Musical instrument: fou
(缶)
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 22 August 2023)
One of three three-legged celadon vessels claimed by music historian and archaeologist Wang Zichu (王子初, b. 1948) to be a fou, which were excavated in 2003 or 2004 from the extra-large tomb in the Qiuchengdun tomb complex (邱承墩特大型墓) at the Hongshan archaeological site (鸿山遗址) in Hongshan Subdistrict (鸿山街道), Xinwu District (新吴区), Wuxi, southern Jiangsu province, east-central China. The tomb is believed to have belonged to a nobleman of the state of Yue (越) during the Spring and Autumn period (c. 771 BC-c. 476 BC).
In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Chinese musical instrument called fou (/pɨuX/)--a pottery wine vessel (crock or jar) with a wide belly and narrow mouth that was played as an idiophone, by striking either with the hands or sticks--as documented in the Chinese historical record. The reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation is /jɨɐk̚/ (Zhengzhang) and the reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations are /*p(r)uʔ/ (Baxter-Sagart) or /*puʔ/ (Zhengzhang).
Because of a lack of excavated specimens, it remains uncertain exactly how ancient fou were constructed, shaped, or played.
Other types of Chinese wine vessels including the pen (盆) and weng (瓮), which were larger than the fou, were also used as percussion instruments in ancient times.
Other types of Chinese wine vessels including the pen (盆) and weng (瓮), which were larger than the fou, were also used as percussion instruments in ancient times.
According to musicologist Mr. Lin Chiang-san (林江山), who believes that the Hongshan celadon vessels have been mistakenly identified as specimens of musical fou, the historical descriptions of fou indicating that such instruments were actually shaped like this (similar to the Nigerian udu or Indian ghatam):
Also, according to Mr. Lin:
在先秦時期，有擊缶、擊盆兩類，後來用擊缶這個名稱來代表這一類的所有敲擊樂器。
Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.
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Chinese historical reference works discussing the fou
Chinese historical reference works discussing the fou
●《詩經 · 陳風 · 宛丘》
「陈一之十二，子之汤兮，宛丘之上兮。洵有情兮，而无望兮。坎坎击鼓，宛丘之下，无冬无夏，值其鹭羽；坎其击缶，宛丘之道，无冬无夏，值其鹭翳。」
●《說文解字．缶部》
「缶，瓦器，所以盛酒漿，秦人鼔之，以節歌。」
●《易经·比卦》
「不鼓缶而歌」
●《舊唐書·音乐志》卷二九音樂志二
「缶，如足盆，古西戎之樂，秦俗應而用之。其形似覆盆，以四杖擊之。」
●《辞海》
「盛酒浆的容器，小口大腹，也有铜制的。」
● (1) 一种古容量单位,等于十六斗。一说三十二斗薮二有半谓之缶,缶二谓之钟。——《小尔雅》
●《礼记·礼器》记：“五献之尊，门外缶，门内壶。」
●《左传·襄公九年》
「春，宋灾。乐喜为司城以为政。使伯氏司里。火所未至，徹小屋，塗大屋；陈畚挶；具綆缶，备水器；量轻重，蓄水潦；巡丈城，缮守备。」
● 杜预注：
「缶，汲器。”陆德明释：“汲水瓦器”。清，段玉裁记:“缶，有小大，如汲水之缶，盖小者也。”
●《汉书·杨恽传》
「酒后耳热，仰天拊缶，而呼乌乌。」
● 李斯《谏逐客令》
「击瓮叩缶，弹筝博髀」
● 李斯《谏逐客书》
「夫击瓮叩缻，弹筝搏髀而歌呼呜呜快耳目者，真秦之声也。」
● 李斯《上书秦始皇》
「夫击甕叩缶，弹筝搏髀，而歌呜呜快耳者，真秦之声也。」
● 李斯〈諫逐客書〉
「夫擊瓮叩缶、彈箏搏髀，而歌呼嗚嗚快耳者，真秦之聲也」。
●《史记·廉颇蔺相如列传》
「‘寡人窃闻赵王好音，请奏瑟。’赵王鼓瑟，秦御史前书曰：‘某年月日，秦王与赵王会饮，令赵王鼓瑟。’蔺相如前曰：‘赵王窃闻秦王善为秦声，请奉盆缶秦王，以相娱乐。’秦王怒，不许。于是相如前进缶，因跪请秦王……于是秦王不怿，为一击缶；相如顾召赵御史书曰：‘某年月日，秦王为赵王击缶。’」
秦王擊缶
The King of Qin Strikes a Fou
秦王擊缶講的是秦王和趙王在喝酒行樂時，被逼為趙王擊缶的事。
"The King of Qin Strikes a Fou" tells the story of how the King of Qin, while drinking and having a good time with the King of Zhao, was forced to strike a fou for the King of Zhao.
秦王喝酒喝得高興時説：“我私下聽説趙王喜好音樂，請趙王彈彈瑟吧!”趙王就彈起瑟來。秦國的史官走上前來寫道：“某年某月某日，秦王與趙王會盟飲酒，命令趙王彈瑟。”藺相如走向前去説：“趙王私下聽説秦王善於演奏秦地的樂曲，請允許我獻盆缶給秦王，（請秦王敲一敲），藉此互相娛樂吧!”秦王發怒，不肯敲缶。在這時藺相如走上前去獻上一個瓦缶，趁勢跪下請求秦王敲擊。秦王不肯敲擊瓦缶。藺相如説：“（如大王不肯敲缶），在五步距離內，我能夠把自己頸項裏的血濺在大王身上!”秦王身邊的侍從要用刀殺藺相如，藺相如瞪着眼睛呵斥他們，他們都被嚇退了。於是秦王很不高興，為趙王敲了一下瓦缶。藺相如回頭召喚趙國史官寫道：“某年某月某日，秦王為趙王擊缶。”秦國的眾大臣説：“請趙王用趙國的十五座城來給秦王獻禮。”藺相如也説：“請把秦國的都城咸陽送給趙王獻禮。”
While the King of Qin was drinking happily, he remarked, "I heard privately that the King of Zhao enjoys music; please play the se [25-string zither]!" The King of Zhao at once got up and played the se. The historian of the state of Qin came forward and wrote: "On a certain day in a certain year, the King of Qin and the King of Zhao were drinking together, [and the King of Qin] ordered the King of Zhao to play the se." Lin Xiangru [then] walked over and said, "The King of Zhao privately heard that the King of Qin is good at performing the songs of the land of Qin. Please allow me to present a fou [pottery wine jar] to the King of Qin ([and I] request the King of Qin to hit it one time), so that we can entertain one another!" The king of Qin became enraged and refused to knock the fou. At this moment, Lin Xiangru stepped forward and presented a pottery fou, and, taking advantage of the situation, he knelt down and asked the King of Qin to strike it. The King of Qin refused to strike the pottery fou. Lin Xiangru said: "(If the monarch refuses to hit the fou), within five paces I can splatter the blood from my neck onto the king!" The attendants around the King of Qin wished to kill Lin Xiangru with [their] knives, [but] Lin Xiangru stared them straight in the eye and reprimanded them, intimidating them and causing them to back down. Consequently, the King of Qin, with great displeasure, knocked once on the pottery fou for the King of Zhao. Lin Xiangru turned around and summoned the historian of the state of Zhao to write: "On a certain day in a certain year, the King of Qin struck the fou for the King of Zhao." The ministers of the State of Qin said: "[We] request the King of Zhao to have the fifteen cities of the State of Zhao present gifts to the King of Qin." Lin Xiangru also said, "Please present Xianyang, the capital of the state of Qin, to the King of Zhao."
Mr. Lin Chiang-san adds the following enlightening commentary on this story:
擊缶亦作擊缻，敲擊瓦缶。秦王擊缶，秦王是武人，武人喝酒酒酣之後，隨手擊打酒罐唱歌，秦王不是音樂人，能夠對到拍子就不錯了，節奏自然是隨興的。
秦王擊缶：是趙王和秦王在外交場合上行樂時，秦王要趙王彈瑟，趙王彈瑟服務秦王，秦王氣焰壓迫趙王的意思。趙王部將藺相如不甘示弱，也請秦王為趙王擊缶，秦王當然不願意，最後秦王還是擊了缶。彈瑟是較高的文化，擊缶是粗俗人的娛樂，把秦王比下去了。
The subtext to this story is the fact that Lin Xiangru's request represented a serious loss of face for the King of Qin, who, unlike his counterpart from the state of Zhao (whose capital was located at modern-day Handan, Hebei), was without any particular musical or artistic training. As a military man, however, he was undoubtedly familiar with the custom of slapping the open mouth of an empty pottery wine vessel as a kind of ad hoc percussion instrument (producing a deep-toned, drum-like sound), something that was often done by drunken soldiers to accompany their singing after they had drained the contents of their wine jars. Because the fou, as a quasi-musical sound-producing implement used by vulgar and uncivilized people, could not compare to the sophistication of the 25-string se zither, the King of Qin correctly judged that being seen to play this "instrument" in such a formal setting would have made him (and, by extension, his state) the object of ridicule.
Artist's rendering of the story "The King of Qin Strikes a Fou" (artist unknown)
● Fengsu Tongyi《风俗通义》(Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Mores or Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Habits)
Also known as Fengsu Tong《风俗通》, this book was written by the politician, writer, and historian Ying Shao (应劭), who was a long-time close associate of Cao Cao, around 195 AD, during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The manuscript is similar to an almanac, which describes various strange and exotic matters of interest to the literati of the period, such as folk cultural practices, legends, mystical beliefs, and musical instruments. There were originally a total of 30 chapters, but only 10 remain. These chapters were recompiled by the Northern Song scientist Su Song (苏颂) from the works of Yu Zhongrong (庾仲容) and Ma Zong (马总). Some fragments of the lost chapters exist as quotations in other Chinese texts. The fou is discussed in the《聲音》chapter, as follows:
缶
謹按：《易》稱：「日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌。」《詩》云：「坎其擊缶，宛丘之道。」缶者、瓦器，所以盛漿，秦人鼓之以節歌。《太史公記》：「趙惠文王與秦昭王會於澠池，秦王飲酒酣，曰：『寡人竊聞趙王好音，請奏瑟。』趙王鼓瑟。秦御史前曰：『某日秦王與趙王會飲，令趙王鼓瑟。』藺相如前曰：『竊聞秦王善為秦聲，請奏缶以相樂。』秦王怒，不許。於是相如進曰：『五步之內，相如請得以頸血濺大王矣！』左右欲刃相如，張目叱之，皆靡。於是秦王不懌，為一擊缶。相如顧召御史書曰：『秦王為趙王擊缶』也。」
● Jiu Tang Shu《旧唐书》(The Old Book of Tang), also known simply as Tang Shu《唐书》(The Book of Tang)
This historical work in 200 volumes was completed in 945, actually during the Later Jin (后晋) Dynasty, one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十国) period following the fall of the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史). The fou is described as follows:
「缶，如足盆，古西戎之樂，秦俗應而用之。其形似覆盆，以四杖擊之。秦、趙會於澠池，秦王擊缶而歌。」
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Thanks to Guilherme Antonio Ferreira and Lin Chiang-san for assistance with this page.
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