Bronze drum
Bronze drums are ancient artifacts found in various cultures in
History
The earliest written records describing the drum appeared in the Shi Ben, a Chinese book dated from the 3rd century BC. The
Bronze drums are venerated in Vietnamese folk religion.[3] Thần Đồng Cổ (bronze drum god) along with excavated bronze drums were worshipped in several temples such as the Đồng Cổ Temple in Thanh Hóa and the Cao Sơn Temple in Hanoi.[4] The 14th century book Việt Điện U Linh Tập mentioned the Bronze drum cult as early as in 1020.[5]
In 1902, a collection of 165 large bronze drums was published by Austrian archaeologist Franz Heger, who subdivided them into a classification of four types.[6] Chinese archaeologists classify them into the heavier Yue drums, including the Đông Sơn drums, and the Dian drums, which has eight subtypes: Wanjiaba, Shizhaishan, Lengshuichong, Zunyi, Majiang, Beiliu, Lingshan and Ximeng.
In China, during the Great Leap Forward campaign from 1958 to 1960, people were mobilized to collect all metal materials, including ancient bronze wares, were melted down to producing steel in backyard furnaces. Many ancient bronze drums were destroyed as the result.[7]
Types
Đông Sơn drum (Heger I)
Đông Sơn drums were produced from about 600 BC until the third century CE by the
Dian drum
Dian was a 3rd to 2nd century BC kingdom situated in Yunnan, southwestern China. The Dian people were sophisticated metal workers, they used both the piece mould method and the lost wax method to cast large bronze objects. Ritual burials of Dian elites were accompanied by large bronze drums filled with cowrie shells. The tops of the drums were removed and replaced by bronze lids and the bronze drums sometimes turn into a type of ritual vessel, containing votive objects. A large number of Heger I drums were excavated in Yunnan such as Shizhaishan (1975) and Shaguo (1983) are referred to as Shizhaishan type drums.[9]
Wanjiaba drum
In 1976, Chinese archaeologists discovered a Type I drum in Wanjiaba (万家坝), Chuxiong prefecture, Yunnan. They usually feature simple or no decorations. By 1990, Chinese archaeologists had identified 29 Wanjiaba-type bronze drums, of which 26 were found in Yunnan, one in Vietnam, and two in Thailand. As a result, Chinese scholars began to discard Heger's classification to support the view that southern China, not Vietnam had yielded the earliest bronze drums, and that Wanjiaba was the birthplace of the bronze drum.[10] This claim has fueled objections from Vietnamese archaeologists who classify Wanjiaba drums, also found in Vietnam, to belong in the late Heger I period.
Heger II (Li-Lao drum)
Li-Lao drums, named after the
Heger III (Karen drums)
Karen drums a decorated with 12-pointed stars and two pairs of frogs on the tympanum surface. They are found in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Yunnan. They are still being used by the Karenni people as rain drums.
Heger IV
Heger IV drums are found in China and Vietnam, they are sometimes decorated by Earthly Branches animals and other Chinese elements.
Pejeng drum
Pejeng drums are Bronze Age kettledrums being made across the archipelago of Indonesia between the 1st and 2nd century AD. Examples include Moko drums in the island of Alor. Some scholars identify the design and decorations have their likely origin in the Đông Sơn culture of Vietnam. In Bali, the Moon of Pejeng is the largest drum of this type.
Symbols
In
The Hy Cuong drum, found in 1990 in Co Tich Village, near the
Bronze drum is a cultural symbol of the Zhuang in southern China. The Zhuang folk tale, The origin of the bronze drum tells bronze drums that are like "stars" to ward off evil spirits.[13] A giant bronze drum, six metres in diameter is a landmark in Huanjiang town, Guangxi. It was recognized as the largest bronze drum by Guinness World Records.[14] Bronze drum dance tradition is maintained by ethnic Yi and Zhuang in some villages in Wenshan,[15]
The bronze drum is also an important cultural heritage of the Karenni people, to them the drums are known as frog drums (Hpà-si), after the images of frogs that appear around the tympanum. Frog drums are played by the Karenni to bring rain and in other rituals.[16]
Bronze drums are still being used ceremoniously in Southeast Asia by various ethnic groups, such as the
Gallery
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Decorative container depicting bronze drums. Dian Kingdom, Yunnan
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Long Doi Son drum, a Heger IV drum in exhibition at theNational Museum of Vietnamese History, Hanoi
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Miniature bronze drum, Hanoi Museum
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Wanjiaba drum, Yunnan Provincial Museum
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The separately-cast tympanum of a Pejeng-type drum found in Sumba
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The flag of the Karenni people features the surface of a bronze drum
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Flag of the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force
See also
- Đông Sơn culture
- Space of gong culture
References
- ^ Heidhues, Mary Somers (2000). Southeast Asia: A Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 19–20.
- ^ "Dong Son Drums - Symbols of a Maritime Bronze Age Society in Asia".
- ^ "Results of survey and excavations undertaken at Dong Co temple relic, Tu Liem district, Hanoi". Vietnam Museum of History.
- ^ "Tạ Đức, Cao Sơn, Bronze Drums, Nationalism and History – le Minh Khai's SEAsian History Blog (And More!)".
- ^ "Đền Đồng Cổ". Hanoi Tourism Department.
- ISBN 0-521-56505-7.
- ^ "Vanishing bronze drums raise concern". Shenzhen Daily. 1 November 2012.
- ISBN 0-393-03891-2.
- ISBN 978-9971-69-405-0.
- S2CID 55076970.
- ^ Han, Xiaorong (1998). "The Present Echoes of the Ancient Bronze Drum:Nationalism and Archaeology in Modern Vietnam and China". Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies. 2 (2).
- ^ "Hung Temple's Bronze Drum and Dong Son Bronze Drums – a sacred symbol of the Vietnamese people". 6 May 2019.
- ^ 广西民间故事(二) pages 129-133
- ^ "Chinese bronze drum sets new Guinness World Record - Xinhua | English.news.cn". Archived from the original on June 29, 2018.
- ^ [southern Yunnan. https://www.chinaculturetour.com/yunnan/bronze-drum-dance.htm]
- ^ "Karen Drum 2 K".