Tiger Seat Bird Drum
虎座凤鸟架鼓
虎座凤鸟架鼓
During the sacrificial ceremony under Chu culture, there were also many musical instruments needed, and the drum played an important role. From the material angle, lacquer craft is also the highlight of the State of Chu with national characteristics and high artistic achievements. As early as 2000 years ago in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, a large number of exquisite lacquered works had appeared.
Credit to Su Danqing
" 凤皇翼其承旗兮, 高翱翔之翼翼。"
——《离骚》
Warring States period
Height 135.9cm, Width 134cm
Unearthed in 2002 from the 2nd Tomb of Jiuliandun in Zaoyang, Hubei Province
Hubei Provincial Museum
Tiger Seat Bird Drum is one of the representative lacquered works in Chu culture, consisting of two recumbent tigers sitting back to back on the base with their tails raised and their limbs bent. On the back of the tigers, each stands a long-legged phoenix bird holding its head high. In the middle, a large drum hangs between the crowns of two phoenix birds. Then, two young tigers put their hind feet on phoenixes' backs, and front feet supporting the drum cavity. The whole body of Tiger Seat Bird Drum is painted in black lacquer, with red and yellow painting, showing the solemn and mysterious atmosphere of Chu culture.
Chu people worship phoenix as a totem. A large number of cultural relics unearthed in the Chu tombs show that Chu people's totem worship of phoenix birds is probably connected with ancestor worship. They considered themselves as descendants of Zhurong, the god of fire, while phoenix is seen as "the spirit of fire". What’s more, the tiger is related to the white tiger totem worship of Ba Shu culture. Since Chu culture and Ba Shu culture have always influenced and merged with each other, the cultural relics unearthed in Chu also often have elements of the combination of tiger and phoenix.