Northeastern Big Drum (Dongbei Dagu)

Dongbei Dagu took shape during the Qing dynasty when drum-storytelling from Shandong and Hebei migrants merged with local northeastern music; by the Republican era it was widely performed across northeastern cities.

The performer beats a large drum while knocking steel clappers for rhythm, narrating long historical stories and folk legends in everyday Mandarin-inflected speech.

Dongbei Dagu is an important living heritage for studying northeastern migration culture and the northern evolution of Han Chinese storytelling arts.