The book Bronze Drums in Thanh Hóa is an attractive work that gives a comparatively full introduction about the Đông Sơn bronze drums. It updates almost all materials about this kind of bronze drums in Thanh Hóa. Mrs. Hoàng Thị Chiến, the director of the Thanh Hóa Museum, is its chief author. The book that was published in 2013 by the Vietnam Social Sciences Publishing House consists of 291 pages in the format of 26x36,5cm.
Thanh Hóa was honor to be the first site where the bronze artefacts in the period of Đông Sơn Culture were discovered. At the same time, it is the province that acquire the biggest number of bronze drums all over the country. It is also Thanh Hóa where the first bronze drum was found in an archaeological excavation. So, it is insufficient when talking about Việt Nam’s bronze drums without mentioning about bronze drums in Thanh Hóa, especially Đông Sơn bronze drums.
The book Bronze Drums in Thanh Hóa gives a comparatively full introduction about the Đông Sơn bronze drums in Thanh Hóa. In addition, the original documents of 142 bronze drums belonging to three out of four types of bronze drums according to F. Heger together with some bronze pots and other special drums are also provided in the book. The book also introduces about two special relics worshipping Đồng Cổ God (the spirit of the drum) in Đan Nê Village (Yên Thọ Commune, Yên Định District, Thanh Hóa Province) and Mỹ Đà Village (Hoằng Minh Commune, Hoằng Hóa District, Thanh Hóa Province). Some monographs written by leading scholars on bronze drums in Thanh Hóa, exhibition work, and the work of promoting values of bronze drums in Thanh Hóa Museum are also compiled in the book. The publication is a useful tool for Vietnamese as well as foreign scientists learn about Việt Nam’s ancient history. It is also a good document for art researchers to take reference about the ancient art in Việt Nam.
We highly recommend the book to all readers.
Ngan Dung