Abstract

This article examines the bronze-casting village of Tống Xá, now located in Ý Yên commune, Ninh Bình province, from the perspectives of history, cultural space, community organization, and metallurgical techniques. Drawing on gazetteers, Hán-Nôm texts, local sources, and studies of the craft, it explores the village’s geographical and historical context; its transition from livelihoods combining agriculture and handicrafts to commodity production, mechanical engineering, and metallurgy; community memories of National Preceptor Nguyễn Minh Không and institutions dedicated to the worship of the craft’s founding ancestor; and key aspects of mold making and firing, metal melting, alloy formulation, bronze pouring, cold finishing, engraving, and inlaying. It also examines changes in the range of products and the spatial organization of the craft village under market economy conditions. The findings show that bronze casting in Tống Xá is both an economic activity and an integrated sociocultural system in which craft knowledge, community relationships, worship of the craft’s founding ancestor, and market forces jointly shape the village’s continuity and transformation.

Keywords: Bronze casting, craft village, nguyễn Minh Không, tống Xá, ý Yên.