The ''yunluo'' (simplified: 云锣; traditional: 雲鑼 pinyin: yúnluó, ; literally "cloud gongs" or "cloud of gongs"), is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It is made up of a set of gongs of varying sizes held within a frame. It was also called ''yún'áo'' ( 雲璈) in ancient times.

Traditional ''yunluo''

The ''yunluo'' is a set of usually ten small tuned gongs mounted in a wooden frame, with each gong being about 9-12 cm in diameter, and the height of the frame being about 52 cm. The ''yunluos gongs are generally of equal diameter but different thicknesses; the thicker gongs produce a higher pitch. It is often used in wind and percussion ensembles in

northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling, Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone ...

. Old drawings also depict a smaller ''yunluo'' with just five gongs, which was held by a handle by one hand and played with the other. The traditional ''yunluo'' is sometimes referred to as the ''shimianluo'' ( 十面锣; literally "ten faced gongs") to distinguish it from the modern redesigned ''yunluo''.

Modernized ''yunluo''

A modernized ''yunluo'' has been developed from the traditional ''yunluo'' for use in the large modern

Chinese orchestra The term Chinese orchestra is most commonly used to refer to the modern Chinese orchestra that is found in China and various overseas Chinese communities. This modern Chinese orchestra first developed out of Jiangnan sizhu ensemble in the 1920s ...

. It is much larger with 29 or more gongs of different diameters. Its height may be over 2m including its two legs on which it stands on the floor (the frame itself is about half its height); its width is about 1.4 m or wider.

In other countries

A very similar instrument called the ''

ulla Ulla is a given name. It is short for Ursula (given name), Ursula in German-speaking countries and Ulrika/Ulrikke in Scandinavian countries. As of 31 December 2011, there were 61,043 females named Ulla in Sweden, with the name being most popular ...

'' (hangul: 운라; hanja: 雲鑼 or 雲羅), which is derived from the ''yunluo'', is used in the music of Korea. The ''ulla'' was introduced from the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

in the late

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

is presumed to have been used in ''haengak'' (

hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 행악;

hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 行樂; royal court music played in procession). Like the ''yunluo'' it consists of ten small, round, flat brass gongs suspended in a wooden frame, and played with a small wooden mallet. The ''

nhã nhạc ''Nhã nhạc'' (, , "elegant music") is a traditional music of Vietnam. Vietnamese court music is very diverse, but the term ''nhã nhạc'' refers specifically to the Vietnamese court music performed from the Trần dynasty of the 13th century ...

'' music of Vietnam uses a similar instrument with three gongs, called the '' tam âm la'' (Sino-Vietnamese:

三 Chinese numerals are words and characters used to denote numbers in written Chinese. Today, speakers of Chinese languages use three written numeral systems: the system of Arabic numerals used worldwide, and two indigenous systems. The more famil ...

音鑼).

References

External links

Photo and description of ''yunluo''
(the picture is of a traditional ''yunluo'')

Video