The bronze casting profession in Y Yen, Ninh Binh province has a history of more than 900 years, preserved and passed down through many generations. With skillful hands and creativity, artisans here have created many works with artistic value and profound historical significance such as statues of national heroes, statues of cultural figures and many traditional worship products.
In the days leading up to the 2026 Binh Ngo Lunar New Year, the demand for worship items, gifts... in bronze increased sharply, and bronze production facilities in Y Yen were always on fire all night, day and night to meet market demand.
Present at Van Diem and Tong Xa bronze casting villages (Y Yen commune, Ninh Binh province) on January 17, according to records of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, at bronze casting facilities, hundreds of workers and artisans are busy to produce new products.
In addition to traditional items such as worship items and household items, there are also spirit statue products. Many establishments have expanded to the line of bronze mascot products to serve gift and commemorative needs. Most of the bronze casting stages here are mainly done by manual methods, so the time to create a product is often very long.
Mr. Duong Xuan Tuyen, owner of a bronze casting facility in Van Diem village, Y Yen commune, said that to improve product quality, in recent years, his family's bronze casting facilities have invested in purchasing many modern machines to improve product accuracy and quality, helping to reduce labor for workers and meet the increasing requirements of the market.
To create a complete product, the production process must go through many basic stages, from prototyping, molding, melting raw materials, pouring molds to completing and polishing products. In which, the completion and carving stage play a particularly important role, determining aesthetic value, creating the uniqueness of each traditional bronze casting product" - Mr. Tuyen shared.
Attached to the bronze casting profession for more than 20 years, Mr. Duong Quang Ha - Director of a high-end fine art bronze casting company in Y Yen said that the bronze casting village here is fiery all year round, but from October of the lunar calendar to Tet Nguyen Dan is the busiest time. Craft establishments are busy working day and night because the number of orders increases 3-4 times compared to normal days.
The days leading up to Tet Nguyen Dan are always bustling with customers coming to visit and order. On average, the workers here have to work 10-11 hours a day, even on some days they have to work all night to deliver products to customers in time" - Mr. Ha shared.
Mr. Vu Van Vui, Chairman of Y Yen Commune People's Committee, said that the bronze casting profession is one of the key business lines of the locality. At the same time, it creates jobs and brings stable income to many workers. Currently, two industrial clusters have been formed in the commune, and the locality is actively mobilizing production and business households to relocate facilities to industrial zones and clusters to limit the impact on the environment and people's lives.
Y Yen bronze casting village currently has about 170 businesses, production facilities, gathering many artisans awarded national titles. The village's revenue reaches hundreds of billions of VND per year and is creating jobs for many local workers with an income of 7-10 million VND/person/month" - Mr. Vui said.
