Tainan is a city in the southernmost part of Taiwan that is perhaps the most well-known city in Taiwan in terms of preserving the culture of ancient buildings, architecture, streets, and other remnants of the past. During a visit to my uncle's house in Tainan, my uncle took me to see the Confucius Temple, where they happened to have a collection of antique traditional instruments (both musical and non-musical) used during each annual Confucius celebration. After composing my first report on the Confucius Celebration, I thought this would be an good follow-up to give a better understanding of some of the traditional musical elements as well as other ceremonial vessels used during the procession.
The following photographs, unless otherwise stated, were all photos that I took during my visit to the Confucius temple. The instruments also had signs next to them indicating the name of the instrument (in both Mandarin and English) as well as a brief description of its structure and use.
籥 (ㄩㄝˋ) "yue4"
A pipe made of bamboo. Short versions have 3 holes, long versions have 6-7 holes.
(Photograph: http://www.cntca.com/qiyi/Print.asp?ArticleID=8771)
籊 ( ㄊㄧ ˋ) "ti4"
Bamboo poles used by the BaYi dancers, held in the right hand. The handle is carved like a dragon's head, and a long peacock feather is placed in the dragon's mouth. The peacock feather represents wisdom.
特磬 (ㄊ ㄜˋ ㄑㄧㄥˋ) "te4 qing4"
Special Musical Stone: A type of drum made of polished jade. The two flat sides are beat with a wooden handle to conclude the orchestra.
著尊 (ㄓㄨ ˋ ㄗㄨㄣˉ) "zhu4 zun1"
Wine Vessel: A vessel made of bronze that is used to hold wine for the sacrificial ceremony. It has no ears or legs.
鉶 (ㄒㄧㄥˊ) "xing2"
A brass vessel that is round in shape with two ears and a tripod, used to hold soup during the sacrificial ceremony. Three humps protrude from the lid.
爵 (ㄐㄩㄝˊ) "jue2"
Wine Pitcher: A bronze wine pitcher used during the sacrificial ceremony. There is a tripod at the bottom of the pitcher, and the two protrusions on the top of the pitcher are present to prevent the wine from being drunk directly from the pitcher, as this vessel is used only for pouring the wine.
編鐘 (ㄅㄧㄢ ㄓㄨㄥ) "bian1 zhong1"
This instrument is comprised of two different sets of bells: the Group Chimes and the Group Musical Stones.
Group Chimes: This group of bronze chimes comprises the top two rows of the pictured instrument. Each row contains 8 sets of rectangular bells. The pitch of the sound produced when the bells are struck depend on their thickness. In all, there are 16 tones that are produced, one for each set of bells. The bells are struck with a wooden handle once for each sentence of the poem that is recited during the ceremony, and each strike is concurrently harmonized by the Group Musical Stones.
Group Musical Stones: Arranged identically to the Group Chimes, but are placed on the lower two rows of the instrument. There are also 16 tones produced, one for each set of bells. The bells are made of jade and are struck with a wooden handle the same time the Group Chimes are struck.
帛 (ㄅㄛˊ) "bo2"
Silk: Pure white silk fabric that represents currency offered to the gods.
簋 (ㄍㄨㄟˇ) "gui3"
An ancient food vessel made of bronze, used for holding grains in ancient offerings or feasts. It is round in shape with two ears and four round protrusions on the lid.
柷 (ㄓㄨ ˋ) "zhu4"
A ancient wooden percussion instrument shaped like a tapering box, narrow near the bottom and wide near the top. It is struck from the inside with a wooden drumstick to announce the beginning of the ceremony and to start the orchestra. The sides are decorated with images of mountains and rivers.
敔 ( ㄩ ˇ) "yu3"
A hollow wooden percussion instrument in the shape of a tiger. A wooden drumstick is run across the back, which has three rows of wooden protrusions, in order to produce the sound.
These are definitely not all of the musical and non-musical instruments used during the procession in their entirety, but just the ones that I happened to find in the collection of traditional instruments in the Confucius temple. The artifacts and their descriptions certainly help in better understanding the details of the ceremony.
