Ngu Xa bronze casting has long been known as one of the most prestigious crafts village in ancient capital of Thang Long. An old saying goes “Glossy silk from Yen Thai, pottery from Bat Trang, goldsmiths from Dinh Cong and bronze-casting from Ngu Xa”.
For centuries, around the bank of the West Lake, there have been many famous craft villages. In 1500s, skillful bronze casting craftsmen had migrated to the capital of Thang Long to establish a casting workshop. This workshop was then expanded to five nearby villages including Dong Mai Village, Chau My Village, Lang Thuong Village, Dien Tien Village and Dao Nien Village. Later on, the villages decided to establish themselves a new name so-called Ngu Xa which mean 5 villages.
Nowadays, the village of Ngu Xa today is located to the west of Hanoi, near to Truc Bach Lake and West Lake. The village is famous for carving statues. One of the greatest artworks is a statue of Buddha sitting on a throne of 96 lotus petals, casted in 1952 and placed in Thien Quang Pagoda. It is 3.95m tall and 10 tons weighs. Another example is the statue of Huyen Thien Tran Vu in Quan Thanh Temple, which is 3.9m tall and weighs 4 tons weighs. The statues express the intelligence, talent, peculiar know-how, diligence and creativeness of Ngu Xa artisans.
Over the last 500 years, Ngu Xa bronze casting has become great masterpieces of national art.