Musical instrument: paiban
(拍板)
compiled by David Badagnani (rev. 18 December 2023)
In an effort to make this information more accessible, this document contains resources related to the Chinese musical instrument called paiban (拍板)--a clapper usually comprising six long, flat pieces of dense hardwood, hinged at the top and played as a concussion idiophone--as documented in the Chinese historical record. According to historical sources, this instrument first appeared in China during the Northern Qi Dynasty (北齐, 550-577), one of the Northern Dynasties (北朝) during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (南北朝) period, which was founded by a ruler of mixed Han/Xianbei origin.
Links to textual sources are highlighted in green.
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Chinese historical reference works discussing the paiban
Chinese historical reference works discussing the paiban
●《事物紀原》(Northern Song Dynasty)
拍板
「晉魏之代，有宋識善擊節，然以板拍之而代擊節，是則拍板之始也。」
●《合璧事類》(Southern Song Dynasty)
「晉魏之代，有宋識善擊節，以拍板代之，此拍板之始。」
[In the] Jin-Wei period, there was [a person named] Song Shi, who was skillful at beating rhythms, [and he] used a paiban to replace [the percussion instruments that were previously used for this purpose]. This was the start of the paiban.
●《通典》有击以代抃。抃， 击节也，因其声以节舞，盖出于击节也。
●《邺城旧事》曰： “华林园，齐武帝时穿池为北海，中有蜜作堂，以船为 脚，作木人七一拍板。”则此器已见于北齐矣。
● Yuefu Zalu《乐府杂录》(Miscellaneous Notes Regarding the Music Bureau)
A collection of small essays (biji, 笔记) by the scholar Duan Anjie (段安节, fl. 880-898), published around 890 near the end of the Tang Dynasty. This work survives in no fewer than 23 different editions. An extensively annotated German translation was published by Martin Gimm (b. 1930) in 1966. This work contains a brief section discussing the paiban:
拍板
Paiban [hardwood clapper]
柏板本無譜。明皇遣黃幡綽造譜，乃於紙上畫兩耳以進。上問其故，對：「但有耳道，則無失節奏也。」韓文公因爲樂句。
The paiban originally had no notation. Minghuang [i.e., Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, r. 713-756] sent [his court musician] Huang Fanchuo to make a score, and, to start with, he drew two ears on the paper. When asked why [he had done that], he replied: "If you have a good ear, you won't lose the rhythm." Han Wengong [(768-824, a Tang-era historian, poet, philosopher, and politician)] [explained that this] referred to [the marking of] musical phrases.
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Chinese poems mentioning the paiban
《席上音乐杂咏十首 其十 拍板》
Ten Miscellaneous Chants about Banquet Music
No. 10: Paiban
No. 10: Paiban
作者：朱诚泳（明）
by Zhu Chengyong (Ming Dynasty, 1458-1498)
细看番绰谱，应悟耳通心。
If you look closely at Fanchuo's score,
You should understand that the ears are directly connected to the mind.
将谓非丝竹，翻能统八音。
Though some may claim it's neither silk nor bamboo,
Playing it can unify the Eight Tones.
Notes:
The paiban (拍板) is a clapper usually comprising six long, flat pieces of dense hardwood, hinged at the top and played as a concussion idiophone in Chinese music since the Northern Qi Dynasty (北齐, 550-577), one of the Northern Dynasties (北朝) during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (南北朝) period, which was founded by a ruler of mixed Han/Xianbei origin. This poem refers to an anecdote about this instrument that is related in Yuefu Zalu《乐府杂录》(Miscellaneous Notes Regarding the Music Bureau), a collection of small essays (biji, 笔记) by the scholar Duan Anjie (段安节, fl. 880-898), which was published around 890 near the end of the Tang Dynasty:
The paiban originally had no notation. Minghuang [i.e., Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, r. 713-756] sent [his court musician] Huang Fanchuo [(黄幡绰)] to make a score, and, to start with, he drew two ears on the paper. When asked why [he had done that], he replied: "If you have a good ear, you won't lose the rhythm." Han Wengong [(韩文公, 768-824, a Tang-era historian, poet, philosopher, and politician)] [explained that this] referred to [the marking of] musical phrases.
"Silk" and "bamboo" (si zhu, 丝竹) are metonymic references to musical instrument types: "silk" referring to string instruments (twisted silk having been the normal material used for the strings of most Chinese chordophones until the 20th century) and "bamboo" referring to flutes and reed pipes.
"Eight Tones" or "Eight Sounds" (Ba Yin, 八音) is an ancient Chinese system of categorizing musical instruments according to the primary material from which each is made: metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, clay, skin, and wood. The term may also be used to refer to the whole inventory of instruments of diverse types, which are played together in court ensembles, or to an ensemble comprising instruments of many different types.
"Eight Tones" or "Eight Sounds" (Ba Yin, 八音) is an ancient Chinese system of categorizing musical instruments according to the primary material from which each is made: metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, clay, skin, and wood. The term may also be used to refer to the whole inventory of instruments of diverse types, which are played together in court ensembles, or to an ensemble comprising instruments of many different types.
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Thanks to Mr. Lin Chiang-san for assistance with this page.
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