Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-124Traditional CraftsmanshipLincangshilinxiang, YunnanBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The form of the elephant-foot drum comes from a totemic memory: the white elephant is the auspicious totem of the Dai people and can spread auspicious sound to all directions, so the drum body is shaped like a white elephant's leg, varying in length, and rings section by section when struck. The elephant-foot drums of the Linxiang area of Lincang have been made for about five hundred years and are indispensable to festive occasions there. Their use is half musical and half ceremonial: at the Water-Splashing Festival, the Door-Closing Festival (Thousand-Lamps Festival), the Door-Opening Festival, and the Banner-Pole-Raising Festival, the drum must appear, and it is also essential at markets, welcoming ceremonies, and weddings. In terms of transmission, the Linxiang practice has direct origins in Xishuangbanna and Dehong, and the craft has mutually influenced the Dai of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos; the patterns and carving methods on the drum faces vary slightly from village to village, showing traces of master-apprentice lineage and visiting among villages.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Dai elephant-foot drum-making craft mainly spreads through villages such as Qinghua, Mangling, Mengwang, Mengzhun, Houzhai, and Manggong in 9 townships (subdistricts) of Linxiang District, Lincang City. The history of making elephant-foot drums is about five hundred years. There are nearly 20 folk artisans skilled at making elephant-foot drums, among whom representative figures include Feng Chuanshi of Qinghua Village, Mangpan Subdistrict. The Dai elephant-foot drum-making craft embodies the totem worship of the drum's early invention. The white elephant is the auspicious totem of the Dai; the Dai made the drum that conveys auspicious sound into the shape of a white elephant's leg—the elephant-foot drum—which is an important material witness to the Dai pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty and the harmonious development between humans and nature. The Dai of Linxiang District cannot do without the elephant-foot drum in folk activities such as the Water-Splashing Festival, the Door-Closing Festival (Thousand-Lamps Festival), the Door-Opening Festival, and the Banner-Pole-Raising Festival. The elephant-foot drum-making craft contains the profound and broad content of Dai culture, and its techniques are closely linked to the Dai of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and other countries. It has direct origins in the Dai historical culture of Xishuangbanna, Dehong, and other places. The Dai elephant-foot drum-making craft of Linxiang District is a precious cultural treasure that has been transmitted and developed to this day with tenacious artistic vitality, exerting considerable influence on the Dai of the China–Myanmar border region.

Hollowing and grinding the drum cavity

The log is hollowed and the cavity ground even, which decides the drum's volume and depth.

Chiselling the exterior

The outside is chiselled with auspicious motifs, following the grain so the body will not split.

Carving auspicious figures

Elephant and scroll motifs honour the white elephant, the auspicious animal of the Dai.

Mounting the drumhead

The head must be stretched evenly and evenly tensioned or the drum will deaden on one side.

Painted decoration

Red, black and gold painting completes the carved motifs for the festival line.

Interlacing the strips

Strips are woven into the body; tight weaving keeps the barrel round and the tone focused.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Dai elephant-foot drums of Linxiang District have distinctive features: emphasis on small and medium sizes; attention to lightweight types; and manifestation of local practicality.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The elephant-foot drum is sacred, and its widespread use in Dai areas has made it an important vehicle for the transmission and development of Dai culture. Feng Chuanshi (from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Dai, born April 1941, from Lincang City, Yunnan Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Instrument-Making Craft" (Dai Elephant-Foot Drum-Making Craft). Dai elephant-foot drum-making technician. He loved various traditional instruments from childhood, began learning elephant-foot drum-making at 37 under master Feng Chuanjin, and also went to the Dai region of Mengding to comprehensively study the craft, becoming the third-generation transmitter of the local Dai elephant-foot drum-making craft. Over forty years of practice, he has fully mastered the Dai elephant-foot drum-making craft, with particularly high attainments in hollowing and polishing the interior, carving and polishing the exterior, carving auspicious totems, mounting the drumhead, painted decoration, and weaving techniques. The drums he makes are beautiful, elegant, and practical, with a wide range and pure, rich volume and timbre, and durable, deeply loved by the Dai people, who respectfully call him the "Drum King." He is enthusiastic about the transmission, innovation, and development of the elephant-foot drum-making craft and actively takes on apprentices to pass on the art.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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