The Taiping drum in western Liaoning is different from the single drum with sacrificial colors in southern Liaoning. The Taiping drum in western Liaoning is an art form for the women of Minjian to entertain themselves. 1. Artistic characteristics The Taiping drum in western Liaoning is different from the single drum with sacrificial colors in southern Liaoning. The Taiping drum in western Liaoning is an art form for the women of Minjian to entertain themselves. 2. The legend of the origin of the Taiping drum It is not certain which dynasty the Taiping drum originated from. According to the folk oral traditions of successive dynasties, there are several theories. As early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, King Zhou of Shang was licentious and immoral. King Wen and King Wu of Zhou successively launched an army to attack him. King Wen's men made a small drum. When they beat it during the war, it made a thumping sound, which was very encouraging. People called it King Wen's drum. When King Wu of Zhou was alive, King Wen's drum was still in the army. People found that hitting it with hands was not as good as hitting it with a wooden stick, so King Wu ordered people to select a wooden stick and slightly trim it and tie a red tassel. When marching and fighting, the drum sounded louder, and the morale was greatly improved, so it was called King Wu's whip. When the drum of King Wen and the whip of King Wu sounded, the world was at peace. This tradition has been passed down and has become the Taiping Drum of today. Another theory is that during the Eastern Expedition of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin was blocked by rain for nearly two months, and morale was low. In order to boost the morale of the army, the generals under Emperor Taizong thought about making a small drum. The morale of the army was greatly boosted when the drum was struck, and the enemy was defeated soon. The drum invented to delay time was called the "Dan" drum, and later generations called it the "Shan" drum (the Shan drum is still used in the southern part of Liaoning today). Legends are legends, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion. What no one can deny is that the performance form of the Taiping Drum has been passed down. 3. Historical records According to historical data, "In the first month of the lunar year, women in the boudoirs also play big drums. The drums are made of iron into a circle, more than one foot in diameter, covered with donkey leather, with a handle at the bottom, decorated with iron rings, and beaten with bamboo strips. They are called Taiping drums." According to the "Jinxi County Chronicles", "Taiping drums were popular in this county from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the early days of the fall of Northeast China. They were entertainment activities for women during the Spring Festival. There are many performance forms and drum beats, and the movements are extracted from life and labor. Those that reflect production labor include picking cotton and pulling a big saw; those that reflect women's lives include old ladies coaxing chickens, meeting relatives, and visiting neighbors; those that are humorous include Zhu Bajie visiting his wife, catching butterflies, and teasing lions, etc. There is no limit on the number of participants, and basically two people are in a pair, and some programs are performed by three or four people in a group." 4. Performance characteristics and forms Taiping drums were passed down to the Ming and Qing Dynasties and became a performance form for folk entertainment. Bound by feudal ethics, ancient rural women could not go out in the first month of the lunar year, and they were afraid of needles at home. They were bored and picked up the Taiping drums to beat them at home, and then developed to their neighbors. Women from several families gathered in a yard and played Taiping drum. In modern times, Taiping drum has become popular. Every year, as soon as the twelfth lunar month begins, each village starts playing Taiping drum, and it continues until the first day of the second lunar month. Because the second day of the second lunar month is commonly known as the day when the dragon raises its head, in order not to disturb the dragon and pray for a good harvest for the year, the drums are stopped on the first day of the second lunar month. Taiping drum can be performed freely and there is no limit on the number of people. Two people playing is called Baigu, also known as Rolling Yuanxiao, three people playing is called Sansaihua, four people playing is called Simiandou, eight people playing is called Bamianfeng, and more people playing is called Gua Xuanfeng. The performance of Taiping drum mainly uses speed and rotation as the means. Speed refers to the fast drum beats; rotation refers to rotating the body while playing the big drum. In areas where Taiping drum is prosperous, girls who cannot play Taiping drum or play Taiping drum poorly will be affected when they get married. 5. Performance content Since Taiping drum is a folk art, the content it expresses basically reflects the life and feelings of the working people. The Taiping drum has simple beats, brisk rhythms and clear vocabulary. For example, "radish roots, cabbage hearts, snow-white socks with three needles", "lower head, lower head, dragon, raise head, phoenix, golden melon, moon axe, stirrups facing the sky", which not only express the joy of ordinary peasant women, but also reflect their unwillingness to accept their low status and their mentality of fighting hard. The reflections of ordinary peasant life, such as "scooping dry rice, picking beans, beating cotton, baking pancakes, and eating sesame seeds", reproduce the hot life. "Eight sheets in the east, eight sheets in the west, the whole house is bright and bright", this joy is ready to come out. Taiping drum is arranged according to these folk songs. People who are familiar with Taiping drum drums must first be familiar with folk songs. Some folk songs also express local customs and scenic spots. For example, "walking Jinzhou, passing Yizhou, Eight Immortals crossing the sea Ningyuanzhou", "Xingcheng's archway, Jinzhou's tower, Gangtun's lions in pairs", etc. 6. Types of Tunes As Taiping Drum developed, it gradually formed its own relatively fixed tunes, such as "New Son-in-law Greetings", "Peddler Entering the Village", "Selling Flowers", "New Daughter-in-law Busy in Four Seasons", "Busy in December", "Pulling a Big Saw", "Stewed Seaweed", "Old Lady Panting", "Catching Butterflies", "Ox Head Rack", etc. Taiping Drum, like other arts, also borrowed the performance techniques of sister arts in its development, such as "Pig Bajie Sees His Wife", "Spitting Powder", "Old Lady Coaxing Chickens", "Cat Catching Mice", "Tease the Kitten", "Cutting Cucumbers", "Breaking Corn", etc., which made Taiping Drum, a folk art, more attractive. 7. Historical Inheritance In 1980, Jinxi County Cultural Center conducted in-depth excavations by the China Democratic National Construction Association, and sorted out 64 ways of playing Taiping Drum through the recollections of 9 elderly people in Zhangxianggongtun, forming written records, photos, videos and other materials, which have been included in the "Collection of Chinese National Folk Dances. Liaoning Volume". In 2000, Bohai Shipyard invited Wang Chengde to guide and organize a 40-member Taiping drum performance team to participate in the 14th Longtan Cup Flower Grand Prix in Beijing and won the silver medal, making the flower of Chinese folk art that was on the verge of being lost bloom again. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)