A fire-lighting ritual was held for making a up-to-300-kg bronze drum by the Viet Nam Association of Historical Sciences (VAHS) in Dong Don district, the north-central province of Thanh Hoa on April 18.

To make the 300-kg bronze drum, bronze blocks are completely melted into liquid and then slowly poured into a mould. (Photo: VNA)

To make the bronze drum named “Hao Khi Non Song” (Spirit of the Fatherland), bronze blocks were heated with sacred fire brought from Dong Co Temple inside a furnace at the bronze-casting workshop of craftman Thieu Quang Tung in Dong Son’s Dong Tien commune.

The bronze blocks melted completely when the temperature reached thousands of degrees Celsius and turned into liquid which was then slowly poured into a mould of Vietnamese bronze drum. This is the most important part of the traditional bronze-casting craft.

The 100-cm-wide Hao Khi Dong Son is among 16 bronze drums to be hand-made by Thieu Quang Tung’s workshop under the traditional method to celebrate the elections of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021 – 2026 tenue.

The drum is expected to be finished in May and will be presented to the NA for display at its building’s main hall.

Dong Son District is regarded as the cradle of the Dong Son Culture, dating back to 1,000 BC, in Viet Nam. A number of bronze drums were discovered there in 1924, marking the first evidence of the civilisation’s existence.

Source: VNA