As a precious cultural heritage in southern China, the various kinds of extant copper drums, produced over a thousand years from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), can be regarded not only as an encyclopedia on Chinese folk arts but also as a historical literature on the development of Chinese science and technology.

 Copper Drum in Wars

The coppers drum used to play an indispensable role in ancient Chinese wars; therefore, they were also called war drums. Thanks to its full and resonant sound, beating the war drum was considered as an order for the army to move or stop.

Actually, as early as over a thousand years ago the copper drum began to be taken as the war drum by the ethnic groups in the south of China, who used to be belittled as "uncivilized people" by their Han neighbors in the north. The war drum was usually beaten with specific beats conveying different orders from the leader. Meanwhile beating the war drum rhythmically was also helpful in synchronizing the movements of the army, so as to maintain the military formation of their troops and improve their fighting capability.

In later contacts, the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) in the north borrowed the tradition of the southern ethnic people. In their expeditions against the minority rivals in the southwest of China, they also regarded capturing the war drum as a military victory.

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