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history of chinese music

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History of Chinese Music - Page 1

This is the body of vocal and instrumental music composed and played by the Chinese

people. For several thousand years Chinese culture was dominated by the teachings of the

philosopher Confucius, who conceived of music in the highest sense as a means of calming

the passions and of dispelling unrest and lust, rather than as a form of amusement.

The ancient Chinese belief that music is meant not to amuse but to purify one's thoughts

finds particular expression in the cult of the qin, a long zither possessing a repertory calling

for great subtlety and refinement in performance and still popular among a small circle of

scholar-musicians. A famous Qin scholar once said, "Though the qin player's body be in a

gallery or in a hall, his mind should dwell with the forests and streams."

Also, traditionally the Chinese have believed that sound influences the harmony of the

universe. Significantly, one of the most important duties of the first emperor of each new

dynasty was to search out and establish that dynasty's true standard of pitch. A result of this

philosophical orientation was that until quite recently the Chinese theoretically opposed

music performed solely for entertainment; accordingly, musical entertainers were relegated

to an extremely low social status.

Melody and tone color are prominent expressive features of Chinese music, and great

emphasis is given to the proper articulation and inflection of each musical tone. Most

Chinese music is based on the five-tone, or pentatonic, scale, but the seven-tone, or

heptatonic, scale, is also used, often as an expansion of a basically pentatonic core. The

pentatonic scale was much used in older music. The heptatonic scale is often encountered in

northern Chinese folk music.

Chinese music

Origins and Characteriscs

Chinese music can be traced back as far as the third millennium B.C. Manuscripts and instruments from

the early periods of its history are not extant, however, because in 212 B.C., Shih Huang- of the Ch'in

dynasty caused all the books and instruments to be destroyed and the pracce of music to be stopped.

Certain outlines of ancient Chinese music have nevertheless been ascertained. Of primary signi&cance is

the fact that the music and philosophy of China have always been inseparably bound; musical theory and

form have been invariably symbolic in nature and remarkably stable through the ages. Ancient Chinese

hymns were slow and solemn and were accompanied by very large orchestras. Chamber music was also

highly developed. Chinese opera originated in the 14th cent. as a serious and re&ned art.

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History of Chinese Music - Page 1 This is the body of vocal and instrumental music composed and played by the Chinese people. For several thousand years Chinese culture was dominated by the teachings of the philosopher Confucius, who conceived of music in the highest sense as a means of calming the ...
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