imagination of Asiatics, there is no reason to doubt that the Chinese
possessed long before our Christian era musical instruments to which
they attribute a fabulously high antiquity. There is an ancient
tradition, according to which they obtained their musical scale from a
miraculous bird, called _fêng-huang_, which appears to have been a
sort of phœnix. When Confucius, who lived about B.C. 551-479, happened
to hear on a certain occasion some Chinese music, he is said to have
become so greatly enraptured that he could not take any food for three
months afterwards. The sounds which produced this effect were those of
K’uei, the Orpheus of the Chinese, whose performance on the
_ch’ing_――a kind of harmonicon constructed of slabs of sonorous
stone――would draw wild animals around him and make them subservient to
his will. As regards the invention of musical instruments the Chinese
have other traditions. In one of these we are told that the origin of
some of their most popular instruments dates from the period when
China was under the dominion of heavenly spirits, called Ch’i. Another
assigns the invention of several stringed instruments to the great
Fu-hsi who was the founder of the empire and who lived about B.C.
3000, which was long after the dominion of the Ch’i, or spirits.
Again, another tradition holds that the most important instruments and
systematic arrangements of sounds are an invention of Nü-wa, sister
and successor of Fu-hsi.
According to their records, the Chinese possessed their much-esteemed
_ch’ing_ 2200 years before our Christian era, and employed it for
accompanying songs of praise. It was regarded as a sacred instrument.
During religious observances at the solemn moment when the _ch’ing_
was sounded sticks of incense were burnt. It was likewise played
before the emperor early in the morning when he awoke. The Chinese
have long since constructed various kinds of the _ch’ing_, by using
different species of stones. Their most famous stone selected for this
purpose is called _yü_. _Yü_ includes the two varieties of jade,
nephrite and jadeite. It is not only very sonorous but also beautiful
in appearance. It is found in mountain streams and crevices of rocks.
The largest known specimens measure from two to three feet in
diameter, but examples of this size rarely occur. The _yü_ is very
hard and heavy. Some European mineralogists, to whom the missionaries
transmitted specimens for examination, pronounce it to be a species of
agate (_ma-nao_). It is found of different colours, and the Chinese
appear to have preferred in different centuries particular colours for
the _ch’ing_.
The Chinese consider the _yü_ especially valuable for musical
purposes, because it always retains exactly the same pitch. All other
musical instruments, they say, are in this respect doubtful; but the
tone of the _yü_ is influenced neither by cold nor heat, nor by
humidity, nor dryness.
The stones used for the _ch’ing_ have been cut from time to time in
various grotesque shapes. Some represent animals: as, for instance, a
bat with outstretched wings; or two fishes placed side by side: others
are in the shape of an ancient Chinese bell. The angular shape appears
to be the oldest form and is still retained in the ornamental stones
of the _pien-ch’ing_, which is a more modern instrument than the
_ch’ing_. The tones of the _pien-ch’ing_ are attuned according to the
Chinese intervals called _lü_, of which there are twelve in the
compass of an octave. The same is the case with the other Chinese
instruments of this class. They vary, however, in pitch. The pitch of
the _sung-ch’ing_, for instance, is four intervals lower than that of
the _pien-ch’ing_.
Sonorous stones have always been used by the Chinese also singly, as
rhythmical instruments. Such a single stone is called _t’ê-ch’ing_.
The ancient Chinese had several kinds of bells, frequently arranged in
sets so as to constitute a musical scale. The Chinese name for the
bell is _chung_. At an early period they had a somewhat square-shaped
bell called _t’ê-chung_. Like other ancient Chinese bells it was made
of copper alloyed with tin, the proportion being one part of tin to
six of copper. The _t’ê-chung_, which is also known by the name of
_piao_, was principally used to indicate the time and divisions in
musical performances. It had a fixed pitch of sound, and several of
these bells attuned to a certain order of intervals were not
unfrequently ranged in a regular succession, thus forming a musical
instrument which was called _pien-chung_. The musical scale of the
sixteen bells which the _pien-chung_ contained was the same as that of
the _ch’ing_ before mentioned.
The _hsüan-chung_ was, according to popular tradition, included with
the antique instruments at the time of Confucius, and came into
popular use during the Han dynasty (from B.C. 200 until A.D. 200). It
was of a peculiar oval shape and had nearly the same quaint
ornamentation as the _t’ê-chung_; this consisted of symbolical
figures, in four divisions, each containing nine mammals. The mouth
was crescent-shaped. Every figure had a deep meaning referring to the
seasons and to the mysteries of the Buddhist religion. The largest
_hsüan-chung_ was about twenty inches in length; and, like the
_t’ê-chung_, was sounded by means of a small wooden mallet with an
oval knob. None of the bells of this description had a clapper. It
would, however, appear that the Chinese had at an early period some
kind of bell provided with a wooden tongue: this was used for military
purposes as well as for calling the people together when an imperial
messenger promulgated his sovereign’s commands. An expression of
Confucius is recorded to the effect that he wished to be “A
wooden-tongued bell of Heaven,” _i.e._, a herald of heaven to proclaim
the divine purposes to the multitude.
The _fang-hsiang_ was a kind of wood-harmonicon. It contained sixteen
wooden slabs of an oblong square shape, suspended in a wooden frame
elegantly decorated. The slabs were arranged in two tiers, one above
the other, and were all of equal length and breadth but differed in
thickness. The _ch’un-tu_ consisted of twelve slips of bamboo, and was
used for beating time and for rhythmical purposes. The slips being
banded together at one end could be expanded somewhat like a fan. The
Chinese state that they used the _ch’un-tu_ for writing upon before
they invented paper.
The _yü_, likewise an ancient Chinese instrument of percussion and
still in use, is made of wood in the shape of a crouching tiger. It is
hollow, and along its back are about twenty small pieces of metal,
pointed, and in appearance not unlike the teeth of a saw. The
performer strikes them with a sort of plectrum resembling a brush, or
with a small stick called _chên_. Occasionally the _yü_ is made with
pieces of metal shaped like reeds.
The ancient _yü_ was constructed with only six tones which were
attuned thus――_f_, _g_, _a_, _c_, _d_, _f_. The instrument appears to
have deteriorated in the course of time; for, although it has
gradually acquired as many as twenty-seven pieces of metal, it
evidently serves at the present day more for the production of
rhythmical noise than for the execution of any melody. The modern _yü_
is made of a species of wood called _k’iu_ or _ch’iu_; and the tiger
rests generally on a hollow wooden pedestal about three feet six
inches long, which serves as a sound-board.
The _chu_, likewise an instrument of percussion, was made of the wood
of a tree called _ch’iu-mu_, the stem of which resembles that of the
pine and whose foliage is much like that of the cypress. It was
constructed of boards about three-quarters of an inch in thickness. In
the middle of one of the sides was an aperture into which the hand was
passed for the purpose of holding the handle of a wooden hammer, the
end of which entered into a hole situated in the bottom of the _chu_.
The handle was kept in its place by means of a wooden pin, on which it
moved right and left when the instrument was struck with a hammer. The
Chinese ascribe to the _chu_ a very high antiquity, as they almost
invariably do with any of their inventions when the date of its origin
is unknown to them.
The _po-fu_ was a drum, about one foot four inches in length, and
seven inches in diameter. It had a parchment at each end, which was
prepared in a peculiar way by being boiled in water. The _po-fu_ used
to be partly filled with a preparation made from the husk of rice, in
order to mellow the sound. The Chinese name for the drum is _ku_.
The _chin-ku_, a large drum fixed on a pedestal which raises it above
six feet from the ground, is embellished with symbolical designs. A
similar drum on which natural phenomena are depicted is called
_lei-ku_; and another of the kind, with figures of certain birds and
beasts which are regarded as symbols of long life, is called
_ying-ku_, and also _tsu-ku_.
The flutes, _ti_, _yüeh_, and _ch’ih_ were generally made of bamboo.
The _kuan-tzŭ_ was a Pandean pipe containing twelve tubes of bamboo.
The _hsiao_, likewise a Pandean pipe, contained sixteen tubes. The
_p’ai-hsiao_ differed from the _hsiao_ inasmuch as the tubes were
inserted into an oddly-shaped case highly ornamented with grotesque
designs and silken appendages.
The Chinese are known to have constructed at an early period a curious
wind-instrument, called _hsüan_ (the “Chinese ocarina”) (Fig. 11). It
was made of baked clay and had five finger-holes, three of which were
placed on one side and two on the opposite side, as in the cut. Its
tones were in conformity with the pentatonic scale. The reader
unacquainted with the pentatonic scale may ascertain its character by
playing on the pianoforte the scale of C major with the omission of
_f_ and _b_ (the _fourth_ and _seventh_); or by striking the black
keys in regular succession from _f_-sharp to the next _f_-sharp above
or below.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.――HSÜAN.]
The _shêng_ (Fig. 12_b_) is one of the oldest instruments of the
Chinese still in use, and may be regarded as the most ancient species
of organ with which we are exactly acquainted. Formerly it had either
thirteen, nineteen, or twenty-four tubes placed in a calabash; and a
long curved tube served as a mouth-piece. A similarly-constructed
instrument, though different in outward appearance, is the _ken_ of
Siam and Burmah. The Siamese call the _ken_ “The Laos organ,” and it
is principally used by the inhabitants of the Laos states. Moreover,
there deserves to be noticed another Chinese instrument of this kind,
simple in construction, which probably represents the _shêng_ in its
most primitive condition. It is to be found among the Miao-tsze, or
mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of
China. They call it _sang_. This species has no bowl, or air-chest; it
rather resembles the Panpipe, but is sounded by means of a common
mouthpiece consisting of a tube, which is placed at a right angle
across the pipes. The Chinese assert that the _shêng_ was used in
olden time in the religious rites performed in honour of Confucius.
Tradescant Lay, in his account of the Chinese, calls it “Jubal’s
organ,” and remarks, “this seems to be the embryo of our multiform and
magnificent organ.”
[Illustration: FIG. 12.――_a._ CH’IN (a species of Lute). Modern
Chinese. No. 9-’70. L. 38½ in., W. 8½ in.
_b._ SHÊNG (Mouth Organ). Chinese, 19th century.
No. 977-’72. L. 17 in., W. 4¼ in.
_c._ YUEH-CH’IN (Moon Guitar). Chinese. 19th Century.
No. 256-’82.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
The ancient stringed instruments, the _ch’in_ (Fig. 12_a_) and _sê_,
were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of
them are in the Museum.
The _yueh-ch’in_ (Fig. 12_c_) is a favourite instrument of the
Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of _yueh-ch’in_ is _yuet-kum_, and
this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have
called the instrument _gut-komm_. The wood of which it is made is
called by the Chinese _shwan-che_. The strings are twanged with a
plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown
by the Chinese to an extravagant length.
The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who
is represented as a rather jovial-looking man with a moustache and an
imperial, playing the _p’i-p’a_, a kind of lute with four silken
strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient
Chinese musical instruments may be gathered from the famous ruins of
the Buddhist temples _Angcor-Wat_ and _Angcor-Thom_, in Cambodia.
These splendid ruins are supposed to be above two thousand years old:
and, at any rate, the circumstance of their age not being known to the
Cambodians suggests a high antiquity. On the bas-reliefs with which
the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which
European travellers describe as “flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums,
resembling those of the Chinese.” Faithful sketches of these
representations, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the
student of musical history.
THE JAPANESE.
The Japanese musical instruments are in the main derived from those of
China, and their names consequently represent the Japanese
pronunciation of the Chinese sounds.
The _biwa_ (Fig. 13_b_) is almost identical with the Chinese
_p’i-p’a_. The example illustrated is of wood, lacquered black and
ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. It has four
silken strings, and two very small sound holes.
The _samisen_ (the Chinese _san-hsien_ or “three-stringed guitar”) is
played especially by the Japanese ladies, and is as great a favourite
with them as the lute was formerly with us. An example in the Museum
(Fig. 13_c_) has three strings of silk. Both the _biwa_ and the
_samisen_ are played with a wooden plectrum. The _ko-kiū_ is the
Japanese violin, and resembles a small _samisen_, but has four
strings. It is held head upwards and played with a loose-strung bow.
The Japanese have several instruments of the dulcimer class, called
_koto_ (the Chinese _ch’in_) (Fig. 13_a_). Some species of the _koto_
are played with _plectra_ affixed to the fingers; and there are
different successions of intervals adopted in the tuning of the
several species.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.――_a._ KOTO (a species of Lute). Japanese.
19th century. L. 75⅜ in., W. 9½ in. No. 439-’91.
_b._ BIWA (a species of Guitar). Modern Japanese.
H. 32½ in., diam. 11 in. No. 838-’6c.
_c._ SAMISEN. Japanese. L. 37½ in. No. 229-’82.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
The _ikuta-goto_ is provided with thirteen movable bridges, by means
of which the pitch of the strings is regulated. The bridges are of
wood, and about 2½ inches in height. The _ikuta-goto_ is learnt
chiefly by Japanese ladies moving in the upper circles of society. It
is a rather expensive instrument, and requires much practice. The
performer places it on the floor, and, sitting in the usual Japanese
attitude, bends over it and twangs the strings with her fingers, the
tips of which are encased in _plectra_, resembling thimbles, which
terminate in a little projecting piece of ivory in size and form like
the finger nail.
Of wind instruments the Japanese use three principal kinds:――(1) The
_fuye_, like our flute, with six or seven finger-holes; (2) the
_hichiriki_, a reed-flageolet, with seven finger-holes and two
thumb-holes; (3) the _shakuhachi_, a bamboo pipe 20 inches high.
The _shêng_ (described on p. 42) is also popular in Japan. The
Japanese name for it is _shō_. The general name in Japanese for the
drum is _taiko_ (= Chinese _ta ku_, “large drum”). The Japanese have a
great variety of drums, some of which are used at religious ceremonies
in the temples. The _shime-daiko_ is a shallow drum hung obliquely
before the player in a low wooden frame. It is beaten with two plain
sticks, and is used to accompany singers. The _tsudzumi_ is a small
hand-drum with hour-glass-shaped body.
The Japanese have different kinds of gongs (_dora_ = Chinese
_t’ung-lo_, “copper gong”), which are used in the service of the
temple, in processions, at funerals, and on several other solemn
occasions. The _dōhachi_ (= Chinese _t’ung po_, “copper bowl”)
resembles a copper basin. Another consists of two metal basins
suspended by cords on a frame composed of a pole and two cross-sticks.
The Japanese, as well as the Chinese, possess superbly ornamented
gongs (_kei_) raised on a stand. Those of the former are perhaps the
more magnificent.
The Japanese employ large bells (_kane_ or _tsuri-gane_ = Chinese
_chung_) in their Buddhist worship. There is a famous bell, richly
decorated, near the Daibutsu at Kiōto, which is struck, at different
hours of the day, with a heavy wooden mallet; and its sound is said to
be particularly sonorous, mellow, and far-reaching. Another celebrated
Japanese bell is placed on a high hill near the town of Nara. It is
suspended in a wooden shed, close to the Tōdaiji Temple. A thick pole,
affixed to the rafters, is drawn backwards, and then, by being let
loose, is made to rebound so as to hit the bell sideways in the usual
manner. This bell is admired throughout the country, and pictures
representing it are sold on the spot to the visitors, who have to
ascend a long flight of narrow steps before they reach its station on
the summit of the hill. Small bells (_rin_) are used by the Buddhist
priests in Japan while officiating in the temple, just as is the case
in China, Thibet and other districts of the Asiatic continent.
THE HINDUS.
In the Brahmin mythology of the Hindus the demi-god Nareda is the
inventor of the _vina_, the principal national instrument of
Hindustan. His mother, Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, may be
regarded as the Minerva of the Hindus. She is the goddess of music as
well as of speech. To her is attributed the invention of the
systematic arrangement of the sounds into a musical scale. She is
represented seated on a peacock and playing either on the southern
_vina_ or the _bîn_, stringed instruments of the lute kind. Brahma
himself we occasionally find depicted as a vigorous man with four
handsome heads, beating with his hands upon a small drum; and Vishnu,
in his incarnation as Krishna, is represented as a beautiful youth
playing upon a flute. The Hindus construct a peculiar kind of flute,
the _bansi_, which they consider as the favourite instrument of
Krishna.
The _sankha_, or conch-shell trumpet of victory, one of the important
attributes of Vishnu the preserver, and his consort Lakshmi, is
occasionally represented in the possession of Siva, and other deities.
Siva the destroyer, and his consort Parvati, also carry the
_budbudika_, or _damaru_, a rattle-drum shaped like an hour-glass.
It is a suggestive fact that we find among several nations in
different parts of the world an ancient tradition, according to which
their most popular stringed instrument was originally derived from the
water. Thus with Nareda and the _vina_, the latter has also the name
_kach’-hapi_, signifying a tortoise (_testudo_), whilst _nara_ denotes
in Sanskrit water, and _narada_, or _nareda_, the giver of water. Like
Nareda, Nereus and his fifty daughters, the Nereïdes, were much
renowned for their musical accomplishments; and Hermes (it will be
remembered) made his lyre, the _chelys_, of a tortoise-shell. The
Scandinavian god Odin, the originator of magic songs, is mentioned as
the ruler of the sea, and as such he had the name of _Nikarr_. In the
depth of the sea he played the harp with his subordinate spirits, who
occasionally came up to the surface of the water to teach some
favoured human being their wonderful instrument. Wäinämöinen, the
divine player on the Finnish _kantele_ (according to the Kalewala, the
old national epic of the Finns) constructed his instrument of
fish-bones. The frame he made out of the bones of the pike; and the
teeth of the pike he used for the tuning-pegs.
Jacob Grimm in his work on German mythology points out an old
tradition, preserved in Swedish and Scotch national ballads, of a
skilful harper who constructs his instrument out of the bones of a
young girl drowned by a wicked woman. Her fingers he uses for the
tuning screws, and her golden hair for the strings. The harper plays,
and his music kills the murderess. A similar story is told in the old
Icelandic national songs; and the same tradition has been preserved in
the Faroe islands, as well as in Norway and Denmark.
May not the agreeable impression produced by the rhythmical flow of
the waves and the soothing murmur of running water have led various
nations, independently of each other, to the widespread conception
that they obtained their favourite instrument of music from the water?
Or is the notion traceable to a common source dating from a
pre-historic age, perhaps from the early period when the Aryan race is
surmised to have diffused its lore through various countries? Or did
it originate in the old belief that the world, with all its charms and
delights, arose from a chaos in which water constituted the
predominant element?
Howbeit, Nareda, the giver of water, was the offspring of Brahma the
creator; and Odin had his throne in the skies. Indeed, many of the
musical water-spirits appear to have been originally considered as
rain deities. Their music may, therefore, be regarded as derived from
the clouds rather than from the sea. In short, the traditions
respecting spirits and water are not in contradiction to the opinion
of the ancient Hindus that music is of heavenly origin, but rather
tend to support it.
The earliest musical instruments of the Hindus on record have, almost
all of them, remained in popular use until the present day scarcely
altered. Besides these, the Hindus possess several Arabic and Persian
instruments which are of comparatively modern date in Hindustan:
evidently having been introduced into that country scarcely 1,000
years ago, at the time of the Muhammadan irruption. There are several
treatises on music extant, written in Sanskrit, which contain
descriptions of the ancient instruments.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.――_a._ SÂRINDA AND BOW. Indian (Bengal).
19th century. L. 25 in.; bow 15¾ in. No. 180. 180ᵃ-’82.
_b._ RUDRA VINA. Southern Indian (Madras). 19th century.
L. 45 in. No. 02130. I.S.
_c._ SÂRANGI AND BOW. Southern Indian. 19th century.
L. 22 in. No. 02118. I.S.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
Of these the Bhârata Nâtya S’astra by Bhârata Muni (period: B.C. 200
to A.D. 100), and the Sangita Ratnâkara, are probably the oldest and
most valuable. The latter, according to information supplied by the
late Major C. R. Day, is an exhaustive work, consisting of seven
ādhyayas, compiled by Sarnga Deva, son of Sotala Deva, King of
Karnata, and grandson of Bhaskara, a Kashmirian (period: so far
undetermined).
The _vina_ is undoubtedly of high antiquity. It has seven wire
strings, and movable frets which are generally fastened with wax.
Gourds, often tastefully ornamented, are affixed for the purpose of
increasing the sonorousness. There are several kinds of the _vina_ in
different districts.
Concerning the two principal present-day derivations from the ancient
vina, the following abbreviated descriptions of the _rudra vina_ of
Southern India and the _bîn_ or _mahati vina_ of Northern India, are
obtained from “The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India,”
by the late Major C. R. Day (London, 1891).
The _rudra vina_ (_see_ Fig. 14_b_) is composed of a pear-shaped body
of thin wood, hollowed out of the solid; wooden belly; four principal
metal strings passing over twenty-four frets and three shorter wires
placed at the side of the finger-board; also a single detachable
_burra_, or hollow gourd, fastened to the under-side of the neck, near
the head, to increase the volume of sound. In the method of playing it
differs from that of other Indian musical instruments, the left hand
being employed to stop the strings on the frets, whilst the fingers,
or rather the finger-nails, of the right hand are used, without
plectra, for striking. The _bîn_, or _mahali vina_, differs from the
_rudra vina_ in shape and in method of playing. Two large
gourd-resonators replace the wooden body with its small _burra_; the
side strings are placed two on the left side and one upon the right;
the frets vary from nineteen to twenty-two in number; and in playing,
the two first fingers of the right hand are armed with wire plectra.
The _sârangi_, or the common fiddle of Southern India (Fig. 14_c_) has
a wooden body hollowed out of a single block, a parchment belly, three
strings of thick gut, and usually fifteen sympathetic strings of wire,
tuned chromatically. Sometimes a fourth principal string of wire,
called _luruj_, is added. It is played with a bow, the instrument
being held vertically, head uppermost; the tone resembling that of the
viola. The _sârangi_ of Northern India, usually carved with a
conventional swan-shaped head, has a rounded body, and possesses a
lesser number of sympathetic wires.