Wei Wanyi paid for his first drum in the 1970s with the most valuable thing he owned: cattle. It was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with the ancient musical instruments, and over the next thirty years, Wei has managed to collect 24 of the ancient musical instruments.
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Wei Wanyi and his drum
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Cast from bronze and often over 700 years old, the drums were mainly used by the Zhuang people in Guangxi, in southern China near Vietnam. They were a part of harvest celebrations, marriages, funerals, and other cultural rituals, and were also used to give orders to the army.
¡°Bronze drums have been a significant part of Zhuang people's daily life for generations,¡± Wei said, explaining his interest in them. ¡°I am willing to carry on Chinese culture by collecting ancient bronze drums because they are historic treasures and I love them.¡±
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Drums are important to Zhuang people.
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His hometown, Donglan County in Guangxi, has one of the largest collections of bronze drums in the world; there are nearly 2,400 ancient bronze drums preserved in museums across the globe, and 612 of them are at Donglan County, according to the Guangxi Museum.
Unsurprisingly, Wei ¨C who has earned the nickname ¡°king of the bronze drums¡± in Donglan ¨C is also somewhat of a bronze drum expert. Three elements make a good bronze drum, he eagerly explains: tone£¬texture, and pattern. High quality drums are generally crimson and can play seven different notes. Different patterns on the drums represent different groups of people¡¯s beliefs.
