In ancient history, there have been many magical legends, some of which are amazing, some of which are incomprehensible, and some of which are doubtful. However, the answer to all this depends on the archaeological findings of experts. For example, the drum, which was once denied by people, revealed its real body in an archaeological excavation. So what does the drum look like? The following Xiaobian will reveal the secret to you.
In the "Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Great Wilderness of the East", it is recorded that "there are beasts on it, and its name is Yue, and the Yellow Emperor has obtained it, and its skin is used as a drum, and the skeleton of the thunder beast is used as a drum, and the sound is heard for five hundred miles." The meaning of this passage is very understandable, that is, there is a beast on the mountain called 夔, which was caught by the Yellow Emperor and made a drum out of its skin, and the drum was so loud that it could be spread for five hundred miles. This is the earliest record of the drum, and you may be full of doubts after reading it, but don't worry, after all, the experts didn't figure it out at first.
For the book "Classic of Mountains and Seas", it is not only an ancient geographical work, but also depicts many gods and beasts, which always feel strange after reading it, such as a dragon-shaped beast as big as an ox. Therefore, experts naturally have a skeptical attitude towards the hammer and the drum, believing that they do not exist. However, with the excavation of the ruins of the Tao Temple in Shanxi, the experts seem to have changed their attitude again...
Located in Xiangfen County, Shanxi, the Tao Temple site is a huge site with an area of about 2.8 million square meters. In 1975, archaeologists launched a preliminary excavation of the tao temple site, through the excavated house ruins, as well as pottery stones and utensils and other cultural relics, to determine the age of the tao temple site, about 4,000 years ago, and even more experts speculated that the tao temple site may be the capital of the Xia Dynasty.
From 1978 to 1987, the excavation and cleaning of the Tao Temple site has made great breakthroughs and achievements, and the most noteworthy cultural relic is a very strange tree trunk. During the excavations at that time, experts were cleaning up the ruins of a square, and when they dug more than 1 meter deep above the ground, they found a piece of dark wood...
At first, the experts thought it was a small thing, but when they dug it out, they realized that it was a huge cylindrical hollow trunk, measuring about 1 meter in length and 40 and 50 centimeters in diameter at both ends. Experts wonder, what is this? There are also faintly recognizable ornaments on the surface. In order to figure out the role of the hollow trunk as soon as possible, the experts found a special vehicle and transported it back to the museum for in-depth study.
A few months later, when the experts were cleaning up the remains of the trunk, they found some black hard objects with fingernails, so they scientifically tested and identified them, and found that it was a crocodile skin. As soon as the conclusion came out, it immediately aroused the heated discussion of experts in the industry, so many experts also agreed that the trunk may be a drum made of crocodile skin.
In some ancient literature, it is not uncommon to record the use of crocodile skin to make drums, such as "(鼉) its skin is strong, you can make a drum also", and in the "Book of Poetry, Daya", it has also been explicitly mentioned that "the drum is every time, and the gong is played". Among them, "mole" refers to crocodiles in ancient times, such as the current Yangtze crocodile is a kind of shrew.
In addition, experts have also unearthed bronze shrew drums from the Shang Dynasty, so it can be inferred that its origin is the shrew drum. Not only that, but through the study of ancient texts, experts have also found that the ancient texts of 鼉 and 夔 are the same, that is to say, the drum and the drum are the same thing. In this way, the mystery of the drum that has plagued experts for many years will be solved.
In order to further determine the drum "characteristics" of the drum, the experts found the same wood, copied an identical hollow trunk, and invited several drum masters to cover the imitation hollow trunk with crocodile skin to create a drum. When the expert uses the drumstick to gently knock, the drum will make a thick sound, although low, but if dozens of sides, hundreds of the same drum together, the sound must be like thunder, especially shocking, perhaps this is the millennium ancient sound, bring us the "shocking" feeling.
Imagine that in the middle of the ancient dense jungle, when danger occurs, the leader of the tribe beats the drum and transmits the sound, in the "drum like thunder", conveys the news and orders, and then the crowd unites to face nature, or the threat of the enemy.
Archaeology is a great undertaking that unveils the unknown past of ancient times for us, and at the same time allows us to have a carrier of thinking and exploration, and then have a deeper understanding and understanding of history. As for the drum, in fact, it is only one of many historical mysteries, and there are still greater connotations behind it waiting for us to explore.