Đông Hồ woodblock print “Bách Mẫu Dư Điền” – More Than a Hundred Acres of Rice Fields

Winnowing, rice pounding, plowing: the rice paddy in full activity, wishing for fertile land and bountiful harvests.

History and symbolism

The characters 百畝餘田 (« Bách mẫu dư điền ») wish to possess « more than a hundred mẫu of rice fields », the mẫu being a traditional land measure. In the print, the peasants winnow, pound the grain with a foot-operated pestle, carry sheaves, and plow with a buffalo. With « Nhất Bản Vạn Lợi », it was one of the New Year prosperity wishes in the delta countryside.

Craftsmanship

Everything is handmade by Nguyễn Hữu Đạo, the fifteenth generation of Đông Hồ image makers: dó paper coated with shell powder (điệp), natural pigments, a block engraved by color. This craftsmanship has been inscribed since 2025 on the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Artisan's seal. Hand-printed: slight variations from one copy to another.

Decoration & gift idea

Vertical and lively, it fits into an entrance, a kitchen, or an office. A prosperity gift for a new home.

Đông Hồ print in brief

A Vietnamese heritage nearly five centuries old, the Đông Hồ popular print was born in the village of the same name, in Thuận Thành (Bắc Ninh province). Each image there is entirely handmade, from the drawing to the engraving of the blocks to the printing, and its themes – wishes of happiness, scenes of daily life, history, and worship – have made it the traditional image of Têt, the Lunar New Year. In December 2025, UNESCO inscribed this craftsmanship, which is still perpetuated by only a few families, on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Characteristics

• Format: 27 × 36 cm
• Orientation: Portrait (vertical)
• Technique: woodblock print (wood engraving), hand-printed
• Support: dó paper coated with shell powder (điệp)
• Natural pigments
• Signed with the seal of the artisan Nguyễn Hữu Đạo
• Sold without frame – the framing visible in the lifestyle photos is shown for reference only
• Origin: Đông Hồ village, Thuận Thành, Bắc Ninh province, Vietnam