"To he", Have you ever heard about it?

"To he" is a folk game of Vietnamese people, this game attracts many childrens because it is very creative when playing. This name is called like that because there is a trumpet tube which is attached to "to he" and it has the sound " to te". So, it is called "to he" or "to te". Because it is a folk game of Vietnam, shapes of "to he" are imbued with the culture of Vietnam. The shape are based on familiar image of Vietnam such as: the elves, animals, villages,etc.


"To he" doesn't appear much in the city, it mainly appears in villages of Vietnam. It is developed in the North of Vietnam, and being developed in the South of Vietnam. Nowadays, "to he" is considered as a cultural feature, an identity of Vietnam.
"To he" is also appeared in Japan, but it doesn't appear as a game, it is used as a kind of candy. "To he" of Japan is very eye-catching, and often sold in many cultural festivals of Japan. In Japan, "to he" is called Amezaiku. here are some images of "to he" of Japan



Initially, "to he" is used to worship so it has the animal shapes such as: cattle, pig, chicken, fish,etc. As time passed, artisans has created and modified game into a diverse game, many new shapes were born. Depending on needs of customers, "to he" had many shapes: Doremon, Pokemon, Aladdin, Pertronal tower, Elphel, Sun Wukong, and so on.


The main material to create a "to he" is rice flour. To create ductility, they add some glutinous rice flour and soak in water. Then boil and knead by hand. The final result is a material which has ductility as clay in order to create shape. Because it is made from rice flour, it can be eaten. The tools to create "to he" are simple, a small knife, a few sticks of bamboo, a comb and a sponge. To create beautiful shapes, many colors, the artisans have to boil rice flour with pagoda tree or turmeric bulb to create yellow, Gac fruit "danh danh" leaves to create red, galangal leaves or dong leaves to creat green, etc. They make many colors by this way.


The famous place creating "to he" is La Xuan village, Phuong Duc commune, Phu Xuyen district, Ha Tay province(now is Hanoi city).


When you come back to your country, you can buy "to he" as a gift for your children or your self. Like is okay!. You are not only buy "to he" but also directly experience under the guidance of the artisans. I am sure you will be satisfied for the spectacular products which is created by your own hands.


Here is a video to guide you create a "to he" of Vietnam.