Five drums refer to five kinds of drums, namely, one drum, two drums, three drums, four drums and five drums.

In ancient times, the folk divided the night into five periods, with drums telling the time, so it was called five watches, five drums or five nights.

Five kinds of drums. Twenty-five years of legend with Lord Zhuang: "The son of heaven saved the sky, gathered five people, Chen five soldiers and five drums." Yang Shixun sparse: "Five drums, Mi Xin Xu Miao and Yun: Oriental blue drum, southern red drum, western white drum, northern black drum, central yellow drum."

Yan Zhitui's Book of Yan's Family Instructions in the Northern Qi Dynasty: "Since the Han and Wei Dynasties, it has been called A night, B night, C night, D night and E night; Another kind of cloud drum, one drum, two drums, three drums, four drums and five drums; It is also said that the first table, the second table, the third table, the fourth table and the fifth table are all based on five. " Also refers to the fifth watch.