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The zhu is an
idiophonic 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 ...
that was used in ''
yayue'', the
ritual music of
ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
's
Zhou dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
H ...
.
Form
The zhu is a wooden box, typically painted red or otherwise decorated, that tapers from top to bottom.
Performance
The zhu is played by grasping a wooden stick and using it to strike the top of the zhu's inner bottom surface.
Use
In antiquity, the zhu was used to mark the beginning of a piece of music. This contrasted with the
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
-shaped
yu, played by striking the top of its head and crossing the ridges along its back, used to mark the end of the music. Both instruments appear in Zhou-era annals and the
Classic of History
The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, an ...
but are now rarely used, with surviving examples usually simply displayed in museums and
Confucian temple
A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of ...
s. The
Classic of Music
The ''Classic of Music'' () was a Confucian classic text lost by the time of the Han dynasty. It is sometimes referred to as the "Sixth Classic" (for example, by Sima Qian) and is thought to have been important in the traditional interpretations ...
that instructed creation and use of the ''
yayue'' instruments is almost entirely lost, and aspects of modern construction and performance are guesswork or replacement. Nonetheless, a few templesincluding the main
Taiwan Confucian Temple
The Tainan Confucian Temple () or Quan Tai Shou Xue (, lit. "First Academy of Taiwan"), is a Temple of Confucius, Confucian temple on Nanmen Road () in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan.
History
Kingdom of Tungning
The temple was built in ...
still use them for
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
ceremonies.
Legacy
The
Korean chuk is essentially identical to the zhu and continues to be used in Korean ritual music. Unlike many Chinese reconstructions of the zhu, which are typically open at the top, the chuk is frequently covered and the performer strikes the bottom of the instrument through a hole for that purpose.
See also
*
List of traditional Chinese musical instruments
Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories (classified by the material from which the instruments were made) known as (). The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instr ...
References
External links
Article about ''zhu''''Zhu'' photos''Zhu'' page
Idiophones
Chinese musical instruments
{{China-music-stub