Answer:
A) A slit drum is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top.
Those of East Asia and Indonesia are of great antiquity and of a high degree of complexity. The Chinese mu yu (traditionally fish-shaped) is a Buddhist and Daoist ritual slit drum. Its Korean and Japanese counterparts are likewise ritual time markers, while in Vietnam the slit drum is both a temple and a watchman’s instrument. On Java slit drums can be traced to the Hindu-Javanese period (1st–9th century CE)
Producing a clear, penetrating sound, they were adopted into the Western orchestra in the 20th century.
B) Evidence with respect to the origins of the Slit drum can be very hard to trace. However, there is documentary evidence of a 16th century slit drum made available by a drawing from the 16th century Florentine Codex showing a One Flower ceremony with a teponaztli (foreground) and a huehuetl (background).
The conclusion is this: The slit drum might have originated anywhere. However, due to it's ease of construction, it quickly became indigenous to several civilisations.
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