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CHINESE MUSIC. 75 6°. SKIN. From the remotest a.ges the Chinese seem to have been acquainted with instruments of percussion, of whicp. the tanned skin of animals was the vibrating medium. Drums made of baked clay, filled with bran and covered with skin, were the first in use. The idea of drums seems, however, to have come from the nations of Central A~ia. 1 Of all the Chinese drums none ai·e braced by cords ; the skin is fastened on with nails. No. 40.-The Chin-lcii (~ lit) is also called 1c. ~ ~ (Tci-ch'eng-lcu), because it is ordinarily placed on the left side of the Ta-ch'eng gate. At the Peking Confucian temple it, is suspended in the eastern pagoda, and corresponds to the large bell hung in the western pagoda. It is about 5 feet in diameter. No. 4r.-The Y.ing-ku (;/i. jj) is a drum suspended in a frame by four rings and beaten on the upper surface with two sticks. It is about 3 feet high and 2 feet in diameter. It is richly painted and ornamented with birds, dragons, Ho ,ers, etc. Its place at the Confucian worship is on the eMt side of the " Moon Terrace." It is beaten three times at the end of each verse. Undel' the Sui (I~) dynasty this kind of dmm was called ~ it (chien-lcu). 1 Sec rn ~ q.J by m ~ · LO