Wooden Drum House

Wooden Drum House

Wooden Drum House

The wooden drum is a unique type of drum among China’s 56 ethnic groups, specifically used by the Wa people. It is regarded as the supreme spiritual tool for communicating with the heavens in the Wa people’s primitive nature worship, the embodiment of the omnipotent god Movi, and the guardian deity of Wa villages. The functions of the wooden drum are: first, for religious ceremonies, praying for the drum to bless the village with peace, a bountiful harvest, and the prosperity of both people and livestock; second, for sounding alarms — in case of emergencies such as fires or external threats in the village, the drum is beaten to alert villagers and gather them for emergency response to protect the village’s interests; third, for song and dance entertainment. Each village has at least one wooden drum house, and some even have one for each clan. As a result, it’s common to see multiple wooden drum houses in a single village.

Address: Ximeng County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province