"Old Tang Book Music Records" (Volume 29) said in the entry "Tongba": "Tongba, also known as copper plate, came from Xixu and Nanman." The copper plate mentioned in this record is about " The earliest record of the gong.
After the Qin and Han dynasties, gongs were once called "gold" and were used in wars. When the two armies fought, they were often commanded by gongs.
According to Tang Duyou's "Tongdian" record: in the early sixth century AD, the later Wei Dynasty began to have gongs, which were called "playing sand gongs" at that time.

In the Song Dynasty, gongs were used in the folk music form "guban". In the Yuan Dynasty, in addition to the folk shrines often blaring gongs, it was also the main accompaniment instrument for Zaju. In addition to being used in court "feasts", it was also popular among the people. At that time, the manufacture and performance of gongs had reached a certain level.
With the development of opera art, gongs have played an important role in the accompaniment of Kunqu Opera in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Chinese gong was spread to Europe from the west. In 1791, the French composer Gosec began to use the gong in his orchestral works and was the only Chinese instrument in the symphony orchestra.
Since the 20th century, gongs have been widely used in local opera, folk music, folk entertainment and festivals, and participated in the performance of various bands. In addition, it is also a tool for hawkers and monkey jugglers to solicit business along the street, replacing the selling with the unique tone of the gong, which is called "calling the head".