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Objects/Yunluo (雲鑼 )"Cloud Gong"
Object Image

Yunluo (雲鑼 )"Cloud Gong"

Unknown Artist

The yunluo consists of ten tuned bronze gongs of varying thicknesses, which provide different pitches when struck with a small mallet. First cited in the early fourteenth century, this instrument was originally used at court and in Confucian ceremonies, but by the eighteenth century, it was also found at private rituals such as weddings and funerals. By the mid-twentieth century, it had been incorporated into large orchestras and was enlarged to twenty-four or more gongs struck with two mallets.

Credit: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889

19th century

Bronze, wood

71.1 x 16.5 x 10.2 cm

89.4.15a

Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025

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