This document provides a summary of the history of music and musical instruments in East Asia, with a focus on China, from prehistoric times through the Qing Dynasty. It describes the development of various instruments over dynasties in China, including string, wind, percussion and others made of materials like silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal and more. Specific instruments are outlined along with their origins and cultural influences. The document also summarizes daily life, culture, arts and politics during the Tang and Song Dynasties, including cities, religions, fashion, examinations, marriage customs, and the rise of footbinding. The Mongol and Qing conquests are briefly outlined.

1. Music & Entertainment
Life & People in East Asia
-- A brief introduction
By Ke Peng

2. History & Musical Instruments
• Chinese History is very long!!
• Pre-dynastic: flutes, ocarinas, bronze bells, stone
chimes
• Shang (16th-11th c. BC) and Zhou (11th-221 BC):
Sophisticated stringed instruments
• Qin (221 BC-207 BC) and Han (206 BC – 220 AD):
portable plucked instruments
• Wei (220 – 265) Jin (265 – 420) through Tang:
double reeds, bowed fiddles.
• Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing: fiddle popularity

3. Court, Religious, Folk
• Music seen by Kongzi(Confucious) as ritual, vital to
the regulation of the state: the material of the
instruments expressed the material of the universe
• Foreign Influences (trade routes, captives, ethnic
groups) on “folk” and “urban” entertainment
• Buddhist chant

4. Areas of Chinese Influence

5. Instruments
• The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood,
stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide.
• (Western instruments are: wind, brass,
percussion, strings)

6. Silk | Guqin (Zither)
• Seven strings, no frets, no bridges
• Associated with the literati (a man's instrument)
• Made from a special wood
• Called the koto in Japan
• Dates from the Warring States Period
• Joy of Gods and Men 神人畅 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VO9S5pHxaA8)

7. Silk | plucked
• Guzheng (古箏) –
16-26 stringed zither with
movable bridges
High Mountain and Flowing
Water
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=UBbUuvGl8kc)
• JAPAN: Koto
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhxl
QlZafvY )
• KOREA: Kayageum,
Kumongo

8. Silk | plucked
• Pipa (琵琶) - 4 or 5 stringed
pear-shaped lute
“ Moonlight of Spring River” 春江花
月夜
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lykgg5phVJE)
• Sanxian (三弦) - A plucked
lute with body covered with
snakeskin and long fretless
neck
• JAPAN: Shamisen, Biwa

9. Silk | plucked
• Ruan (Chinese: 阮; Pinyin:
ru n) - Moon-shaped lute in
five sizes:
• Liuqin (柳琴) - A small
plucked lute with a pear-
shaped body and four
strings
• Yueqin (月琴) - A plucked
lute with a wooden body, a
short fretted neck, and four
strings tuned in pairs

10. Silk | bowed
• Huqin (胡琴) - Family of vertical
fiddles
• Erhu (二胡) - Two-stringed fiddle
• Zhonghu (中胡) - Two-stringed
fiddle, lower pitch than erhu
• Gaohu (高胡) - Two-stringed
fiddle, higher pitch than erhu
• Banhu (板胡) - Two-stringed
fiddle with a coconut resonator and
wooden face
• Jinghu (京胡) - Two-stringed
fiddle, very high pitched, used mainly
for Peking Opera

11. Silk | struck
• Yangqin (揚琴) - Hammered dulcimer of varying
strings struck using two bamboo hammers
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4n4NuGaaOk)

12. Bamboo
• Dizi (笛子) - Transverse
bamboo flute with
buzzing membrane
• Xiao - End-blown flute
• Suona - A double reed
wind instrument with a
flaring metal bell; also
called haidi (海笛)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i5_I
_adjqU)

13. Japanese Flutes
• Fue
• Shinobue
• Shakuhachi
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y1vW24fFeDM

14. Wood
• Muyu - A rounded woodblock carved in the shape of
a fish, struck with a wooden stick. Often used in
Buddhist chanting

15. Stone
• Bianqing (編磬 or 编磬) - A rack of stone tablets that
are hung by ropes from a wooden frame and struck
using a mallet

16. Metal
• Chuzeng Baizhong (楚曾百鐘) - 100 bronze bells
hung on a rack, struck using poles
• Bianzhong (編鐘) - 65 bronze bells hung on a rack,
struck using poles

17. Clay
• Xun (塤) - Ocarina made of baked clay
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14)

18. Gourd
• Sheng - A free reed mouth organ consisting of
varying number of bamboo pipes inserted into
a gourd chamber with finger holes
• Japan: Sho
• Hulusi - A free reed wind instrument with
three bamboo pipes which pass through a
gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes
and the other two are drone pipes; used
primarily in Yunnan province

19. Hide (革)
• Dagu - Large drum
• Huagu - Flower drum
• Bangu - Small, high pitched drum used in
Beijing oper
• YouTube Video | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwUeVu0odPA

20. Ensemble music
• Silk and Bamboo
• Theatrical traditions
- Beijing Opera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4QApzExgSo )
- Noh (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jd9XJeb-PY& )
- Kabuki
- Pansori (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt_ifMmvMik )
– Orchestral and Modern
- Korean Popular Singer | Rain
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5B0XItDpSM )
- Taiwan | Jay-Chou (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7iZwweFGs )
- Japanese | Utada Hikaru (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK1ScnCibtE )

21. Life back in the Tang Dynasty
& Its Influence
(618 - 907 AD) 290 Years

22. The Center of the World
• Cities in China –walls and markets
• 754: 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures, and 1,538
counties
• The greatest: Chang'an, population of 2 million
• Walls: 18 feet high, enclosed an area of 30
square miles—more for security than to stop an
invasion
• Roads: Narrowest, 82 feet wide, those leading
to the gates—328 feet wide, imperial way = 492
feet

24. Religious Institutions
• 91 Buddhist monasteries in Chang'an (64 for
monks, 27 for nuns)
• 16 Daoist temples (10 for priests, 6 for
priestesses)
• 2 Nestorian Christian churches
• 4 Zoroastrian Shrines
• Some Buddhist monasteries were the size of
entire wards

25. Large Goose Pagoda (210 feet)

26. Left: Large Goose Pagoda
Top: Small Goose Pagoda (149 feet)
These are the only structures to
survive from the Tang relatively intact
(One was said to rise to 330 feet)

27. The Pleasure Quarters
• Locale for high-class courtesans (many of
whom were from poor families)
• Girls were only let out on the 8, 18th, 28th days
of the month, to hear Buddhist lectures in a
nearby monastery
• Best courtesans were skilled in singing,
dancing. They supervised feasts, played games,
kept the party moving

28. Han Xizai's Party by Gu Hongzhang (Five Dynasties)
(907 - 960 AD ) 54 Years

29. Top: Han Xizai's Party (in full)
Right: Fairies in Fairyland,
Yuan Gao (Five Dynasties)

30. Clothing
• Commoners: loose, baggy trousers, tunics,
sashes tied at the waist, bamboo hats
• Formal dress (men): Robes (think bathrobes),
silk, patterned, two layers, sash, large sleeves,
cloth cap/turban, boots
• Formal dress (women): Similar to the kimono
or the hanbok. Could be revealing (low cut), or
exposing the shoulders

31. Left: Hanbok—Korea
Right: Kimono—Japan
Both were derived from Tang elite fashion in China

32. Cont.
• Jewelry:
• Men: element of formal court wear. Girdle
pendants, belt hooks, leather belts with jade
plaques
• Women: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hairpins
the most important (personal decorations)
• Women plucked their eyebrows and colored
them back on, beauty marks were added as
well

33. Tang mirrors

34. Entertainment
• Entertainers: magicians, dancers, musicians
(troupes), acrobats
• Sports: polo, football (soccer), archery
• Early drama, puppetry, storytellers
• Games: Chinese chess, pitch pot,
• Parties: poetry, drinking, gambling

35. Lives of Men and Women
• The life cycle:
• Pre-natal: Mother should burn incense, read
poetry, sit properly and strum the guqin—
fetal teaching
• Woman went into seclusion a month before
birth
• Child (if well-to-do) could be nursed by wet-
nurses, or even raised by them
• Child was considered one year old at birth
(life starts at conception)

36. Examinations
• Tested for child prodigies
• 3 exams: Classical Masters, Advanced Scholars,
Elevated Warriors
• Took place in spring—Classical Masters most
prestigious
• Example: 740 test: 65 fill in questions for 8
classics, oral exam, 10 questions on
interpretation, 3 essays on contemporary
problems

37. A shirt covered with excerpts from the Classics and commentaries,
possibly used for cheating in the exams

38. Marriage
• A social contract between families (power,
wealth, or out of friendship)
• Arranged, love matches were rare
• Girl leaves her family and moves in with
husband's family (patrilocal)
• Expected to serve her husband and more
importantly, his parents as if they were her own

39. Justifications for Divorce
• The “Seven Dismissals” (even if the wife
disagrees)
• 1) No children (sons) by the age of 49
• 2) Adultery (on her part)
• 3) Refusal to serve her in-laws
• 4) Talkativeness (exposing family affairs)
• 5) Jealousy
• 6) Theft (in-laws property)
• 7) Incurable disease

40. Three Ways She Can Stay
• The law offered certain protections:
• 1) If she had observed the 27 month mourning
period for her husband's parents (filial)
• 2) He had gained wealth, rank, since she had
married him
• 3) She had no family to return to
• If he divorced her and one of these applied, he
was subject to 100 blows from the thick rod
and forced to take her back

41. China During the “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms”

42. The Song Dynasty
(960 - 1279 AD
320 Years )

44. Song Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin)
The Song marked return to
Han Chinese rule in China—for
the first time in a major dynasty
since the Han itself.

45. Ding ware, a thin
white porcelain was
produced in the Song
and was known for its
high quality

46. Urbanization
• Shift to the cities: 10% of the population living
in cities
• Kaifeng (capital): trade valued at 50% more
than London in 1711 (not equalled in Europe
until 18th century)
• Popular urban culture: street shows, dramas,
increasing freedom of movement
• Cities as the center of cultural life—amusement
quarters

47. The “Qingming Scroll” showing Kaifeng during the Song (attributed
to Zhang Zeduan)--the entire painting is 5.25 meters long!

48. Movable type printing

50. Footbinding
• Origin traced to the Tang (Emperor's
concubine—dancer)
• Becomes popular during the Song—restricted to
upper classs. Why?
• How? Early forms not as severe as the Qing—but
ideal foot size was eventually 4 in. in length
• Bound by mother/grandmother at age 4-7—
extremely painful, could take up to 10 years
• Why? Sexual appeal, a symbol of class, and later,
a marker of civilization (vs. barbarians)

51. Are these kinds of body
alterations unique in the
world?

52. The Mongol Invasion
(1271 - 1368 AD
98 Years )

54. Within 20 years of Genghis Khan’s death, the Mongol Empire spanned much of
Russia, China, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Armenia,
Korea (North and South), Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Iraq and Iran. It was the largest land empire in history.

55. The extent of the Mongol Empire and the route that Marco Polo took

56. Khubilai Khaghan and his wife, Chabi

58. Ming Dynasty
(1368 - 1644 AD)
277 Years
Zhu Yuanzhong—Ming Taizu

59. The Last Dynasty –Qing
(Qing Dynasty
1644 - 1911 AD
267 Years )

60. The Qing (1644-1911)
• Conquered the Ming
• No change in landownership
• Kept civil service examination
• Kept the Ming Code (laws)
• Respect of Chinese customs
• Differences: Manchu clothes and the queue

61. The Manchus
• Northern group—claim shared cultural traits
with the Jurchen
• Banner system—way of organizing society (300
households form a company, 50 companies
form a banner
• Brutal conquest of the south—massacre in
Yangzhou

62. “Keep your hair, lose your head. Keep your head, lose your hair.”

63. The Three Great Emperors
Qing Taizu (Nurhaci) Kangxi (r. 1661-72) Qianlong (r. 1736-96)

64. General Events
• Increase in population: from 60 million --> 150
million --> 300 million (end of the 18th century)
• Continued policy of autocratic rule, exams,
“Confucian rulers”--move to legitimacy—far
more successful than the Mongols
• Additions to the empire: Tibet (iffy), Xinjiang,
Taiwan (Zheng Chenggong/Koxinga—1681)