Most of my country's ethnic minorities are good at singing and dancing, and the De'ang people are no exception. They can sing songs with their own ethnic characteristics while working, and they can also use musical instruments. The water tribe is also one of the national characteristics of the Deang people. The following De'ang culture brings you the origin of water drum, let's learn about it together.

The origin of the water drum

There are some interesting folklore stories about the water drum! It is said that the De'ang people have been living in the primeval forests of the mountains in Yunnan on the edge of their motherland since ancient times. While working, they discovered hollow logs, which were filled with water after rain. When they accidentally touched them, they made a ping-pong, ping-pong musical sound, which was very nice to hear. In addition, the large bamboo tubes they used to carry domestic water also made this sound. This has been the case for a long time. After hard work, they picked up wooden sticks and beat them to make music. The unique music made them happy. It is also said that in ancient times, a young man and woman of the De'ang tribe fell in love. The woman was beautiful and gentle, while the man was kind, brave and capable.

One day, they went up the mountain to cut firewood. The woman was thirsty and went to a small mountain stream to drink some water. Somehow, it suddenly turned into a very bright and beautiful fruit on the tree. It was very strange. . The man waited for half an hour, but the woman didn't come around. He hurriedly looked for her, but she was missing, and all he saw was this beautiful fruit on the tree. He was so sad that he had to pick the fruit and take it home.

But on the way, there was a violent storm, and a monster came, knocking the young man to the ground, and the fruit was snatched away. When the young man woke up, the monster and the fruit were gone. He made a prompt decision and pursued him without fear of danger, but was blocked by the huge sea. The young man was so anxious that he cried. His cry moved Jiang Tao, pedestrians, and even the stone lions to shed tears of sympathy. Everyone worked hard to help the young man build a bridge, but somehow it collapsed two times in a row.

Later, the young man invited everyone to check it out. It turned out that there was a big crab causing trouble under the bridge pier. They caught the big crab ashore, peeled the skin, and ate the meat. Later, the crab skin was stretched out on a tree to dry in the sun. In order to punish it, someone beat it before the skin was dry. As soon as it was hit, it made a ping-ping-pong-pong sound.

The bridge was finally built. With the help and support of everyone, the young man defeated the monster and took back the bright fruits. They made the drum body from a kind of tung tree, and covered it with a big crab skin to make a water drum.

Percussion instrument: water drum

Later, the Deang people made a real percussion instrument, the water drum. The drum body is hollowed out of slightly softer wood and painted with patterns on the surface to form a drum head with big and small heads. The two ends are covered with cowhide and tightened with cow tendons. Before beating the water drum, pour one or two kilograms of water or wine from a hole in the middle of the drum body to moisten the skin and heart of the drum, and then pour out the remaining water or wine.

After being wetted by water drum, its sound is unique and very pleasant, so it is called water drum, which is the big drum of the Deang people. Then it became the main musical instrument used by the De'ang people to perform percussion and dance. If you want to know more about ethnic customs and culture, welcome to visit the Chinese Traditional Culture Network.