A bronze drum made by artisan Dang Ich Hoan in Thanh Hoa province has been recognized by the Vietnam Guinness Organisation as the largest bronze drum in Vietnam .

The Thanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee held a ceremony on November 22 to receive the bronze drum, which was offered by Nguyen Xuan Lam’s family as a gift on the occasion of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23).

In late 2008, Lam’s family ordered artisan Dang Ich Hoan in Che Dong village, Thieu Trung commune, Thieu Hoa district to make this drum with the aim of promoting the tradition of the bronze casting village and honouring the Dong Son Culture.


The drum measures 1.51m in height, 2.01m in its face diameter and weighs 1,840 kg. The drumhead features a Lac bird (a kind of bird in Vietnamese folktales), humans and animals with an eight-pointed star in the centre.


Four famous relics of Thanh Hoa province were embossed on its body, including the gravestone of Vinh Lang in Tho Xuan district, the Gia Mieu communal house in Ha Trung district, the old imperial city of the Ho dynasty and Ham Rong bridge.


According to Director of the provincial Culture and Information Centre Nguyen Viet Hung, the drum broke the previous record set by artisan Le Van Bay, also in Thieu Trung commune, in 2009, with a bronze drum of 1.21m in height and 739kg in weight.


The Vietnam Guinness Book of Records (Vietbooks) will present the certificate for the biggest bronze drum in Vietnam on November 27./.