Musical instrument: yunluo
(雲鑼)
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 7 September 2026)
Painting (book plate) of a musician playing a yunluo. Watercolor on paper. Probably
painted in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, southern China, late 18th century (c. 1797), during
the Qing Dynasty. Marking: "Gift of John Howel/August 23.1797." Height: 17 in. (43.2 cm); width:
14 in. (35.6 cm); thickness: 1/2 in. (1.3 cm). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
New York (item no. 1990.289.14). Gift of Lawrence Creshkoff, 1990.
In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Chinese musical instrument called yúnluó (雲鑼, literally "cloud gongs" or "cloud of gongs"), a percussion instrument consisting of between 10 and 14 (but usually 10, and sometimes as few as 3, 5, or 9) small tuned brass gongs of equal diameter, suspended in a vertical frame and struck with a single curved beater.
According to musicologist Lin Chiang-san (林江山), the reference to an áo (璈) in this 4th-century poem from the Jin Dynasty describes an instrument that could be considered a proto-yunluo. The character 璈 has a jade radical, however, indicating that the instrument referred to in the poem may actually have been some type of chime made from multiple pieces of jade.
《法婴玄灵之曲二首》
作者：葛洪（晋）
by Ge Hong (Jin Dynasty, c. 284-364)
Preface:
《汉武帝内传》曰：元封元年七月七日，西王母降于汉宫，王母自设天厨，精妙非常。酒觞数遍，王母命诸侍玉女作乐，命法婴歌《玄灵之曲》。乃遣侍女招上元夫人。夫人至，自弹云琳之琴，歌《步玄之曲》，曰：
其一
大象虽寥廓，我把天地户。
披云沉灵舆，倏忽适下土。
空洞成玄音，至精不容冶。
太真嘘中唱，始知风尘苦。
颐神三田中，纳精六阙下。
遂乘万龙楯，驰骋眄九野。
其二
玄圃遏北台，五城焕嵯峨。
启彼无涯津，泛此织女河。
仰止升绛庭，下游月窟阿。
顾盻八落外，指招九云遐。
忽已不觉劳，岂悟少与多。
抚璈命众女，咏歌发中和。
妙畅自然乐，为此玄云歌。
韶尽至韵存，真音辞无邪。
Detail of mural depicting a set of three tuned gongs in a frame. According to musicologist Lin Chiang-san (林江山),
this instrument, which is first documented in the Jin Dynasty (266-420), was called áo (璈). Probably from
either 1) one of the Mogao Caves (Chinese: Mogao Ku, 莫高窟), located southeast of Dunhuang, Jiuquan,
northwestern Gansu province, northwest China, or 2) one of the Yulin Grottoes (Chinese: Yulin Ku, 榆林窟), Guazhou County, near Dunhuang, Jiuquan, northwestern Gansu province, northwest China. Probably painted
in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period or Tang Dynasty.
One of the first iconographic representations of a 10-gong yunluo is the smaller-than-normal instrument that appears in the painting "Huolang Tu"《货郎图》(Painting of a Peddler) by the Song Dynasty painter Su Hanchen (苏汉臣, 1094-1172), who was a native of Kaifeng.
Detail of "Huolang Tu"《货郎图》(Painting of a Peddler) by the Song Dynasty painter Su Hanchen
(苏汉臣, 1094-1172), showing a toy-sized 10-gong yunluo. Ink and colors on silk. Length: 62.68 in. (159.2 cm);
width: 38.19 in. (97 cm). Collection of the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), Taipei, Taiwan
(item no. 故-畫-000090-00000 or 故畫000090N000000000 or 故畫00009000000).
More information: https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/Painting/Content?pid=1355&Dept=P or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Knickknack_Peddler2.jpg
More information: https://digitalarchive.npm.gov.tw/Painting/Content?pid=1355&Dept=P or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Knickknack_Peddler2.jpg
The yunluo first achieved wide popularity during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and is today used primarily in Daoist and Buddhist ceremonial ensemble music, as well as occasionally in Kunqu accompaniment or shifan ensemble music. In some traditions (including, most notably, shengguan ensemble music from Hebei province and Xi'an guyue), a yunluo player may play two yunluo simultaneously (using one beater in each hand), and a yunluo may also be played while standing or in procession. In the 20th century expanded (chromatic) modernized yunluo with 29 or more gongs of varying diameter were invented for use in modern traditional Chinese orchestras.
According to the ethnomusicologist Du Yaxiong (2002), a yunluo used by the ceremonial music association in Beixinzhuang Village (北辛庄村), Beijing had the following arrangement of pitches (A being the usual tonal center for shengguan ensemble music of the Central Hebei Plain, which is bounded to the north by Beijing, to the east by Tianjin, and to the south by Cangzhou and Dingzhou, Hebei, and including nearly 30 cities and counties of Hebei province):
C♯3
D2 B2 A2
E2 F♯2 G♯2
C♯2 B1 A1
In South Korea, the same instrument is known as ulla (운라 / 雲鑼 or 雲羅), gu unra (구운라 / 九雲鑼), or wuno (운오 / 雲璈). Although a quite uncommon instrument in South Korea, it continues to be used to a limited extent in traditional music, primarily in light, upbeat ensemble pieces.
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Additional Web resources
● Information about the book Eishi Gakki Tu《魏氏樂器圖》(Illustrations of Musical Instruments of the Wei Family) by Wei Hao (魏浩, courtesy name Wei Ziming, 魏子明), a music scholar of Chinese heritage, which was published in Nagasaki, Japan in 1780, during the Edo (Tokugawa) period
C♯2 B1 A1
According to musicologist Lin Chiang-san (林江山), based on this passage from vol. 3 of the Northern Song Dynasty story collection Taiping Guangji《太平广记》(Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), which is believed to have been handed down from the Wei-Jin period rather than the Western Han Dynasty being described, it is possible that a similar instrument called ao (璈) or yun'ao (云璈) was an early prototype of the yunluo:
《太平廣記 • 漢武帝》：「於坐上酒觴數遍，王母乃命諸侍女王子登彈八琅之璈，又命侍女董雙成吹雲和之笙，石公子擊昆庭之金，許飛瓊鼓震靈之簧。婉淩華拊五靈之石。范成君擊湘陰之磬，段安香作九天之鈞。於是衆聲澈朗。靈音駭空。又命法嬰歌玄靈之曲。」From Taiping Guangji: Emperor Wu of Han:
After several rounds of wine had been served at the gathering, the Queen Mother [of the West] ordered her maidservant Wang Zideng to play the ao made from eight pieces of pure white jade, further commanding her maidservant Dong Shuangcheng to blow the sheng from Cloud-Harmony [Mountain]; Shi Gongzi to strike the bells from the court of Kunlun, and Xu Feiqiong to pluck the Jew's harp, activating the spirits. [In addition], Wan Linghua tapped the stones of the Five Spirits, Fan Chengjun struck the chimes of Xiangyin, and Duan Anxiang regulated [their] pitch to the standard of the Nine Heavens. Thereupon, the various sounds rang out with the utmost clarity and brilliance, the numinous sounds astonishing the empty sky. She then commanded Faying to sing the Song of the Mysterious Spirit.
http://www.guoxue123.com/zhibu/0401/01tpgj/005.htm
A ceremonial ensemble musician teaching a young student to play a yunluo. Screenshot
from a Xinhua News video about the South Gaoluo Music Association (南高洛音乐会), a ritual
music association from Nan Gaoluo Village (南高洛村), Yi'an Town (义安镇), Laishui County (涞水县),
northern Baoding (保定市), central Hebei province (河北省), northern China, which plays music that
has been referred to as a "living fossil" (Chinese: huohua shi, 活化石) of Chinese music, although its
repertoire probably dates to no earlier than the Ming and Qing dynasties, the village having been
settled in the early 15th century. The video was probably filmed in 2022.
A Korean ulla (운라 / 雲鑼 or 雲羅). Photo probably taken in a museum in Seoul, South Korea.
Based on an illustration in the book Eishi Gakki Tu《魏氏樂器圖》(Illustrations of Musical Instruments of the Wei Family) by Wei Hao (魏浩, courtesy name Wei Ziming, 魏子明), a music scholar of Chinese heritage, which was published in Nagasaki, Japan in 1780, during the Edo (Tokugawa) period, the yunluo may have been used to a limited extent in Japan, as part of that country's tradition of mingaku and shingaku (imported Chinese music of Ming and Qing origin).
Illustration of a yunluo from Eishi Gakki Tu《魏氏樂器圖》(Illustrations of Musical Instruments of the
Wei Family), a book by Wei Hao (魏浩, courtesy name Wei Ziming, 魏子明), a music scholar of Chinese
heritage, which was published in Nagasaki, Japan in 1780, during the Edo (Tokugawa) period.
In Vietnam a smaller version with just three gongs, called tam âm la (三音鑼, literally "three-tone gongs"), has been used, primarily in court banquet music, since at least the 18th century.
Illustration (with accompanying text) of a cây tam âm la (丐三音鑼), a set of three small gongs
suspended in a frame with a handle, used in the Annamese court orchestra of the Qing Dynasty,
which was established in 1789 and performed banquet music of Vietnamese origin. From vol. 9 of the
Qing Dynasty source Huang Chao Li Qi Tu Shi《皇朝礼器图式》, compiled by Yunlu (允禄, 1695-1767),
Jiang Pu (蒋溥, 1708-1761), and other scholars, which was published during the Qianlong period
(between 1759 and 1795).
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Chinese historical reference works discussing the yunluo
● Yunji Qiqian《云笈七签》
Yunji Qiqian is a Daoist work compiled by the Daoist priest Zhang Junfang (张君房) during the Tianxi era (1017-1021) of the reign of Emperor Zhenzong (r. 997-1022) of the Northern Song Dynasty. Volume 98 describes an instrument called a yu ao (玉璈), though it isn't clear if the instrument being described matches the yunluo in construction and playing technique:
「九音郎紫空，玉璈洞太無。」
Nine sounds [ring?] through the Purple Void,
As a jade ao [is played] in the Cave of Great Non-Existence.
In this passage, "郎" (lang, meaning "man") may be a misprint for "锒" (lang, meaning "clank").
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%9B%B2%E7%AC%88%E4%B8%83%E7%B1%A4/98
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=323379
● Yuan Shi《元史》(The History of Yuan)
The official history of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Yuan Shi was completed in 1370 (actually during the early Ming Dynasty). It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史). The yun'ao (雲璈, sometimes misspelled 雲敖) is mentioned briefly in both Yuan Shi and Xin Yuan Shi (this latter work being the revised version of Yuan Shi completed in the Republic period).
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/00ysf/067.htm
http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/00xys/093.htm
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Chinese poems mentioning the yunluo
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Bibliography
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Additional Web resources
● Article listing mentions of the yun'ao (云璈) in literature of the Tang Dynasty
● Information about the book Eishi Gakki Tu《魏氏樂器圖》(Illustrations of Musical Instruments of the Wei Family) by Wei Hao (魏浩, courtesy name Wei Ziming, 魏子明), a music scholar of Chinese heritage, which was published in Nagasaki, Japan in 1780, during the Edo (Tokugawa) period
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Thanks to Lin Chiang-san for assistance with this page.
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