How to convey orders by drumming in ancient times

Drums and messages are mainly used to convey some simple marching orders during the war. Its advantages are simplicity and high transmission speed in a small range. The disadvantage is that the use is mainly limited to the military, and the information conveyed is extremely limited and the scope is small.

Drums represent progress, and the frequency of percussion represents the rhythm of action.

According to the records in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins, the earliest organized communication activity was to report the military situation on the border with sound by beating drums. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions's records about the report of the frontier fortress of Pan Geng in Shang Dynasty to the emperor, there is a word "to drum", which means "beating drums to give orders". According to textual research, most of the powerful enemies in the Yin and Shang Dynasties were in the west and north. On the border, the king not only sent heavy guards, but also set up bronze drums with a diameter of 2 ~ 3 meters and put them on high shelves, with soldiers waiting beside them. Once the enemy situation appears, the drum guard immediately beats the drum and expresses different contents through the interval rhythm of the drum. Drums came frequently, station after station, and quickly reported the emergency military situation of foreign invasion to the son of heaven. In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period, there were many small vassal states. This method of transmitting information by drum has become the main means of combat communication, effectively playing the role of communication and ensuring that all countries can defend themselves in time and fight against the enemy. The book Han Feizi records such a story: Li, the king of Chu, once got drunk and played drums. The whole city's soldiers and civilians took up arms and gathered in front of the palace. Li, the king of Chu, suddenly woke up and quickly told everyone that this was a false alarm. In ancient times, China used "beating drums to March" and "ringing gold to retreat" to direct the war. When using chariots to fight, the main commander and the generals at all levels hang drums horizontally on their cars, and the rest of the chariots must charge according to the drums of the main commander. The intention and rhythm of charge are expressed by neat and heavy drums, and the command of retreat is conveyed by the sound of metal gongs that can penetrate the whole battlefield.