Early Chinese Music Resources: Qin
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 31 July 2022)
In an effort to make it more accessible, this document contains resources related to the musical heritage of the Qin Dynasty (秦朝, 221 BC-206 BC).
Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.
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Historical reference works about the music of the Qin Dynasty
● 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.
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Other Web resources about the music of the Qin Dynasty
Long, detailed article from May 2021 by Xin Xuefeng (辛雪峰), a Chinese opera researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, summarizing the available archaeological evidence about music during the Qin Dynasty:
https://freewechat.com/a/MzA3MDU3NTc2Nw==/2652334225/4
https://freewechat.com/a/MzA3MDU3NTc2Nw==/2652334225/4
Inscribed fragments of shiqing (石磬), individual stone chimes that were formerly part of bianqing (编磬, sets of stone chimes). Excavated c. 2016 from the ruins of the Bei Gong Yuefu (北宫乐府, Northern Palace Music Bureau) of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC), in the northern district of the ruins of the Qin capital (秦咸阳城遗址北区) at Xianyang (咸阳市), central Shaanxi province, northwest China, about 30 km west of Xi'an. These instruments were likely damaged, in methodical fashion, by vandals during the popular revolt against Qin rule that began in 209 BC.
In 2018, the ruins of the "Bei Gong Yuefu" (北宫乐府, Music Department of the Northern Palace), which contained 23 fragments of smashed stone chimes, was discovered in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The fragments contained inscriptions including "乐府" (Yuefu), "北宫乐府" (Bei Gong Yuefu), "左宫" (Zuo Gong), "右四" (You Si), and "左徵" (Zuo Zhi), among others.
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Bibliography
● Brindley, Erica Fox. Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China. SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2012.
https://www.sunypress.edu/p-5363-music-cosmology-and-the-politic.aspx
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Thanks to Rubén García-Benito for assistance with this page.
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