CHINESE HISTORIOGRAPHY AND MUSIC: SOME OBSERVATIONS

By CHOU WEN-CHUNG

HAT has happened tp the literature on Chinese music in Western languages during the twenty years from the publication of the "Bibliography of Asiatic Musics: China" in Notes1 in 1950 to that of Fredric Lieberman's Chinese Music: An Annotated Bibliography2 in 1970? The fourfold rise in entries from fewer than 400 to more than 1700 reflects mainly contrasting methods of coverage. While the vast increase in the availability in Western languages of Chinese and other Asian publications is a healthy sign, the majority are journalistic and superficial, with most of the serious writings remaining untranslated. Truly significant, on the other hand, is the appearance in recent years of a small number of publications showing greater competence in Chinese historiography, as Laurence Picken points out in his review of Rulan Pian's Sonq Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Interpretation:3 "The publication of Das Yueh-fii Tsa-lu des Tuan An-chieh by Martin Gimm,4 and of Mrs. Pian's monograph, has set new standards of sinological competence in studies of Chinese music undertaken in the West."5 Among others, one would also think of the remarkable contribution of Joseph Needham and Kenneth Robinson on Chinese acous1 Richard A. Waterman and others, "Bibliography of Atiatic Musics, 11th and 12th Installments, D. China," Notes, VII/3-4 (1950), 415-23, 613-21. 2 Fredric Lieberman, Chinese Music: An Annotated Bibliography (New York. 1970). First Supplement in Asian Music, V/l (1973), 56-85. 3 Rulan Chao Pian, Sonq Dynasty Musical Sources and Their Interpretation (Cambridge, 1967). Martin Gimm, Das Yueh-fu Tsa-lu des Tuan An-chieh (Wiesbaden. 1966). 5 Laurence E. R. Picken, "Music and Musical Sources of the Sonq Dynasty," Journal of the American Oriental Society, LXXXIX/3 (1969), 600.

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deal and related musical theories,0 as well as the research in similar areas by Fritz Kuttner; 7 not the least are, of course, the exemplary monographs by Mr. Picken himself. Though impressive, these are nonetheless the work of a few and must be regarded as fortuitous exceptions in an otherwise underproductive field, which is inhibited by the lack of scholarly communication with China and of the opportunity for field work. The truth of the matter is that research in Chinese music has remained lost among the various allied fields where it finds neither a sound awareness of its problems nor an appropriate methodology for its tasks. The historical musicologist regards the field as out of bounds, the ethnomusicologist is not equipped in historiography to the extent required by the study of Chinese music, and the Sinologist fails to treat music with seriousness, despite its unusual prominence in the cultural history of China. Thus, in spite of those few who find it possible to cross the disciplinary boundaries with competence, primary sources are not infrequently mistranslated and misinterpreted, while secondary sources of dubious validity are often left unchallenged and sometimes perpetuated. An obvious example is provided by J. A. Van Aalst's Chinese Music, published almost a century ago, in 1884, but reprinted successively until as late as 1964 in New York and 1965 in Taipei. 8 One of its contentions based on misuse of primary sources is still being cited and theorized upon.9 A perusal of the above-mentioned bibliographies will amply remind us how scarce are reliable sources in Western languages and how many publications of no more than journalistic, speculative, or literary merit are perforce accepted as standard reference. That Van Aalst's book and other such reprints remain part of the meager diet for many is devastating to the field. By contrast, another book made available through a new edition, The Lore of the Chinese Lute by Robert Hans van Gulik,10 is one for which we should feel
6 Joseph Necdham and Kenneth Robinson, "Sound (Acoustics)," in Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, IV/1 (Cambridge, 1962), 126-228. 1 Especially Fritz A. Kuttner, "Prince Chu Tsai-yii's Life and Work," Ethnomusicology, XIX/2 (1975), 163-206; with the assistance of Kuo Chung-wu and Odoric Y. K. Wou. 8J. A. Van Aalst, Chinese Music (Shanghai and London, 1884; reprint, New York, 1964). 9 See p. 2S0, below. 10 Robert Hans van Gulik, The Lore of the Chinese Lute: An Essay in the Ideology of the Ch'in (Tokyo, 1940; new edition, revised and reset, Rutland and

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grateful, since it has for long filled a great need.11 It remains required reading and the best introduction in Western languages to the important ch'in tradition.12 (Although van Gulik should not be faulted for the limitations he set for himself, it is nevertheless regrettable that the book does not include discussions on the music or its theory.) Thus, Picken's statement quoted above might well be expanded to suggest that the new standards of Sino-musicology should embody competence in both historiography and musical research, or call for close interdisciplinary cooperation as exemplified by Needham's monumental series.18 It is with this in mind that the following observations are made on some well-known areas and problems found in some studies on Chinese music. These comments, however, do not purport to point to errors or to offer corrections; they represent merely a brief re-examination of the issues, sources, and interpretations involved in these instances. Chinese tradition attributes the invention of the first musical instruments to the mythical emperor Fu Hsi, whose accession was traditionally placed at 2852 B.C.14 Specific musical compositions and dances were also attributed to the reigns of Fu Hsi and nine subsequent rulers before the rise of Shang dynasty (ca. 1766 - ca. 1122 B.C.) and the beginning of archeological evidence. Obviously historical material of this sort does not command credibility without documentary or archeological corroboration. Each such claim, nevertheless, does not call for dismissal out of mere skepticism; it deserves to be evaluated before rejection or acceptance either in part or as a whole. In the case of these compositions of great antiquity we find (1) brief references in most of the pre-Han texts, i.e., the earliest extant documents, dating from the periods immediately before the Han Dynasty (202 B . C - 2 2 0 A.D.), and (2) in some details in Chou Li ("Rites of Chou"), which is of the third century B.C. but probably
Tokyo, 1969). See review by Chou Wen-chung in The Musical Quarterly, LX/2 (1974), 301-5. n One must hasten to mention in this regard another notable essay: Maurice Courant, "Essai sur la musique classique des Chinois," Encyclopedic de la muiique et Dictionnaire du Conservatoire, ed. Albert Lavignac, 1st part I (Paris, 1913), 77-241. See p. 236, below. 13 Op. cit. See note 6, above. 14 All pre-Chou reign-periods are according to Tung Tso-pin, Chronological Tables of Chinese History (Hong Kong, 1960).

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contains material of late Chou dynasty. More information on the function and performance of these works is given in a later text, Li Chi ("Record of Rites"), generally considered as consisting of pre-Han material but compiled during the Former Han period (202 B.C.-9 A.D.). One of these compositions was Ta Shao or Shao, supposedly from the reign (2233-2184 B.C.) of Shun, one of the Sage Emperors. There are several references to Shao in Lun Yii ("The Analects"), the best known of which states that Confucius heard this piece and "did not know the taste of meat" for three months thereafter.15 While Fu Hsi and other early rulers were legendary figures and their contributions largely symbolical, the authenticity of Lun Yii, compiled by disciples of Confucius in the fifth century B.C, is not in doubt. Shao obviously was archaic and revered by the time of Confucius (551-479 B.C). As reflected in some passages in Lun Yii and other texts of the same period, Confucius was not only a philosopher concerned with the function of music in relation to human emotions, social wellbeing, and government but also a musician and a scholar knowledgeable in musical matters. Therefore, when he exclaimed upon hearing Shao, "I never realized music could reach such a stage of perfection,"18 one might assume this music is of some structural coherence and aesthetic appeal. And, according to Ch'ien Han Shu ("History of the Former Han Dynasty") by Pan Ku (A.D. 32-92), Shao was "renamed Wen Shih" in 201 B.C. by Kao Tsu, the first Han emperor (reigned 206-95 B.C.), and remained in the repertory of Former Han's ceremonial music (ya yiieh).u Textual refferences of subsequent periods further trace revised versions of the piece through Wei (220-265) and Sui (590-618),1S without, however, providing convincing information on the authenticity of such versions. Thus, we have in Shao an example of how some of these early compositions were admired towards the end of the Chou dynasty (ca. 1122-249 B.C.) and survived until Han, the first historical period
is VII ("Shu Erh"), 13. It is also asserted that this passage should be interpreted as "Confucius heard and studied Shao for three months, during which he did not know the taste of meat." it Ibid. 17 Chap. 22 ("Li YQeh Chih"). 18 Sung Shu [History of the Liu Sung dynasty], chap. 19 ("Yueh Chih" I), (488); Sui Shu [History of the Sui Dynasty], chap. 14 f Yin Yueh Chih" II), (636).

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during which historians in the true sense of the word began to compile records. As regards archaeological evidence, excavations in recent decades, particularly since 1950, have unearthed a considerable number of early instruments. Especially noteworthy are the pitched instruments of the Shang dynasty, among which are two small pottery globular flutes (hsiiri) excavated together, which emit identical pitches. And in the Imperial Palace Museum of Peking there are three sonorous stones (ch'ing) that are part of a set, and three bronze bells (chung), also from a set. In both instances, tested pitches show that the interval of a fourth is present between two of the three pitches and that this interval is quite acceptable as a pure fourth.19 The number of excavated Shang instruments that are still in working order is far too small to draw any conclusion as to whether the principle of generating pitches by successive pure fifths was already in practice during the Shang dynasty. Nevertheless, the few tested pitches seem to conform to this principle. Moreover, these instruments demonstrate an advanced stage of acoustic technology in making and tuning instruments. A group of twenty-five sonorous stones excavated in 1970 are from a considerably later period, that of the Warring States (403221 B.C.), but their tested pitches should throw some light on the pitch concept and tuning practice of the period before such matters were systematized in the Han dynasty. These stones were found in Chiang-lin of Hupei province. They were piled neatly together in order according to size. Therefore, even though they do not appear to be all of one set (pien-ch'ing), there must have been a reason for them to be stored together. In other words, this may mean they are all related in tuning. All the stones bear paintings in color. Where there is no color or where the color is worn, there is evidence of corrosion. This means their present pitch in each case may have been affected according to the degree of corrosion. The tested pitches of the twenty undamaged stones are given in the third issue of Kaogu ("Archeology") of 1973, and consist of seven pitch-classes (E, F-sharp, G-sharp, A, B, C-sharp, D), spread over two and a half oc19 The tested pitches of the two stones are 948.6 and 1278.7, while those of the two bells are 688.4 and 915.7. See Li Ch'un-i, "Kuan Yfl Yin Chung Ti Yen Chiu" in Chung Kuo K'ao Ku HsUeh Poo [Chinese journal of archaeology], 1957, No. 3; Chung Kuo Ku Tax Yin Yueh Shih Kao [Draft of a history of ancient Chinese music], (Peking, 1959). Cf. Needham and Robinson, op. cit., p. 162.

A ch'ing of the Warring States period (403-221 B.C).

No. 14 of the twenty-five sonorous stones excavated in 1970. Dimensions (clockwise from left): 5.34, 10.92, 15.52, 4.68, and 20.71 (bottom arc) inches. Thickness: 1.56 inches. Tested frequency: 547.27 (C-sharp5). Decorated on both sides with a design of feng birds ;ind feathers in red, yellow, blue, and green.

NO

oe

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taves, from E4 to B6.20 Because of the missing pitches, the wide range, and the corrosion factor, no conclusion can be drawn from these tested pitches. Nevertheless, superficial observations can be made on the following: (1) of the three G-sharp4 stones, two (nos. 4 and 5) are less than one vps. from each other;.21 (2) of the three D5's, two (nos. 12 and 13) are identical;22 (3) using the lowest pitch, E4 at 333.07 vps., as the point of departure, the eleventh operation according to the "spiral of fifths," or San Fen Sun I Fa, yields A5 with 900.30 vps., which compares favorably with stone no. 24, whose pitch is A" with 1804.3 vps. (there is no AB in the set); (4) by disregarding octave positions, it is possible to select a particular stone for each of the available pitches with a frequency that is within tolerance compared to the theoretical frequency calculated from E4 at 333.07 vps. Thus, with the reservations already mentioned, one may still conclude tentatively that (1) this group reinforces observations previously made on the Shang instruments; (2) at least by the time of the Warring States there was a definite concern with exact pitch, or even absolute pitch; and (3) the tuning was reasonably accurate according to the "spiral of fifths." The fact that the seven pitchclasses conform to a heptatonic scale may or may not be a coincidence. Much, of course, depends on the awaited test results on the 134 stones of the Warring States period discovered so far. The above observations on the early compositions and on tuning have been made in order to compare with the historical evidence surrounding the legend concerning the origin of the twelve pitchpipes (lii), the Chinese version of the "spiral of fifths" in generating the twelve pitches of the octave. A much quoted passage in Lii Shih Ch'un Ch'iu ("Mr. Lii's Spring and Autumn Annals"), compiled about 240 i.e. under the patronage of Lii Pu-wei (d. 235 B.C.), says that the chief director of music, Lun, 2s was ordered by Huang Ti (Yellow Emperor) to make pitch-pipes and therefore went to a valley
"Hu Pei Chiang Ling Hsien Ti Ch'u Kuo Tsai Hui Shih Pien Ching Chi Ch'i Hsiang Kuan Wen T'i" [On the painted stone chimes of the state of Ch'u discovered in Chiang-lin of Hupei province and related questions], pp. 41-48, article attributed collectively to the Hupei Provincial Museum. 419.65 and 42037, respectively. a 581.25. *3 He is usually referred to a* Ling Lun in translations, although Ling in this case i* not part of his name but the title of a court Official in charge of music Another early musician who is also often referred to with this title is Ling Chou Chiu (see p. 227, below).

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in the west, where he found the bamboo with the appropriate bore and thickness, and cut it between the nodes to a specific length to produce the fundamental note of huang-chung ("yellow bell") from which he then made all the twelve pitch-pipes, arranged in two groups of six, each according to the singing of the legendary birds, feng ("male") and huang ("female").24 This colorful and symbolic legend was attributed to the reign (2674-2575 B.C.) of Huang Ti, who is traditionally regarded as the founder of Chinese civilization and who is also said to have had another official, Ts'ang Chieh, invent the first written signs. The legend has stimulated some modern Western scholars to engage in various conjectures, speculating, for instance, that the idea stemmed from Pythagoras or Babylonian sources. There are, however, some fundamental questions that must be answered before any serious pursuit of such speculations can be justified. First of all, contrary to the case of the compositions of antiquity discussed above, this episode is given in only one pre-Han text, and a rather late one at that. It would be surprising for all the other texts to neglect a historic event of this order, attributed to the reign of Huang Ti and purportedly giving birth to the all-important concept of the pitch-pipes. When it was recounted again, it was not in Shih Chi ("Historic Records") by Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145 ca. 86 B.C.), the first general history of China and an exemplary documentation of early events, but in Ch'ien Han Shu. The fact that it is not found in either the "Yiieh Shu" or "Lii Shu" chapter of Shih Chi is not necessarily significant in view of doubts about the authenticity of these chapters. But, in citing this legend in Ch'ien Han Shu, Pan Ku apparently found it necessary to qualify the passage by preceding it with the words ch'i ch'uan yiieh, which roughly means "according to what is said anciently." The vigorous attack on the validity of this legend by Chu Ts'ai-yii (1536-1614) must also be taken into account,25 in view of his great insight into the early music. The location of the valley is identified in the text by the following: "from the west of Ta-Hsia, he reached the northern slope of Yiian-yii, and took bamboos from the valley of Hsieh-ch'i." Ta-Hsia has been identified as Bactria, according to Han usage of the term.
** Often incorrectly translated as phoenix. *0 See his LH Lu Ching I Wai P'ien [The essential meaning of the twelve pitches. Part II], chap. 1 (1596).

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Yiian-yii refers to the Kunlun Massif that stands between the Tibetan Highlands and the Tarim Basin. While this passage suggests a possible contact with an outpost of Greek civilization, the itinerary is geographically difficult to explain, since Kunlun stands east of the Pamirs. Taken literally, the only possible route would be a course west by the north fork of the Silk Road, passing Kashgar to Bactria and then doubling back either through Kashgar again or somehow directly through Khotan, proceeding east by the south fork of the Silk Road to reach the destination, which could have been reached directly by traveling west from Tun-huang by the south fork. Whatever symbolic pilgrimage this might have suggested is hard to comprehend. One explanation might be that Ta-Hsia at an earlier time referred to an area much closer to China proper than Bactria. Still another possibility would be that the author of this legend did not mean to apply these geographical terms literally. At any rate, the reference to the north of Kunlun does suggest the southern of the two forks of the Silk Road, along which much musical exchange was in fact carried back and forth for many centuries. Because of the speculations as to a Pythagorean or Babylonian influence on the Chinese tuning system as well as speculation on non-Chinese sources for the theory and practice of T'ang popular music, many hypotheses about early Chinese modal and tuning systems have been postulated, such as the following: (1) there was no concept of absolute, exact, or even relative pitch until the Pythagorean or Babylonian influence was felt early in the fourth century B.C.; (2) the names for the scale-tones are given only in the texts of a later period; (3) such names, when found in early texts, do not really refer to pitches; (4) the supposedly early systems of pitch-pipes, modes, and transpositions are really the work of Han and later scholars; and (5) until the introduction of the so-called Su-chih-p'o modes in the sixth century A.D., only the Kung mode and its transpositions were employed.28 These postulations, however, are in conflict with not only what is suggested by recent archaeological finds but also certain well-known passages in the pre-Han texts. While some of these passages are brief
26 Cf. Needham and Robinson, op. cit., pp. 157ff. and 176ff. Also see Hayashi

Kenzo, Zui To engakucho Kenkyu [Sui T'ang Yen Yueh Tiao Yen Chiu], (Shanghai, 1936); Tanabe Hisao, Chugoku ongakushi [Chung Kuo Yin Yueh Shih], (Shanghai,
1937).

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and subject to interpretation, others are specific and conclusive. The twelve pitch-pipes or the pitches they produce (lii) are specified for the first time in Kuo Yii ("Discourses of the States," compiled in the fourth century B.C.), in conversations that took place in 522 and 524 B.C., between Chou Ching Wang (King Ching of Chou) and his director of music, Chou Chiu,27 on the wisdom of making a bell with the pitch of wu-i. In Chou Li, there is a famous passage which cites not only these pitch names but also names of the pentatonic scale-tones in direct reference to some of the compositions of antiquity.28 Whether the names for the scale-tones are meant in this passage to specify the modes is not clear, but an explanation of the five modes can be found in another text of the same period Tso Chuan ("Tso's Commentary to the Ch'un Ch'iu"), a chronicle of the state of Lu, compiled between the fifth and third century B.C. In a passage concerning the first year of Duke Shao of Lu (542 B.C.) there is an unequivocal description of how the five modes are evolved by rotating the order of the five scale-tones. The phrase "ta pu yii kung, hsi pu yii yii" in this passage is also found in the Kuo Yii passage cited above. The words ta and hsi here have been interpreted as meaning "loud" and "soft," respectively.29 This translation is not applicable in the context of either the Kuo Yii or Tso Chuan passages, since pu yii kung means "not exceeding the kung note" and pu yii yii, "not exceeding the yii note." Instead, ta and hsi have to be read as "low" (or "lowest") and "high" (or "highest"). The Kuo Yii passage goes on to say that "kung is the fundamental, step by step yii is reached" ("fu kung yin chih chu yeh, ti i chi yii"). Thus, the term kung in this context also refers to the lowest note in the gamut of any mode, while yii similarly refers to the highest of any mode. Moreover, Tso Chuan is even more explicit in saying "ta tse sheng ch'ih, hsi tse sheng su, ta che wei pen, hsi che wei mo," which means "if low, the sound is slow; if high, the sound is fast, the lowest is the beginning, the highest is the last." This is obviously a reference to the frequencies and the positions in the gamut. Once the meaning of this part of the text is understood, the rest is clearly an exposition of how each scale-tone can be assigned as the lowest (i. e., kung) or the highest (i. e., yii) in the gamut of
& See note 23, above. 28 Chap. 6 ("Ch'un Kuan"). Cf. Needham and Robinson, op. cit., p. 151.

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each of the five modes. For example, Tso Chuan says, "if chiao serves as kung, then shang serves as yii; i. e., shang and chiao reach for each other" ("chiao wei kung tse shang wei yii, shang chiao hsiang chi yeh") an obvious reference to chiao and shang being assigned terminal positions in the gamut of chiao mode as a result of rotation. (The spelling chiao according to colloquial pronunciation is given here to conform to the common usage in the West, although the correct spelling should be chiieh according to the more appropriate literary pronunciation.) As for the principle of generating the pitches of the pentatonic scale, i. e., the basic kung mode, this is first stated and referred to as "San Fen Sun I Fa" ("The Principle of Subtracting and Adding One-Third") in Kuan Tzu ("The Book of Master Kuan"), compiled in the late fourth century B.C. but attributed to Kuan Chung (d. 645 B.C). Later, as shown in Lii Shih Ch'un Ch'iu, the process is extended to generate all the twelve pitches of the octave. This process also illustrates how and explains why the twelve pitches are classified into two sets of whole-tone hexachords: those generated by the ratio of 3:2 are the six yin lii, while those generated by the ratio of 4:3 are the yang lii. Either set is generally referred to as liu lii ("six pitches"), a term mentioned repeatedly in almost every pre-Han text. Although a heptatonic scale is mentioned in Kuo Yii, Tso Chuan, and other texts of the period, the two additional tones are named for the first time in Huai-Nan Tzu ("The Book of Master Huai-Nan"), a compilation by scholars at the court of Liu An (d. 122 B.C), prince of Huai-nan. This is the only essential information not found in preHan texts. If other passages from sources pf the same period are examined and compared with those cited above, it can be demonstrated that all the basic information on what is traditionally held as the early Chinese modal and tuning systems can be found in these pre-Han texts and is generally corroborated by several sources. Nevertheless, even though some of these are often quoted, they are not infrequently taken out of context and inaccurately translated or interpreted. There thus appears to be a need for reinvestigation and collation of this fundamental historical material, a task that can only be undertaken by a Sinologist informed in music or a musicologist knowledgeable in Sinology, or through scholarly collaboration. There are of course no safeguards against inadvertent or inten-

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A fragment of an early Han copy of/ Ching ("Book of Changes") on silk.

One of several pre-Han texts unearthed in 1973 from No. 3 of the three Han tombs in Ma-wang-tui, Changsha, Hunan province. Date of burial: 168 B.C. (thirty-four years after Han was established and forty-five years after the "burning of classics"). Also found in these tombs were seven instruments (including the earliest ch'in found so far) and, significantly, a set of twelve pitch-pipes each marked with its lu name.

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tional oversight and distortion. One cannot say that Yii Tsai (fl. 1315), a composer and theorist of the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368), was not knowledgeable in music or history. Yet a set of nine songs, known as Chiu Te Chih Ko,so published by him around 1330 is based on the use of the whole-tone hexachord as a scale. This is because he chose to interpret the phrase often found in ancient texts, liu lii wu sheng ("six pitches, five tones," i. e., six pitches each in the two hexachords, five degrees in the pentatonic modes), so as to mean that the five degrees should all belong to either the yin or the yang hexachord. Chuang Pen-li, however, has noted that Yii's use of the whole-tone scale in these compositions facilitates their performance on pai-hsiao (panpipes), for which he feels the pieces might have been intended by Yii.81 Another interesting example is Van Aalst's statement that an eight-tone scale, with three successive semitones in the middle, was used during the Yuan dynasty.32 His citation gives Shih Tien K'ao as his source. Shih Tien K'ao is actually the first chapter of Hung Kung Ching Shih by Kuei Liang, published in 1835, a treatise on sacrificial procedures in honor of early sages. It is not known why Van Aalst relied solely on a treatise of such late date and on so specialized a topic or why he would refer to it in the book as one of his "best and most reliable" Chinese sources.88 His information is found in the eighth section of the second chapter, which presents the composition Chung Ho Shao Yu'eh in notation with explanatory passages. In this section there is a brief phrase saying that in the Yuan dynasty all of the ten kung ch'ih symbols were used. The kung ch'ih p'u or kung ch'ih ttu p'u is a notation system in use at least since the time of Shen K'uo (1031-1095), who was the first to have written about it.84 It employs ten Chinese characters, tzu, as its basic symbols. With prefixes added to some of the characters, sixteeen composite symbols are used to denote all the chromatic tones within the range of an
30 Shao Wu Chiu Ch'eng Y&eh Pu. Yii also invented a notation system using squares to indicate both pitch and time. Vertically, each square represents one of the twelve pitches; horizontally, each square represents one time unit. Szu k'u Ch'uan Shu edition (1782); Mo Hai Chin Hu edition (1808). 31 In his Chung Kuo Ku Tai Chih Pai Hsiao [Panpipes of ancient China], (Taipei, 1963), pp. 7O-7S. T h e pipes of pan-hsiao are arranged in two groups, each consisting of the pipes for one of the two hexachords and octave duplications. 32 Op. at., p. 15. S3 Ibid., p. 12. 3* Shen K'uo, Meng Ch'i Pi Tan, chap. 6 ("Yueh LQ" II), (ca. 1090).

231

+1

WW

no

I||
j$r

ft

A page from Hung Kung Ching Shih Lu by Kuei Liang (second edition, 1882).
This page (Volume II, page 27a) is the source cited by Van Aalst for his claim of the existence of an "eight-tone scale" during the Yuan Dynasty. The circled charaaers in the fourth column from right are the ten basic symbols of the kung ch'ih notation, in use since the Sung Dynasty. The text otherwise fails to support his assertion.

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augmented ninth. These symbols, however, are to be used selectively according to the pentatonic or heptatonic mode in question. As a matter of fact, the prefixes (hsia and shang) are often not given; thus the symbols szu, i, kung, fan and wu may imply either hsia or shang positions (which are a semitone apart) according to the mode in question. Therefore, the ten standard symbols,85 without the prefixes (ho, szu, i, shang, kou, ch'ih, kung, fan, liu, wu), must not be construed as a scale of, say, C, D, E, F, F-sharp, G, A, B (C, D) as is given in Van Aalst's book. The text of his source lists these ten symbols and then adds, "shih tzu ch'uan yung," i. e., "all ten characters are used." The context of this phrase simply indicates that these symbols are all used in Yuan dynasty, without any reference to a scale. The source of Van Aalst's problem, aside from his questionable methodology, may well be the word tzu, which means "word," but also "symbol" in a notational system, and therefore could be taken to mean a tone, thereby implying a scale-tone. Even without textual misapprehension, the pitfalls of being misled by assertions and hypotheses abound in Chinese historiography, as witness van Gulik's inadvertent dating of the establishment of Yiieh Fu (Office of Music) almost a century ahead of the accepted date (probably 111 B.C.).86 It is, moreover, a common occurrence for a musical term or the name of an instrument to be mistranslated or replaced by another that seems to read better in a Western language, without much concern for how this might alter the meaning of the passage. Even to a conscientious author the title of a musical composition may be deceptive. For example, a composition of the T'ang Dynasty (618-906), Tu Chiieh San T'ai, has not long ago been translated in an important and praiseworthy volume as "The Three Platforms of the Turks," and mentioned by the author as a kind of Chinese counterpart of a Western popular song with an exotic title.87 What one must be aware of, however, is that the words san t'ai in this title stand for a type of melody or music, while the other words stand for the poem or its contents. There are many compositions bearing the title of san t'ai, such as Shang Huang San T'ai with the text in a
s* Frequently given in ancient Chinese treatises on music. 86 Op. cit., p. 59. See Chou, op. dt., p. 304. Cf. Chang Shou-p'ing, Han Tai YUeh Fu YU Yueh Fu Ko Tz'u (The office of music of the Han dynasty and the texts of the YUeh Fu song collection], (Taipei, 1970), p. 12. 37 Edward H. Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics (Berkeley, Calif., 1963), pp. 51-52.

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five-character-line shih form, Chiang Nan San T'ai with a six-character-line shih form. The text of T'u Chiieh San T'ai is in the newer tz?u form.88 According to the T'ang poet Liu Yu-hsi (772-842),89 the origin of san t'ai is related to ascending the three terraces in the palace to toast the emperor. While some san fai pieces were used for drinking and toasting, T'u Chiieh San T'ai belongs to the ta ch'ii form, one of the most elaborate types of T'ang music. Some of these compositions are also found in Korea and Japan, such as Sonin Sandai (Shu Jen San T'ai in Chinese). In the Korean Hoe-rye ak (banquet music) there is also Chol-hwa sam-tae (Ch'e Hua San T'ai in Chinese) for the royal banquet held on New Year's Day and the winter solstice at court. Thus, a seemingly innocent title may lead one to conjecture instead of information. Just as easily and as often, only partial information is provided, creating an unwarranted impression or a distortion. Much has been made of the many musicians of Central Asian origin active in China from the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties (386-589) through T'ang. Yet, the question of whether they were or were not born in China an important consideration has seldom been raised. In fact, most among the best known were indeed born in China. For example, Ts'ao Miao-ta, the p'i-p'a player of Kabudhan ancestry, who was made a prince at the court of Northern Ch'i (550557), was actually two generations removed from immigration to China. Another p'i-p'a virtuoso of the same name and probably the same family, Ts'ao Kang, who has been immortalized in the poems of Po Chii-i (772-846) and Hsieh Feng (ca. 853) of T'ang, 40 was likewise from a family settled in China for generations. Another similar case is the composer Pai Ming-ta, of Kuchean ancestry, who served at the court of both the Sui (590-618) and T'ang dynasties. These musicians would be enormously fascinating subjects to study if more material were available. In any event, the Central Asian influence exerted on Chinese music by them cannot be equated to someone like Su-chih-p'o, another Kuchean, who was, however,
38 T'u chOeh means " T u r k i c " 39 Wei Hsuan, Liu Pin K'o Chia Hua Lu, a memoir of conversations with Liu during the year 821. 40 Ting Ts'ao Kang Chien Shih Ch'ing Lien and T'ing Ts'ao Kang Tan P"i P"a, respectively.

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brought to China by the Turkish empress of Northern Chou dynasty (557-581) during the reign (561-578) of Wu Ti, shortly before the rise of the Sui. The influence of Su-chih-p'o on an important musician of the Sui Dynasty, Cheng I (fl. 580), is well known. In a statement made in the year of 587 and quoted in Sui Shu ("History of the Sui Dynasty"), Cheng declared that his own system of eighty-four modes based on the twelve transpositions of the seven basic modes was arrived at after Su-chih-p'o demonstrated to him on the p'i-p'a the seven diatonic modes.41 These modes explained by Su-chih-p'o are certainly significant to T'ang music. But while scholars have claimed, variously, Indian or Persian origin for Su's modes, the history of their transmission through Central Asia is still ambiguous. It should be observed that there is no documentary evidence of the use of transposition in either Indian or Persian music prior to this period, whereas some Han theorists were already preoccupied with its practical solution. The difficulty in providing the origin of these modes and in evaluating their influence on Chinese popular music is but an indication of the kind of interfusion that took place in inner Asia during that period. Therefore, the Su-chih-p'o modes might well be heterogeneous in nature, as has recently been expounded upon by Wu Nanhsiin in his monumental study on tuning, temperament, and modal systems in Chinese history.42 The study of the Su-chih-p'o episode would not be complete without examining the Sui Shu passage with care in order fully to understand Cheng I's statement and his motives. His statement was a reply to Emperor Wen Ti (reigned 581-604) of Sui, who ordered Cheng and others to establish a new official music for the Sui after having complained that his court musicians failed to do so seven years after his dynasty was established. It must be borne in mind that at that time the Sui court inherited the music of the Northern Chou, a minor dynasty ruled by Mongols, as well as the music of earlier Northern dynasties of Turkic rulers. On the other hand, ch'ing shang yiieh or ch'ing yiieh of Han tradition continued to flourish in the contemporary Southern dynasties of Chinese rulers. Actually, the study of the su yiieh ("music of the people") of T'ang must begin
41 Sui Shu, chap. 14 ("Yin YOeh Chih" II). 42 LU HsSeh Hui T'ung [A comprehensive study of music and acoustics], (Peking, 1964), pp. 198-203, 218-33, 434-70.

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with the confrontation and interpenetration between ch'ing yiieh and hu yiieh ("foreign music"), which includes foreign music and Sinicized music of Central Asian origin or influence. The varigated origins of the types of music included in su yiieh may be readily demonstrated by the confused and changing definition of the term, yen yiieh, which was often used interchangeably with su yiieh of T'ang. Originally meaning music for banquet and court entertainment, yen yiieh came to mean, at times, the category of music excluding hu yiieh, including hu yiieh, or combining hu yiieh and ch'ing yiieh. This reflects the whole politico-cultural struggle between the south and the north, between maintaining the Chinese tradition and absorbing foreign ideas, during the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties, Sui, and early T'ang. To assert, as some scholars have done, that the new music of T'ang was largely of inner Asian origin or, for that matter, of Han tradition would be futile.48 There was obviously a prolonged ongoing interaction between the two, concurrent with a gradual Sinicization of the music and instruments of foreign origin. One reminder of this process would be the fact that the twenty-eight su yiieh modes of T'ang bear an amalgam of traditional Chinese terms as well as names of likely foreign origin, including some of Su-chih-p'o's. Another would be the evolution of p'i-p'a from a horizontally held position played with a large plectrum to a vertical one plucked with the fingers, and from a simple right-hand technique to an elaborate one, most likely borrowed from ch'in technique.44 There was also the type of music known as fa ch'ii, which was of ch'ing yiieh tradition but acquired some foreign influence. For example, the famous P"o Chen Yiieh ("Breaking the Enemy Ranks"), composed in 627 by order of Emperor T'ai Tsung (reigned 627-649) of the T'ang Dynasty and re<3 Some ludd comment! on this question can be found in Jen Pan-t'ang [Jen Erh-pei], Chiao Fang Chi Chien Ting [Commentaries on Ts'ui Ling-ch'in's Chiao Fang Chi], (Shanghai, 1962), pp. 59ff. and 146ff.; Wu Nan-hsQan, op. cit., pp. 187ff. and 2S3ff. ** The use of ch'ou or ch'ou fan ("plucking with fingera") on the p'i-p'a began during the Chen-kuan period (627-649), according to Chiu T'ang Shu [Old history of the Tang dynasty], chap. 29 ("Yin Yueh Chih" II), (945). Cf. Ch'ang Jen-hsia. "Han T'ang Shih Ch'i Hsi Yu P'i P'a Ti Shu Ju Ho Fa Chan" (The introduction of p'i-p'a from central Asia and its evolution during the Han and T'ang periods], Min Tsou Yin YOeh Yen Chiu Lun Wen Chi, I (Peking, 1956), 14-28; Picken. "T'ang Music and Musical Instruments," T'oungPao, LV/1-3 (1969), 107-111.

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vised several times thereafter, was regarded as one of the finest fa ch'iX compositions. It was originally based on folk material, but Kuchean elements were added later; and by 677 two sections of it had been reclassified as ya yiieh.*6 Whatever its actual degree of cultural synthesis, Po Chen Yu'eh was greatly admired and widely performed throughout the T'ang period, so much so that it is one T'ang composition known to have been performed in neighboring countries other than Japan. The Buddhist pilgrim Hsiian Chuang (596-664) reported hearing it in India; 40 and Liu Yuan-ting witnessed a performance of it in T'u-fan (Tibet) when he was envoy to that state sometime between 806 and 820.47 By contrast, such pervasive intercourse in music between the Chinese and the nomad invaders did not take place during the period from the decline of the Sung (960-1279) to the rise of the Ming dynasty (13681644). Understanding Chinese intellectuals' resistance to the relatively brief Mongol rule during the Yuan dynasty will better explain why so much was claimed to be of Sung origin by early Ming scholars and musicians, bypassing Yuan completely in asserting their tradition. A concrete example is the Ming edition of an important treatise on ch'in (the zither), T'ai Ku I Yin, compiled supposedly by T'ien Chih-weng of the twelfth century. T'ai Ku I Yin was reissued by Chu Ch'iian (1378-1448) with a preface dated 1413, and with his own corrections, commentary, and supplements.48 It is particularly noted for (1) its coverage on shou shih ("hand postures"), drawings which show the hand postures and matching imagery of movement or sound quality, (2) its detailed explanation of the finger techniques and the chien tzu ("abbreviated characters") notation, and (3) the inclusion of commentaries on finger techniques and notation by two T'ang writers, Chen Chii-shih49 (ca. 880) and Liu Chieh (ca. 900). Because of the affinity between the contents of
Chiu T'ang Shu, chaps. 28 and 29 ("Yin Yueh Chih" I and II). <fl Hsiian Chuang, Ta T'ang Hsi Yu Chi [Journey to the Western countries during the T'ang dynasty], chaps. 5 and 7 (646). 47 Liu YQan-ting, Ching Chien Chi LUeh [Brief records of observations made on journeys], (ca. 810). 48 A reprint of Chu's version, known as Hsin K'an T'ai Yin Ta Ch'iian and published during the Chia-ching period (1522-66), is reproduced in facsimile in Ch'in Ch'U Chi Ch'eng [Anthology of collections of ch'in compositions], I / I , ed. Cha Fu-hsi (Peking, 1963), pp. 31-68. 4 ChU-thih is an informal title for a retired scholar, or a Buddhist or Taoist devotee.

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T'ai Ku I Yin and those of subsequent Ming publications it will, if its Sung origin can be accepted, serve as an important link between the ch'in tradition of Ming with its voluminous literature and the Sung tradition with very limited sources. The significance of this relation can be easily grasped if one realizes that ch'in music, aside from its unique character, has a large body of notated and printed literature and is probably the only tradition of its magnitude extant in Chinese music that can presently be traced back to early Ming with certainty. Chu as a musician of the Ming dynasty stands next only to Chu Ts'ai-yii (1536-1614). His scholarly integrity is well attested by his work on T'ai Ku I Yin and on his collection of ch'in music, Shen Ch'i Pi Pu (preface dated 1425), which is the earliest known collection of its size and contents.60 The first of the three volumes consists of sixteen compositions, which according to Chu's preface are of great antiquity, not ordinarily passed on by ch'in masters. Cha Fu-hsi noted in the colophon to the facsimile edition of the Wan-li printing 81 that according to some historical evidence and judging from the finger techniques employed, some of these compositions predated Southern Sung Dynasty (1127-1279). If Cha proves to be correct, this will also lend credibility to Chu's claim that T'ai Ku I Yin dated from the twelfth century. Presumably Cha's finding is included in his long-awaited treatise on ch'in, the publication of which has been delayed because of the Cultural Revolution.52 The second and third volumes consist of forty-eight pieces which were generally available in the Sung and Yuan dynasties. Chu states that thirty-four pieces are from his own repertory; the others he collected by sending five students to learn from various masters of his time. The task took him twelve years to complete. Another informative statement in the preface is that while small circles, known as chu tieniS ("phrasal punctuations"), used to denote phrasal structure in the music are provided for all the works in the last two volumes, they are not supplied in the older compositions in the first volume, because these
60 Facsimile edition of a copy printed during the Wan-li period (1573-1619), (Peking, 1956); an edition of the Chia-ching period (1522-66) is reproduced in facsimile in Ch'in Cha Chi Ch'eng (see note 48, above), pp. 69-144. *i See note 50, above. 521 was privileged to examine briefly Cha's manuscript during a visit with this respected ch'in master and scholar in Peking, December, 1972. 53 Or tien cha.

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were works normally kept secret by masters and not made available to others. Six of these pieces are, however, actually printed with the chii tien signs in both facsimile editions. According to a note at the end of the first volume in the Chia-ching edition,64 these signs were added later. The note, which does not appear in the Wan-li edition, was dated 1451, three years after Chu's death. His comments on the chii tien alone illuminate an aspect of the practice that is not widely known today, an aspect only recently the subject of some discussion among scholars.88 Chii tien, however, is not an unique ch'in term, but ratheT borrowed from chii tou, the literary term for the clarification of meaning and separation of structural units. Tien means "to punctuate"; chii means "sentence." Tou, which means "phrase," is sometimes written as tu, "to measure," or t'ou, "to join." One of the earliest instances where references are made to chii tou in the context of ch'in performance principles are those (written as chii tu) found in chapters 4 and 6 of T'ai Ku I Yin, particularly in passages elaborating on quotations from such early writers as Hsiieh I-chien (ca. 725 - ca. 800). In this regard, the relationship between this treatise and some extant pre-Ming sources must be noted. Aside from being in part a compilation of early sources, T'ai Ku I Yin contains some substantial passages that are identical with those found in some late Sung sources. For example, sections 11 through 22 in chapter 6, in which chii tu is referred to, are literally identical with the second half of the chapter on ch'in in two of the three basic versions of a late Sung encyclopedia, Shih Lin Kuang Chi, by Chen Yuan-ching (ca. 1250).56 Another example is that the section in chapter 4, entitled "Essential Quotations from Various Sources" ("Ch'iin Shu Yao Yu"), is also
M P. 96 (see note 50, above). " S e e Plan, op. cit., pp. 91-93; Picken, "Music and Musical Sources of the Sonq Dynasty" (see note 5, above), p. 617. 58 Part III, chap. 4, in the Ch'un Chuang Shu YUan edition (between 1330 and 1332); part VII, chap. 1, in the Chi Ch'eng T'ang edition (1340). All the extant editions are related to these two revised and supplemented versions as well as a third, the T'ai-ting edition (1325). The chapter on ch'in (Part IV, chap. 4) in the I ait version is either truncated or unsupplemented, being less than half the size of the others and without the portion on performance principles. All three versions are reproduced in facsimile in Ch'in Ch'U Chi Cheng (see note 48, above), pp. 15-29. Also see Chung Kuo Ku T'ai Yin YUch Shih Liao Ch'ieh Yao (see note 57, below), pp. 687-725. The date of the original edition is unknown, but is likely around the period when YQan and Southern Sung overlapped (1260-79).

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identical with the paragraph under the same heading in another encyclopedia of the same period, Hsin Pien Ku Chin Shih Wen Lei Chii, by Chu Mu (preface dated 1246).87 This is of interest since, according to Chu Ch'iian's preface to his edition, T'ien Chih-weng's T'ai Ku I Yin was edited and presented to the Sung court, under the title of Ch'in Yuan Hsu Chih, by Yang Tsu-yiin (ca. 1210) during the Chia-ting period (1208-1224). This was two or three decades before Chu Mu completed his encyclopedia and almost half a century before the other encyclopedia, Shih Lin Kuang Chi, made its appearance. To further pursue the circumstances surrounding these parallel or excerpted passages a characteristic feature of Chinese historiography and to trace the origin of much of T'ai Ku I Yin's contents would far exceed the scope and intent of this essay. Suffice it to observe that the link between the ch'in tradition of Chu Ch'iian's time and that of Sung, hypothetically referred to earlier, is at least in part borne out by the fact that (1) the aforementioned passages in T'ai Ku I Yin are traced to more than one Sung sources, (2) its text on these and other topics, such as notation, is more extensive than any of the pre-Ming sources extant, and (3) Chu's comments on chii tien cited above are consistent with the contents in the pertinent passages found in both T'ai Ku I Yin and Shih Lin Kuang Chi. The study of chien tzu notation and of ch'in's theoretical writings and editions, knowledge of which is prerequisite for any fruitful investigation of the music itself, is one more example of an area where competence in both Sinology and musicology is required. Moreover, it provides irrefutable though unhappy evidence that the inability to consult primary source materials is no less a handicap in the study of Chinese music than in the research on some early European music. Reaching for otherwise inaccessible sources, however, should in itself prove to be more than gratifying in view of the richness of the field. For the competent Sino-musicologist, the future perhaps, it may be hoped, not so distant will doubtless be a most exciting one, once the vast source materials in China are opened to researchers in the West and scholarly exchanges can be undertaken in earnest. It is the work of these scholars that will eventually open the

87 Part III, chap. 22, section on ch'in. See facsimile reproduction in Chung Kuo Ku Tax Yin Yueh Shih Liao Ch'ieh Yao (Collection of important ancient Chinese source materials on music), I, (Peking, 1962), 405.

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door for the public in the West to one of the oldest and richest musical traditions, one that for centuries served as a musical Silk Road and the progenitor for many other Asian musical cultures. Meanwhile, let us hope that the considerable number of indispensable monographs published in recent decades by Chinese musicologists will be made available in the West through translation.58

This article is a revised version of a paper read at the Western Conference of The Association for Asian Studies, held at Arizona State University, Terape, Arizona, December 6-8, 1974. All translations in this essay are the author's own.

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