Around 300-kg bronze drum being made to mark national elections

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

Thanh Hoa (VNA) – A fire-lighting ritual washeld for making a up-to-300-kg bronze drum by the Vietnam Association ofHistorical Sciences (VAHS) in Dong Don district, the north-central province of ThanhHoa on April 18.

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

The bronze blocks melted completely when the temperaturereached thousands of degrees Celsius and turned into liquid which was then slowlypoured into a mould of Vietnamese bronze drum. This is the most important partof the traditional bronze-casting craft.

The bronze drum named "Hao Khi Dong Son" is handmade by craftmen at at the bronze-casting workshop in Dong Son's Dong Tien commune. (Photo: VNA)

The 100-cm-wide Hao Khi Dong Son is among 16 bronze drums tobe hand-made by Thieu Quang Tung’s workshop under the traditional method tocelebrate the elections of deputies to the 15th 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 bepresented 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 Vietnam. A number of bronze drums were discoveredthere in 1924, marking the first evidence of the civilisation’s existence./.

VNA