A Brief Overview of the History of Ancient Chinese Music

Author: Liu Zengsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The research on the history of ancient Chinese music has been relatively slow in progress over the past few decades. However, in the last decade or so, significant advancements have been made, achieving remarkable results in both breadth and depth. Unfortunately, these achievements have been scattered across various music journals, making it difficult for those without specialized knowledge to gain a comprehensive understanding. It is inevitable that some valuable insights have been overlooked. This manuscript, as described earlier, to some extent addresses this shortcoming, allowing readers not only to acquire the common knowledge of ancient Chinese music history but also to access new academic research findings and diverse perspectives. Here are a few examples: Regarding the formation period of Chinese interval systems, it was previously inferred solely based on textual evidence, which was actually unclear. Over a decade ago, based on the investigation and research of unearthed musical artifacts, two new viewpoints emerged. One, proposed by Lü Ji, suggests that "the five-tone scale of China had already formed in the late matriarchal society." The other, proposed by Huang Xiaopeng, posits that "the complete seven-tone scale had already formed by the late Shang Dynasty," thereby concluding that "China's music has a long-standing tradition of coexisting five-tone and seven-tone scales." These insights can all be found clearly presented in this book. Recently, Li Chunyi published a view disagreeing with the merging of two ocarinas separated by 300 kilometers, as the cultural heritage and historical context of the two were not yet fully understood, leading to different conclusions. This perspective has also been included in this book. These research findings, though not yet definitively resolved, are undoubtedly beneficial for further in-depth exploration of the issues. Therefore, this feature of the book is irreplaceable.