2. Chinese music refers to the music of the
Chinese people, which may be the music of
the Han Chinese as well as other ethnic
minorities within mainland China. It also
includes that music produced by people of
Chinese origin outside of mainland China
using traditional Chinese instruments or in
the Chinese language.
3. According to legends, the founder of music
in Chinese mythology was Ling Lun at the
time of the Yellow Emperor, who made
bamboo pipes tuned to the sounds of birds
including the phoenix. A twelve-tone musical
system was created based on the pitches of
the bamboo pipes, and the first of these
pipes produced the "yellow bell" (黃鐘) pitch,
and set of tune bells were then created from
the pipes.
4. During the Zhou Dynasty, a formal system of court
and ceremonial music later termed yayue was
established. Music in the Zhou Dynasty was
conceived as a cosmological manifestation of the
sound of nature that is integrated into the binary
universal order of yin and yang, and this concept has
enduring influence later Chinese thinking on music.A
"correct" music according to Zhou concept would
involves instruments correlating to the five elements
of nature and would bring harmony to nature.
Around or before the 7th century BC, a system of
pitch generation appeared based on a ratio 2:3
symbolizing Heaven and Earth, and pentatonic
scale was derived from a cycle-of-fifths theory.
5. To Confucius, a correct form of music is
important for the cultivation and refinement of
the individual, and the Confucian system
considers the formal music yayue to be morally
uplifting and the symbol of a good ruler and
stable government. Mozi however condemned
music and argued in Against Music (非樂) that
music is an extravagance and indulgence that
serves no useful purpose and may be
harmful. According to Mencius, a powerful ruler
once asked him whether it was moral if he
preferred popular music to the classics. The
answer was that it only mattered that the ruler
loved his subjects
7. People of the Han ethnic group make up
about 92% of the population of China. Han
people's music consists of heterophonic
music, in which the musicians play versions of
a single melodic line.
8. Chinese opera has been hugely popular for
centuries, especially the Beijing opera. The
music is often guttural with high-pitched
vocals, usually accompanied by suona, jinghu,
other kinds of string instruments, and
percussion. Other types
of opera include clapper
opera, Pingju,Cantonese opera, puppet
opera, Kunqu, Sichuan
opera, Qinqiang, ritual masked
opera and Huangmei xi
9. According to current archaeological
discoveries, Chinese folk music dates back
7000 years. Not only in form but also in
artistic conception, China has been the home
of a colorful culture of folk music. Largely
based on the pentatonic scale, Chinese folk
music is different from western traditional
music, paying more attention to the form
expression as well.
10. Tibet
Music forms an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism.
While chanting remains perhaps the best known form of
Tibetan Buddhist music, complex and lively forms are also
widespread. Monks use music to recite various sacred
texts and to celebrate a variety of festivals during the
year. The most specialized form of chanting is called yang,
which is without metrical timing and is dominated by
resonant drums and sustained, low syllables. Other forms
of chanting are unique to Tantra as well as the four main
monastic
schools: Gelugpa,Kagyupa, Nyingmapa and Sakyapa. Of
these schools, Gelugpa is considered a more restrained,
classical form, while Nyingmapa is widely described as
romantic and dramatic. Gelugpa is perhaps the most
popular.
11. Yunnan
Yunnan is an ethnically diverse area in
southwest China. Perhaps best known from
the province is the lusheng, a type of mouth
organ, used by the Miao
people of Guizhou for
pentatonic antiphonal courting songs.
The Hani of Honghe Prefecture are known
for a unique kind of choral, micro-tonal rice-
transplanting songs.
12. Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in southwest China. Its
capital city, Chengdu, is home to the only musical
higher education institution in the region,
the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. The province
has a long history of Sichuan opera.
13. NortheastChina
Northeast China is a region inhabited by
ethnic groups like the Manchu. The most
prominent folk instrument is the octagonal
drum, while the youyouzha lullaby is also well-
known.
14. Xinjiang
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is
dominated by Uyghurs, a Turkic people
related to others from Central Asia. The
Uyghurs' best-known musical form is the On
IkkiMuqam, a complex suite of twelve
sections related to Uzbek and Tajik forms.
These complex symphonies vary wildly
between suites in the same muqam, and are
built on a seven-note scale.
15. Hua'er
Hua'er is a form of traditional a cappella
singing that is popular in the
mountainous northwestern
Chinese provinces such as Gansu, Ningxia,
and Qinghai
16. Kuaiban
Kuaiban (快板) is a type of rhythmic talking
and singing which is often performed with
percussive instruments such as a clapper
called paiban.
17. There was a tradition of massed instruments
in the ritual court music form known
as yayue since the Zhou Dynasty. This music
may be played by a handful of musicians, or
there may be more than 200 for example
during the Song Dynasty.[2] During the Tang
Dynasty there were also large-scale
presentations of banquet music
called yanyue (燕樂) in the court.
18. Many traditional instruments underwent
changes in the early to mid 20th century
which has a profound effect on the
performance and sound of Chinese music. A
western equal temperament is now used to
tune most traditional instruments, which to
modern ears seem less harsh and more
harmonious but which also robs the
instruments of their traditional voices
19. In common with the music traditions of other Asian
cultures, such as Persia and India, one strand of
traditional Chinese music consists of a repertoire of
traditional melodies, together known as Qupai, in
which tempo and ornamentation vary according to
the mood of the instrumentalist, the audience, and
their reaction to what is being played, the same
melody can be used to serve many different roles be
it merry, melancholic or martial (this can be glimpsed
in the love theme of the Butterfly Lovers' Violin
Concerto where the same melody at different points
in the lover's story reflects elation, turbulence and
dejection).
20. Chinese popularmusic found its beginnings in
the shidaiqu genre. The shidaiqu genre was
founded by Li Jinhui in mainland China and
was influenced by Western jazz artists like
Buck Clayton. After the establishment of
the Communist Party in China
the BaakDoi record company headquartered
in Shanghai in 1952 left China.
21. Mandarin rap music gradually became popular
in mainland China, especially in Shanghai and
Beijing where pop culture is very diverse and
modern. Although Chinese perform rap in
different dialects and languages, most
Chinese hip hop artists perform in China's
most popular language: Mandarin. Mandarin
rap music has also been popular in Taiwan.
22. The widely acknowledged forefather of
Chinese rock is Cui Jian.In the late 1980s he
played the first Chinese rock song called:
"Nothing To My Name" ("Yi wusuo you"). It
was the first time an electric guitar was used
in China.
23. Punk rock because famous in China around
1994–1996 with the first Chinese artist of
the post punk genre being He Yong and his
debut record Garbage Dump.
