The last person took the secret

He was the last of the famous Van Ha carpentry village (Tam Thanh commune, H. Phu Ninh, Quang Nam) to hold the secret of making self-rotating tables.

We call it the 'magic desk' because we just need to lightly press our hands on the table, for a short time, the face of the table moves automatically at an increasing speed mysteriously. The story of this table has many 'versions', however, only he - who made it - is really correct.

The table is self-propelled

The birth name is Dinh Thach, but the local people often call him Tham, an experienced carpenter, and his teacher does not know how to generations of carpenters. He is now 93 years old but his hand is chiseled, his hand is still solid. Talking about the 'magic table' , he was suddenly excited because when he went back to the past, he met his younger brother. At the time of his own hands, he was able to make tables that were able to turn on his own, but so far science has not had any satisfactory explanation.

The self-rotating table started at Van Ha carpentry village. And only Van Ha people know how to make those tables. But through many events of history, by the time of the 30s of the previous century, Van Ha people could not remember how to make this table. That year Mr. Tham was more than 20 years old and had 3 years of age. His hands were so skillful that he caressed the shape on the wood just like the real thing. So he was allowed by his father and doctors to build wooden houses for people at H.Tien Phuoc (Quang Nam). As a coincidence, he was shown a table by an old man.

'Back then, I was told by many people about the table to rotate by itself, but I couldn't find it all over the village. Many people told the tables at H.Tien Phuoc was made by the village carpenter but asked how to do it, no one knew. It was not until I was shown by an old man that I could figure out how to do it. Doing the table and turning the table on its own must have a secret , 'Mr. Tham said.

Self-employment with the mind, the village where the table was born, at least has one to 'talk to the children' , Mr. Tham studied the night. Falling in detail to grasp the principle, he finally made the table look as round as he had seen. But the table still can't turn, because according to Mr. Tham, even though the table has been completed, the core is that the rack is not jackfruit wood. Mr. Tham had to remove and close the table before the table could turn.

'The secret is one day I will reveal it. And the material to make this table is prerequisite to be jackfruit wood core . The wood core must be old, more than 40 years old or the wood is not very old, but old and long. The whole table is wood jackfruit or mixed with different types of wood can, however, for the turntable, the table, the frame, the rack must be jackfruit wood , "Mr. Tham said.

Mr. Dinh Tham, a talented carpenter is also the last person to hold the secret of the table turning itself - (Photo: Hoang Son)

From accidental discovery

According to Mr. Tham, the "magic table" was made by Van Ha villagers with the aim to store offerings. During the ancestral or Tet holidays, the villagers often use this table to hold offerings representing the solemnity and reverence. To facilitate the layout of the dishes, the table surface is designed to connect the base via a fixed shaft. When offering, people can use the hand to rotate the table. But then many times using the table to worship, people accidentally discovered the rotation feature very special.

At present, Van Ha village has only one table at Mr. Tran Ngoc Tuan's house (39 years old). Many people came to watch the table rotate and offered to buy but he decided not to sell. Mr. Tuan said: 'The table has a 3-part structure. In it, the base is ebony with round cylinder head to form a joint with the table surface. Between this coupling, one also designed a frame to form a rectangular block, consisting of eight small ebony pillars'.

According to Mr. Tham, when processing, they must follow the prototype with the specified size. The total height of the table is 80cm, in which the rectangular block is attached to the table surface with a base about 20cm high. Most importantly, the table surface must be 65cm wide and necessarily consistent with this regulation.

To 'launch' the rotation of the table, the user needs to go barefoot in direct contact with the ground. Depending on the number of people who put their hands on the table, the time to move the table surface may be fast or slow. So, the day we arrived, Mr. Tuan's wife, Nguyen Thi Thoi (35 years old), asked three more grandsons to come and put their hands on the table to make the table spin faster.

Arrange everything, the three of them put their hands on the table. As expected, after about three minutes, under the table began to make a cracking sound, then gradually turned clockwise. What surprised the witnesses was that although the table was very old and the joint was quite firm, it seemed that it had not been rotated for a long time, but when it was half-closed, the table moved itself. When the hand pulled out, the table stopped suddenly. Continuing to follow Mr. Tham's guidance, we placed our hands on the table. And after only three minutes, the table turned itself, this time counterclockwise.

Asking about the principle of self-rotation of the table, Mr. Tham is really kind: 'I think that the table works according to certain principles of yin-yang structure . I have the secret to making a table, but to explain why the table is self-rotating, I can't do it yet. ' Mr. Tham is also high this year and only he holds the secret to making this table. However, Ms. Thoi (his wife Tuan) confided, he will pass on this secret to her husband.