The fish drum () is a Chinese
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
instrument. The name actually designates two rather different instruments, a
membranophone and an
idiophone
An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones) ...
.
Membranophone
The
membranophone fish drum is the symbol of
Elder Zhang Guo
Zhang Guo, better known as Zhang Guolao, is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. Among the Eight Immortals, Zhang Guolao, Zhongli Quan and Lü Yan were real historical figures. His existence is ...
, one of the
Eight Immortals. This drum is a long and slender piece of bamboo with a dried fish skin stretched over one end. Two smaller pieces of bamboo resembling golf clubs are used as
Castanets.
Idiophone
There is also the idiophone, which is also called a
wooden fish
A wooden fish, also known as a Chinese temple block, wooden bell, or ''muyu'', is a type of woodblock that originated from East Asia that is used by monks and lay people in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. They are used by Buddhist ceremonie ...
. This type of fish drum is used to accompany performers of ''changben'' or Chinese narrative ballads. They would accompany their singing on a yugu drum. It is also used as a drum to accompany
Cantonese opera. This drum is an idiophone, where the whole body of the instrument vibrates to produce sound. It is a small piece of wood carved into the shape of a fish, with a slit along the length of the body. This drum is then struck by a mallet to produce sound. A much larger version, with much more ornate decoration, symbolizing a mythical fish, whose sounds is supposed to attract divinity, is used in Taoist and Confucian ceremonies. This version of the drum, also struck by a mallet, is hit at regular intervals during Confucian and Taoist ceremonies to mark the intervals of prayer. It is connected with the use of rain prayers and prayers connected to death rites.
See also
Wooden fish
A wooden fish, also known as a Chinese temple block, wooden bell, or ''muyu'', is a type of woodblock that originated from East Asia that is used by monks and lay people in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. They are used by Buddhist ceremonie ...
References
Chinese musical instruments
Membranophones
Idiophones
{{Idiophone-instrument-stub