What are the customs about bronze drums?

Bronze drums often appear in happy and festive scenes, but in the past, beating bronze drums was an essential religious ceremony in the funeral activities of Miao and Yao people. Yao compatriots living in the mountainous area of northern Guangxi, China, beat the bronze drums a few days and nights before the funeral. The sound of the bronze drums is loud and deep, and the drums can spread the unfortunate news of the death of the deceased to distant villages, so that his relatives and friends can come to attend the funeral. Tapping the bronze drum can also summon ghosts and gods to protect the soul of the deceased and let him reach another world safely.

Beating the bronze drum with singing and dancing is often closely related to religious sacrificial activities such as praying for the New Year and avoiding disasters. Poets of past dynasties in China have many vivid descriptions of the scenes of southern minorities beating gongs and drums, singing and dancing, and competing with God. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Wen recited in "Slander God": "The bronze drum will contend with God. Wandering on the court. Jiangpu, a water village, has experienced wind and rain, and Chushan is picturesque. Don't leave the sound empty, the jade is thin. The green wheat is swallowed, and the blinds are facing the Pearl Pavilion. "

Sun Guangxian, a writer of five pronouns, wrote in the poem "Bodhisattva Man": "The more birds sing, the dawn will come. Tonggu and Manger. Southerners pray for Saido. The wind blows fast, and her sleeves are close to each other. Banpu turned several times and the smoke was infinite. "

There are beautiful southern spring scenery in the poem, and there are warm scenes of ethnic minorities beating gongs and drums, accompanied by bursts of drums and rough songs, dancing with God in the beautiful spring scenery.

In ancient times when science was extremely underdeveloped, the level of social productivity was very low. The phenomenon of "believing in witches, knocking on bronze drums to pray for blessings" and "knocking on bronze drums to worship ghosts and gods" is very common among ethnic minorities in southern China. This kind of religious sacrifice activity is particularly popular in the remote mountainous areas of southwest China, especially on both sides of the Yangtze River and in Guangdong and Guangxi. The ancient poets in China have repeatedly incorporated the unique national customs of the bronze drum "Saijiang God" into their poems. Xu Hun, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, sang in "Sending Southerners Home": "Green mushrooms are warm, and spring is in Xiangtan and Wan Li. Pottery pots welcome sea guests, and bronze drums are river gods. Take shelter from the rain and pine the maple bank, and watch the clouds and willows in Tianjin. Chang 'an has a glass of wine, and there are people on the table. "