The Formation of Business Owners and Their Role in the Socio-Economic and Cultural Life of the Village

in a modern style, not suitable for ancient architecture. The renovation of sacrificial objects as well as the collection of sacrificial objects have not been carefully selected, so the form is not suitable for places of worship, for beliefs...

Mobilizing merit and recognizing meritorious hearts reveals inadequacies: the tendency to "goldenize" and "dollarize" in honoring meritorious deeds with large amounts of gold, from several taels and up. For example, the merit stele for the restoration of the communal house in 1994 states: "The homeland records the highest meritorious deeds of donating money for the restoration of the Phuong La communal house in 1994": Mr. Tran Van Sen 50 taels of gold, Mr. Dinh Hong Quan 44 taels, Mr. Le Minh Quang 20 taels (the first contributor), Mr. Vu Quang Huy and Mr. Le Minh Hieu 24 taels. In addition to the clumsy and repetitive text, the stele also shows a contradiction with the village tradition in recording meritorious deeds, which is to only record the names of those who "donated the most money", thus "ignoring" other meritorious people. The above action is invisibly an over-glorification of the rich and disregard for the poor.

However, the old values in religious rituals and spiritual activities are still the pillars for affirming the lasting vitality of traditional culture in the face of changes in all aspects of social life.

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Since the restoration of peace, the hand-weaving profession in Phuong La and other craft villages in Hung Ha has been greatly affected by the economic development policies of the Party and the State, and many changes in living conditions, so the weaving profession of the village has changed and increasingly developed, bringing great profits to the people here. In particular, the production tools are always improved and innovated by Phuong La people to meet customer demand for products.

Nowadays, the scarf weaving profession of Phuong La village has developed strongly, establishing many companies, factories... with large assets, annual revenue from tens to thousands of billions of VND. The products of the weaving village are present not only in the domestic market but also in the world such as Japan, China, Canada and some countries in Europe. The village has the largest number of billionaires in the country.

(nearly 100 billionaires), known as the billionaire village. The village has no more poor households, rich households account for over 60%.

The development of the weaving profession, the life of the people in the commune in general and the weaving households in particular have been constantly improved, creating a new appearance for Phuong La. The landscape of the village has changed, many villas, high-rise buildings, family churches, and other public works have sprung up, the village roads and alleys are no different from those in the city; ponds, green gardens have disappeared, replaced by production workshops, raw material storage areas, etc., making the air always stuffy. The relics are invested and cared for, so they are spacious and majestic. However, the construction or renovation cannot keep the original state, making the relics somewhat inconsistent. The collection of sacrificial objects has not been carefully selected, so the form is not suitable for the place of worship, for beliefs... the trend of "goldenization" and "dollarization" in the donation at the relics... The above is one of the factors that contribute to the outstanding issues of social culture and spiritual culture of Phuong La weaving village that we mentioned in Chapter 3 of the thesis .

Chapter 3

SOCIAL CULTURE AND SPIRITUAL CULTURE OF PHUONG LA TEXTILE VILLAGE TODAY

3.1. Social culture of Phuong La weaving village today

3.1.1. The formation of the business owner class

3.1.1.1. The formation of business owners and their role in the socio-economic and cultural life of the village

A. The formation of business owners

In traditional craft villages, although production is still small, small owners have formed who have capital, are sensitive to grasping the market, and have wide relationships, so they organize production to both create jobs for farmers and ensure profits for themselves. Gradually, they purchase and consume products from workers and other small-scale production facilities. However, the small-scale production nature of traditional craft villages does not allow these owners to develop into big owners, but are only small owners who are "slightly" better than ordinary small-scale business people; they are not really outstanding in terms of production facilities, income, and fixed assets, so when faced with negative socio-economic impacts, they are also easily "shaken", even bankrupt, returning to the status of ordinary workers. Therefore, craft villages in traditional societies rarely have big owners.

As the commodity economy develops, the scale of production as well as the consumer market is increasingly expanded, requiring and creating conditions for the formation of large production facilities. Along with the formation of concentrated production areas is the birth of enterprises, initially with the name "Production Complex", later "Enterprise". Large production facilities are truly superior to normal production facilities in all aspects: production facilities, fixed assets, income, relationships, and prestige in society.

Phuong La weaving village also followed the above path, the first production complex was born, Tan Phuong complex led by Mr. Tran Van Sen, then the complex

moved to Hung Ha town and developed into Huong Sen Textile Dyeing and Printing Enterprise in 1988 - the first private enterprise in Thai Binh province. Four years later, the enterprise developed and moved to Thai Binh town under the name Huong Sen Textile Dyeing and Printing Export Company Limited. Since the early 2000s, due to the development of production, limited liability companies (LLCs) and enterprises with the role of owners, associated with the titles of "director", "general director", "chairman of the board of directors" .... According to data from Thai Phuong Commune People's Committee, by the end of 2014, Phuong La village had 50 companies and enterprises, of which the vast majority were related to the textile industry, only a few were related to other industries, but still focused on serving the textile industry. A village with less than 5,000 people but already has 50 business owners operating in the village has made Phuong La one of the villages with the most businesses and billionaires in the country. If compared with the linen weaving villages of Nam Cao commune, Kien Xuong district and Minh Tan towel weaving commune, Hung Ha district, the number of companies and businesses in Phuong La village alone is many times larger than that of both Nam Cao commune and Minh Tan commune combined (Minh Tan commune has three businesses, Nam Cao commune has four businesses).

The establishment of companies and enterprises is an inevitable requirement of production establishments, in order to comply with financial regulations; at the same time, helping enterprises to be proactive in the stages of production and product consumption, increasing revenue. Companies and enterprises are born and grow, along with the formation and maturity of the team of directors and owners of production establishments. Business owners in Phuong La started "from the ground", from nothing but their professions were passed down from their ancestors. These business owners are very diverse in origin. However, most of the business owners in Phuong La have hardly gone through any schooling, only trading and from the process of making a living with all kinds of jobs, especially with the traditional weaving profession passed down from their ancestors, they have promoted the advantages of the profession. There are also a few business owners who grew up from craftsmen. These people, at first, opened a workshop with the sole desire of not having to work for hire or having to work

here and there because of business. There are people who used to be civil servants but with low salaries, asking to come back to develop their profession and start a business in the village. Among them, a typical example is Mr. Tran Van Dung, currently the Director of Thao Nguyen Company Limited; he started working at the age of 26, up to now it has been 24 years, it is a journey of groping, learning, living and dying, struggling with the profession.

Box 3.1 : The formation of business owners in Phuong La

Mr. Tran Van Dung - Director of Thao Nguyen Company Limited: “Originally, I worked at the post office, but when I saw the low income, I quit my job in 1990 (at the age of 26) and returned to my hometown to do traditional work. I started my career from scratch, but my parents were small traders (my mother sold silk and Ao The on Hang Ngang and Hang Dao streets in Hanoi since the 1960s), so I knew little about commerce. It was the craft village environment that created the momentum for me to develop.”

[ Source: Interview of NCS (2013)] .

According to Mr. Dung, businesses in Phuong La still stand firm in the most difficult times because the "capital" is not much, but it is self-created capital through labor, through "savings", not borrowed or mortgaged. He said: "slow and steady wins the race", capital is accumulated, small amounts become large amounts . Up to now, his business has 200 weaving machines, each machine is attached to two machine operators, one sewing machine worker, not to mention the number of workers packing, transporting and picking towels... Phuc Cuong Company, directed by Mr. Nguyen Van Suong, Mr. Suong also started his own business, has now created jobs for 80 workers working at the company and over 300 satellite weaving workers scattered in villages inside and outside the commune .

Artisan Tran Van Sen was born and raised in Phuong La. Since his youth, he and his family have constantly researched and produced fabrics, towels, and curtains to serve the resistance war. In 1954, peace was restored and the weaving profession in Meo village was restored. While many people left their hometown to migrate, Tran Van Sen's family stayed and was determined to develop the weaving profession. He proactively spent money to learn silk weaving experience in Van Phuc (Hanoi), silk weaving in Nam Dinh... After many difficulties

Despite many hardships, up to now, artisan Tran Van Sen has expanded production and business in many fields, creating jobs for thousands of workers; in 2014, his enterprise contributed nearly 800 billion VND to the local budget.

Mr. Vu Quang Huy - a native of Phuong La village is also one of the "tycoons" who rose from the village's weaving profession. From nothing, he overcame difficulties to become rich in the village. Mr. Huy was fortunate to inherit some business knowledge from his parents because his parents used to be small traders. Binh Minh Complex of Phuong La weaving village, of which Mr. Huy was the director, has now changed its name to Bitexco Nam Long Joint Stock Company, doing business in many fields such as construction, real estate, transportation, etc. with some famous projects such as Bitexco twin towers in My Dinh, Tu Liem, Hanoi and the tallest Bitexco tower in Ho Chi Minh City...

Thanks to companies and other production facilities, the jobs and incomes of workers are relatively stable, so everyone feels secure in working and producing. Thus, farmers can live and work right on their village land, without having to leave their hometown or go to the city to make a living, avoiding the lack of affection and avoiding social evils in the city. Moreover, they live with their families, so they can share and help each other when in difficulty...

With the establishment of companies, the traditional family-scale production or “family industry” that Pièrre Gourou commented on was broken. Previously, a production facility was often limited to each family, the homeowner was also the owner of the workshop and at the same time the foreman (master craftsman) who ran the production and directed the techniques; a few assistants could be relatives or villagers. Today, each company in Phuong La gathers at least a few dozen workers, at most thousands of people, not only from other villages but also many from distant provinces. However, to ensure control of profits, the family nature in companies and production workshops is still strong. The positions of director (or deputy director), chief accountant are all family members or relatives. The company director is the homeowner, the wife is often the chief accountant, and also the husband's secretary, due to her background, better grasp, and better memory of work details; the old people

It is often said that “the husband is like a basket, the wife is like a cutting” ; the others only undertake purely financial and economic tasks, such as service work or other supervisory work… or work as workers. The bosses are the main decision makers in the stages of production and product consumption; however, the wife is the one who promotes those decisions of the bosses in the family.

The path to growth since the formation and development of most businesses in Phuong La village is “starting from the ground up”, “ small things make big things”. Initially, every business started from small workshops, then through the process of accumulating capital, management experience, expanding the scale of the area, number of employees… then establishing companies.

Mr. Bui Van Ha - Vice Chairman of Thai Phuong Commune People's Committee said: Phuong La village has 50 directors, most of them are between 40 and 60 years old, very few have university or college degrees; all come from farmers, with less than high school education [ Source : Interview of NCS (2013)].

Business owners in Phuong La have a profession passed down from their ancestors, but to achieve the success they have today is a process of overcoming many difficulties and hardships and must affirm that they are truly talented people, eager to learn, always have the desire to rise up and become rich... Many people have spent their own money to learn weaving technology in Van Phuc village (Ha Dong district, Hanoi city), taking training courses to improve their ability to manage and operate their own work. Each business owner in Phuong La is always a shining example of hard work and intelligence, for their children and grandchildren in the village to learn. They are not only good at production and business, but they also have a mind for calculating and saving, actively participating in building welfare works, religious and spiritual relics... Notably, up to this point, no business owner in Phuong La has fallen into the path of vices, no one is addicted to gambling, lottery..., no one has gone bankrupt.

So what helps business owners in Phuong La gain prestige, position and prosper? The issue to be discussed is why many villages with traditional crafts

but cannot develop the profession, while Phuong La can develop into one of the richest villages in the country with hundreds of billionaires? Is it true that Phuong La village has gathered a class of people that Ethnologists and Culturalists discuss as the formation of an "elite" in society in general and in Vietnamese villages in particular?

The elite has been studied in social sciences in many countries around the world and in Vietnam and is understood from many different perspectives: socio-political, economic, cultural, biological. According to the general concept, the elite is a small group of people with outstanding characteristics in terms of capacity in a certain aspect, from which they are successful and have great influence on the community in that aspect. The most common aspect of the elite is politics. People in this group have political talent, hold important power and influence on the community and political decisions. This power is based on the ownership and control of many resources, including economic resources, organization, political support, symbolic meaning and personal advantages. In other words, the elite are those who hold the most influential positions or roles in important areas of social life.

From an economic perspective, the elite are those who have a talent for production and business, know how to seize opportunities for production and business, thereby becoming successful, having large assets, and having great influence on social life.

In terms of culture, they are highly intelligent people, talented in creative activities in literature, art, etc. and successful in those activities, having a great influence on the spiritual life of society.

The composition of the elite manifests itself differently in each community, ethnic group, and nation, depending on each historical period, socio-economic and cultural characteristics; but in general, there are "elite" in all fields: politics, economics, culture, literature, art, science, etc.

For Vietnam, the rural elite is expressed in many different aspects of life, in each historical period, and in each social institution.

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