Origins Of Chinese Music 2007 Edition Epub

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.

Did you know that India is the birthplace of four religions--Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism? The Indian culture is a spicy blend of customs, traditions, religions and languages, not just derived from its diverse states, but also from its Muslim and European rulers. The home of the Himalayas, the Taj Mahal and the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, this country has contributed to arts, science and world cuisine significantly. As part of the Asiapac Culture series, this book offers a glimpse at the origins of the Indian people and their religious and social customs. You can find out about the different gods that Hindus pray to, why Sikhs wear a turban and the reasons for celebrating Deepavali. This is the book to read if you would like a quick guide to Indian culture and many aspects of their lives.

The word 'harem' often conjures up images of beautiful, half-dressed oriental women lounging in some stately pleasure dome, waiting for the opportunity to satisfy their masters. And in some ways this was not far from the truth. Tang Dynasty Emperor Xuanzong had 40,000 women in his harem, while the Qing emperors would fill their harem with the most eligible girls in the country for both pleasure and procreation. Some emperors were blessed with empresses who led their dynasties to prosperity and stability. Many emperors, however, found out that they had taken on more than they expected with the arrival of talented, ruthless and ambitious beauties. Wu Zetian was one such woman. Arriving in the harem of Tang Emperor Taizong as a sweet-faced 14-year-old, she went on, through treachery and murder, to become empress. This book tells the stories of the outstanding, the outrageous, the glorious as well as the tragic empresses and concubines of the Chinese palace.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.

Cantopop was once the leading pop genre of pan-Chinese popular music around the world. In this pioneering study of Cantopop in English, Yiu-Wai Chu shows how the rise of Cantopop is related to the emergence of a Hong Kong identity and consciousness. Chu charts the fortune of this important genre of twentieth-century Chinese music from its humble, lower-class origins in the 1950s to its rise to a multimillion-dollar business in the mid-1990s. As the voice of Hong Kong, Cantopop has given generations of people born in the city a sense of belonging. It was only in the late 1990s, when transformations in the music industry, and more importantly, changes in the geopolitical situation of Hong Kong, that Cantopop showed signs of decline. As such, Hong Kong Cantopop: A Concise History is not only a brief history of Cantonese pop songs, but also of Hong Kong culture. The book concludes with a chapter on the eclipse of Cantopop by Mandapop (Mandarin popular music), and an analysis of the relevance of Cantopop to Hong Kong people in the age of a dominant China. Drawing extensively from Chinese-language sources, this work is a most informative introduction to Hong Kong popular music studies. “Few scholars I know of have as thorough a knowledge of Cantopop as Yiu-Wai Chu. The account he provides here—of pop music as a nexus of creative talent, commoditized culture, and geopolitical change—is not only a story about postwar Hong Kong; it is also a resource for understanding the term ‘localism’ in the era of globalization.” —Rey Chow, Duke University “Yiu-Wai Chu’s book presents a remarkable accomplishment: it is not only the first history of Cantopop published in English; it also manages to interweave the sound of Cantopop with the geopolitical changes taking place in East Asia. Combining a lucid theoretical approach with rich empirical insights, this book will be a milestone in the study of East Asian popular cultures.” —Jeroen de Kloet, University of Amsterdam

Sejak zaman dulu, alat musik di China dibuat dari barang-barang yang dipakai sehari-hari, seperti alat perburuan, bambu, bahkan tulang-tulang. Pada masa Dinasti Zhou, ada sekitar 70 alat musik. Sekarang sudah ada ratusan. Akan tetapi, pernahkah Anda bertanya-tanya bagaimana alat musik di China muncul? Dalam buku ini, evolusi musik Tionghoa dari abad ke abad dipaparkan, dari masa pra-sejarah, melalui Dinasti Qin, Han, Sui dan Tang, hingga sampai zaman modern seperti sekarang. Buku ini memuat perbendaharaan informasi yang menarik dan kisah-kisah tentang alat musik Tionghoa. Ini jelas sesuatu yang harus dimiliki oleh para pencinta musik apa pun.