Vietnam's Đông Sơn Drum

Looking at a Đông Sơn bronze drum, a door to the past is opened. It can take us back to over 2,500 years ago when the first of the drums were made. But it was not until the 20th Century that this masterpiece of our Vietnamese ancestors was truly revealed. 

In 1924, the first ancient bronze drum was found by a fisherman on the bank of Mã River, Đông Sơn village, in the central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hóa. Then the drum was named after the village and later its name went to describe an entire period of history and culture : Đông Sơn.

Today, Đông Sơn represents the thriving period that was the Bronze Age in Southeast Asia, when people became masters in bronze casting, making sophisticated metal products like tools, ornaments, weapons and particularly, bronze drums, the quintessence of their craft.

 The appearance of Đông Sơn bronze drums in many places in the region reflected the flourishing trade between Vietnamese and neighbouring countries, according to local historians. Beside a large number of drums found in Vietnam and Yunna (Southern China) today, they are alo discovered in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Japan.

 A symbol of spirit, power and prosperity

 A Đông Sơn bronze drum is a sacred object. It is believed to be part of the Bronze God in the legends, a deity believed by the Vietnamese to have helped kings defeat invaders and protect their country and people. In some pagodas and temples, it is also used as an item of worship.

 Lê Thị Liên is a guide from the Vietnam National Museum of History. He says the bronze drum resounds to start a ritual ceremony or a festival, More specially, in the ancient times , it was struck by the leaders of groups to call people to gather for battle during a war. “Thereby, they were those who usually had the best drums. The more powerful the leader was, the larger and more delicate the drum he owned,” Liên says..

 Wealthy Vietnamese were also owners of the finest drums - they were buried with them when they passed away.   

 A beautiful life painting

 Consisting of three parts: the face, the body and the foot which the first two are carved with fine details, a Đông Sơn bronze drum is an artwork of culture and life.

 Varying in size, about 30-70 cm in diameter on average, each Đông Sơn bronze drum portrays different pictures of the ancient “Đông Sơn” people, thanks to diversified patterns. While writing hadn’t appeared this time, they became their “letters”, much like the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Egyptians. 

 There are two typical details indispensable on the face of a Đông Sơn bronze drum, according to researcher Đặng Thanh Bình.

 One is the image of the sunburst at the heart of the drum’s tympanum, with a various number of radiating beams, from six to sixteen. It represents the sun which was the supreme God of nature for the local people at that time.

Living mainly by cultivating and hunting, “Đông Sơn” people were deeply grateful and worshipped the God of Sun who gave them the light and favourable weather conditions for their farm and life. “That’s why the sun is always placed in the centre of the drum to “spread” sunbeams to nurture all creatures,” Bình said.

 Their wet rice cultivating culture is also shown in the other iconic image on the drum: a bird with a long beak and a long tail with outstretched wings. It is regarded as a stork or a crane which are often seen in the rice fields.

 Additionally, also called Lạc, the bird is considered as the totem of Lạc Việt (Vietnamese race in ancient times), according to scholar Đào Duy Anh. They believed that birds were their original ancestor, which transformed into their Great Mother, shown in some legends. Accordingly, beside herds of Lạc birds flying around the sun, there are also other kinds of birds such as peacock and pelican, showing the gratitude, respect and belief.

 Along with birds, other animals like fish, deer, toads, phoenixes and dragons also appear on some drums. While phoenix and dragon are popular mythological creatures in Asia , a toad also played an important role in the cultivation life of the local farmers in earlier times. Usually appearing when it is going to rain, toads were believed to have the power to summon rain, and a resulting good rice crop.

 Also on the drum are people, reflecting the blend between human and nature. There are numerous patterns of people depicting daily activities like pounding rice, groups fishing and others in special costumes playing music and dancing.

The common instruments they used are classical ones such as drums and trumpets which are still used in festivals nowadays, as well as the same dances seen in some ethnic groups. Also on the drum, are houses on stilts, typical of ancient villages, or on boats which were also used by soldiers in battle. It al comes together to portray a lively picture of “Đông Sơn” people in the dawn of history.

 Đông Sơn bronze drums are categorised in Heger Type I, the oldest and most valuable of the four types classified by Austrian archaeologist Franz Heger in the early 20th century.

Đông Sơn bronze drums also have various version with unique shapes shapes and designs, known as Ngọc Lũ, Hoàng Hạ, Cổ Loa, Sông Đà, Quảng Xương, and so on.

Among them, Ngọc Lũ is the top for its old age, large size and diversified patterns on the drum’s face. Coming in second is Hoàng Hạ which also features sophisticated details but without depictions of animals.  

 Đông Sơn bronze drums are not only the unique symbol but also the pride of Vietnamese, as a fine artwork of the history and culture of the country.

• Asia Media Centre