Gongs, Bells, and Cymbals: The Archaeological Record in Maritime Asia from the Ninth to the Seventeenth Centuries

Nicolas, Arsenio

doi:10.1017/s0740155800004148

yearb. tradit. music

2009

DOI: 10.1017/s0740155800004148

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Gongs, Bells, and Cymbals: The Archaeological Record in Maritime Asia from the Ninth to the Seventeenth Centuries

Arsenio Nicolas¹

Abstract: The growth and expansion of maritime trade in the first millennium CE altered the musical landscape of Asia, from earlier Austronesian and Austroasiatic migrations, to the early contacts with India, China, Arabia, and the continuing navigation towards the Pacific and Oceania. Much later in the tenth century, Chinese chronicles describe that peoples from the south called Luzoes (Luzon, Philippines) had invaded its southern shores, while Indian histories record the voyages of sailors from western Indonesia. By t… Show more

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Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

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Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Blench

2014

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Although the Indian Ocean has long been recognised as a fertile zone for cultural exchange, reflecting both trade routes and colonisation, it is only now coming into prominence in terms of its significance for the past history of the continents around its rim. It is now accepted that economic plants, animals, diseases, trade goods, languages, religion and cultural elements all moved around and across the Indian Ocean, often transforming the societies and environments into which they were introduced. The paper explores one specific aspect of cultural exchange, music and musical practice in the Indian Ocean. Case studies are used to assess the value and significance of different categories of evidence for the reconstruction of musical history and the resultant chronostratigraphy. These include the history of two types of zither which occur on both sides of the Indian Ocean and which attest to the significance of geographical distributions of material culture. A related issue is the vexed question of the similarities of the xylophone in Southeast Asia and Africa and the role of morphology in resolving the historical direction of transfer. Slavery and the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean have only recently been the subject of in-depth scholarly examination, and the paper summarises current literature and begins the process of categorising the exchange of musical subcultures. This throws into focus an important aspect of maritime transfers in the Indian Ocean: the low profile of some of the great trading nations, such as the Sassanians and the Chinese, in terms of cultural influence, despite their importance in overall trade. The paper suggests that disease and a focus on trade to the exclusion of other activities may account for this disparity.Résumé Néanmoins que l'Océane Indien a été longtemps reconnues comme zone fertile pour les échanges culturelles, réfléchissant les routes du commerce et colonisation, ce n'est que maintenant qu'il commence a devenir plus connu pour son signifiance pour l'histoire des continents autour de sa bassin. C'est reçu que les plantes utiles, les animaux, les maladies, les religions et des éléments culturaux ont étés transferts autour et au travers l'Océan Indien, souvent transformant les sociétés et environnements dans Afr Archaeol Rev (2014) 31:675-703

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Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Blench

2014

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Vocabulary of Traditional Material Culture in Languages of Southeast Asia

Dmitrenko

2023

Russian Foundation for Basic Research Journal. Humanities and Social Sciences

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The article presents some findings of the research project "Traditional Material Culture Realia in Southeast Asia Languages and Folklore Texts". The main goal of the project is to show how the common for various South-East Asia populations material-culture elements are reflected in the areal languages — primarily, in their vocabulary. As an example of the research under the project, the article proposes an analysis of two lexemes for ‘gong’ and ‘cymbal’, respectively. Our research traces the “migration” of the corresponding terms between languages belonging to the various language families of the area (Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Sino-Tibetan, and Kra-Tai). Hypotheses on the ways of these lexemes’ distribution across the region are proposed. The article also describes the main results of our 2022 expedition to the north of Cambodia (a region inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Austroasiatic language family).

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The Petroglyphs of Indo-Myanmar Frontier

Haokip

2021

Ancient Asia

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The southern part of Manipur bordering Myanmar reveals petroglyphs and represents an ideal region for studying archaeological remains and human artistry heritage. This paper is an introduction to three petroglyphic rock art assemblages located in the Indo-Myanmar frontier. Comparisoned with dated archaeological materials of adjoining areas, the engraved figures ranges from pre-historic arts to the pre-colonial era of the region. The engraved figures are thematically organized, and contextualized within the subject matter. It argues that the engraved figures like beads, gongs, ponies, and guns are evidence to trade relations with the rest of the world since time immemorial. The motifs were analysed using select colonial ethnographic works, oral literature, folklores, tales current in and around the Indo-Burma frontiers.

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Gongs, Bells, and Cymbals: The Archaeological Record in Maritime Asia from the Ninth to the Seventeenth Centuries

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Using Diverse Sources of Evidence for Reconstructing the Past History of Musical Exchanges in the Indian Ocean

Vocabulary of Traditional Material Culture in Languages of Southeast Asia

The Petroglyphs of Indo-Myanmar Frontier

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