Đông Hồ woodblock print “Plowing and Planting” – Plowing and Transplanting | Artisan Nguyễn Hữu Đạo

Buffalo plowing, irrigation, and rice transplanting: a day in the rice fields told in color.

History and symbolism

At the top, two lines in Vietnamese Latin script (quốc ngữ) say: “Mặt giời tang tảng rạng đông / Anh ơi trỗi dậy ra đồng kẻo trưa,” meaning “dawn has barely broken; get up, my friend, and go to the fields before noon.” Around the village and its tower, everyone is busy: the farmer guides his buffalo, a couple irrigates one rice field with water from another, and a peasant transplants seedlings. An ode to work and mutual aid.

Craftsmanship

It comes from the workshop of Nguyễn Hữu Đạo, son and grandson of master artisans from Đông Hồ. The natural colors are pressed one by one with engraved wooden blocks onto dó paper coated with crushed shells (điệp), with the black outlines printed last. Red artisan seal. Hand-printed: slight variations from one print to another.

Decoration & gift idea

Narrative and warm, it is suitable for a dining room, office, or country home.

Đông Hồ prints in brief

A Vietnamese heritage nearly five centuries old, the Đông Hồ folk print was born in the village of the same name in Thuận Thành (Bắc Ninh Province). Every image is made entirely by hand, from the drawing and engraving of the blocks to the printing, and its themes—wishes for happiness, scenes of daily life, history, and worship—have made it the traditional image of Tết, the Lunar New Year. In December 2025, UNESCO added this craft, which is still perpetuated by only a few families, to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Specifications

• Size: 27 × 36 cm
• Orientation: Landscape (horizontal)
• Technique: woodblock print (wood engraving), hand-printed
• Support: dó paper coated with shell powder (điệp)
• Natural pigments
• Signed with the seal of artisan Nguyễn Hữu Đạo
• Sold unframed – the framing shown in the lifestyle photos is for illustrative purposes only
• Origin: Đông Hồ village, Thuận Thành, Bắc Ninh Province, Vietnam