Pigeon whistles

Pigeon whistles are a large component of this subcollection in the Laufer collections. These pigeon whistles, known as geling, are attached to a pigeon’s tail feathers with a length of wire. Thus, when the pigeon flies, air passing through the whistle produces a melodic, whistling sound that was iconic of early twentieth-century Beijing. The way the whistles are attached to the pigeons can be seen in Figure 1. There are multiple purposes for the sound of the whistle—for one’s enjoyment of the whistling sound, to allow the owner to recognize the birds, or to scare away birds of prey.^[1] Laufer, however, seemed to disagree with this latter theory behind the use of pigeon whistles. In a 1908 Scientific American article, Laufer wrote that “there seems, however, little reason to believe that a hungry hawk could be induced by this innocent music to keep aloof from satisfying his appetite; and this doubtless savors of an after-thought which came up long after the introduction of this usage, through the attempt to give a rational and practical interpretation of something that has no rational origin whatsoever; for it is not the pigeon that profits from this practice, but merely the human ear, which feasts on the wind-blown tunes, and derives aesthetic pleasure from this music.”^[2] In a separate short article for the 1934 issue of the Field Museum bulletin, Laufer reiterates this belief.^[3]

^[1] Mitchell Clark, “Chinese Instruments in the Galpin Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with a Focus on the Sound-Makers."

^[2] Berthold Laufer, “Chinese Pigeon Whistles,” 394.

^[3] Berthold Laufer, “Pigeon Whistles,” 3.

Collected in Beijing during Laufer’s 1923 Marshall Field Expedition to China, the Laufer collection of pigeon whistles has examples of at least three of the four main types of pigeon whistles. The four types of pigeon whistles are the tubular type, platform type, gourd type, and combined type. The tubular type of pigeon whistle consists of a set of pipes attached together side-by-side, an example of which can be seen in the top left of Figure 2. The platform type is similar to the tubular type, but instead of the pipes being arranged side-by-side, the pipes are clustered together. The gourd type is made out of a small gourd, and can be seen the bottom row of Figure 2. And the combined type is a combination of tubes and gourds, an example of which can be seen in the middle row of Figure 2.^{[1] [2]} The pigeon whistles in the Laufer collection were usually made of reed, gourds, and bamboo. In addition, many of the pigeon whistles were lacquered to help protect the surface, and pigments were added, likely for decorative purposes.^[3] The names of the makers were also often carved onto the whistles.^[4]

^[1] China Today, “The Pigeon Whistle: A Defining Sound of Old Beijing."

^[2] More China, “The Beijing Pigeon Whistle - and Pigeon training tips | More China.”

^[3] Berthold Laufer, “Chinese Pigeon Whistles,” 394.

^[4] Berthold Laufer, “Pigeon Whistles,” 3.