Download Chinese musical instruments and drama

Chinese musical instruments and drama
Historically, Chinese musical instruments were categorized into 8 groups according to the
material from which they were made. These instrumental types are known as the“8 sounds”
(bayin 八音) and are first recorded in the “Book of History” (Shang Shu 尚書), written in the
Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1027-771 BC). The eight categories are: metal (jin 金); stone (shi 石);
silk (si 絲); bamboo (zhu 竹), Gourd (pao 匏); pottery (tao 陶), leather (ge 革) and wood (mu 木).
The following are a selection of Chinese instruments that fit into these categories. Some of these
instruments had not been invented when the “8 sounds” system was devised but fit into the
categories nevertheless.
Metal
Bronze bells were first produced in the Shang dynasty and by the time of the Zhou dynasty large
sets of bells suspended on frames were used to perform ritual music. A notable example is the
complete set of ceremonial bells excavated in 1977 from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng
(Zeng Houyi 曾侯乙) in Hubei Province. Each of the 65 bells produces 2 notes and a complete
scale of 12 notes to the octave is available. Sets of 12 bells, known in Chinese as the bian zhong
(編鐘), remained an important part of the Confucian ritual ensemble up until the fall of imperial
China in 1911.
Stone
Another percussion instrument of the Confucian ceremonial orchestra is the qing (磬). The bian
qing (編磬) is a set of stone chimes suspended on a frame. Each chime is tuned to the same 12
notes of the scale as the bronze bells. The“special chime” (te qing 特磬) is a single stone chime
larger in size than those in the bian qing which is also used
Silk
The qin (琴) (also known as the guqin 古琴), a 7-string unfretted, bridgeless “zither”, is the
traditional instrument of the Chinese scholar. It has its close relatives in other Chinese zithers;
the se (瑟)and the zheng (箏)and similar instruments are found in other East Asian countries.
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There are many myths concerning the invention of the qin. One of these tells how the Emperor
Shun made a qin with 5 strings each one of which represented one of the “Five Phases” (五行) of
Chinese cosmology and corresponded to the “5 Sounds” (五音) of Ancient Chinese musical
theory. An ancient ruler, King Wu (武王) is said to have added an extra string and King Wen (文
王) another. These seven strings were also said to represent the seven stars of the “Big Dipper”
constellation (Bei Dou 北斗). Every aspect of the instruments make-up was explained by using
Chinese cosmology and numerology.
The qin is most often played as a solo instrument but sometimes plays as a duet with the
dongxiao (洞簫), a type of end-blown flute. It also plays a part in the Confucian ritual orchestra.
During the Ming dynasty a whole culture of the qin developed. A whole series of criteria was
created by which to judge the instrument and it was treated as a collectable as well as a musical
instrument.
Pipa (琵琶)
The pipa is a pear-shaped lute that arrived in China from the Middle East along the trade routes
known today as the Silk Road. The name pipa is onomatopoeic and imitates the sound that the
instrument makes when played, as well as the up-and-down motion of the plectrum which was
originally used to pluck the instrument. The pipa is used in ensemble, as a solo instrument and
also as accompaniment to singing. Early examples of the instrument, from the Tang dynasty
survive in the Shosoin in Japan which are remarkable for there decorative appearance. These
early examples were played with a plectrum which is the playing method still used in Japan,
where it is known as the biwa. Over the centuries a sophisticated finger-picking technique
evolved and this is the usual method used to play the instrument today.
Bamboo
Flutes
There are two main types of flute used in China, the dizi (笛子), a transverse flute and the
dongxiao an instrument held in a similar manner to the European recorder. The dizi has six
finger holes with another hole close to the mouthpiece section over which a piece of thin paper is
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applied. This gives a characteristic buzzing quality to the sound. The dongxiao is often played as
a solo instrument and in the classic duo combination with the guqin. The dongxiao is a type of
“notch-flute”, played in a similar manner as the Japanese shakuhachi and the South American
quena.
Gourd
The Sheng (笙) is a type of “mouth organ” examples of which are played throughout east and
South-east Asia. The main body of the instrument is shaped like a gourd, the material out of
which it was originally made. Mouth organs with gourd bodies and bamboo pipes can be seen in
existing folk varieties of the instrument although the body of the modern instrument is made
from wood or metal. The Sheng dates as far back as the Shang dynasty and is mentioned in the
writings of the time. Instruments with bronze bodies survive from the Zhou dynasty an example
of which was unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (曾侯乙) dated to c.433BC.
This mouth organ uses the same principal as the Western accordion and may have been the
inspiration for the invention of that instrument in the nineteenth century in Russia.
Pottery
There are only two types of musical instrument that belong to the pottery category the xun (塤),
an instrument similar to the ocarina and the fou (缶), a percussion instrument.
Leather
The leather category applies to all Chinese drums. The use of drums is widespread in China and
they come in all shapes and sizes. They are used in storytelling and opera performances,
ensemble and dance music, and in ritual and religious contexts.
Wood
Traditionally the wood category of musical instruments applied to two unusual percussion
instruments of the Confucian orchestra, an instrument shaped like a tiger with moving ratchets
down its back, the yu (敔), which was scraped with a sick to produce a, rattling sound and the
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zhu (柷)an instrument shaped somewhat like a square bucket or tub, the interior of which is
struck with a wooden stick.
Chinese Drama
Before the 20th century with the introduction of Western influenced spoken drama via Japan,
Chinese drama was a sung art. For this reason Chinese drama is often referred to as opera. In the
Yuan dynasty a style of theatre known as Zaju (雜劇) was popular and this was to be highly
influential on subsequent developments in Chinese theatre. The Ming dynasty saw drama reach
new heights with the advent of Kunqu drama. Kunqu (崑曲) was developed in the area of the
Kunqu mountains near the town of Suzhou. What is usually considered to be the greatest of
Chinese Kunqu dramas, the Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting牧丹亭), was written during the Ming
dynasty in 1588, the same year as the play Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was an almost exact contemporary of Tang Xianzu (湯顯祖, 1550-1616), author of
the Peony Pavilion. The sophisticated style of Kunqu was enjoyed by the Chinese elite. Peking
opera, which developed in 1791 when opera troupes from Anhui province were invited into the
capital to perform for the Emperor’s birthday celebrations, also started life as an entertainment
for the wealthy and privileged but was to become popular with all levels of society during the
19th and 20th centuries. Regional operas also flourished with lyrics sung in local dialects but were
often looked down on by the educated elite. In the early twentieth centuries new styles emerged
which were heavily influenced by existing forms of drama, including those from the West. An
example of this is the Yueju (越劇) of the Shanghai area.
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