Unique Brocade Products of the Dao Tien People

In Sung Bai village, Cao Son commune — a concentrated living area of the Dao Tien ethnic group — local residents still preserve distinct traditional cultural features. Most unique is the technique of using beeswax to draw patterns on indigo-dyed fabric. This handicraft has been preserved, passed down across generations of Dao Tien women, and developed into a community-based tourism product, creating sustainable livelihoods for highland residents.

The Dao Tien people’s technique of stamping beeswax on fabric has become a distinctive cultural feature, linked with the community-based tourism model in Sung Bai village.

Dao Tien women meticulously carry out numerous stages to prepare the indigo paste—from harvesting leaves, soaking, fermenting, skimming off residue, adding lime to dissolve, allowing it to settle, and mixing with water...

To produce fabrics with desired colors, the dyeing process must be repeated multiple times. The procedure is carried out inside a “forbidden” room carrying folk tales and spiritual beliefs.

Preserving brocade weaving cannot lack the role of men who hold secrets to crafting brass tools (T-shaped) for beeswax drawing.

Using beeswax material, Dao Tien women draw geometric and floral patterns onto fabric prior to dyeing.

Beeswax-stamped fabric sheets with prominent, even-colored motifs are dried under natural sunlight, used to sew durable and beautiful traditional costumes.

Tourists experience the intricate edge-embroidery stage on brocade fabric alongside local residents.

Unique souvenir products made from beeswax-stamped fabric produced by the Sung Bai Village Dao Tien Cooperative are beloved by tourists.

Bui Minh