900-year-old bronze casting village in Thanh Nam

With over 900 years of history, Tong Xa craft village in Yen Xa commune (now Lam town), Y Yen district, Nam Dinh province currently has about 170 bronze casting enterprises and establishments. Not only do they make a living from their profession, many people have also become billionaires thanks to the profession their ancestors left behind.

Busy during Tet

In early December, the road from National Highway 10 turns into National Highway 38B through Lam town, district of Y Yen, about 2km to Tong Xa, is bustling with traffic. Most visitors come by car from far away areas to buy worship items, decorations, and daily necessities.

Workers at the foundry of Mr. Nguyen Khac Tinh (64 years old, residing in group 12, Lam town, district of Y Yen, Nam Dinh province).

Along Highway 38B through the bronze casting village are stately, spacious houses. The craft village is in the Tet season. "Land here is very expensive, the shops displaying and selling bronze casting products are all worth tens of billions of dong," said Mr. Nguyen Khac Tinh, resident of Group 12, Lam town.

Looking at the 50cm high altar lamp set he just bought for 6 million VND, Mr. Nguyen Trung (from Hanoi ) said that Tet is coming so he ordered the lamp set to offer to the ancestral altar in his hometown Ninh Binh: "Before, I also bought bronze products in many places, but after researching online, I found that the products at Tong Xa were reasonably priced, so I went there to see and buy it right away."

In Ms. Huyen's store full of copper products, these days there are always 3 employees consulting, taking orders, and packing goods for customers. Ms. Huyen said that now is the "business season" when many people order and choose to buy worship products, home decorations, and year-end gifts.

"Compared to many places, prices in Tong Xa are cheaper, and the designs are very diverse. My family has a bronze casting workshop with dozens of workers. Sometimes customers request products that the workshop does not produce, so I connect with other workshops in the village to meet the demand," said Ms. Huyen.

Both Huyen and her husband and her son and their husband are bronze casting professionals. Her husband is the one who does the casting, her eldest son is in charge of promoting the products on social media, and she is in charge of the business books and sales.

A very elaborate profession.

As a son of Tong Xa land, attached to the bronze casting profession since childhood, Mr. Nguyen Khac Tinh (64 years old) said that although there have been ups and downs, in recent years, the profession has been developing again. Customers' demand for bronze worship and decoration items is increasing.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Tinh has been involved in bronze casting since he was a child.

"The number of customers is stable, the workshop owner's revenue is good, the workers' salary is from 8-9 million VND/month," Mr. Tinh said, adding that many workshops in the village are currently developing in the direction of modernization, applying science and technology to improve quality such as equipping spectrum analyzers and industrial gas systems.

According to Mr. Tinh, to create a quality product, on average, a bronze product will take about 20-30 days to cast depending on the product size requested by the customer.

Bronze casting is divided into many stages, all of which require meticulousness, high precision and are performed by specialized artisans and workers. Many artisans not only receive their skills from their families and ancestors, but are also professionally trained in fine arts and sculpture.

The most important step in creating a sophisticated product is melting the copper. The copper is completely melted in a manual furnace. Before the copper is poured in, the mold must be heated evenly, enough heat for the copper to flow evenly in the mold. This is the most difficult step.

During the casting process, the artisan needs to create a block of clay similar to the existing model to make a mold, then skillfully pound it to make the mold soft and flexible. But to make the mold sturdy and have the most standard shape, the mold needs to be burned with wood and baked until cooked.

The final step is the finishing stage. After the mold has cooled, remove the mold and grind, file, chisel, and separate the product according to the model. The most difficult to cast are products with small detailed components such as Buddha statues; bells and gongs must be clear and resonant when struck.

Preserving the profession of our ancestors

Artisan Nguyen Van Tien (75 years old) said that, in addition to bronze handicraft products and other products of the craft village serving daily life, artisans of Tong Xa village have successfully cast many large bronze monuments of national stature such as: King Ly Thai To statue 10.1m high, weighing 45 tons in Hoan Kiem Lake (Hanoi); Saint Giong statue in Soc Son; Buddha statue Tathagata weighing 35 tons in Non Nuoc mountain (Soc Son district, Hanoi); 3 statues of Tam The Buddha weighing 50 tons in Bai Dinh pagoda (Ninh Binh); Buddha Shakyamuni statue in Truc Lam Thien Truong - Nam Dinh...

Workers from Tong Xa village grind and polish bronze casting products.

According to Mr. Tien, despite the ups and downs, the traditional craft village has made strong changes. Besides the inherent traditional elements, Tong Xa bronze products also have many innovations to suit today's tastes.

Mr. Duong Doan Tuan, Vice Chairman of Lam Town People's Committee, said that currently, Tong Xa craft village has about 20 large enterprises and hundreds of households working in the craft, creating jobs and income for thousands of local people.

"To meet the diverse needs of domestic and foreign markets, the Ý Yên mechanical casting industrial park has been established in Lâm town, attracting many households to work in the profession. People have invested in processing machinery, and many private enterprises have boldly expanded their markets and sought partners to introduce their products to the world," said Mr. Tuấn.

Temple of the Holy Ancestor of Tong Xa village, Lam town (Y Yen district), the founder of the casting craft of Tong Xa village.

900 years ago, Tong Xa village's main occupation was agriculture. Later, Mr. Khong Minh Khong, a national teacher of the Ly Dynasty, taught the villagers the craft of casting bronze pots, trays, and other household items.

From only specializing in casting small-sized household and worship products such as pots, pans, incense burners, incense burners, Buddha statues, etc., today, Tong Xa people can cast large products with high sophistication and complexity, consumed domestically and exported around the world.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/lang-duc-dong-900-nam-tuoi-o-thanh-nam-192241205222937178.htm