Fou

The "fou" ( or ; pinyin: fǒu) is an ancient Chinese percussion instrument consisting of a pottery or bronzeware crock, jar, pot, or similar vessel, which was struck with a stick. Its origin dates back to the Xia or Shang dynasties, where it was used in ritual music. It later became a standard instrument in Confucian ritual ensembles.

The "fou" as an instrument was not confirmed until a discovery of nearly 500 musical instruments in the Tombs for Nobles of the Yue State, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. [ [http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Archaeology/149496.htm Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2004 - China's Top-Ten archaeological discoveries of 2004 were announced in Beijing on April 17, 2005.] China.org.cn, July 7, 2005] Also found there were nine other varieties of instruments, including the "yongzhong" (a type of bell) and "qing" (chime stone) from the Central Plain, "chunyu" (a metal percussion instrument), "dingning" (a bell with a handle), "duo" (big bell) and "ling" (little bell).

It made its modern appearance during the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing. Towards the beginning of the ceremony, 2,008 dancer/percussionists staged a synchronized presentation, striking large square "fou" with glowing red sticks. ^{[http://m2.biz.itc.cn/pic/t/29/12/Img421229_t.jpgphoto]} Those instruments had a white square LED array surrounding each drum, allowing them all to produce both music and a dazzling display, which included Chinese characters and shapes created in tandem. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/08/content_9052538.htm Ancient Chinese music at Beijing Olympics opening] ] [Downey, Mike - [http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olydowney9-2008aug09,0,1749920.story China's dazzling place setting. Opening ceremony is a memorable one] , Chicago Tribune, August 9, 2008 - Story hosted at Los Angeles Times web site]

The Chinese character "fou" ( or ) is used to refer to containers. The character has fallen into disuse in Chinese; however, it still used to referred cans in Japanese. Since the Xia and Shang dynasties, some types of those containers were used as musical instruments known as "percussion fou" (). Since its publicity, there has been some scholarly disputes on whether the "fou" used during the Olympics were actually musical instruments, as they could simply have been containers. [cite web|title=“缶阵”硬伤：错把“鉴缶”当乐器|url=http://zhanglifan.blog.sohu.com/96796462.html|author=章立凡|publisher=Sohu|date=2008-08-09]

In the Confucian ritual music of Korea, a musical instrument made from a clay pot, called the "bu" (hangul: 부; hanja: 缶), which is derived from the "fou", is used.

References

External links

* [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2008-08/12/content_6926757.htm Instrumental in spreading the word] , China Daily
* [http://blog.chinesesession.com/2008/08/09/the-square-drum-used-in-the-opening-ceremony-of-the-beijing-olympic-game/ The Square Drum Used in the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Game]
* [http://www.a3guo.com/en/china/Art/Bronze/bronze.html Bronze ritual vessels]
* [http://m2.biz.itc.cn/pic/t/29/12/Img421229_t.jpgPhoto of "fou" used in 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]