Comparative Research On Chinese And Burmese Elephant-foot Drum’s Musical Instrument Culture

Chinese Dai and Burmese Shan are two homologous cross-border ethnic groups,two ethnic groups are the branches of Dianyue in Baiyue nationality of the HanDynasty for the development of the source, and at the beginning of the century or thefirst century A. D., they walked along the Pearl River west to central part of YunnanProvince. Few of them were gradually moved to Burma area multiplied at the eighthcentury. As a homologue of the cross-border ethnic groups, Chinese Dai and BurmeseShan are closely related in the production, life, religion and culture, etc. From theproduction point of view, both of which belong to the farming nation, whether fromChinese Dai’s place of residence, or in the Burmese Shan area, both can obtain manydetailed field basis. In life, both eating glutinous rice, women with narrow sleevejacket and skirt, updo, wearing headcloth, men with no collar breasted or front sleeveshirts, wearing long pants, headcloth. They live in house which structure and style arevery similar. Two nationalities belong to the Dai Thai language, use Dai, and speakDai. In belief, both believe in Theravada Buddhism, especially the residence in thearea of Burmese Shan, monk, pagodas and temples all over the city. From the musicpoint of view, the communication and spread ’Elephant-foot Drum’s musicalinstrument culture can reflect the two homologous cross-border ethnic groupsconnected by close relationship.As the homologous cross-border ethnic groups, Chinese Dai and Burmese Shanshare the same cultural gene. Among them, the ’Elephant-foot Drum’s instrumentculture is one of the most representative cultural matter. Because,’Elephant-footDrum’ is the common film-ringing percussion instrument of the two peoples, oftenused in folk festival activities and Buddhist ceremony activities, and in the longdevelopment course, loved by two of cross-border ethnic groups, and is anindispensable important cultural events in the daily life of two cross-border ethnic.The author found in the literature on the Sino-Burmese ’Elephant-foot Drum’s culturalstudies, the Chinese Dai and Burmese Shan ’Elephant-foot Drum’s culture comparisonresearch is so far still blank. And research literature in the ’Elephant foot Drum’musical instrument, most of them is just only the description of the musicalinstrument itself. After a lot of field work the author thinks that:1. The word’Elephant-foot Drum’ is a misreading by the outsider to the Dai nationality of Chineseand Burmese Shan’s film-ringing percussion instrument name.2. The academic classification standard of two homologous cross-border ethnic groups ’Elephant footDrum’ should reach a consensus.3. The study of the ’Elephant-foot Drum’ instrumentmust be in the perspective of organology and ethnomusicology.4. The study of the’Elephant-foot Drum’ should be from the aspect of theory and practice withcomparative study and practical application.In this paper, from the perspective of organology, with the method ofethnomusicology, based on the previous research, and combined with a large numberof field investigation data in sino-burmese, similarities and differences are interpretedsystematically in culture gene of two homologous cross-border ethnic groups’Elephant foot Drum’ musical instrument from academic level. And the two ethnicgroups ’Eelephant foot Drum’ musical instrument culture not only has the stabilitycharacteristics of common, but also has the different variability. Common stabilitycharacteristics illustrate cultural gene in two cross-border ethnic groups is related byblood, while the variability of the difference, reflects that even the same culture indifferent time, cultural changes would happen, which is suitable with the culturalbackground.