Ancient Chinese music

Author: Wu Guodong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-09-01
Features: Among all art forms, music is the most mysterious. It weaves ever-changing and endlessly varied melodies from intangible, invisible, and touchless sounds, sometimes gentle, sometimes majestic, sometimes joyful, and sometimes sorrowful. Whether in the East or the West, whether in modern times or ancient times, countless people have been intoxicated, moved, and uplifted by it. In China, it is said that Confucius, a renowned educator and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (551–479 BC), was so moved by the music Shao while in Qi that he could not taste meat for three months. He exclaimed, "I never thought that moving music could bring such a state of intoxication!" Thus, throughout history, countless sages and scholars at home and abroad have held beautiful music in the highest regard. The unique artistic character of music makes it justly worthy of being the "common language" that connects hearts and fosters mutual understanding among all humanity.
China is one of the earliest cradles of humankind, with a history of 1.7–1.8 million years, dating back to the early Paleolithic cultures such as Xihoudu and the discovery of Yuanmou Man. On this vast and fertile ancient land in the East, the art of music has emerged and developed alongside the origins and evolution of humanity, spanning a long prehistoric period and a 4,000-year civilized journey with written records. During the primitive society period, our ancient ancestors, in their hardy communal living and collective labor during the early stages of development, created the earliest forms of musical art. Although these primitive musical forms have long been lost to history, some precious historical clues and artifacts have been preserved in ancient music legends and cultural relics, allowing us to understand the general state of ancient music.
The ancient music mentioned in historical records falls into two categories: one named after tribal titles, such as "Music of Getai," "Music of Zhuangxiang," and "Music of Yiqi"; the other named after the achievements of ancient emperors in founding their dynasties, such as Yunmen, Xianchi, and Shao. These musical works reflect the primitive life customs, labor methods, and psychological reverence and fear of natural power among the ancestors, as well as their enterprising spirit in resisting harsh natural environments. The ancestors in frontier regions also left behind vivid depictions of their rich musical lives through rock paintings.
In the musical life of ancient times, our ancestors used a variety of instruments. In addition to the flutes chi and yue and percussion instruments mingqiu and tugu mentioned in historical records, other instruments that have survived to this day include flutes like gushao (bone flute), taoxun (clay ocarina), and gudie (bone flute), as well as percussion instruments like taozhong (clay bell), taoling (clay chime), and shiqing (stone chime). These archaeological discoveries are crucial parts of human musical history, demonstrating that the Chinese nation is one of the earliest to use stone and clay percussion instruments and bone flutes to play six- or seven-note scales.
During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods, slavery was refined and developed. The music and dance serving the slave-owning class were further reinforced in their ceremonial functions and sacrificial roles, leading to grander scales and more frequent performances. The Daxia of the Xia Dynasty, the Dahu and Sanglin of the Shang Dynasty, and the Dawu and Xiang of the Zhou Dynasty were large-scale musical and dance works used by the slave-owning class for major ceremonies and to praise their achievements. Due to the continuous improvement of productivity and the use of metal tools and weapons, the craftsmanship of musical instruments also advanced significantly. During this period, instruments were classified into eight categories, known as "Ba Yin" (Eight Sounds) in Zhou Dynasty literature. Among these, stone and metal instruments, as "heavy vessels" that displayed the status and hierarchy of the slave-owning class, often held prominent positions in musical performances and ensembles, achieving remarkable developments in both artistic design and musical performance.
The bronze chime sets of 64 pieces and stone chime sets of 32 pieces unearthed from the tomb of Zenghou Yi of the Warring States period in Suixian County, Hubei, stunned the world with their unparalleled exquisite craftsmanship, beautiful tones, and scientific tuning systems.
In the late Zhou period, Confucius established the Confucian theory of music, which, through the inheritance and development of his followers, became the dominant musical ideology in later feudal society and continued to exert a wide and profound influence.
During the Han, Wei-Jin, and Sui-Tang periods, traditional music underwent frequent transformations along with the continuous changes of the feudal system. The "" () of Central Plains music, known as "," and the "" () of frontier ethnic music, both developed independently while also blending to create new and extraordinary sounds.
In the Han and Wei-Jin periods, the upper class favored comprehensive performance arts like "Baixi" (hundred entertainments); in the military, the vigorous and tragic musical genre "Guzhui" (drum and horn music) emerged; the literati sought transcendent emotions, transforming their thoughts into qin pieces like Guangling San (Broad River Strain) and Jiu Kuang (Drinking Mad), expressing their indignant sentiments against the world; and the widespread use of bronze drums by southern ethnic groups reflected the diverse social functions of frontier ethnic music and dance.
During the Sui-Tang periods, music from various ethnic groups gathered in Chang'an through the "Silk Road" and blended with each other. The Yanyue (Court Music), which integrated vocal music, instrumental music, dance, and other performances, pushed the art of grand songs and dances from the Han Dynasty to an even more mature stage of development. The Tang government established musical institutions like the Jiaofang (Music Bureau) and Li Yuan (Imperial Garden), cultivating a generation of highly skilled musical performers. Instruments like the pipa, di, bili, jiegu (Jie drum), and zhanggu (staff drum), as well as their playing techniques, developed rapidly. The tradition of incorporating Tang poetry into music provided valuable experience for the later development of song and lyric singing in the Song and Yuan dynasties.
During the Song and Yuan periods, lyric singing, narrative singing, and opera music rose to prominence, marking the end of the era centered on dance and music from ancient times to the Tang Dynasty, and ushering in a new era where vocal music and opera performances became the mainstream of national singing arts, shining brightly on the musical stage.
In the Ming and Qing periods, courtly elegant music declined rapidly and faded away, while folk music spread widely in the secular lives of various ethnic groups. Diverse and radiant forms of folk songs, narrative singing genres, opera vocal styles, instrumental music, and ethnic music became the artistic foundation for the development of modern music, heralding an even more glorious new era for Chinese music.