Despicable is the passport of the despicable, and nobility is the epitaph of the noble.
- Kitajima "Answer"
Some people are alive and he is dead; some people are dead, and he is still alive.
—— Zang Kejia, "Some People"
One
Pottery drum with colored - faience drum
In the blink of an eye, it has reached June, and half a year is about to pass, and I often think: I am afraid of fifteen years of months, and I am afraid of Wednesday in one week. However, June is again a joyous season of hope and youth. The first day of June starts from Children's Day, followed by young people taking turns, it is the annual middle school entrance examination and college entrance examination season, fully understand the expectations of Xinxin students and the worries of thousands of parents, it is the top priority of countless families in China, and it is not sloppy at all. At this time, no one can give up, we must continue to maintain the posture of fighting and the inertia of progress, to borrow popular words: young people, several years of cold windows, test the sword in this dynasty. Whether you win or lose, you can be Buddhist, but you can never lie flat! A small child in Xianning City, Hubei Province, has already taken a good start: even if he is afraid of the stage, he has to complete the task of dancing while crying, how responsible. I think her brothers and sisters will not disappoint everyone. I am here to give encouragement to all young people, the students of the exam, and wish you all good results and satisfactory results.
Speaking of drumming, I finally talk about today's main topic - drums. The drum is one of the earliest percussion instruments, especially the excavation of the ceramic drum provides valuable physical information for further study of the origin of the drum. The following takes the faience drum collected by the Lanzhou Museum as an example.
The Yellow River Basin is the cradle of Chinese civilization, where many cultural relics have been found and a large number of pottery has been unearthed. A batch of pottery drums with complete shapes and exquisite ornamentation were found in the Ruins of LeshanPing in Lanzhou. There are painted pottery drums decorated with black and red colors, and there are also plain noodle drums. Leshan Ping ruins are located on the east bank of the Datong River in Yongdeng County, 5 kilometers north of Heqiao Township, 7.5 kilometers south of Kiln Street in Honggu District, datong River from north to south to Kiln Street into the canyon, out of the canyon through Haishiwan into Huangshui, on the opposite bank of Haishiwan is the famous Machangyuan of Minhe County, Qinghai Province.
In March 1986, the staff of the Lanzhou Museum found a batch of Neolithic pottery in the Leshanping area of Heqiao Town, on the east bank of the Datong River in Yongdeng County, of which 7 pieces of exquisitely decorated and strangely shaped trumpet-shaped utensils were the most eye-catching, which had not been seen in previous archaeological excavations. After many experts' research, it was finally determined that these trumpet-shaped artifacts were earthen drums used by the ancestors, and called them faience drums.
At present, there are more than 10 pieces of faience drums in the Lanzhou Museum, of which Yongdeng County and Honggu District of our city have been excavated, and there are Mid-Levels types and horse factory types, which all belong to the Neolithic Majiayao culture.
Here we highlight three very exquisite faience drums unearthed in Leshan Daping, Heqiao Town, Yongdeng County, which are national first-class cultural relics and are known as the "originators" of drums by historians. Because they are very similar in appearance to today's Taiping drums, and are regarded as the prototype of the Taiping drums, they are: polyline faience drums, plain faience drums and swirling serrated amphora pottery drums.
1. Polyline pattern faience drum: height 45cm, small diameter 12cm, large diameter 32cm. Fine clay pottery, drum body plain noodles. The upper end of the drum is of the can mouth type, the drum body is straight barrel shaped, and the lower end is covered with leather with a large flared mouth. The rim of the can shape is slightly rolled outward to secure the drum leather. The bottom of the tank is connected to the drum body as a body, the drum body is 9 cm long, the lower end is a large flared mouth, and there are 12 protruding nipple nails along the outside of the mouth, also to facilitate the fixation of the drum surface leather. On the same side of the drum there are two upper and lower lines, the upper system is located on the abdomen of the tank mouth, and the lower system is located at the edge of the large flared mouth. The ornamentation is characterized by two red-colored broadband lines on the mouth edge and abdomen of the small mouth, which are filled with red broadband polyline patterns, and the rest of the space is filled with grid patterns; the exterior of the large horn mouth is decorated with red colored broadband polyline patterns and triangular patterns. The polyline-patterned faience drum is a neolithic Majiayao cultural horse factory type, dating back about 4000-4300 years.
2. Plain faience drum: Pass height 34cm. Clay red pottery, the drum body is divided into three parts: small mouth, middle barrel and flared mouth. On the upper and lower sides of the drum body, there are half ring ears, and the outer edge of the horn mouth is placed with eight milk nails that are used to fix the equal distance of the drum surface, and the whole body is colorful. The plain faience pottery drum is a mid-mountain type of Majiayao culture in the Neolithic period, dating back to about 4300-4600 years ago.
3. Swirling serrated amphora pottery drum: length 32cm, drum mouth caliber 9.4cm, drum surface caliber 22.7cm. Clay red pottery, the drum mouth is jar-shaped, the lip is open, the drum body is straight, the drum surface is trumpet-shaped, the outer edge of the drum mouth and the drum face are each half ringed, and the outer edge of the drum face is decorated with 12 barbs to open the drum skin. The handicap is triangular grid pattern obliquely, and the flared mouth is decorated with parallel lines and triangular serrated patterns. The swirling serrated amphora ceramic drum is a mid-mountain type of Neolithic Majiayao culture, dating back to about 4300-4600 years ago.
Two
From pottery drums to drums
Drums are prehistoric percussion instruments with a long history and are the prototype of modern drum instruments. The emergence of pottery drums is with the development of pottery, when human beings can make pottery, make a variety of life utensils or production tools, the original ancestors found that some pottery mouth covered with things can make a sound, so as to inspire the ancestors to create inspiration, and then create a drum. The earliest drums should be made of the skin of cattle, deer and other animals on the mouth of pots, cans, bottles and other utensils commonly used in life, and the drum surface can be banged with wooden sticks, bones or hands.
The pottery drum played an extremely important role in the life of the primitive ancestors, and was the pillar of the spiritual and cultural life of the ancient ancestors, which together with the tao bell and the tao xi constituted the cultural landscape of prehistoric musical instruments. During the harvest season, the pottery drum is an accompaniment instrument for them to celebrate the harvest and dance, bringing them endless happiness. At present, the drums of the ancient period are mainly known to be wooden drums and pottery drums. Because the wooden remains are greatly affected by the environment, so most of the wooden drums have decayed, it is difficult to see the complete physical remains, and the drum body of the ceramic drum is generally roasted by fire, strong and incorruptible, even if broken, it can still restore the original appearance, so it is relatively completely preserved, witnessing the development of the prehistoric ancestors in the handicraft manufacturing industry, but also shows the production and living conditions of the society at that time. The shape of the drum is diverse and versatile, including kettle shape, pot shape, gourd shape, corset shape, trumpet shape, etc., and is often used in clan sacrifices, celebration dance music, conquest and hunting.
Because the drum has a good resonance effect, the sound is more powerful and far away, so it has long been used by the Chinese ancestors as an army to help fight. Legend has it that in the Battle of Zhuolu, in which the Yellow Emperor conquered Xuanyou, "the Yellow Emperor killed the kuí (夔) as a one-legged monster in ancient Chinese mythology and legend. ), with its skin as a drum, sound five hundred". It is said that the war drums of the ancient times were made of crocodile skin, and the drum skin was made of crocodile skin, which was to take the ferocious habits of crocodiles to strengthen the drum sound.
In addition, the drum is also revered as a heavenly artifact and is often used as a sacrificial instrument. In various sacrificial activities, the pottery drum became a medium between people and the gods, accompanied by music and dance, adding a strong sense of ceremony to the sacrifice activities. At the same time, the drums were officially used as instruments from the Zhou Dynasty. According to research, the Zhou Dynasty had eight tones, the drum is the leader of the group sound, the ancient text so-called "drum Qinser", that is, before the Qinser started playing, there was a drum sound as a guide.
It can be seen that the cultural connotation of the drum is broad and profound, the majestic drum sound closely accompanies human beings, and the ancient wilderness moves towards civilization step by step. Customs can be folk celebration gongs and drums, and Ya can enter the temple to sacrifice and court banquets. From the original pottery drum, earth drum, leather drum, copper drum, all the way to a wide variety of modern drums, drums are one of the most loved and widely used instruments. Overall, the appearance of the drum is relatively early, and from the excavated artifacts found today, it can be determined that the drum has a history of about 5,000 years.
Three
Lanzhou Taiping Drum
Lanzhou Taiping Drum is a kind of Han inspiration with a strong northwest style, mainly spread in Lanzhou, Jiuquan and other places in Gansu, because it contains the beautiful meaning of celebrating Taiping, it is one of the favorite performance forms of the local people. Lanzhou Taiping Drum is known as the "world's first drum" reputation, and together with the Ansai waist drum, Weifeng gong drum, Kaifeng pan drum, Fengyang flower drum and known as the "Chinese Five Drums".
On May 20, 2006, Lanzhou Taiping Drum was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
The Taiping drum appeared around the time of the Western Han Dynasty, and in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions to establish the Silk Road, and the eastern and western cultures accumulated and intersected. At this time, in addition to being used for war to boost morale, most of the drums were used for sacrifice, dance, and music. According to the "Jade Sea", "the karma drum is like a lacquer bucket, and the two ends can be hit", which is the early Taiping drum.
There is also a folklore of Lanzhou City: In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Xu Da and other generals to march west, and after recovering Qingyang and Lintao, they captured the city of Lanzhou in one fell swoop. Only Wang Baobaocheng in the north of the Yellow River had the Yuan army to hold on and could not attack for a long time. During the Lantern Festival, Xu Da designed and ordered the soldiers to dress up as a social fire team to enter the city, and hide their weapons in drums and mix them into the city. With the sound of a cannon, the generals inside and outside the city should join forces to defeat the Yuan army and retake the city. In order to celebrate the victory of no longer fighting blades, may the world be peaceful, that is, take this drum as the Taiping Drum. Since this happened during the Spring Festival, it became a custom that the Taiping Drum was an indispensable performance item in the Spring Festival Community Fire Performance. It has become an emotional expression for people who yearn for peace and for peace in the world.
Four
Allusions and idioms about drums
1. Alarm with drums
(Excerpt from the first verse of his novel "The Biography of Heshi Bi", pages 3 to 4 of Bian and Xianyu)
Bian and Xingchong (during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period) took Heshibi to the capital city of Danyang (present-day Dangtu County, Anhui), bent on offering treasures to the state and its master, the King of Chu. "Boom-boom-boom", King Chu Li had just gotten up from his nap, was in a daze, and was irritable, but he was urged by a rapid drum outside the palace. The next person reported that someone had offered the treasure, and the king of Li summoned it. After sitting down in the hall, I saw a young man dressed in cloth come with a high spirit, holding the millstone in his arms, and saw the king of Chu bow down and worship, saying that the king was auspicious and saying that he would offer the jewel. An ordinary stone, not surprising in appearance, could not arouse the interest of King Li, and he ordered the craftsmen in the palace to check it. The craftsmen in the palace were accustomed to smooth and delicate, crystal clear, gentle and lovely famous stone treasure jade, such a piece of earthy, yellow stone material could not enter their eyes, he went forward to touch the mouth and said that it was an ordinary stone. Ordinary people who have extraordinary eyesight, the Bian clan is unlucky, the King of Chu is furious, and orders people to cut off Bian and his left foot as a punishment. Poor Bian He, returned in pain. King Li of Chu's brutality for the government can be seen from this end, he once created a militia system of "beating the alarm with drums", set up snares in the city, and agreed with the people in the city that if they encountered military alarms such as enemy invasion, they would beat the drums to remind the people to prepare early and defend together. But it was precisely because this stipulation was broken by his own hands, and after a day of drunkenness, he was intrigued, and he beat the snare drum with his hand, and the people heard the drum, thinking that they had military information, and immediately gathered themselves in a hurry to prepare to resist the invasion. When King Li learned of this situation, he sent someone to tell the crowd lightly that I was joking with the close attendants after drinking, and that there was no need to panic and go home, so that the people in the city would relax. I don't want to think that a few months later, with a real police situation, the drums sounded, and the people in the city mistakenly thought that it was the King of Chu joking again, so they didn't take it seriously, and as a result, no ordinary people came to defend the city to help the battle, almost causing a catastrophe. "Calling the police with a drum" declared invalid, which was originally a very good military-civilian co-defense system, but it was inadvertently destroyed by himself, and King Li was very upset in his heart, and this time Bian and drumming to announce the good news were considered to be a joke on the monarch, and King Li did not think much about it, and he wanted to use severe punishment to punish Bian He to vent his unhappiness in his heart. After King Li's death, his younger brother Xiong Tong killed King Li's son and became the king of the State of Chu, the King of Wu.
2. Cao Jie Controversy
"Fu fight, courage also. One drum blows, then declines, three exhausts. He exhausted my surplus, so he gave it. - "Zuo Chuan Cao Jie Controversy"
It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the Qi army came to attack the State of Lu. In the face of the powerful Qi army, Cao Jie, the grand master of the State of Lu, did not act rashly, and when the Qi army marched three times with drumming, it was only then suggested that the drum attack should be fought, and the Qi army was defeated by the Qi army at the long spoon. Cao Jiao's history of learning to use the principle of "one drum to make a gas, then decline, three and exhaust" to repel the powerful Qi army has also become a model of military victory over the strong.
3. Morning bell twilight drum
From the Tang Dynasty Li Xian's poem "In the Mountains": "The morning bell can't beat the ear at dusk, and the lonely clouds of the bright moon hang on to love." "Its basic meaning is: to strike the bell in the morning, to beat the drum at night, to use it in ancient times to tell the time, and now the metaphor can make people wake up. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty, as soon as the drum sounded at night, the city gate was closed and a curfew was imposed; pedestrians were not allowed to move around on the street, otherwise they would be imprisoned. In the morning, when the bell rings, the city gates open and every household can come out to produce activities.
The idioms about drums are also: rejoicing, reinvigorating the drum, drumming, tight drumming, large fanfare drumming, banging gong and drum, equal drumming, face gong, opposite drum, as well as the golden drum in unison, drum music, drumming and entering, etc., are basically fighting postures, full of inspiring and joyful meaning, I think this is the original meaning of the drum - the sound of drum music, ancient times, urging people to forge ahead! As the I Ching says: Drums are thundered, and moistened by wind and rain. The sun and the moon run, one cold and one summer. Sincerely!
Text/Figure Li Zhouming
Source | Lanzhou Cultural Tourism
Contributed | Lanzhou Municipal Museum