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The deep, reverberating sound of a gong can have a powerful effect on its audience. It's the sort of sound that immediately captures your attention and evokes a wide range of emotions under the right circumstances. This is probably why the gong has been popular for thousands of years, and has been used on almost every major continent at some point in history.

The term "gong" actually comes out of a Javanese language, but it was adopted by most of Asia after the gong migrated to Java and Indonesia. "Gong" originally referred to a group of instruments, but the meaning changed as it became more widely used. There are archaeological records of gongs dating back 4,000 years. However, the earliest written record of the gong is from China around the 6th century, during the reign of Emperor Hsuan Wu. The ancient Chinese records state that they obtained the gong from a nation known as Hsi Yu between Tibet and Burma. China is primarily responsible for popularizing the gong and exporting it to several other continents.

The most familiar type of gong, at least to Westerners, is what the Chinese refer to as the Chaugong. Large Chau gongs are known as tam-tams (not to be confused with tom-tom drums) and are sometimes used in a symphony orchestra. The earliest example of a Chau gong was found in a tomb dating from the early Western Han dynasty (206 BC - 9 AD). Chau gongs were traditionally used to clear a path for state officials or parades. There were systems in place that determined the number of blows a gong would receive according to the corresponding official's rank. Thus, two officials on the road would know before they actually met each other which of them was the inferior rank, and therefore had to bow first. Gongs also served an important part in ritual ceremonies, where they would call upon spirits or provide good luck to those who touched it. For a long time – before it was used in orchestras – it was used in celebrations, funerals, or Chinese theater.

After the Chinese exported the gong to Indonesia, it slowly made its way to Africa. It was almost certainly used there as part of religious or spiritual ceremonies. The gong arrived in Europe in the 18th century. It was used in European orchestras, mostly in the form of the tam-tam. The first use of a tam-tam in a European orchestra was by François Joseph Gossec, in a funeral march he composed for Mirabeau in 1791. In the early 19th century, several composers began to incorporate the gong into previously written works. Debussy was the first major composer to write a part for the gong into an original symphony.

Modern gongs are fairly widespread, and can be found almost anywhere. Most of the cheaper ones are purely for decoration, and will not produce a very impressive sound if struck. However, the use of gongs is still going strong in the entertainment world, with sets of gongs being used in orchestras and gong effects used by several rock groups in some of their songs.

Research taken from the following sources:

http://www.paiste.com/produ cts/gongs/ Accessed 6/12/2006

Wikipedia contributors, "Gong," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gong (accessed June 12, 2006).

Wikipedia contributors, "Han Dynasty," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty (accessed June 12, 2006).

"A Brief History of Gongs," by Andrew Borakove. http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Brief-History-of-Gongs&id=26390 Accessed 6/12/2006