Traditional Chinese percussion instruments and wood
Several highly idiosyncratic percussion instruments are included within this category,all with strong symbolic associations. The idiophone known as zhu is essentially a wooden box with outward sloping sides,open at the top. It is struck on the inside with a wooden hammer. Commentary in the Shijing notes that the zhu is like 'a lacquered grain container', suggesting a possible historic function within agricultural rites. Complementary to the zhu is another idio- phone known as yu, a carved wooden image of a crouching tiger. In perfor- mance, a switch of wood or bamboo is drawn across raised ridges on itsback, producing a rasping sound. The symbolic implications of this act are powerful, though never explicated in the ancient texts.The tiger,lord of all Chinese ani- mals,was once common throughout China and is associated with many quali- ties,such as courage, vigilance, and military prowess.
Popular sayings of today still recognize the importance of subjugating tigers and remaining alert to dan- ger.In Confucian ritual performance, the beginning of each hymn is anticipated by three strokes on the zhu, and concluded by three strokes on the back of the yu-as if to make this beast purr.
