Harvest Drum is popular
among regions of Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Anhui provinces. It's
a kind of feature instrument used mainly by the Han and Manchu
people.
It is said that the drum came into being in
the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was named as Harvest Drum in the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644).
According to folk legends, the Harvest
Drum was a tool used by Manchu hunters. Hunters were beating drums when they
pursued an animal. And they kept beating drums to express their pleasure when
they got back with their preys.
Harvest Drums
have many different features. Those used by Manchu are oval-shaped. The ones
used by Han people are round, oblate or peach-shaped. The drum in Mongolia is
only oblate-shaped.
People like dancing accompanied by
Harvest Drum playing, especially when they celebrate
festivals.