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12 CHINESE

MUSIC.

When the I m were

first invented they

were well-selected

bamboos, but ui

subsequent

times,

principally

during

the

Chin

(^)

dynasty, the lus

were

made

of copper, of

marble,

and

of

jadestone. The opinion

was

that they

would

thus

be less subject

to

atmospheric changes.

In

order

to

illustrate

fully the

difference between

the

12

iil^

and

the

12 semitones

of

our chromatic scale

(tempered

form), I give

here

a

table

showing

the

names of

our

notes

corresponding to

the

Chinese

lils,

the

length of

each

lU,

in Chinese

inches,

according

to

the

best

and most reliable Chinese

critics

i;

and the

same

length reduced

to

120th

parts of

an

inch and

compared

with

the

numerical

values

of our notes.

One

Chinese

foot

is equal

to

0.255

metres,

and

our

C

is

supposed

to be

kuang-chung.

Comparative

Table

of

Chinese

and

Western

Notes.

Names

of

Lus.

Corresponding

Western Notes.

Length of Liis

in

Chinese

Inches.

Length

of Liis

reduced

to

120th

Parts of an

Inch.

Eequu ed

Length

of Tubes

to

render

corresponding

Western

Notes.

Huang-chung,

upper

Ying-chung

IVu-i

Nan-lii

I-tse.

lAn-chung

Jui-pin

Chung-lii

Ku-hsi

Chia-chung

Tai-ts u

Ta-lii

Huaiig-cliung, base..

C

B

Bb

A

Ab

G

Gb

F

B

Eb

D

Db

C

4-3853

4.66

4.S848

5-3

5-551

6

6.28

6.5824

7-1

74373

8

8.376

9

526.237

559-2

586.176

636

666.

1

720

753-6

789.888

852

892.476

960

1005.12

1080

540

576

607.5

645-3

6S3.1

720

768.45

810

864

910.71

963.99

1024.578

1080

By

the

above

table

it

is seen

that

while the

base and

the

fifth

perfectly,

agree,

all

the

other

notes

of

the

Chinese

scale are too

sharp,

and

consequently could

not

possibly be

rendered

on our

Western

tempered

instruments.

Besides, the

octave

is

so

high

as

to

be

very

unpleasing

to

our

Western

ears.

This

is

the

principal

reason why

Chuiese music does

not

leave

a

better

impression

on the

minds

of foreigners.

il

IS

S

H

HJ

i^.

^

.^

ii f*

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^

.Sj

A

^

m,

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other.s.