Measurements: L. 26 cm, mouth dia. 11 cm
Period: The High Tang (650--755 CE)
Provenance: Unearthed at Zhangzhuang village, Shanwangzhuang township, Qinyang, Henan province, 1987

The hollowed waist drum, wheelmade, features a plain surface save for a band of bowsring under the mouth rim and five horizontal ribbed bands.
   
Being one of the traditional percussion instruments of China, the drum evolved into a great variety of modern types from the different ancient prototypes which were made of various materials such as pottery, clay, leather, bronze, and was one of the favored and widely used musical instruments for thousands of years in China. In Sui and Tang dynasties, drum was widely used in the performances in the royal courts, in Tang dynasty, it was used by the few ensembles of the Shibuji (Ten Ensembles), including Xiliang(Western Liang), Qiuci, Gaochang, Gaoli,etc. The present hand drum of Tang dynasty is extremely rare in archaeological finds in China, thus it is the precious archaeological example for the study on the Tang musical instruments.