The generation of drums is probably because ancient humans were moved by the sounds of nature, such as thunder, stone rolling, collision of empty objects and so on. Imitate the grandeur, majesty and vastness of their voices. In ancient China, there was a record that "drums ruled the sky and bells ruled the land". 1980, the Miao drum was first discovered in a tomb in Taosi, Xiangfen County, which is known as the "first drum in China", proving that gongs and drums were made about 4,000 years ago; In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there is already the word "drum". In the Spring and Autumn Period, the names of drum music began to be scattered in the records of various ancient literature and history books, such as "admonition drum and thunder drum", which indicated that drums had begun to take shape at that time.
-Historical origin
The origin of majestic gongs and drums is related to a legend that has been circulated among the people for thousands of years. It is said that more than 4,700 years ago, when Yao Wang visited Lu Xian one day and passed by Zhoufu Village (now Yeung Yi Village, Ganting Town, Hongdong County), he found that a ewe had given birth to a unicorn, a "monster" covered in green hair. After giving birth for 3 hours, she grows as tall as a ewe. Hao Tao, who was in charge of traveling with Yao Wang, found that "this sheep can't feel straight when it sees a fight, and it's not right when it hears the theory", so he took it back to help solve the case. At this moment, Yao Wang's wife gave birth to a girl named Nv Ying, who could sit on the ground, talk for three days, knit for five days and be familiar with astronomy and geography for one hundred days. Yao Wang thought it was a treasure trove of geomantic omen, renamed it Yeung Yi Village, and moved his family here. Therefore, there is a saying that "sheep live, sheep live in the village, and Yao Wang lives forever"
When Emperor Yao visited Xian in Lishan, he met Shun who was driving cattle to plow the fields. After a series of investigations, he thought that Shun met the requirements of being an emperor, gave him the position of emperor and betrothed his two daughters to him. From then on, E Huang and Nv Ying regarded Mount Li as their husband's family and Yangyu as their family, and the people in the two villages became relatives. People in Yangyu Village call E Huang and Nv Ying "aunts" and Lishan calls them "queens". On the third day of the third lunar month, E Huang and Nv Ying return to their parents' homes, and on the 28th of the fourth lunar month, E Huang and Nv Ying return to their in-laws' homes. People in the two places will beat gongs and drums to welcome and demonstrate.
In the folk activities of picking up my aunt and seeing the empress off, the qupai played by the majestic gongs and drums are all related to the 22 villages passing by, and every time I stay in a place, I will beat the qupai related to the story that happened here. For example, "The Wind Stir the Snow" tells that one year on the third day of March, the temperature plummeted and the wind rolled snow all over the sky, but the person who picked up his aunt still had to go to Lishan to pick up his aunt against the cold wind. Yao Wang was deeply moved, so he wrote this song to thank everyone for their true feelings and kindness. This song is only played by sheep. For example, the song "Eat Tofu" is mostly performed when walking on the road or eating halfway, and the teams along the way have to rest and eat collectively in several designated villages. In the third month of the lunar calendar, there is no good meal for everyone in the village, mostly some cold dishes, among which the most popular is tofu milk, which can alleviate the fatigue and hardship on the road. This song sounds like a cool breeze, which makes people feel cool and comfortable. Another example is Laughing Home, which vividly depicts E Huang and Nv Ying talking and laughing with the villagers on the road. This song expresses everyone's happy mood. For example, on April 28th of the lunar calendar every year, the team from Lishan on the west side of Fenhe River will go to Yangyu Village on the east side of Fenhe River to "meet the empress". On this day, the team from Yeung Yi Village will wait to meet at the east bank of Fenhe River. When the team from Lishan came to the river, the two teams greeted each other across the river and beat gongs and drums to show their greetings. Yeung Yi Village Team played the Qupai of Xijiang Beach to greet relatives in the west, while Lishan Team played Dongjiang Sand on the other side of the river in the east.
What is more noteworthy is that people in both places consider themselves relatives, so they continue the custom of not marrying each other.