. “This Tet, my family makes about 500 trees for 100,000 VND each”, Mr. Tan said.

The large incense trees are mainly used in temples with large spaces, with a burning time of up to nearly 2 days. When burned, the smell of the filling mixes with the incense powder to form a mellow fragrance.

In addition to incense used in temples and pagodas, people in Duong Thai Bac village also make many kinds of small incense during Tet.

The incense here is mainly handmade with natural ingredients. “Made by hand, the incense does not use chemicals,” shared Mrs. Do Thi Thuy, owner of an incense production facility.

To increase productivity, establishments use more machines to extract incense. The workers are mainly elderly.

According to incense producers here, this year, due to the influence of Covid-19, the consumption decreased by 30% compared to other years.

The leader of Phuc Thanh Commune People’s Committee said that incense making in Duong Thai Bac has existed for more than 100 years. On average, each year, the incense village provides the market with over 10 million compresses.

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