The Manchu (Manchu: manjU; Mollendorff: manju; Abkai: manju; simplified Chinese: Man Zu ; traditional Chinese: Man Zu ; pinyin: Manzu; Wade-Giles: Man3-tsu2) are an ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. They are sometimes called "red-tasseled Manchus", a reference to the ornamentation on traditional Manchu hats. The Later Jin (1616-1636), and Qing dynasty (1636-1912) were established by Manchus, who are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) in China. Manchus form the largest branch of the Tungusic peoples and are distributed throughout China, forming the fourth largest ethnic group in the country.

Octagonal drum is a type of Manchu folk art that was very popular among bannermen, especially in Beijing. It is said that octagonal drum originated with the snare drum of the Eight-banner military and the melody was made by the banner soldiers who were on the way back home from victory in the battle of Jinchuan. The drum is composed of wood surrounded by bells. The drumhead is made by wyrmhide with tassels at the bottom. The colors of the tassels are yellow, white, red, and blue, which represent the four colors of the Eight Banners. When artists perform, they use their fingers to hit the drumhead and shake the drum to ring the bells. Traditionally, octagonal drum is performed by three people. One is the harpist; one is the clown who is responsible for harlequinade; and the third is the singer.  "Zidishu" is the main libretto of octagonal drum and can be traced back to a type of traditional folk music called the "Manchu Rhythm". Although Zidishu was not created by Han Chinese, it still contains many themes from Chinese stories, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dream of the Red Chamber, Romance of the West Chamber, Legend of the White Snake and Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Additionally, there are many works that depict the lives of Bannermen. Aisin Gioro Yigeng, who was pen named "Helu" and wrote the sigh of old imperial bodyguard, as the representative author. Zidishu involves two acts of singing, which are called dongcheng and xicheng.  After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the influence of the octagonal drum gradually reduced. However, the Chinese monochord and crosstalk which derived from octagonal are still popular in Chinese society and the new generations. Many famous Chinese monochord performers and crosstalkers were the artists of octagonal drum, such as De Shoushan and Zhang Sanlu.

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