Chinese Music And Musical Instruments

From the early days, musical instruments in China were made from everyday items: hunting tools, trees, bamboo and even bones. During the Zhou dynasty, there were about 70 instruments. Today, there are hundreds. But have you ever wondered how these musical instruments in China came about? Well, in this book, the evolution of Chinese music over the centuries is examined, from prehistoric times, through the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties, all the way to our modern times. In addition, the origins and characteristics of specific musical instruments are explored, giving insight in one's understanding of these instruments. Legendary accounts related to historical personalities are also featured, including: * How two phoenixes helped Fuxi, the earliest ancestor of the Chinese, add music to the lives of the people. * How the musical talents of some individuals were so high they could sense evil elements in a piece of music. * How Wangzi Qiao became an immortal from playing the sheng. Indeed, this book holds a treasury of fascinating information and stories pertaining to Chinese musical instruments. This is definitely something any music lover should have in his collection.

With dozens of color photographs and insightful text, Chinese Music and Musical Instruments describes in detail the musical instruments with which a Chinese folk orchestra is equipped and their working and sounding principles. There are as many as a thousand different kinds of musical instruments in China. Only a tiny portion of them are used in an orchestra. The selection of musical instruments for an orchestra depends on how well they complement one another. A Chinese folk orchestra is composed of four sections: wind, plucked, percussion and bowed. This book is also devoted to the description of the development of classical Chinese music and the introduction of some music-related tales of profound significance. Chinese music is a big family composed of various distinctive types of music: Chinese folk music played at weddings, funerals or in festivals an fairs. The religious music played in religious services conducted in Buddhist and Taoist temples. Court music, which reached its zenith during the Tang Dynasty. The scholars' music based on Confucian thinking was the embodiment of the musical life of academia and refined music of this kind is still prevalent in today's society.

First published in 1998. As a cultural entity of over five thousand years of history, Chinese music is a multi-faced phenomenon consisting of diverse regional and transregional traditions. Two large categories of Chinese music can be distinguished: music(s) of the Han nationality and music(s) of the ethnic nationalities. The present volume brings together ten articles written largely by native scholars, with the general aim of presenting a dialogue about Chinese music from 'insider's' view-points.

This accessible, illustrated introduction explores the history of Chinese music, an ancient, diverse and fascinating part of China's cultural heritage.

This book covers in a lucidly written text and a wealth of fascinating photographs and drawings the main forms of musical expression. Many readers will find the useful hints on purchasing instruments, records, and books especially valuable, and for those who wish to pursue the matter further there is a selected bibliography and a guide to Tokyo's somewhat hidden world of Japanese music. It will be found an invaluable aid to the understanding and appreciation of an important, but little-known, and fascinating aspect of Japanese culture.

The question "what is Chinese music?" has often been asked but the answer is not easy to give. With a history which spans over many thousand years, Chinese music has undergone considerable changes due to racial interaction as a result of wars and conquests. Many books have been written on the subject but they tend to cater to specialists and do not reach the general public. Hence the need for the present volume. The book is designed as a general description, supported by recent discoveries and research. Anecdotes, poems and numerous illustrations are used so that the book not only gives the reader an idea of what Chinese music is but also how it is related to its culture, literature and art. Combining the technical with the literary and artistic is not an easy task. The risk is that the result may be too technical for the layman and not learned enough for the specialist. It is hoped, however, that the reader will find here something informative as well as entertaining.