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A country considered to be one of the largest in the world, China has a vast amount of history ranging from economic trade, imperial ruling as well as its politics.  Also, let us not forget their esteem history of dragons and their celebrations with massive parades as well.  However, that is not all that China offers in its culture as its music is equally striking with its traditional instruments to its fascinating performing arts from puppetry to contemporary pop music.  That said, come with us on a trek though China:  a music connoisseur's paradise.

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A country considered to be one of the largest in the world, China has a vast amount of history ranging from economic trade, imperial ruling as well as its politics.  Also, let us not forget their esteem history of dragons and their celebrations with massive parades as well.  However, that is not all that China offers in its culture as its music is equally striking with its traditional instruments to its fascinating performing arts from puppetry to contemporary pop music.  That said, come with us on a trek though China:  a music connoisseur's paradise.

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Traditional Instruments and their Elements

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Traditional Instruments and their Elements

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Master Wu plays 'Misty Clouds Over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers' on a silk stringed Qin - Part 1

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Although there are numerous instruments known to the Chinese culture, one of the most famous is the Guoin.  Constructed of two pieces of glued wood, the guoin is a seven stringed zither and happens to be part of the chordophone family [1].  However, these strings are not just any strings that are typically found on a zither; in fact, they are made of silk which when combined with the bamboo family it creates the traditional “Silk and Bamboo” ensemble[2].

As such, when the silk strings of the guoin are plucked, typically with the performer’s right hand fingernail or even the finger, the timbre produces a tone-bending timbre which happens to be conducted by the left hand.  In fact, when the strings are plucked, it can produce a definite pitch as the frequency level changes throughout the music depending on how much force is used in plucking the silky strings.  Additionally, the intervals between the pitches can be readily seen by viewing the strings on the zither.  For example, by looking at the bottom of the instrument one will see the strings are somewhat farther apart from each other than at the neck, thus the intervals are considered wide and not narrow.  The range however, is quite the contrary.

Be that as it may, the guoin has wide intervals, therefore is capable of producing a range of pitches.  For example, the performer can pluck the string with his or her right hand and hold the other part of the string with the left hand against the neck’s frets.  Thus depending on what fret the left hand is holding the string against, the pitch may resonate a high or even lower type of pitch.

The melody, however, is one thing that sticks out and that is because it does not have any.  Nonetheless, the high ornamentation performance of the guoin produces a slow rhythmic density which intertwines with its culture of music connoisseurs of scholars, poets and the like.  In fact, the music is said to improve these scholars’ self-improvement with its meditative timbre of the guoin.

Indeed the ancient zither is a site to see and a sound to hear; however an instrument that requires no construction of any is probably the most unique out of all the instruments in China.
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1.  Ming-Yueh, Liang, and Joseph S.C. Lam. "Qin." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047071.
2.  See note 1 above

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Think back to when you were a child when you pulled a leaf off of a tree or a plant and attempted to produce a sound.  For an etic culture, creating a sound from the leaf was just for fun; however, in the emic culture of the Chinese, that leaf would be considered an instrument.  Truth be told, this leafy instrument, favorably from a tangerine for obvious reasons, belongs to the aerophone family originating from southern China [3]. But the question herein lies with, how does one produce sound?

Similar to childhood years when ones attempts to make a sound off of a leaf, the performance in the Muye is not much different, except it does involve a few technical measures.  For example, the performer out the leaf in front of the lips by useing an index and middle finger to creating a "V" [4].  Then, performer uses a thin stream of air and blows over the leaf thus creating a pitch [5].  Now here is where it gets technical because unlike kids who just blow it to create sound and then call it a day, the Muye can actually create a melody.

When the performer blows that thin stream of air, the body acts in a mysterious way to create music. For example, the performer uses the tongue to change the tension on the leaf thus changing the pitch's frequency [6]. Further, the mouth, throat, and nose all act as a sound box and thus creating a melody which can range over a octave and a half [7]. As one can imagine, when listening to a performance of someone playing the Muye, they would automatically perceive the timbre as someone singing through their nose and that is true.  Now one might ask, what is the culture behind this leaf?

Very much like some Indonesian countries whose mouth like instruments for courting, the leaf acts in the same exact way [8]. However, over the years the instrument has become more gender neutral, yet the Yunnan Ti groups favor the women and the Guizhou favors the men who use the leaf to complement the women's singing [9].

One last traditional instrument we will cover is extremely unique, especially to the West as it involves reptiles for its construction.
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3.  Ingram, Catherine. "Muye." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-4002281517
4.  See note 3 above
5.  See note 3 above
6.  See note 3 above
7.  See note 3 above
8.  See note 3 above
9.  See note 3 above

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Naxi Bashaxili Traditional Orchestra "Muye" _ China Expedisound [YunnanProvince] _

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Unlike membranophone drums in the West who use a skin from a mammal for its base, China instead uses its prime reptile resource:  the python [10]. The instrument, similar look to a tambourine, is actually a form of a drum that uses python skin as its base with bone decoration on the surrounding edges along with a few lings, or jingles [11]. These jingles set the stage for a dance like feel, which happens to be the instruments culture anyways originating from the Ming Dynasty from 1368-1644 BCE [12]. In addition to the lings, there are a few other decorations such as tassels [13] that resonates with China's decorative taste similar to its restaurants and such, unlike its island neighbor Japan who seems to be a bit more conservative.

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10.  Thrasher, Alan R. "Bajiao gu." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-4002268054
11.  See note 10 above
12.  See note 10 above
13.  See note 10 above

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Indeed, China is home to some of the most amazing performing arts and musical performances across the globe.  However, there is one performing art that uses puppets as their main characters and not so much humans.  Considered to some the world first earliest screened performance, Chinese Shadow Puppetry, uses both performing arts and accompanied orchestral music to tell a story [14]. However, this type of performance is a dying breed, thanks to globalization and the influence of technology [15]. Some of the challenges in this ancient industry range from the folks creating the donkey leather and paper puppet (and costumes) to developing content pertinent of modern contemporary views[16].

Nonetheless, shadow puppetry creates a narrative story with the complement of (mainly) percussion instruments that move right along with the story board of the play. For instance, the dynamics of the cymbal throughout the play correlate with the puppet's clashing against one another in a fight. The slow moving density of the chordophone instruments resembling a slight stroll through nature as well as climbing mountains. The performance is indeed an awesome sight to see and hear, but it is too bad that globalization seems to be taking over the heritage. That said, technology is a love hate relationship, but in this case it is a love as the internet is slowing bringing it back...but it will not be an over night affair.
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14.  GU, HE. 2016. "Shadow Puppet Play." China Today 65, no. 12: 68-69. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 30, 2018).
15.  See note 14 above
16.  See note 14 above

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As time moves forward, cultures become influenced by other regions and thus everything changes along with its music. That said, China became influenced by Japanese and American music traditions and evolved into what it called Cantopop and Mandopop (Cantonese language pop music and Mandarin Pop Music) [17].

Mandopop originated in the jazz clubs in Shanghai in the 1920's, followed by Hong Kong in the 1949's up until the Mandarin language overcame Taipei resulting in the region becoming the king of Mandopop [18]. In fact, thanks to the American military presence in Taiwan, the influence of rock and R&B occurred, which influenced manopop ever furhter [19]. As a result of Taipei becoming the king of Mandopop, Cantopop therefore took over Hong Kong.

Coined by Billboard writer, Hans Ebert, Cantopop is a genre that became influenced by American and Japanese popular music involving a great amount of soft-rock styles along electronic synthesizers to complement the vocal performances [19].  Now although the genre was American and Japanese infuence, the style still keeps its heritage alive with (on occasion) traditional instruments such as erhu, zheng, or the pipa [20].  Not only did America and Japan influence the creation of cantopop and mandopop, the good ol USA was also influenced by this genre as well.

At times, influence is two fold because while one region is influenced, the other side is influenced as well. And, as a result of the popular Hong Kong films spreading across the ocean and into America, Cantopop and Mandopop became widespread in the gigantic continent thus growing its audience even further West [21]. As a result, sales from popular musicians such as Andy Lau and many others skyrocketed well into the 21st century [21]. Of course their prime audience were Chinese American [22], though it just goes to show how powerful an influence really is as it does not just affect one region, but many.

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17.  Oyen, Meredith. "Cantopop/Mandopop (USA)." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002282314
18.  See note 17 above
19.  Ryker, A., Ryker, H., & Lee, J. (2001). Hong Kong. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 27 Jun. 2018, from http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000050724.
20.  See note 19 above
21.  See note 17 above
22.  See note 17 above

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Ingram, Catherine. "Muye." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-4002281517

GU, HE. 2016. "Shadow Puppet Play." China Today 65, no. 12: 68-69. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 30, 2018).

Ming-Yueh, Liang, and Joseph S.C. Lam. "Qin." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000047071.

Oyen, Meredith. "Cantopop/Mandopop (USA)." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002282314

Ryker, A., Ryker, H., & Lee, J. (2001). Hong Kong. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 27 Jun. 2018, from http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000050724.

Thrasher, Alan R. "Bajiao gu." Grove Music Online. 27 Jun. 2018. http:////www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-4002268054