Taiwan Today

Deep in the heart of a night I heard it flow,
So calm and pure, angelic in design;
China, your music stirs primeval airs,
A soothing trend, uplifting and benign.”

These are the words of Dr. Hanna Khalaf, until recently Minister of Justice of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. A poet in his own right, he is one in a long line of people who have been enchanted by Chinese music. The procession reaches all the way from the 20th century to the most ancient of recorded times. In 2255 B.C., Emperor Shun composed a piece of music, Ta Shao, of which Confucius was to say, upon hearing it some 1,600 years later: “This music so enchants me that I shall not care for the taste of food for three months.”

One unique aspect of Chinese music is its close association with the spoken word. Chinese is an inflected language, and it often is hard to say where speech ends and song begins.

In shops, clerks sing of the good quality and reasonable prices of the wares. In res­taurants, orders are called out to the chef in melodic form. Street vendors have their own distinctive musical cries. The housewife knows immediately what is being sold without having to look.

Students improvise melodies when they are memorizing texts. In reciting for a teach­er, they move their heads from side to side, keeping time with the melody.

Chinese music is very different from that of the West. Primarily melodic, it first used the pentatonic scale. Two semi tones were added about 600 B.C.

Harmony is little known to classical Chinese music. Even choral pieces have been sung in unison. But in modern times, musi­cians have applied Western influences. Chi­nese music now includes harmony.

Absence of harmony did not make classical Chinese music easier than its western cousin. For one thing, traditional Chinese music has 84 scales as opposed to the 12 of the two modes (major and minor) in Western music.

For another, Chinese musical notation of ancient times was more complicated than its Western counterpart. As for today, Chi­nese musicians have taken up Western no­tation.

Chinese orchestras are 75 per cent percussive. Gongs, drums, and clappers of all kinds are found in the traditional orchestra. At a performance of Chinese opera, the un­initiated may conclude that all is percussion and that singers are about to be drowned out.

Way of Life

Chinese music is the reflection of a way of life. In it can be found traces of the Confucian heritage and some of China’s cultural peculiarities.

Originally, this music was largely ritualistic. It held an important place in affairs of state and was considered a necessary ingredient of education. Ceremonial music was present in the rituals of temples and palaces. The music of Buddhist or Taoist rituals consisted of a drone-like chanting of scripture in time to the beat of percussive instruments. In Confucian temples, slow and stately choral singing was accompanied by flutes and per­cussion instruments.

Special orchestras were formed to enter­tain the emperor and his retinue at the royal palace. One emperor formed a women’s orchestra.

The orchestra was highly developed when the Emperor-Musicians Tang Tai-Tsung (627-647) and Tang Ming-huang (713-756) organized the huge musical groups called Tang-Shang (inside the chamber) and Tang­ Hsia (outside the chamber). Several hun­dred singers, dancers, and musicians were in­cluded in some troupes.

The Confucian tradition emphasized moral order, and music was considered an integral part of it. Music was thought to be instrumental in establishing discipline and an appreciation of orderliness. Mathema­tical connotations have always existed. Many melodic lines are based on mathematical change.

Music of the Theater

Aside from ceremonial music, there has been the music associated with the theater and amusement. This was written for the general populace and is loud, raucous, and sometimes shrill. Operatic music belongs to this category and is sharply limited in its scope. Only some 30 melodies exist in the whole repertoire of dramatic music. Variations fit them to a variety of words and actions. Little embellishments may be added by individual singers. New operas sound familiar, even when heard for the first time.

Folk music is another part of China’s heritage. The songs of farmers and workers are similar to those of other nations. Often improvised, they may consist of only a few syllables, a kind of rhythmic “heigh ho” to accompany work.

Classical Chinese music, as differentiated from the Westernized modern popular music, is called kuo yueh or “national music.” In the Chou dynasty (1122-256 B.C.), it was known as ya yueh (ya means “graceful”). Subsequently, music was known as hu yueh (hu means “foreign”; this was because for­eign influence had been found in Chinese music).

From the great heights reached in the Tang dynasty, classical music gradually fell on bad times and disinterest until the founding of the Republic of China.

With the Import of Western music, some Chinese musicians reacted by turning to the classical tradition. As an expression of patriotism, they started calling their art “na­tional” or kuo music.

The Classical Orchestra of the Broadcasting Corporation of China is the backbone of Chinese music today. It is the only group organized on such scale and giving regular performances.

Kao Tzu-ming is director and Sun Pei-chang the conductor. The group had 30 members at its peak and now usually numbers around 20.

Every Wednesday, BCC broadcasts a music appreciation program devoted to classical compositions. Every Monday, Wednes­day, and Friday morning, classical records are played. Also on Friday, the BCC orchestra is heard in taped recordings of new classical compositions.

The orchestra grew out of the first Chi­nese music training class sponsored by BCC in 1949. When playing abroad, the group is known as the Chung Hua Chinese Music Orchestra.

In 1951, the orchestra went to Manila for 19 performances. In 1956, it gave 21 concerts in Thailand, and the next year it was in the United States for two weeks.

The orchestra frequently is called upon to perform for distinguished visitors. A Tai­pei concert was given for the King and Queen of Thailand in June of this year. Other distinguished listeners have included the Shah of Iran and King of Jordan.

Liu I-chih established the Women’s Chi­nese Classical Music Orchestra in July, 1962. An amateur group of 20, it has given more than 30 performances. Players are dressed in costumes of ancient style.

Leaders in the renaissance of classical music are Kao Tzu-ming and Liang Tsai-ping.

Lifetime’s Devotion

Professor Kao is performer, composer, theorist, historian, and teacher. The 55-year-old native of Hopei province has devoted his life to classical music. A graduate of the Peiping National Academy of Arts, he says: “I am still learning.”

Professor Kao is engaged in practice to perfect his playing of the hsin ti, a new 11­-hole Chinese flute. He teaches at the Political Staff College and the Provincial Normal University, and conducts music appreciation classes at several middle schools. Music director of the Broadcasting Cor­poration of Chinese for many years, he is also administrator of the BCC classical orchestra. He sponsors and conducts BCC’s training classes and is himself a student of theory.

Professor Liang Tsai-ping is famous for his playing of the cheng, or Chinese zither. He has arranged old melodies for the cheng, and created a simple but effective system of notation for the instrument.

Among Professor Liang’s new cheng melodies is the charming ku-tu-feng-kuang (Peiping Scenes). The composition is divided into four parts: (1) “Streams of the Western Hills,” (2) “Memories of the Old Palace,” (3) “Scenery of the Pei-hai,” and (4) “Atmosphere of the Old Capital”

Perfection of Technique

Another achievement is his perfection of the finger technique for the cheng, utilizing the full potential of both hands. However, in his development, he keeps the instrument strictly Chinese, so that sound production will remain in the classical mold.

Professor Liang has published the results of his studies in a book, Ni-cheng-pu. He gives a brief history of the instrument and its music, a description of the finger technique, and 15 representative cheng melodies in his own notation.

Some of China’s ancient musical tradi­tions have been lost. In the Chou dynasty (1122-256 B.C.), it was recorded that Chou Kung Tan wrote a dictionary of music. He was an official at the imperial court of Chou Cheng Wang. Unfortunately, his book was destroyed in a burning ordered by Chin Shih Huang in 221 B.C.. There have been no comparable works since then. Musical references are found in other old books, but literary styles and personal preferences of the authors have made it difficult to determine the musical situation in any given period.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, Western theory and methods have been ap­plied to Chinese music. In music schools today, students are taught composition, orchestration, and so on. Of instruments, the nan hu (violin) and flute are required of all students. Other instruments are taught pri­vately on an elective basis.

Principal Schools

On the mainland, before the Communist take-over, most famous schools of music were the National Academy and the institute con­nected with the Central Broadcasting Cor­poration.

In Taiwan today, music is taught at the National Academy of Arts and Music and at the Provincial Normal University. But the classes sponsored by the Broadcasting Corporation of China produce most of the clas­sical musicians,

Half the fun for a novice attending a Chinese orchestra performance is the attempt to identify the instruments. The original classical orchestra had instruments made of skin, stone, clay, wood, bamboo, and gourds.

The musical properties of many of these materials presumably were discovered by ac­cident. A hunter might have plucked his bowstring and found it made a pleasant sound. Someone sipping tea through reeds might have begun the development of wind instruments.

Instruments now are divided into four types: wind, as hsiao (bamboo flute); plucked, as chin (lyre) and cheng (zither); string, as the nan hu (two-string violin); and percussion. The total exceeds 100.

The hsiao (bamboo flute) was invented during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-221 A.D.). Slightly less than two feet long, it has five holes on top, one underneath, and one at the end. Flutes of this type formerly were made of copper, jade, and marble.

Poetic Instrument

The chin (lyre) is one of the most ancient instruments and certainly the most poetic. It was invented by Fu Hsi (2582 B.C.), who called it chin. Its influence is supposed to control an evil heart and guide the body. The chin’s length of more than 3½ feet was related to the maximum of 366 days in a year. The upper part was round, representing the firmament, and the bottom flat to represent the ground. Thirteen studs stood for the 12 months and the intercalary month. The chin of today retains this basic form. There are seven strings passing over a bridge near the wide end, and then through the board to be tightened by nuts. At the smaller end, they are wound on two pegs.

The chin is supposed to be the favored instrument of the educated classes. But it has been somewhat neglected in the present generation, being rarely heard except at cere­monies. This may be attributed to the fact that learning to play the chin is exceedingly difficult.

The cheng (zither) was invented during the Chin period (221-206 B.C.). It is related that a father gave a se (ancient zither with 25 strings) to his two daughters. They quarreled about who was to have it, and the se was broken in half. Each daughter made her half into a “small zither” of 12 strings.

The cheng is a little less than 6 feet long and almost a foot wide with 13 silk strings. Or it may be 4 feet long and 6 inches wide with 16 steel strings. It sounds like a com­bination of harp, guitar, and piano. The instrument has been revived by Professor Liang.

Played by Ladies

Although Chinese literary sources men­tion a number of scholars who attained fame because of their skill on the cheng, it was primarily a ladies’ instrument. Players were women of the court and of noble households, plus high-class courtesans. Chinese essays and poems often mention the cheng in connection with beautiful maidens and intrigues of love. A young girl playing the cheng was a favorite subject of ancient painters.

The nan hu (two-string violin) has be­come popular since the 17th century. The body of the instrument is made of hard wood and the length of the arm is almost 3 feet.

Chinese music is noted for its percussion. The rao po are made on the same principle as cymbals. Diameter is almost a foot.

The Chinese have regarded music as an image of the universe. It is supposed to ex­press the accord of Heaven and Earth and to produce harmony between men and spirits. The object was not to please the senses, but to express eternal truths and help prepare men to receive them. Music was also considered to be the foundation of government which, since all things were one, had similarly to be an image of the laws of Heaven. Above all, music led to harmony and order in the material world.

Music is of great antiquity in China. According to tradition, it was invented by Fu Hsi (2852 B.C.), first of the Five Divine Rulers. He was said to have introduced’ the lute and the lyre. Nu Wa, mythical female sovereign who succeeded Fu Hsi, has been credited with the invention of the sheng or Chinese mouth organ.

Legends tell of Huang Ti (2698 B.C.), who encouraged the making of music by teaching that it was in accordance with the rules of propriety and that it made the people better and happier. To him is attributed the feat of bringing order out of chaos by inventing the lus, a series of pitch pipes by which all other instruments were tuned.

However, it is to the Emperor Shun that the Chinese look with great veneration as the founder of their philosophy of music. Shun was himself a musician and composed the piece called Ta Shao, the sweet strains of which so impressed Confucius. Shun also is said to have been the inventor of the pan pipes, pai hsiao, a development of the lus. Chinese music had reached a high stage of development as early as 2255 B.C.

The pentatonic scale supposedly represented the five virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge, and faith. In Western music, the notes would be C, D, E, G, and A. The two notes added in the Chou dynasty correspond to F sharp and B. According to a historian of the Yuan dynasty, these notes were called the “seven beginnings” and in Han times were compared to heaven, earth, man, and the four seasons.

Four-Point Program

The major obstacle in the way of Chinese musical development is the fact that classical musicians are trained in the traditional way and with little knowledge of Western music, while those learning Western music have scant knowledge of the Chinese classical style.

Chinese and Western painting may be taught in the same college department of art with equal emphasis on both. But in music, stress is placed on Western music, and most classicists are amateurs.

Professor Liang recommends a four-point, government-supported program:

1. The history of Chinese music would be widely taught. Study and research would concentrate on instruments and the scores of Chinese ceremonial, poetic, and operatic music.

2. Instruction would be given in all major instruments, including chin, cheng, sheng, ti, hsiao; the percussion instruments, including pien chung and pien ching; and the various instruments played with a bow.

3. Traditional music from various provinces, such as Shantung, Swatow music, Fuchow and Canton, would receive new emphasis and study, because all are derived from the ancient style.

4. Research would be undertaken into the Chinese-originated classical music of Japan (the Tang music) and Korea (the Sung music).

Professor Liang says that such projects will give new life and scope to Chinese music. The culture of Cathay, now preserved prin­cipally in Taiwan, also would make an im­portant new advance.