Dung (musical instrument)
Dung ( Tibetan “trumpet”, originally “shell”) refers to natural trumpets played in Tibetan Buddhist ritual music .
Dung kar
The two best-known representatives of these simple Tibetan wind instruments differ only in their size, but not in their use in religious ceremonies. The snail horn dung kar is made from a snail shell, the tip of which is broken off as an injection opening. Right- turning white snail horns are preferred for dung kar . They often have wings made of stamped copper or silver sheet, which are elaborately decorated with semi-precious stones or corals. A tube made of the same metal serves as the mouthpiece.
Dung
The up to 4.5 meters long trumpet dung chen ("big trumpet") made of a copper alloy has a straight, conical tube with a mouthpiece and a bell. These instruments also show their cultural significance through their filigree metal band decorations with inlaid gemstones. They consist of three (rarely two) parts that can be pushed into one another. Depending on the material used, the trumpet plunging (made of copper, also dun dmar , "red trumpet"), rag dung (made of brass) or dngul dung (made of silver).
Dbang dung
There is also a shorter, slightly curved and also conical horn instrument called the dbang dung . It consists of copper and brass and, as a musical instrument, is basically a replica of a long bone.
Rkang dung
Wind instruments, which actually consist of tubular bones with different artistic designs, are called rkang dung (also rkang gling ). The opening of the approximately 30 centimeter long bones is at the thin end and is clad with copper sheet. The ceremonial use of human thigh bones refers to the tradition of the earlier shamanistic Bon religion of Tibet. The bone trumpets are also used by Tibetan shamans to drive out ghosts or to make the weather. A traditional use for the bone trumpet was the Bdud kyi gcod yul ritual, which has been practiced since the 11th century , the name of which can be translated as “the demon must be cast out”. For this purpose, gods and demons perceived as real were summoned and one's own body was offered as a food offering. The fears that arose during this ritual of suffering, which Alexandra David-Néel described as a “macabre feast” in 1929 , should reveal the experience of the world as a mirage in the sense of the wisdom of Prajnaparamita .
In the past, according to its magical properties, the left femur was preferred by a 16-year-old girl, followed by that of a boy of the same age, a murder victim, and also a victim of a serious illness. As an attribute in the left hand of holy men, rkang dung is a traditional symbol of wisdom.
All instruments can serve to drive away evil spirits, maras , associated with death and are played in groups or at least in pairs in order to ensure constant tones without interrupting breathing.
Individual evidence
- ^ Conch Shell Trumpet (Dung Dkar), Tibet, 20th Century. Beede Gallery, University of South Dakota, 2007
- ↑ Alex Smejkal: Cult and Everyday Life in Tibet. Lower Saxony State Museum, Hanover 1990, p. 60
- ↑ Telescoping Trumpets (Zangs Dung), Tibet, 20th Century. Beede Gallery, University of South Dakota, 2007
- ↑ Brass Horn (Dbang Dung), Tibet, 19th century. Beede Gallery, University of South Dakota, 2007
- ↑ thighbone Trumpet (rKang extension), Tibet, 19th century. Beede Gallery, University of South Dakota, 2007
- ↑ Alex Smejkal, p. 64 f
- ↑ Robert Beer: Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols. Publishers Group, Enfield (UK) 2003, p. 110