Đông Sơn Drum Tattoos: Read the Patterns Before You Ink Them

Bronze drums are one of the richest sources of ancient Vietnamese pattern, and one of the easiest subjects to get wrong when a tattoo is copied from an image search. This guide helps you read a drum face before you put it on your skin.

The Ngọc Lũ drum: the reference piece

Among Đông Sơn bronze drums, the Ngọc Lũ drum is usually cited as the most representative. It is about 2,000 to 2,500 years old, was recognised as a National Treasure in 2012 and is kept at the National Museum of Vietnamese History in Hanoi. If you can, seeing the artifact or a rubbing of its patterns at the museum is the best reference there is.

Reading the drum face from the centre out

At the centre is a raised star with many points, often described as a sun symbol. The number of points varies: the Ngọc Lũ, Sông Đà and Thượng Lâm drums have 14, the Quảng Xương drum has only 8, and the Hoàng Hạ drum has 16. So a tattoo labelled as the Ngọc Lũ drum needs all 14 points.

Around the star run concentric bands. Geometric bands, such as dotted circles joined by tangent lines, zigzags and saw-tooth rows, alternate with scenes: processions of figures in feather costumes, people pounding rice and beating drums, war boats with warriors, deer and flying birds. Each band is a beat, and that rhythm is what makes a design read as Đông Sơn, more than the star alone.

What scholars still debate

A careful tattoo should not claim more than the sources allow. Two examples:

• The birds on the drum are commonly called chim Lạc, but the species is still debated. One researcher argues that the flying birds on the outer band of the Ngọc Lũ drum are diving fish-eaters such as cormorants, not cranes or storks.
• The origin of the drums is itself debated between Vietnamese and Chinese archaeologists, because drums of the same type have been found in northern Vietnam and in south-western China.

Bringing drum patterns onto skin

Three rules I follow when designing:

• Match the layout to the placement. A round drum face suits the shoulder, shoulder blade or back; a single band suits the wrist, forearm or calf.
• Leave room between lines. Geometric bands are dense; shrink them too far and the lines blur together within a few years. Use fewer bands rather than smaller ones.
• Stay true to the source. If the design is based on a specific drum, keep that drum's star count and band order.