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The gong is a traditional
Chinese percussion
instrument, which has played
a very important role in ethnic
bands. It is widely used not
only in ethnic bands, folk
concerts, dramas, operas, and
singing and dancing, but also
in celebrations, boat races,
lion dances, labor races, and
harvest festivities.
The dongbula is a stringed musical
instrument of the Kazak ethnicity in ancient
China. The old and young members of
Kazak families are all good at playing the
instrument. In Turkic language, the name
dongbula has special meanings. Dong
describes the sound of the music, and bula
means to fix the strings.
The xun is one of the oldest
musical
instruments in China, with
a history of approximately
7,000
years.
It is said that the xun originated
from the hunting tool of the stone
meteor. During ancient times, people
often tied a stone or mud ball to the rope that was used for
hunting wild animals. The people would then throw the ropes,
with the stones wrapping around the animal's limbs, bringing
them down, Hence the name of stone meteor. Some of the
balls were hollow, and so made many sounds when thrown.
Most people found these hollow balls enjoyable and learned
how to blow air into them. Gradually, the stone meteor
became the musical instrument known as the xun.
The drum is a percussion instrument
frequently used in China. From the
perspective of the culture relics these
days, the drum has an estimated history
of 3,000 years. In ancient times, it was
not only used in sacrifices and dancing
music, but also in fighting against the
enemies and wild beasts.
It was also used to sound
alarms and tell the time.
The sheng was a
wind instrument
played in ancient China. It
has played an active role in promoting the development of
Western musical instruments.
In 1978, paosheng, the earliest sheng forms, were found in
Hubei Province in a royal tomb of more than 2,400 years ago.
http://www1.chinaculture.org/created/node_2888.htm
The liuqin is a plucked musical instrument,
which also belongs to the pipa(four-stringed
lute, a traditional Chinese instrument)
category. It is named liuqin or liu ye qin
because it is made from the wood of the
willow tree and also its appearance is similar
to the willow leaf. The look and structure of a
liuqin resemble that of a pipa very much.
The qing is the oldest ethnic
musical instrument. It is
designed finely, and carries
with it an ancient flavor. In
the far ancient society when
the female played the leading
role (matriarchal society), this
instrument was called shi and minqiu, meaning stone and
ringing ball respectively.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Music_of_China
(Ming-Quing Dynasties con’t)
During this period the influx of folk songs into
cultural centers and their subsequent stylizations
led to the growth of many forms of provincially (or
regionally) indentified operas. Operatic genres
such as the Han opera of Hubei province, Chuan
opera of Sichuan province, Xiang opera of Hunan
province, Min opera of Fujian province, Qinqiang of
Shaanxi province, and Lu opera of Shandong
province, to name some primary forms, had their
formation sometime during the mid-16th century
but did not reach the height of their development
until the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The History
of
Chinese Music
在中國音樂史
"Yin Yueh" (music) was traditionally considered to
be one of the four fundamental societal functions
together with morals, las, and politics. Primarily
because of this emphasis, every fedual state,
dynasty and republic throughout history had
established an official music organization or
bureau of music.
Chime bells, or
bianzhong, were an
important percussion
instrument in ancient
China. Chime bells
are divided into one
or more groups in
which there are
dozens of big and
small bells, each with a different tone. Although the
forms of the bells are different, as they developed in
different years, there are fine designs on all of them.
The ruan is a stringed musical
instrument in China. In the Qin
Dynasty (221-206BC), people
altered a wobbling drum into a
stringed instrument.
instrument with four strings.
Sometimes called the Chinese lute. It
has a pear-shaped wooden body.
音樂 = MUSIC
Gu-zheng:
Traditional Chinese
musical instrument
with 21 strings.
There are Guzhengs
with even more
strings.
Three Kingdom (220-265), Jin (260-420). and the
Northern-Southern Dynasty
The most significant musical historical events were
importation and assimilation of non-indigenous
music, expansion of Han musical style into
southern China, new instruments, recognition of
solo performance, earliest survival notation,
maturity of music aesthetics by Xi Kang, and new
conception of tonal systems.
Sui (581-618), Tang (618-907), and Five Dynasties
(907-960)
After almost four centuries as a divided nation, China
was once again re-united in Sui dynasty. Foreign
musicians resided at the court not only to give
performances, but also to provide musical
instruction. The huge music bureau of the court, such
as Jiaofang, was know to have in its employment
thousands of musicians and dancers for daily
performing duties. The first music academy, Liyuan
("Pear Garden"), was instituted for performance and
training of professional young musicians. Poems by
some of the most famous literati of China were set into
songs which were almost instantly popular.
Music of the Northern Song (960-1127), Southern
Song (1127-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasties
Changes in the arts and literature of this period led to
a new tradition in drama, music, fiction and
impressionistic painting that dominated the
development in the remaining periods of modern
China. The creation of a new style in popular music,
dram and literature were mostly important. The
scholar-officials, who were versatile in poetry, painting
and music making, found an expanded audience for
their song and word production. There were for major
vocal genres: the poetic ci song, the art song,
narrative music, the zaju variety musical
drama. During this period, qin solo repertory also
developed into a grand style.
Er-hu: Two-string bowed Chinese musical
instrument, known in the West as the "Chinese
violin" or "Chinese two-string fiddle".
Xiao: Pronounced
as "Shyiao", a
Chinese vertical
end-blown flute.
Normally made of
bamboo. Its sound
is thick, serious and
peaceful.
http://www-camil.music.uiuc.edu/musedex/taiwan/Chinese-history/ChHistory.html
Shang (ca.16th-11th centuries B.C.), Zhou
(1075-221B.C.)
According to literary documents, the
Zhouperiod music had always been regarded as
the foundation and crystallization of Chinese
music for later dynasties. The complete model of
court and ritual ceremonial music, music
education system, the variety of musical styles,
the grand music offices, and instrumentation
were seeds of music for the subsequent
dynasties.
Qin (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) and Han Dynasties (206
B.C.-A.D. 220)
In addition to the native court musical instruments,
that is, the zithers, panpipes, transverse flutes,
vessel flutes, and a variety of barrel-shaped, stick
membranophones, bells and lithophones, there
were several new instruments introduced during
this period. The were derived from regional and
foreign sources. Pipa: A plucked Chinese musical
The zheng is an ancient Chinese instrument. It has been
developed from a small instrument made from bamboo,
originally used by herdsman. It was very popular during
ancient times, as early as the Warring States Period and the
Qin Dynasty (225 to 206 BC and earlier).
Ming-Quing Dynasties
The Ming-Qing period was highly productive
musically, resulting in developments that are
important not only in this period but as high-lights
in the whole continuum of Chinese music.
Regrettably, by the 19th century, creativity was
replaced by cliché, imitation and conservatism; the
arts of this time are generally criticized as
becoming lifeless and stagnant.
Communist party denounced Chinese popular music as
yellow music (pornography). Maoists regarded pop music
as a decline of the art form in the mainland. Revolutionary
songs would become heavily promoted by the state. The
Cultural Revolution and other Maoist initiatives made
revolutionary songs the only acceptable genre of music, to the
point that it overshadowed other genres and almost defined
what mainland Chinese music was After the Tiananmen
Square protests of 1989, a new fast tempo Northwest Wind
(xibeifeng, 西北風) style was launched by the people to
counter the government. The music progressed into Chinese
rock, which remained popular in the 1990s. However, music
in China is dominated by the state, as the television
broadcasting, media, and major concert halls are all
controlled by the Communist party. Today, Chinese rock
music is centered almost exclusively in Beijing and Shanghai,
and has very limited influence over Chinese society. The
situation of Chinese rock highlights the significant cultural,
political and social differences between China and the West,
and even between different regions within China. While rock
has existed in China for decades, if first received international
attention when Cui Jian played with The Rolling Stones in
2003, at the age of 42.