Unlike the painting genres of Dong Ho in Bac Ninh Province and Hang Trong in Hanoi, the paintings of Sinh Village in Huong Tra Dist, Thua Thien Hue Province, are very simple with plain glyphs and traditional colours, reflecting people’s innermost feelings, wishes and simple dreams.
Sinh Village (its pen-name is Lai An) was located at the junction of the Bo and Huong Rivers in Thuan Hoa in the 16th century. It has been well-known for the traditional craft of folk woodblock painting. As is the belief of Hue residents, each person has their own fate and they are protected and helped by each year's genies. Therefore, people want to worship to drive away the bad and welcome the good that leads to the birth of the craft.
Sinh Village's paintings are very simple in lines and traditional colours of red, green, yellow and black. The paintings are made using just one printing-board which is created from jack wood. It is durable, worm resistant and easy to carve to create the drawing lines and black shapes. After being printed in black, the work is sometimes completed with embellishments made with colourful lines. Some paintings are still printed on rustic paper.
