Do you hear the thunder of Chinese Drums?

March 26, 2014

The earliest evidence of the use of drums in China was found in Oracle inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty (1783-1123 BC).

Drums were used to motivate troops, set a marching pace and for sending orders or announcements.

The drum had a purpose in almost all elements of Chinese life. Copper drums come from southern China and date to almost a thousand years before Christ.  The copper drum was also called the war drum.

The Han Dynasty used copper drums for war too.

The Fengyang Drum Dance originated in Anhui Province and was used by traveling musicians and dancers in the streets of villages and towns. In time, it would represent poverty.

Tibetan drums are part of the Sholdon (Yogurt) Festival, which occurs in late August.

Drums are also used for the traditional Chinese New Year’s Lion Dance.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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4 Comments | China, Chinese arts and music, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, history, Tibet | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

US–China Relations as 2010 Ends

December 18, 2010

Al Jazeera English reported on US China Relations saying, China had a good 2009. It marked not only its 60th anniversary as the People’s Republic but managed to avoid a recession that engulfed most of the world.

While America’s economy suffered horribly during the recession, China’s birthday celebrations arrived with its economic engine growing at a steady eight percent, while China did what needed to be done to put its people to work.

All these gains saw China achieve a more equal relationship with the United States.

Then there was the incident over Google threatening to leave China. 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded, “We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation.”

Then when a Chinese court recently sentenced Liu Xiaobo, a Western style democracy activist, to prison, the US sent a diplomat to the Chinese courthouse to speak in public.

Once there, he said to the media, “The United States government is deeply concerned by the sentence of eleven years in prison announced today in the case of prominent Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo under the charge of inciting subversion of state power.”

Gerald Tan of Al Jazeera concluded with, “These shifting tones signal tougher times ahead for the two world powers.

Note from Blog host:  Al Jazeera should have mentioned other bumps in the road the US has had with China in the past such as the 1999 US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia or the 2001 collision between a US surveillance plane and a Chinese PLA fighter jet near China’s coast.

These incidents were worse and eventually relations improved again between the US and China.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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Leave a Comment » | America, China, politics | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse