TL;DR: Bat Trang ceramics is a long-standing pottery craft in Bat Trang village, xã Bát Tràng, Gia Lâm district (before July 2025), Hanoi city. According to historical records, this land bore the name xã Bát and was recorded in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư in 1352; in the 15th century, the name Bát Tràng appeared and the book Dư địa chí by Nguyễn Trãi records that this village made bowls and cups. According to the Department of Cultural Heritage, a piece of ceramics passes through the stages of processing and preparing the clay, shaping, drying, decorating, glazing and then firing, summed up in the saying "Nhất xương, nhì da, thứ ba dạc lò" (first the body, second the skin, third the kiln stack).
When did Bat Trang ceramics first appear?
Bat Trang ceramics trace their origin to the land on the left bank of the Red River, now part of Bat Trang commune, Gia Lam district (before July 2025), Hanoi. According to historical records cited by the National Museum of History, the land of Bat Trang was called Bat commune and was first recorded in the Dai Viet su ky toan thu in 1352[1]. By the 15th century, the name Bat Trang commune appeared and was noted as a famous pottery village; Nguyen Trai's (1380-1442) Du dia chi records: "Bat Trang village makes bowls and cups."[1]
This article follows the National Museum of History's presentation, which divides Bat Trang ceramics into four periods: origins, the 14th century, the 15th to 18th centuries, and the 19th to 20th centuries[1]. This division rests on collected artifacts, not on a single "birth" date. So the question "when did it begin" should be understood as: pottery here has documentary traces from the 14th century, while the legend of the craft's founding ancestor is told along a different thread.
What does the legend of the craft's founding ancestor say?
The story of the craft's origin is told along several threads. Báo Nhân Dân relates that when King Ly Thai To moved the capital from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Dai La and renamed it Thang Long, craftsmen from the Bo and Bat villages in Yen Mo (Ninh Binh) came to Bat Trang and set up kilns making bricks and ceramics for the court's building works[2]. The Department of Cultural Heritage records a variant: according to legend, Bat Trang once had 72 mounds of white clay, and some Bo Bat potters of the Ly period migrated here together with the Nguyen Ninh Trang lineage and set up kilns under the name Bach Tho Phuong (white clay ward)[4]. These are handed-down accounts of where the people and the craft's founders came from, distinct from the documented milestones above.
Why did Bat Trang thrive from the 15th to the 18th century?
The 15th to 18th centuries were a time of strongly growing trade between Vietnam and many countries. Ceramics were an important export item, enabling pottery production in Vietnam generally and Bat Trang specifically to grow in both quantity and quality, becoming a production center with many types reaching high technical and artistic levels[1]. Famous products of this period include blue-and-white ware, carved and relief-decorated ware, polychrome glazed ware, and crackle-glazed ware, serving domestic needs and export[1].
From the 18th century, international, regional, and domestic conditions saw many upheavals, Vietnam's foreign trade declined, and falling ceramic exports caused once-prosperous export pottery centers to gradually fade. Bat Trang was also affected, losing its export markets, but survived thanks to a broad domestic market for household items, ritual objects, decorative pieces, and made-to-order goods[1]. In this period, alongside traditional themes, Bat Trang ceramics also featured themes introduced through Chinese classical allusions such as "the fisherman reaps the profit", "Su Wu herding sheep", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "the Eight Immortals crossing the sea"[1].
What steps go into making a piece of Bat Trang ceramics?
The Department of Cultural Heritage describes pottery-making in Bat Trang village as a seven-step process, from preparing and blending the clay, shaping and decorating to glazing and firing, summed up in the saying "Nhất xương, nhì da, thứ ba dạc lò" (first the body, second the skin, third the firing)[4]. The sections below follow that description.
Selecting and preparing the clay
The raw materials are clay and kaolin. At first clay was dug locally; from the 18th century local supplies ran out, so potters brought clay from Son Tay, Phuc Yen, Dong Trieu and Hai Duong (place names of earlier times), with Truc Thon clay the most favoured[4]. The clay is soaked in a system of tanks, usually four at different heights: a stirring tank, a settling tank, a drying tank and a maturing tank; once cleaned, it may be blended with more kaolin or have sand added or removed depending on the ware[4].
Shaping
Potters shape the ware on the wheel, now fitted with a motor. After throwing the form they trim and set the rim (xén lợi, bắt lợi) and cut the foot so the unfired piece is balanced; large pieces are built up by coiling, pinching and pulling the clay (be chạch)[4]. Besides hand-throwing, Bat Trang potters today also model by hand, cast in moulds, press-mould and slip-cast[4].
Drying
The shaped body is set on a board to dry, aired on racks in a well-ventilated place or put in a drying kiln. Once leather-hard, the unfired ware is rested and finished: excess is trimmed, hollows are filled, parts such as spouts, handles and censer ears are attached, holes are drilled and the surface is smoothed with water[4].
Decorating
In the 14th and 15th centuries decoration was limited to incising and brown painting in the manner of Ly - Tran brown-pattern wares; in the 16th to 18th centuries relief carving and appliqué were combined with blue painting, the potter painting directly on the ware with a brush[4]. Blue painting under a white glaze appeared from the second half of the 14th century, at first mainly with line bands and floral motifs[1].
Glazing
Glazes are mixed by the potters themselves. The most common is ash glaze, made from rice-husk ash, white clay and lime; from it Bat Trang potters developed five characteristic glazes: brown, blue, crackle, celadon and ivory white[4]. They customarily use wet glaze and have several ways of applying it, known as kìm men, quay men and đúc men[4]. Objects at the National Museum of History likewise show white, celadon and brown glazes from the 14th century[1].
Firing
The finished unfired ware is stacked in the kiln, the stacking depending on the product, the saggars and the type of kiln. Bat Trang has gone through several kiln types: the frog kiln (lò ếch, lò cóc), the lò đàn and the lò bầu, fired with straw, bamboo and then wood; the upright kiln fired with coal dust; and today households use gas, electric and tunnel kilns[4]. Firing is regarded as the step that decides whether a batch succeeds: the heat must be raised gradually to its peak and, once the ware is fired, lowered slowly[4].
How do Bat Trang ceramic lines differ across the centuries?
The National Museum of History divides Bat Trang ceramics into four periods, each with its own features in forms and techniques[1].
| Period | Main features |
|---|---|
| 14th century | Bowls, plates, and jars in white, jade, and brown glaze; jars, basins, and lamp stands in brown-floral ware[1] |
| Second half of the 14th century | A line of ware painted in blue with a brush under a glossy white glaze appears, with coarse, faint motifs, called "proto-blue-and-white"[1] |
| 15th to 18th centuries | Blue-and-white ware, carved and relief ware, polychrome glazed ware, crackle-glazed ware; thriving thanks to export[1] |
| 18th to 20th centuries | Household items, ritual objects, decorative pieces, and architectural pieces for the domestic market; themes from Chinese classical allusions appear[1] |
The appearance of the "proto-blue-and-white" line in the second half of the 14th century marks the birth of blue-and-white ceramics, and this line quickly reached an outstanding level, perfected in technology and technique in the following century, making Vietnam a major producer and exporter of ceramics of the time[1]. This is one of the most important milestones when asking why Bat Trang is mentioned as a major ceramic center.
What is Bat Trang recognized for today?
Bat Trang pottery village now has hundreds of artisans, including two People's Artisans and six Meritorious Artisans, along with many ceramic products meeting OCOP 3-5 star standards[2]. These are figures from a 2025 article, so they should be read with that date in mind.
In 2019, Bat Trang was recognized as a tourist site of Hanoi[3]. The pottery craft of Bat Trang village is on the national list of intangible cultural heritage; the sources differ on the year: the Department of Cultural Heritage gives Decision No. 4610/QĐ-BVHTTDL of 20 December 2019, Báo Văn hóa gives 2022, and Báo Nhân Dân gives 2023[4][3][2]. On 10 December 2024, the traditional festival of Bat Trang village was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as national intangible cultural heritage[2]. On 14 February 2025, at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Bat Trang received certification as a member of the World Craft Cities network; Báo Nhân Dân counts it as the 67th member and calls the network UNESCO's, whereas according to VietnamPlus the ceremony was attended by the President of the World Crafts Council, the body behind this network[2][5].
The rituals in the village festival include the offering of incense, the Tam sinh offering, the palanquin procession, the water-drawing rite, the water-welcoming rite, and the deity worship ceremony[2]. This is the occasion when the community remembers and honors the craft's founding ancestor, the village's tutelary deity, and earlier generations[2].
Why distinguish documentary milestones from legend when studying Bat Trang?
When researching Bat Trang, readers often meet two kinds of information mixed together: documentary milestones with textual evidence and legends told in the community. The documentary milestones include the name Bat commune in the Dai Viet su ky toan thu of 1352 and the line in Nguyen Trai's Du dia chi about Bat Trang village making bowls and cups[1]. The legends include the story of craftsmen from the Bo and Bat villages in Yen Mo (Ninh Binh) coming to Bat Trang when King Ly Thai To moved the capital[2], and the story of the 72 white-clay mounds and the Nguyen Ninh Trang lineage[4]. The two do not replace each other: one is textual evidence, the other is community memory. Telling them apart helps avoid mistaking a legend for a proven historical event.
