Monday, April 20, 2020

Early Chinese Music Resources: Neolithic

Early Chinese Music Resources: Neolithic
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 29 July 2022)
Flutes with five, six, seven, and eight finger holes, all made from the ulnas (wing bones) of red-crowned cranes (Chinese:  danding he, 丹顶鹤), some showing evidence of ancient repair or ancient fine pitch adjustment.  The specimen second from the bottom is numbered M282-20.  Probably excavated between 1986 and 2013 from the Jiahu archaeological site (贾湖遗址) in Jiahu Village (贾湖村), Beiwudu Town (北舞渡镇), Wuyang County (舞阳县), Luohe (漯河市), central Henan province, central China.  Approx. 7000 BC-5500 BC, during the Neolithic period.  Length:  6.81-9.69 in. (17.3-24.6 cm); diameter: 0.35-0.68 in. (0.9-1.72 cm).  The red-crowned crane is among the largest cranes, typically measuring about 5 feet tall, with a wingspan measuring between 7 and 8 feet.

In an effort to make it more accessible, this document contains resources related to the musical heritage of China's Neolithic period (c. 10,000 BC-c. 2000 BC).

Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.

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Historical reference works about the music of the Neolithic period

● Shiji 《史记》 (Records [of the Grand] Historian), also called Taishigong Shu 《太史公书》 (Book of the Grand Historian) or Taishigong Ji 《太史公记》 (Records of the Grand Historian)
The official history of China's pre-Han period, this text covers the world as it was then known to the Chinese, encompassing a 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor (黄帝, alleged to have reigned from 2698 BC to 2598 BC) to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (汉武帝, r. 141 BC-87 BC) in the author's own time, also including the Xia, Shang, Zhou, and Qin Dynasties.  Shiji was completed c. 94 BC by the Western Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian (司马迁, c. 145 BC-c. 86 BC), after having been started by his father, Sima Tan (司马谈, c. 165 BC-110 BC), a Western Han historian and astrologer.  It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories (二十四史). Music is discussed in several volumes.
http://www.guoxue123.com/Shibu/0101/00sj/index.htm

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Bibliography

● Falkenhausen, Lothar von.  Suspended Music:  Chime-Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China.  Berkeley:  University of California Press, 1993.

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