A Brief History of Ancient Chinese Music (Revised Edition)

Author: Liu Zengsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
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 fills this gap, allowing readers not only to acquire the common knowledge of ancient Chinese music history but also to engage with new academic research findings and diverse perspectives. Here are a few examples: Regarding the formation period of Chinese interval tuning, it was previously inferred solely based on textual evidence, which remained unclear. Over a decade ago, based on the investigation and analysis of unearthed musical artifacts, two new viewpoints emerged. One, proposed by Lü Ji, suggests that "the five-tone scale in 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 "there exists a long-standing tradition of both five-tone and seven-tone scales coexisting in Chinese music." These insights can all be found clearly presented in this book. Recently, Li Chunyi expressed disagreement with the merging of two ocarinas separated by 300 kilometers, as the dating and cultural remains were not yet fully understood, leading to different conclusions. This viewpoint has also been included in this book. These diverse research findings, though not yet definitively resolved, are undoubtedly beneficial for further in-depth exploration of the issues. Therefore, this distinctive feature of the book is irreplaceable.