Dazu in Detail: Five Musicians

This piece depicts five musicians on a balcony, playing (from left to right) a yaogu (waist drum), xiao (end-blown flute), di (side-blown flute), zhuban (bamboo clapper) and changgu (long hourglass drum)

This group was excavated from a tomb at Moerpo in Dazu county and was intended to entertain the wealthy tomb-owner in the afterlife. Song dynasty [AD960-1279]

Click on the links below to explore the musician's instruments in more detail

Waist drum End-blown flute Side-blown flute Bamboo clapper Long hourglass drum

Waist drum

This is a yaogu, a drum tied to the musician's waist and often played by dancers

End-blown flute

This is a xiao, an end-blown flute traditionally made of bamboo.

Side-blown flute

This is a di, a side-blown flute usually made of bamboo and with a reed membrane inside to give it a distinctive sound.

Bamboo clapper

This is a zhuban, a percussion instrument played by clapping together several flat pieces of bamboo.

Long hourglass drum

This is a changgu, an hourglass-shaped drum with two ends that produce sounds in a different pitch.

Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.