Keep the fire burning

Keeping the

Artisan Nguyen Ba Quy checks products at the display booth in Thieu Trung commune.

In Tra Dong village, Thieu Trung commune, the traditional bronze casting craft is a precious cultural heritage that the ancients left for this land. Through the ups and downs of time, the people here still preserve the quintessence of the craft that few places can match. From old to young, every day, every hour, they diligently use their talented hands to create valuable products. In 2018, the bronze casting craft was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This “father-to-son” profession is truly true for the family of artisan Nguyen Ba Quy (born in 1987). His father - Meritorious Artisan Nguyen Ba Chau (born in 1962) is the first person in the country to successfully cast a bronze drum using the traditional manual method that had been lost for centuries. He is also the person who successfully set 5 Vietnamese Guinness records for traditional bronze casting.

For artisan Nguyen Ba Quy, born in the "cradle" of the craft village, his childhood grew up next to the bright red fire of bronze casting furnaces, guided and taught by his father about the profession, from how to knead clay, make molds, distinguish raw materials, cook bronze to how to carve each pattern... All of these have fostered and nurtured in him a passion for the traditional craft since childhood. Then, the years at the age of eighteen and twenty, traveling with his father from the North to the South to learn from experience and create products, helped him better understand the cultural value of bronze artifacts, his desire for creativity and his love for the profession.

Mr. Quy shared: “My father is a bronze caster, so since I was a child, he often taught me that this profession is very valuable because coal, firewood, straw, scrap, scrap copper, through the diligent, dedicated and creative hands of workers, can become valuable products. To have a successful product, it must go through a complex technical process and the important thing is that the artisan must know how to “breathe life” into each traditional product. Only then will the products made have sharp, sophisticated patterns and contain the unique values of each craft village. Perhaps because of my interest in the profession and love for the craft village where I was born, it has helped me continue to inherit, learn, and research to create quality products.”

With the guidance and guidance of his experienced father and the spirit of daring to think and do of youth, Nguyen Ba Quy always strives to learn and constantly innovate to create many sophisticated products. Among them is the large Ngoc Lu bronze drum set. With this product, in 2018, artisan Nguyen Ba Quy was awarded a certificate of record by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Record Association - Vietnam Record Organization for "The person who made the largest traditional manual version of Ngoc Lu bronze drum in Vietnam". In addition, he and his father set a record for casting 1,000 statues of Mother Au Co as gifts at the APEC Summit in 2017. In 2021, the Quy Chau bronze drum product was ranked as a 4-star OCOP product.

With his personal mark, at the age of 30, Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy was awarded the title of Craft Village Artisan by the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Craft Village Association. In May 2025, at the age of 38, he was honored to be one of 46 artisans nationwide to be awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan. In June 2025, he was also one of the outstanding artisans nationwide to attend a meeting with President Luong Cuong at the Presidential Palace on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Craft Village Association.

For this young artisan, the craft village and traditional craft are not only a place to preserve cultural features, a place to produce handicraft products that demonstrate the creativity and ingenuity of the artisans, but also a place to create jobs for many workers, contributing to promoting the socio -economic development of the locality. To develop production, his family established Dong Son Che Dong Traditional Bronze Casting Company Limited, in which he holds the role of deputy director. The joy of the young artisan has contributed to creating a friendly working environment for skilled workers to learn together, create and make many valuable products for the traditional craft village so that more and more people will know about the traditional bronze casting products of Tra Dong craft village.

In Dat Tai carpentry village, Hoang Hoa commune, following in the footsteps of their ancestors to preserve and develop the traditional craft is also a way to “keep the fire burning” in the village. At Lam Hang wooden furniture production facility, the “young boss” of the 9X generation, Nguyen Van Lam, was born in Dat Tai village and went far away to study and do business. However, when he “got married”, he returned to the village to follow in his father’s footsteps and develop the traditional wooden furniture production facility with his family.

“Dat Tai carpentry has been famous for about 500 years, and over time, Dat Tai villagers have remained attached to the profession. I am fortunate to inherit my family's traditional profession. My father has nearly 50 years of experience in the profession. For our generation, respecting and preserving the profession, "renewing" the profession, and developing the profession in line with market trends and tastes is not only to develop the family economy but also a responsibility and obligation to preserve the cultural beauty left by our ancestors.”

Currently, Lam Hang wooden furniture manufacturing facility is creating jobs for 6-7 regular workers and more than 10 seasonal workers. To apply technology to production, his family has invested hundreds of millions of VND to buy supporting machinery, reducing the workload of carpenters, saving time and producing more diverse product designs at more competitive prices.

People like Nguyen Ba Quy or Nguyen Van Lam and many other young people are following in their fathers' footsteps, continuing to do well as successors, keeping the traditional "fire of the profession" alive for today and tomorrow.

Article and photos: Viet Huong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/giu-lua-nghe-truyen-thong-cua-cha-ong-260237.htm