Gong and Drum Art
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the late Western Han dynasty and has a history of more than two thousand years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Since the Ming and Qing the tune patterns have seen much innovation and the performance has become far richer in variety. Compared with ordinary traditional gongs and drums, soft-hammer gongs and drums differ to some degree in tune pattern, form of expression and artistic style. Soft-hammer gongs and drums take the drum as their main instrument, with cymbals and gongs ingeniously accompanying. Its drumming technique includes one player on several drums, the head twined with the mallet and turning, leaping on the leg and turning the body, and springing onto the drum and shifting position. Its performing formations include the “travelling drum” and the “set-piece battle”. The “travelling drum” is beaten while walking, its tunes simple and bright, short and succinct, with a strong sense of rhythm; the “set-piece battle” is arranged in a square, with the drummers in the centre, the cymbal players around them and the gong players ranged in a line on both sides, suited to relatively long special performances. The soft hammers used in soft-hammer gongs and drums are nimble and powerful, soft yet with firmness in them, and highly expressive in performance. The cymbals and gongs are large and heavy, their sound deep and sonorous, resonant and mighty, producing an artistic effect that shakes the heart and spurs people on. Its tune patterns deal mainly with the subject of war, chief among them Xin Ao Zhan, Feng Xue Zhan, Sha Gu and San Guan Dian Shuai. Its sound is mostly stirring and unrestrained, impassioned and resonant, displaying the spirit of the Chinese nation forging ahead and struggling stubbornly. The drumsticks of soft-hammer gongs and drums are eight-ridged knots carefully twisted from coarse hemp rope at both ends, soaked in cold water and kiln-dried over a gentle fire before performance. Each gong has a frame to support the bronze gong, commonly called the “gong handle”. The gong frame is extremely carefully made: its main shaft is about one metre high, its top curving outward, and its head entirely of metal, cast in the form of a dragon's head. The gong is hung beneath the dragon's head. In performance, eight bass drums, eight large cymbals and sixteen bronze gongs, with thirty-two performers in all, are arranged in a square formation. The gongs and cymbals of soft-hammer gongs and drums are noticeably heavier than those of traditional sets, generally weighing as much as 15 jin (about 7.5 kilograms). Soft drumsticks are dense, and the drummer has to produce eighth notes and even sixteenth notes; this highly difficult technique can be mastered only by those thoroughly trained, and anyone without long, rigorous training can neither lift the gong, raise the cymbals nor strike the drum loud and clear.
Xin Ao Zhan
One of the tune patterns of soft-hammer gongs and drums dealing mainly with the subject of war.
Feng Xue Zhan
One of the tune patterns of soft-hammer gongs and drums dealing mainly with the subject of war; after it was sorted out by the inheritor Wu Mingchang it became an important achievement representing the core technique of this genre.
Sha Gu
One of the tune patterns of soft-hammer gongs and drums dealing mainly with the subject of war.
San Guan Dian Shuai
One of the tune patterns of soft-hammer gongs and drums dealing mainly with the subject of war.
Rope-knotted soft drumsticks
The drumsticks of soft-hammer gongs and drums are eight-ridged knots carefully twisted from coarse hemp rope at both ends, soaked in cold water and kiln-dried over a gentle fire before performance; they are nimble and powerful, soft yet with firmness in them.
Gong-support frames
Each gong has a frame to support the bronze gong, commonly called the “gong handle”; its main shaft is about one metre high, its top curving outward, and its head entirely of metal, cast in the form of a dragon's head, with the gong hung beneath the dragon's head.
32-performer square formation
In performance, eight bass drums, eight large cymbals and sixteen bronze gongs, with thirty-two performers in all, are arranged in a square formation; the formations include the “travelling drum” and the “set-piece battle”, the “travelling drum” being beaten while walking with tunes simple and bright and a strong sense of rhythm, and the “set-piece battle” arranged in a square, suited to relatively long special performances.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Soft-hammer gongs and drums are a traditional musical form current in the area of Gaojiazhuang, Wanrong county, Yuncheng city, Shanxi Province. They are one of the forms of Yellow River culture rooted in the Hedong area of Yuncheng, with a long history handed on without interruption, containing rich historical and cultural information and displaying a marked regional character.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
According to legend, Tang Taizong Li Shimin used them to urge his troops on in battle, and they have been transmitted and developed ever since. This heritage item is transmitted mainly through families and from master to apprentice. The study of its origin and development has a certain reference value for research into local traditional music culture, folk culture and the history of ancient campaigns. Wu Mingchang (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in January 1944, a native of Wanrong county, Shanxi Province. He loved gong and drum art from childhood, and through long study under folk artists such as Zhang Lizheng and Wu Qianfu he mastered highly difficult movements and special skills such as one player on several drums, the head twined with the mallet and turning, leaping on the leg and turning the body, and cross beating. Through many years of visiting old artists he collected and sorted all the ancient tune patterns on the point of being lost and had them printed in book form, leaving precious artistic material for posterity. The four pieces sorted out, among them Feng Xue Zhan and Jin Gu, became important achievements representing the core technique of soft-hammer gongs and drums, and have won prize after prize at domestic performance and exhibition events. Representative inheritor of gong and drum art (soft-hammer gongs and drums) in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. In nearly fifty years of training and teaching he has brought up more than thirty successors by oral transmission from heart to heart, and in recent years has actively carried out “intangible cultural heritage goes to school” activities in the primary school of his own village.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Liu Yaowen 03-0882
- Zhao Manzong 05-2134
- Zhang Shushe 05-2135
- Wu Mingchang 05-2136
- Yang Renhe 05-2137
- Liu Qingyun 05-2138
- Liu Zhen 05-2139
- Li Xingguang 05-2140
- Wangdaozhang 05-2141
- Cheng Qinxiang 05-2142
- Wang Guohai
- Xuezongfeng
- Hong Yuqing
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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