Chinese music history can be traced back 8,000 years ago to the times of the philosopher and music teacher Confucius.The long history of music in China has developed over the centuries in which a number of musical styles have been invented that are propagated through a lot of musical instruments. The world owes a lot to China for developing its music that has now reached all corners of the globe.For Chinese people, music is considered to have a highly calming effect. The teachings of the social philosopher Confucius greatly modified Chinese music in ancient China. While a musical performance is going on, you may come across moments of silence that are supposed to facilitate engagement between the players and the audience.The music in China has a pentatonic tone which means that a scale of five notes is used for the creation of melodious sounds. A few times, you may even find the music to be heptatonic or a scale of seven notes. If we talk about the texture of the music, it is mostly monophonic in which only one musical instrument is played. It may be a heterophonic texture in which one core melody is played along with ornamental variations of the same melody. Chinese music considers timbre to be very important.The materials used for making an instrument determine their type. Some of these are untuned and tuned percussion, woodwind and strings plucked and bowed. The materials vary from animal skin (drums), bamboo (flutes), metal (gongs) to stone (creating a ringing sound). The pipa is one of the most well-known instruments of China that can also be called a string lute.If you like this article and find it worth reading, you should also check out similar articles on Caribbean music facts and classical music facts.Fun Facts About Chinese MusicChinese classical music can be divided into many types like opera music, orchestra or ensemble music, folk music, and solo instrumental performance.Chinese music has had a long history. It can be divided on the basis of chronology into four periods. The first period is the formative period (3000 BC to fourth century AD), the second is the international period ( fourth century-ninth century AD), the third period is the national period (9th-19th century AD) and the last period is music influenced by other genres of music around the world in 20th and 21st centuries.The Chinese opera is one of the most popular forms of music in China. It was originally played only at courts for the aristocracy. Gradually the public started to appreciate the art form. The operas are made up of high-pitched vocals, accompanied by jinghu, suona, and percussion instruments. Some forms of Chinese opera include Pingju, clapper opera, Qinqiang, Huangmei xi, and puppet opera.Classical music is played in large orchestras and ensembles even today. It incorporates modern musical styles with Western music. The instruments can be used to play Western music and they are made of modern materials.Chinese folk music is played at weddings and funerals. The music consists of many moods, it can be jolly or sad. It is often based on TV theme songs and Western pop music. In the region around Xi’an, Xi’an drum music is performed with percussive instruments. It has become quite popular outside China.Nanguan or Nanyin is a type of traditional ballad popular in Taiwan and Fujian. Women sing the ballads and it is accompanied by a pipa or a xiao. The theme is of love-stricken women with sorrowful and mourning tunes. In Chaozhou, Hakka and Shantou, zheng, and erxian ensembles are well known.Jiangnan Sizhu is a piece of folk music from Jiangnan that uses bamboo and silk music. This is performed by amateur musicians in Shanghai and is widely famous outside the area in which it originated.Did you know that European music came to central Asia as early as 1601? A harpsichord arrived at the Ming Imperial court and was used to play ceremonial music and court music. It became a part of Chinese culture.Facts About Traditional Chinese MusicChinese traditional music cannot be divided into one category as it has a long and influential history. Hundreds of years of music cultivation have helped Chinese music to create a niche for itself and cement its place on the world map.Some of the various facets of this include classical traditional music, folk, and ethnic music, and using traditional Chinese instruments. If you learn about these more you will appreciate and enjoy the music.The foremost Chinese philosopher Confucius set the tone for traditional Chinese music. He lived more than 2,500 years ago and was a talented musician himself. He could play a number of instruments with expertise. His teachings laid out the role of traditional Chinese music and the definition of good music.For many people in the world, music served only for the purpose of entertainment and amusement. In the Chinese society of 500 BC during the Zhou Dynasty, music played an important role as one of the foundations of society. Some of the books which informed about the way in which music was to be performed and used are the Classic of Poetry, the Classic of Rites, and Confucian books.To understand traditional music, it is vital to have a knowledge of Confucian teachings. For Confucius, music was a subject of higher learning. He places traditional music at a much higher place than four subjects of writing or calligraphy, archery, mathematics, and chariot-riding. It was second only to the knowledge of public ceremonies.An ideal society is governed by rituals and rites and not merely by law and order. This is where the knowledge of music comes to the forefront as it helps to conduct and govern ceremonies. In China, music is not only for entertainment but is also a way for musicians to realize their social and political goals. The ultimate goal of music was to help people find happiness and purpose in life.The music has to be simple in nature so that it gave peace to people. Correct techniques have to be used for playing instruments so that they can serve as a model for appropriate behavior. Music played in official functions should invoke respect for authority and response from the audience. It should have a fluid structure; a magnificent beginning and it has to be clear and balanced. These standards of traditional Chinese music have influenced generations of Chinese people for the last two millenniums.According to the rules laid down by Confucian teaching. tell us that at the beginning of an orchestra or ensemble, the musicians must start their part with a flair. When this occurs, either all the instruments are played simultaneously for some seconds, or a loud sound of drum or gong is made. This is a technique that is meant to grab the attention of the audience and convey that the performance has begun. The beginning of a music piece also foretells the musical instruments, you might hear during the piece.After the grand beginning, the performers will often tone down the volume near the middle of the piece so that the audience can enjoy the technical finesse that the musicians enjoy. At the end of the piece, the volume slowly increases for the finale act. Traditional music in China emphasizes the perfect elucidation of all the notes of an instrument.A major portion of traditional music used the pentatonic scale prevalent in ancient China. Simple harmonies can be created by the use of pentatonic scale but since Confucius preached about clarity and simplicity, so not much emphasis is given to harmony. It is also believed that the pentatonic scale is related to the five elements that represent Chinese music. The five elements are water, earth, wood, fire, and metal.The heptatonic scale is used for Western-style music to produce complex harmonies using various instruments. Westerners often find a single instrument to be more pleasing such as an erhu or a flute. They feel that the music is meditative and peaceful. When traditional musicians play different instruments in orchestra or ensemble, it might sound discordant to western ears who expect a balanced music act. The Chinese pentatonic scale can appear to be a little disarranged for Westerners.In contrast to African or Western music, there is almost no emphasis on beat or rhythm in classical music. The purpose of music of traditional China was not for amusement and definitely not for dancing as then people would be provoked towards sensual drives. The grand finale of a piece is one of the highlights of the performance. The pieces feature a smoothly accelerating tempo that slowly increases at the end. This is considered as the rhythmic feature of classical Chinese music.Facts About Modern Chinese MusicModern music in China refers to music that has been developed after 1912. This coincided with the formation of the Republic of China in the same year.Political music became a part of Chinese musical history in the middle of the 20th century. At the peak of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese songs with political themes began to be written in the Chinese language. It soon became a part of the Chinese culture leaving behind folk songs. This genre of music was crucial to promoting pride in one’s nation.Chinese pop music or C-pop was founded by Li Jinhui as part of the shidaiqu genre in mainland China. Jinhui was influenced by Western jazz music and collaborations with artists like Buck Clayton for two years. After the People’s Republic of China in 1952 was formed, the Baak Doi record company had to leave Shanghai.The rise of cantopop music in Hong Kong occurred in the ’70s while at the same time mandopop became popular in Taiwan. The Chinese mainland stayed on the periphery for many years with little to no degree of participation in this music. The youth of the area has taken to Taiwan mandopop only in recent years. Although China has the largest population on the planet, the nation is not considered to be a primary music production hub even for Chinese music.Popular music is strictly censored in the People’s Republic of China. During a concert taking place in the ’90s, Anita Mui, a Hong Kong icon, performed a rendition of the song ‘Bad Girl’. This led to her being banned from performing at any Chinese concert and the reason for the ban was apparently her rebellious attitude.If you compare her performance with that of Western standards, then it is not more rebellious than a concert by Madonna, whom Anita looked up to for her dance moves. A number of Chinese artists aim to begin their commercial music career in Taiwan or Hong Kong who soon move to the mainland to become a part of the C-pop culture.Ci Jian is considered the father of Chinese rock. The first Chinese rock song was played by him in the late ’80s. It marked the first use of an electric guitar in China and Jian was the most renowned performer of the time. During the Seoul Summer Olympics in 1988, Jian played at a concert that was broadcast all over the world. The lyrics of his songs were critical of Chinese society that angered the government at the time. As a result, a number of his concerts got canceled and banned after this.In the last two decades of the 20th century, two rock bands became popular in China. These were Tang Dynasty and Black Panther (Hei Bao). The former was the first heavy metal band of China while the latter was a rock band of old school type. The first CD of Hei Bao had a cover of the famous English song, ‘Don’t Break My Heart’. The first CD of the Tang Dynasty is made up of a combination of old-school heavy metal with traditional Chinese opera.Chao Zai (Overload) was the first thrash metal band formed in 1994-1996. Three CDs were released by this band and the last CD came out in collaboration with Gao Chi, the pop singer of the band The Breathing.The middle of the ’90s was the age when punk rock attained popularity in China. He Yong was the first Chinese artist of the punk rock genre who was influenced by Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and others. The first appearance of the Chinese punk bands in Beijing happened in 1995 while the second wave followed in 1997. A few of the Chinese punk rock bands are AK-47, Twisted Machine, Yaksa, and Overheal Tank.In modern times, the most famous Chinese singer was Teresa Teng. She started out when she was a teen in the ’60s and ended her career when she passed away at the age of 42 in 1995. She sang many cover songs of folk songs and reinterpreted the meaning. Though known for their traditional genres of music, in 2020 pop music was the most popular genre in China.Facts About Instruments In Chinese MusicThe use of musical instruments in China is a very important aspect of Chinese music. There are more than 400 Chinese musical instruments in China and a lot of them are used by some specific ethnic groups. The instruments that are mostly used in Asian music are wind instruments and wood instruments.The instruments are divided into categories based on the materials of production. These categories are woodwind, strings plowed and bowed, and percussive instruments that can be tuned or untuned. Further categorization can be done as instruments made of silk (silk strings), metal (gongs), stone (for ringing sound), wood (string instruments), bamboo (flutes), gourds (sheng instruments), clay (compact flute), and animal skin (drums).Some of the traditional stringed instruments of China are the erhu or two-stringed fiddle, banhu or a string instrument consisting of a sound box created from coconut, huqin or two-stringed viola, ruan or moon guitar, yueqin or four-stringed instrument, pipa or pear-shaped lute, and qin or a seven-stringed zither.A few Chinese flutes and wind instruments consist of the dizi or horizontal flute, sheng or traditional mouth organ, bangdi or piccolo, sanxuan or three-stringed flute, laba or a trumpet to imitate bird songs, dongxiao or vertical flute, jade flute, suona, or an instrument similar to oboe and xun or a clay flute that looks like a beehive.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 191 Chinese music facts: history, origin, instruments, and more, then why not take a look at Calypso music facts or Cuban music facts.
Chinese music history can be traced back 8,000 years ago to the times of the philosopher and music teacher Confucius.
