Bouyei Bronze Drum Twelve Tunes

The twelve tunes are an ancient Bouyei percussion tradition played on bronze-cast drums in twelve movements, often joined by suona, skin drums, large cymbals and gongs, current chiefly in Anshun's Zhenning Bouyei-Miao county and reaching into Guanling, Liuzhi and Puding. It entered the first national ICH list in 2006.

The drumming follows a twelve-tune form, each movement with its own name and use, suited to sacrifice, funeral, wedding or festival; the drum patterns interweave with the suona in solemn, varied rhythms, long handed down within families or from master to apprentice by word of mouth.

The twelve tunes carry the historical memory, ritual order and musical taste of the Bouyei people, a living remnant for the study of southwest minority instrumental music and bronze culture, and important for understanding Bouyei society.