Music & EntertainmentLife & People in East Asia

-- A brief introduction

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

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

• Don’t forget the 20th century!

Areas of Chinese Influence

Instruments

• The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood,

stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide.

• (Western instruments are: wind, brass,

percussion, strings)

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)

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

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

• Ruan (Chinese: 阮; Pinyin:

ruǎn) - 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

Silk | plucked

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

Silk | struck

• Yangqin (揚琴) - Hammered dulcimer of varying

strings struck using two bamboo hammers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4n4NuGaaOk)

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)

Japanese Flutes

• Fue

• Shinobue

• Shakuhachihttp://youtube.com/watch?v=y1vW24fFeDM

Wood

• Muyu - A rounded woodblock carved in the shape of

a fish, struck with a wooden stick. Often used in

Buddhist chanting

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

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

Clay

• Xun (塤) - Ocarina made of baked clay

(http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14)

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

Hide (革)

• Dagu - Large drum

• Huagu - Flower drum

• Bangu - Small, high pitched drum used in

Beijing oper

Ensemble music• Silk and Bamboo

• Theatrical traditions

- Beijing Opera

- Noh

- Kabuki

- Pansori

• Orchestral and Modern- Korean Popular Singer | Rain- Taiwan | Jay-Chou- Japanese | Utada Hikaru

Life back in the Tang Dynasty

& Its Influence

(618 - 907 AD) 290 Years

The Center of the World• Cities in China 城市 –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

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

Large Goose Pagoda (210 feet)

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)

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

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

Top: Han Xizai's Party (in full)

Right: Fairies in Fairyland,

Yuan Gao (Five Dynasties)

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

Left: Hanbok—Korea

Right: Kimono—Japan

Both were derived from Tang elite fashion in China

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

Tang mirrors

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

China During the “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms”

The Song Dynasty(960 - 1279 AD

320 Years )

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.

Ding ware, a thin white porcelain wasproduced in the Songand was known for itshigh quality

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

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

Movable type printing

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)

Are these kinds of bodyalterations unique in the world?

The Mongol Invasion(1271 - 1368 AD

98 Years )

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.

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

Khubilai Khaghan and his wife, Chabi

Zhu Yuanzhong—Ming Taizu

Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD)

277 Years

The Last Dynasty –Qing(Qing Dynasty

1644 - 1911 AD

267 Years )

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

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

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

Qing Taizu (Nurhaci) Kangxi (r. 1661-72) Qianlong (r. 1736-96)

The Three Great Emperors

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)