Chinese frame of small pitched gongs suspended vertically from a wooden frame. The frame is held by a handle or rested on a stand on a table, and struck with a tipped beater. An ensemble may use one frame or two, played by one player or two.
The yunluo (lit. ‘cloud gongs’) has been considered as a portable descendant of the ancient sets of bells or lithophones (see Zhong, Qing) and the Tang dynasty fangxiang. The Yuan dynastic history refers to a similar instrument called yun'ao, with 13 gongs. Part of temple and court ensembles since the Yuan dynasty (see China, §II, 4, fig.1), it is still common in northern ritual ensembles today.
The common form of yunluo has ten gongs (though frames of 7, 9, 14 are also found), each suspended by four cords in an individual cubicle within the frame. They are usually arranged in rows of three with one central gong at the top, though in the ceremonial music of Xi'an (see also An Laixu) the gongs are in a pyramid shape of 4 3 2 1. The gongs, of equal size but different thickness, are tuned to a heptatonic scale, with a range of a 10th; they belong to the melodic section of an ensemble. The ‘improved’ chromatic yunluo sometimes featured in the modern ‘national music’ orchestra may have over 40 gongs.
A related instrument is the Korean ulla. The Tibetan mkhar-rnga, also a ceremonial instrument, seems to be borrowed from Chinese temple ensembles.
Yuan Jingfang: Minzu qiyue xinshang shouce [Handbook for the appreciation of Chinese instrumental music] (Beijing, 1986), 93
Liu Dongsheng and Yuan Quanyou, eds.: Zhongguo yinyue shi tujian [Pictorial guide to the history of Chinese music] (Beijing, 1988) [YYS pubn]
Liu Dongsheng, ed.: Zhongguo yueqi tujian [Pictorial guide to Chinese musical instruments] (Ji'nan, 1992), 52–5
China: Folk Instrumental Traditions, AIMP VDE 822–823 (1995)
S. Jones: Folk Music of China: Living Instrumental Traditions (Oxford, 1995, 2/1998 with CD), 181–225
STEPHEN JONES