The
fou (
缶
or
缻; pinyin: fǒu) is an
ancient
Chinese percussion
instrument consisting of a
pottery or
bronzeware crock, jar, pot, or similar
vessel, which was struck with a stick. Its origin dates back to the
Xia or
Shang dynasties, where it was used in ritual
music. It later became a standard instrument in
Confucian ritual ensembles.
The
fou as an instrument was not confirmed until a discovery
of nearly 500 musical instruments in the Tombs for Nobles of the
Yue State, Wuxi
City,
Jiangsu
Province. Also found there were nine other
varieties of instruments, including the
yongzhong (a type
of bell) and
qing (chime stone) from the
Central Plain,
chunyu (a
metal percussion instrument),
dingning (a bell with a
handle),
duo (big bell) and
ling (little
bell).
It made its modern appearance during the
2008 Summer Olympics
Opening Ceremony in Beijing. Towards the beginning of the
ceremony, 2,008 dancer/percussionists staged a synchronized
presentation, striking large square
fou with glowing red
sticks.
photo Those instruments had a white square
LED array surrounding each
drum, allowing them all to produce both music and a dazzling
display, which included
Chinese
characters and shapes created in tandem.
The Chinese character
fou (
缶
or
缻) is used to refer to containers.
The character has fallen into disuse in Chinese; however, it is
still used to refer to
cans in
Japanese. Since the
Xia and
Shang dynasties, some types of those
containers were used as musical instruments known as "percussion
fou" (
击缶). Since its publicity, there has been some
scholarly disputes on whether the
fou used during the
Olympics were actually musical instruments, as they could simply
have been containers.
In the Confucian ritual music of Korea, a musical instrument made
from a clay pot, called the
bu (hangul: 부; hanja: 缶),
which is derived from the
fou, is used.
References
- Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2004 -
China's Top-Ten archaeological discoveries of 2004 were announced
in Beijing on April 17, 2005. China.org.cn, July 7, 2005
- Ancient Chinese music at Beijing Olympics
opening
- Downey, Mike - China's dazzling place setting. Opening ceremony is
a memorable one, Chicago Tribune, August 9, 2008 - Story hosted
at Los Angeles Times web site
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