The bo () is a

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

originating in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, a type of

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

. It consists of two plates that are clashed together. It is a

concussion idiophone Struck idiophones is one of the categories of idiophones (that is, any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the instrument as a whole vibrating—without the use of strings or membranes) that are found in the Hornbostel-Sachs system ...

. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

has one from nineteenth century China. Both parts have a diameter of 56.5 centimeters.

China cymbal China type cymbals from three continents In western music, a China cymbal (or Chinese cymbal) is a distinct type of cymbal designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone that has brought it the nickname ''trash cymbal''. The name "China ...

s used by rock and jazz drummers are similar to the bo, but are mounted on stands and played with drumsticks. Bo are usually realized in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. In the

Sichuan opera Sichuan opera (; Sichuanese Pinyin: Cuan1ju4; ) is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700. Today's Sichuan opera is a relatively recent synthesis of five historic melodic styles. Chengdu is the main home of S ...

they are used to emphasize the movements of actors. (cf. also ). Xiaobo is a variant of cymbals whose diameter ranges from 12 cm to 14 cm. Other variants are zhongbo (medium cymbals), shuibo (water cymbals) and dabo (large cymbals).

References

Chinese musical instruments Cymbals {{Cymbal-stub