The Spiritual Crusty Pancake of the Uygurs
2 min readThe Uygurs have two kinds of crusty pancake. One is the crusty pancake that they eat and the other is the “crusty pancake” they beat with their hands-dap.
Dap is the famous hand drum of the Uygurs It is a major musical instrument used in the performance of mugam and mashrap of Uygurs and Uzbeks in Xinjiang. Those who love dap would carry it in their qiapan Uygur coat) or just stick it in their waist, which makes it look like a golden crusty pancake. After work on the field, the peasants would take a rest on the edge of the field, eating their crusty pancake and then taking out this “crusty pancake” to have their spiritual food. They play dap when they feel happy or sad, and their mood is reflected in the sound of dap.
Wupuer first made the circular frame of the hand drum. The first step was to select a straight and even apricot tree wood a Russian olive wood or a mulberry tree wood without branches as the material for the rim of the dap. The second step was to assemble the parts together, a procedure that needed exquisite craftsmanship.
The third step was to make the design. Pattern designing is the step that determines the grade of a dap. This step produces a frame of the selected design by engraving with a small arc saw, a drill bit or a machine tool The pattern is not very complicated, usually with beautiful bone decorative designs engraved on the frame, for instance, there are patterns like snow,bird, eyebrow, long rhombus, black or white spot, scorpion, square, aketuguma (white buttons) and kalatuguma (black buttons). The next procedure was to embed the decorative designs on the dap: first glue the selected decorative design on its designated place, and file it flat when it is dry and then polish its surface with soft abrasive paper; dye the wood red with lime water and polish the surface with fine abrasive paper. An exquisite dap is embedded with beautiful bone decorative designs on the frame Falling into different sizes: large, medium and small, each with unique characteristics and rich timbre, dap is widely used in ensemble and folk song and dance accompaniment.
