The cover of the book depicts Sông Đà (Moulié) bronze drum now in Musee Guimet in Paris. — Photo courtesy of Pierre Baptiste, curator.

HÀ NÔI — A special book by French professor Jacques de Guerny on the history of bronze drums in Southeast Asia, particularly those in Việt Nam, has been translated into Vietnamese and will become available in the country and abroad on Saturday.

The book, titled "Les Tambours de Bronze de l'Asie du Sud-Est or Bronze Drums of Southeast Asia and translated into Vietnamese as Trống Đồng Đông Nam Á, includes a series of interesting historical stories, photos and archeological research on ancient drums in the region.

A cultural programme themed Tiếng Đồng Đất Việt (Music of Bronze Drums in Việt Land) will be held in central Hà Nội on Saturday to mark the launch of the book.

The programme, organised by the management board of Hà Nội's Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Old Quarter, also includes a series of music performances by artists from Đông Kinh Cổ Nhạc troupe who will play traditional percussion and other folk instruments.

A discussion among Vietnamese archeologists and the writer will also be held to discuss Vietnamese Đông Sơn bronze drums.

De Guerny will present a lecture about his work in researching and writing the book, which was published in French in 2017 and in English in 2018.

With his deep love of drums, the writer has shown in his book an insatiable passion for collecting and tracing their evolution in Southeast Asia, particularly Việt Nam.

A series of clear evidence is also shown in the book about bronze drums found in Việt Nam, such as those of the Đông Sơn, Cẩm Giang and Lang Chánh in the central province of Thanh Hóa, Ngọc Lũ in the northern province of Hà Nam, Moulié or Sông Đà drum in the northern province of Hòa Bình, Hoàng Hạ in Hà Sơn Bình Province (now Hà Nội) and many others.

Jacques de Guerny shows his book which has been translated into Vietnamese. — Photo courtesy of the writer

De Guerny, who is also an expert on economics and a former professor and lecturer at the HEC University in Paris and Harvard Business School in the US, has poured his resources and time into collecting and studying these drums, some of which date back 2,500 years.

“A lot of Bronze Drums had been made and described by scholars or missionaries but their mystery endured as far as different hypotheses were put forward, often antagonist, to explain the origin and development of these masterpieces whose metal is not yet possible to date," said De Guerny.

Figure of the Ngọc Lũ drum as presented in the book. Photo courtesy of the writer.

According to him, be that as it may, drums were part of the final sophistication of the Bronze Age in Asia, avatar of one of the oldest musical instruments ever created and popular until now in human lives and beliefs.

"Therefore, fascinated, I decided to investigate the 'bronze drum case' not only to consider the existing studies but to visit all the specific countries involved, with the help of the best scholars and local people," he said.

The French professor revealed his purpose was not to write a new thesis but to relate, as objectively as possible with simple words, a wonderful but until now little known odyssey.

"To give to the readers and possible visitors some keys to understand and hopefully join me to become a Bronze Drums’ lover,” he said.

De Guerny said the book is dedicated "to the Southern Barbarians, genial creators of the bronze drums of Southeast Asia."

In his book, he wrote: "The 'southern barbarians wealthy kingdoms', bordering the Red River, from future Yunnan (China) and future Tonkin (Việt Nam), invented the bronze drums around 500 BCE and developed them until the Han colonisation at the end of BCE. Đông Sơn created perhaps the most elaborate drums of that times, at the verge of BCE/C.

Some ancient bronze drums of Southeast Asia. — Photo courtesy of the writer

In his book, the expert said around Guangxi, China and the mountains of Tonkin (Việt Nam), early bronze drums were developed until now but forgotten elsewhere.

De Guerny said he visited museums in Việt Nam that display bronze drums and talked to museum directors and researchers across the country, including those in Hà Nội, Thanh Hóa Province and HCM City.

He said his trips to Việt Nam gave him opportunities to meet people who supported him greatly in his work. 1 VNS