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Enjoy over three hours of instrumental music featuring traditional Chinese instruments such as bamboo flute, guzheng, and erhu. This video is from the channel 中国乐器 - Traditional Chinese Music, which offers more relaxing and soothing music for various occasions.
- 195 min
- 13M
- 中国乐器 - Traditional Chinese Music
Jul 24, 2018 · Welcome to top best beautiful chinese instrumental music, relaxing music, learning music, sleeping music collection.Subscribe http://goo.gl/6pGbqB to get no...
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- Overview
- Ancient artifacts and writings
- Aesthetic principles and extramusical associations
Chinese music, the art form of organized vocal and instrumental sounds that developed in China. It is one of the oldest and most highly developed of all known musical systems.
Chinese music history must be approached with a certain sense of awe. Indeed, any survey evokes the music of a varied, still-active civilization whose archaeological resources go back to 3000 bce and whose own extensive written documents refer to countless forms of music not only in connection with folk festivals and religious events but also in the courts of hundreds of emperors and princes in dozens of provinces, dynasties, and periods. For all the richness of detail in Chinese sources, however, it is only for the last segment of Chinese music history—from the Song dynasty (960–1279 ce) to the present—that there is information about the actual music itself. Yet the historical, cultural, instrumental, and theoretical materials of earlier times are equally informative and fascinating. This mass of information can be organized into four large chronological units: (1) the formative period, from 3000 bce through the 4th century ce, (2) the international period, from the 4th through the 9th century, (3) the national period, from the 9th through the 19th century, and (4) the “world music” period of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Chinese writings claim that in 2697 bce the emperor Huangdi sent a scholar, Ling Lun, to the western mountain area to cut bamboo pipes that could emit sounds matching the call of the fenghuang, an immortal bird whose rare appearance signaled harmony in the reign of a new emperor. By imitating the sound of the bird, Huangdi made possible the creation of music properly pitched to harmonize his rulership with the universe. Even this symbolic birth of music dates far too late to aid in discovering the melodies and instrumental sounds accompanying the rituals and burials that occurred before the first historically verified dynasty, the Shang (c. 1600–1046 bce). The sounds of music are evanescent, and before the invention of recordings they disappeared at the end of a performance. The remains of China’s most ancient music are found only in those few instruments made of sturdy material. Archaeological digs have uncovered globular clay vessel flutes (xun), tuned stone chimes (qing), and bronze bells (zhong), and the word gu, for drum, is found incised on Shang oracle bones (turtle shells and ox bones used by rulers for ritual divination and sacrifice to obtain the grace of their ancestors).
The earliest surviving written records are from the next dynasty, the Zhou (1046–256 bce). Within the famous books of the period known as the Five Classics (Wujing), it is in the Liji (“Collection of Rituals”) of the 6th–5th century bce that one finds an extensive discussion of music. The Yijing (“Classic of Changes”) is a diviner’s handbook built around geometric patterns, cosmology, and magic numbers that indirectly may relate to music. The Chunqiu (“Spring and Autumn [Annals]”), with its records of major events, and the Shujing (“Classic of History”), with its mixture of documents and forgeries, contain many references to the use of music, particularly at court activities. There are occasional comments about the singing of peasant groups, which is an item that is rare even in the early historical materials of Europe. The Shijing (“Classic of Poetry”) is of equal interest, for it consists of the texts of 305 songs that are dated from the 10th to the 7th century bce. Their great variety of topics (love, ritual, political satire, etc.) reflect a viable vocal musical tradition quite understandable to contemporary audiences. The songs also include references to less-durable musical relics such as flutes, the mouth organ (sheng), and, apparently, two types of zithers (the qin and the se).
Despite the controversial authenticity and dates of ancient Chinese written sources, a combined study of them produces tantalizing images of courtly parties, military parades, and folk festivals, but it does not provide a single note of music. Nevertheless, in keeping with the prehistoric traditions of China, the philosophies of sages, such as Confucius (Kongfuzi; 551–479 bce) and Mencius (Mengzi; c. 371–c. 289 bce), and the endless scientific curiosity of Chinese acousticians furnish a great deal of rather specific music theory as well as varied aesthetic principles. The straightest path to this material is found in the legendary quest of Ling Lun for bamboo pipes that replicate the song of the mythical fenghuang.
The charm of such a tale tends to cloud several interesting facts it contains. First, it is noteworthy that the goal of the search was to put music in tune with the universe. The value of bringing music and the cosmos into alignment is upheld in theory in the “Yueji” (“Annotations on Music”) section of the Liji with such comments as:
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Music is the harmony of heaven and earth while rites are the measurement of heaven and earth. Through harmony all things are made known, through measure all things are properly classified. Music comes from heaven, rites are shaped by earthly designs.
Such cosmological ideals may be not merely ancient superstitions but actually cogent insights into the cultural function of music in human societies. Confucius, as pictured in The Analects written long after his death, had a similar view of music, including a concern for the choice of music and modes proper for the moral well-being of a gentleman. It is an open question as to how much performance practice followed the admonitions and theories of the scholars, but centuries later one finds numerous pictures of the wise man standing before some natural beauties while his servant follows closely behind him carrying his seven-stringed zither (qin) for proper use in such a proper setting.
- William P. Malm
Introducing traditional Chinese music including history, categories, and famous traditional Chinese songs.
- High Mountains and Flowing Water (高山流水) The tune originally was two separate compositions. Both were based on the legendary friendship between Guqin master Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi.
- Guangling Melody (广陵散) “Guangling Melody” was originated from the Han Dynasty (221–207 BC). The content of “Guangling Melody” is an adaptation of the melody “Nie Zheng Assassinating King of Han”, which mainly told a sad story that a swordsmith’s Nie Zheng in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), killed himself after stabbing the king of Han Kingdom in order to revenge his father.
- Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank (平沙落雁) The melody was first found in “Gu Yin Zheng Zhong,” a music book published in 1634 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
- Plum Blossom Melodies (梅花三弄) The piece “Plum Blossom Melodies” is often played with flute and lyre. The plum blossom is an important symbol in traditional Chinese culture.
Learn about the diverse musical traditions of China, from ancient times to modern days, and how they reflect the culture and history of the country. Explore the instruments, genres, forms, and influences of Chinese music, from yayue to C-pop.
Chinese traditional music includes various music genres which have been inherited for generations in China. [1] Specifically, this term refers to the music genres originated in or before Qing dynasty. [2] According to the appearance, the genres can be classified into instrumental ensemble, instrumental solo, theatre, shuochang, dance music and ...
