Traditional bronze casting receives National Intangible Cultural Heritage title

• National cultural heritage exhibition to run in Hanoi this November
• Vietnam has six more national intangible cultural heritages

The traditional bronze casting of Che Village (Tra Dong) has a thousand-year history and has been preserved, maintained and promoted until today.

Bronze casting is a sophisticated production process that involves various stages. Tra Dong Village (formerly called Ke Che) , located in Thieu Trung Commune, Thieu Hoa District, is the only locality in Thanh Hoa that preserves and promotes traditional bronze casting.

Photo: baothanhhoa.vn

With their love and passion, artisans of Che Dong Village have researched and successfully made ancient-style bronze drums in various sizes on the traditional methods. 

They include the biggest bronze drum in Vietnam which is 1.21 meter high was made in 2007, and the version of the ancient Ngoc Lu bronze drum made in 2013. which has been considered the biggest bronze drum in the world, weighing around 8 tons and being 2 meters high.

In 2010, the artisans of Tra Dong bronze casting village also casted 100 bronze drums to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.

The products of the Tra Dong bronze casting artisans have contributed to promoting the Vietnamese culture and the national identity.

On September 4, 2018, the Ministry of Cultures, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 3325 announcing the list of newly-recognized National Intangible Cultural Heritages, of which Che Village (Tra Dong) bronze casting is one of the 8 heritages on the list.