Fisherman turns bronze caster continues to make drums today

A feature on a Vietnamese bronze caster who still makes bronze drums today.

The present echo of an ancient drum
Thanh Nien News, 06 March 2014

63-year-old Ho Quang Son was born to be a fisherman near the famous Lach Bang fisheries harbor in Thanh Hoa Province’s Hai Thanh Commune.
But he gave up a life at sea to be a bronze caster.

“That [being a bronze caster] is a fate,” says Son, who describes himself as one “born in the year of Cat, which means I’m flexible and adaptable.”

After returning from military service and graduating from Hanoi Architectural University, Son worked as a trader in Thanh Hoa.

At first, there was no clue that led him to become a bronze sculptor. But it was my hobby of collecting and exchanging artifacts that first bound me to the ancient bronze drum. I think it’s the king, the mother of archaeological finds. Contemplating the drums is like following the flow of our national history,” he tells Thanh Nien newspaper.

Full story here.