China News Agency, Qinzhou, January 23rd, title: "Lingnan Ancient County" Yandun Dagu: A drum that reverberates for thousands of years
China News Agency reporter Yang Qiang Zhai Li Qiang Huang Lingyan
"Boom, boom, boom, boom..." The rhythmic thunderous drum sounded ten miles away.
On January 23, the second day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Yandun Drum in Lingshan, Guangxi, which has been passed down for thousands of years in the "Lingnan Ancient County", was played in Dengtang Village.
The deafening drums are the people's New Year's expectation to drive away the plague god and welcome a better life.
On the same day, the annual drumming competition in Yandun Town, Lingshan County was held at the National Unity Square of Dengtang Village, with 6 drum teams competing on the same stage.
With dozens of villagers Kong Wu vigorously waving the drumsticks in his hands, the overwhelming sound of drums dispelled the coldness in the body, hair and skin of the people and tourists in all directions and eight townships, and also boiled people's hopes for the new year.
"When the drum competition is held every year, folks from all villages will bring delicious food and gather in the host village to have a happy gathering. There are dozens of tables at least, hundreds or even thousands of tables at most." Qinzhou, who is in his 70s Huang Pingxiu, the representative inheritor of the city's intangible cultural heritage projects, told a reporter from China News Agency.
Yandun Dagu is a unique and ancient traditional art of Zhuang and Han people in Yandun Town, Lingshan County, with a history of thousands of years.
It originated from the utensils used by the local ancestors in ancient times to drive away ghosts and evil spirits, drive away beasts and send war signals.
The "Lingshan County Chronicle" published during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty records: "On June 6th, Duoyanshi (Master) Gong beat the earthen drum to worship the ancestors of Tian..." The history records record that the "Master" of Lingshan used the Yandun drum to worship the gods and ancestors at that time This is another social significance of Lingshan Yandun Dagu.
Huang Pingxiu has been learning to play drums from his father and grandfather since he was five or six years old, and made his first drum making at the age of 18.
As the inheritor of Yandun Dagu, he has made more than 2,000 drums by himself in the past ten years. The largest drum is more than 3.2 meters high and 1.8 meters in diameter. It took more than half a year of work.
"Use huge camphor wood or nanmu, hollow out the tree core, and cover it with the best local buffalo leather. There is not a single nail in the whole drum body." Huang Pingxiu introduced that Yandun Dagu has always been handmade, making a drum. On average it takes a month.
The sound quality, pitch, intonation, etc. of the bass drum are all adjusted based on the craftsman's personal experience until it reaches the best state.
With the changes of the times, Yandun Dagu has gradually evolved into a musical instrument and entertainment for welcoming the spring, praying for blessings, and celebrating the harvest. In 2008, it was included in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region-level Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List.
During traditional festivals such as Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, "March 3rd" of the Zhuang nationality, and major festive events, the local people will beat drums to celebrate.
On January 16, Huang Pingxiu waved his double hammers and beat the first big drum of the traditional Spring Festival in Yandun Ancient Town.
From that day on, the drums in the ancient town will continue until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
A person in charge of Dengtang Village said: "Every night and every day, there are people playing big drums everywhere."
It is a traditional custom in Yandun Ancient Town to beat drums on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
On this day, people from ten miles and eight villages gather to fight drums, compete for the sound of drums, pray for good weather, and drive away epidemics and evil spirits.
"The sound of drums can be heard as far as 20 kilometers away." Huang Pingxiu said, ten villages and eight villages fight drums, and the villages who play drums well and loudly are appraised, and finally a big red flower is given to the drummer of that village. Very particular.
The tallest existing drum in Yandun Town is 3 meters high, and the drummer has to stand on two layers of benches to hit the drum; the largest drum has a diameter of 1.8 meters and weighs more than 350 kilograms, requiring seven or eight Only a strong man can lift it.
Men, women and children in Yandun Town will play big drums. The rumbling drums symbolize their robust physique and also reflect people's pursuit of happiness.
The Yandun Drum, which is full of traditional cultural charm, has become a bond of emotional communication among villagers, and Dengtang Village has also become a model village for ethnic unity.
In the Yandun Dagu showroom in Dengtang Village, Yandun Town, a reporter from China News Agency saw a big drum from the Ming Dynasty, and tapped the vicissitudes of the drum with his hands, and the deep echo seemed to travel through thousands of years.
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