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Zhu Zhu

2021

RICE UNIVERSITY Convergence: Unveiling the Yanyue Modal System of the Tang Dynasty

Zhu Zhu

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

Doctor of Musical Arts

APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE

Anthony Brandt Professor of Composition and Theory

Peter Loewen Apr 01 100 CDT

Peter Loewen

Associate Professor of Musicology

Nanxiu Qian Nanxiu Qian Apr 01 1 CDT Nanxiu Qian

Professor of Chinese Literature

HOUSTON, TEXAS April 2021

ABSTRACT

Convergence: Unveiling the Yanyue Modal System of the Tang Dynasty

Zhu Zhu

There is a dearth of Western scholarly research on ancient Chinese music. Unlike the trajectory of Western music—where the Catholic Church facilitated a linear, centralized, and well-chronicled musicological evolution—ancient Chinese music history is fragmented and incomplete. Dynastic cycles often led to hostile transitions of power and the destruction of the cultural vestiges from the preceding fallen dynasty. As a consequence, the elegant Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system of the Tang dynasty is scarcely known or understood in the West.

The musicological history of the Yanyue modal system is disjunct and imprecise.

This document will reconstruct the theoretical architecture of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes and unveil them for a Western audience. The Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907) reflect an extended phase of political stability and economic prosperity. The Tang dynasty in particular was a period of renaissance and artistic cultivation. It embraced migration and the blending of disparate cultural traditions. This document will reveal the

Yanyue twenty-eight modes to be not merely a musicological artifact, but a sonically ornate and remarkably diverse tonal system whose structural organization reflects the heterogeneity of Tang itself and colors our image of life in ancient China.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Anthony Brandt for his invaluable support and guidance. His commentary was always insightful.

Special thanks to Dr. Nanxiu Qian, whose expansive knowldge of Chinese literature and history was my most valuable resource.

I would like to express my apprectation to wonderful teachers and friends from the Rice community: my teacher and mentor Dr. Robert Roux and Hyeree Roux, Dr. Jon Kimura

Parker and Aloysia Friedmann, Dr. Richard Lavenda and Dr. Liliana Escobar, Dr.

Damian Blättler and Dr. Jackie O’Brien, Dr. Peter Loewen, and Julia Jalbert.

I am grateful for the constant support, care, and love from my parents, Jianxin Wang and

Hongyi Zhu; as well as from my in-laws, Janette and Stephen Marshall.

Finally, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the love of my life, Dr. Richard

Marshall. I could not have done this without him.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... iv

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1 Yanyue as a Genre ...... 3 Scholarly Challenges ...... 12

II. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ANCIENT CHINESE MODES ...... PRECEDING TANG ...... 15 The Twelve-Tone System: Twelve Lü ...... 15 The Pentatonic Scale: Gong-Shang-Jue-Zhi-Yu ...... 20 The Three Ancient Modes ...... 22 The Zhengshen ...... 31

III. THE FRAMEWORK OF THE YANYUE TWENTY-EIGHT MODES ...... 33 Five Dan, Seven Sheng ...... 33 Three Dislocated Pitches ...... 39 The Function of Dan ...... 42 The Framework of the Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes ...... 44

IV. THE YANYUE TWENTY-EIGHTMODES ...... 50 Gongche Notation and the Twelve Lü ...... 54 The Character of Gongche Notation Used in Each mode and Final ...... 59

V. YANYUE IN PRACTICE ...... 79

Three Notation Systems ...... 80 Example 1 Gong (1") system ...... 82 Example 2 Yu (6") system ...... 86 Divergence ...... 89 Example 3 Shang (2") system ...... 91 Example 4 Jue/Biangong (7")system ...... 97

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………… 104

APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………………… 107 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………….. 108

Chapter I Introduction

China is comprised of a vast diversity of ethnic minorities whose histories each span thousands of years. Over a thousand and four hundred years ago, as the greatest

Chinese empire, the Tang (618 – 907), was first being framed, the centralized authorities efforted to integrate the many voices of its ethnic groups into a harmonious entity. This included the creation of a unified musical system: the Yanyue twenty-eight modes.

Chinese musicians used this modal system for both formal composition and improvisation, as well as establishing its notational system. The structure of this system embraced the cultural diversity of China’s ethnic roots within a rigorous, methodological framework.

Following the opium wars of 1839 – 1842 and 1856 – 1860 Western culture began encroaching as European music had its first major influence in China. After the

“May Fourth New Culture Movement” in 1919, Chinese music became divided between traditional music and a new musical vernacular based on Western popular culture.

Over the past century, Chinese music reflects an integration of a wide range of styles. On one hand, China’s new vernacular originated with "school songs," mostly

European and American tunes or Westernized Japanese tunes. Only a few of these school songs draw on traditional Chinese melodies. In terms of China’s professional art music

Western styles have likewise infiltrated both the educational and cultural scenes.

Nevertheless, Chinese musical tradition has not been forgotten completely. While a variety of Chinese traditional genres—folk songs, operas, national instrumental music, etc.—have absorbed elements of Western music, they nonetheless retain the primary characteristics of their historic archetypes. Prominent Chinese composers have long

blended Western music theory and compositional techniques with traditional musical language—as for example in works like "White-Haired Girl," by Yan Jinxuan (1945),

"Yellow River Cantata," by Xian Xinghai (1938), and the "Butterfly Lovers" Violin

Concerto, by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao (premiered 1959). Despite the robust influence of Western music, Chinese new music has never been fully divorced from its traditional heritage.

When it comes to theory and analysis, Western music has in many respects eclipsed traditional Chinese repertoire. From a theoretical perspective, the early eras of

Western music have a distinct advantage over their Chinese counterparts: for many hundreds of years European compositions were centralized, catalogued, and preserved by the Catholic Church, which resulted in a historical continuum for composers, theorists, and performers to build out from. Chinese music has a similarly long history, but there is no theoretical or evolutionary continuity as in the West. This is largely the consequence of dynastic cycles: hostile transitions of power that often led to the destruction and loss of established traditions of the preceding dynasty. In addition, the ancient texts that first documented the Yanyue system were written by non-musicians who made errors that have confounded later scholars. The Yanyue twenty-eight modes of the Tang dynasty exemplifies an ancient theoretical system that is rigorous and distinct, but that over time has become muddled and misunderstood.

In the West, by virtue of the Church, we have a clear picture of the medieval

Church modes, which became the building blocks of Western tonality. In contrast, the theoretical structure of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes—buried under a thousand years of opaque Chinese music history—is scarcely understood. The Yanyue modal system of the

Tang dynasty continues to exert its influence in China today, yet its origins, cultural roles, musical qualities, and theoretical structure remain virtually unknown in the West.

As a result, a vital and vibrant corner of Chinese musical life has been largely overlooked by Western scholarship. In this thesis I will historicize and contextualize the formation of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes, as well as explicate the theoretical structure of this system based on first-hand sources. In the process, I will illuminate long-standing theoretical inaccuracies, decipher them, and finally present a perfected picture of the

Tang dynasty’s Yanyue modal system for the first time.

Yanyue as a Genre

Table 1.1 Dynasties of China

Dynasties Years

Shang 1766 BC—1050BC

Zhou 1027 BC—221BC

Qin 221 BC—206BC

Han 206 BC—220AD

Sui 581 AD—618 AD

Tang 618 AD—907AD

Song 960 AD—1279 AD

Yuan 1279 AD—1368AD

Ming 1368 AD-1644 AD

Qing 1644 AD—1911 AD

In order to understand the genesis of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes, it is first necessary to grasp what Yanyue means as a genre generally. Yanyue music originated during the Zhou dynasty (1046 – 256 BCE), almost three thousand years ago. At that

time, ancient Chinese music1 was divided into court music (Yayue, or Elegant Music) and secular music (Suyue), or music created outside of the imperial court. These two terms were first conceptualized during the reign of Sui Wendi (681 AD – 604 AD). Yanyue was a particular genre of court music to be played during banquets, differentiated from other ritual and ceremonial imperial occasions. Because Yanyue’s function was primarily as entertainment, it was close in character to secular music.2 However, it was still considered to be court music because it was created and promoted by the ruling class in the imperial court.

Yanyue music thrived during the following Sui and Tang dynasties. These periods enjoyed an economic and political stability that led to an ethnically and culturally diverse migration to the capital city Chang'an (today's Xi’an). Chang’an became a vibrant cultural center with a thriving and sophisticated artistic pulse. This assembly blended various musical traditions over the course of hundreds of years of musical practice, providing musical grist for the creation of Yanyue music. Melodies from foreign territories such as Korea and India were used as source material for Chinese musicians, who modified them within their own traditional compositional devices, often creating large-scale works. Chinese texts were added to some foreign melodies, while others that were originally performed on foreign instruments were now being performed on Chinese instruments.3

1 In this document ancient Chinese music refers to Chinese music from the period of Zhou (1027 BC) to Han (220 AD). 2 Xia, Yanzhou , Yong Chen , and Xiaolong Wang , Zhongguo yinyue jianzhi [A Brief History of Chinese Music] (Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publishing House), 14-48. 3 Yang, Yinliu Zhongguo Gu Dai Yin Yue Shi Gao shang [History of Ancient Chinese Music] (Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 2004), 214.

This musical blending diversified the Yanyue repertoire, and the ruling class’s artistic interests and investment cultivated fertile soil for its flourishing. The imperial court recruited thousands of musicians for the creation of Yanyue music through the establishment of three institutions: The Grand Music Bureau (Dayueshu), The Instruction

Quarters (Jiaofang), and The Pear Garden (Liyuan).

The Grand Music Bureau (Dayueshu) was one of the two branches governed by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (Taichangsi). It was responsible for major ritual and festival ceremonies, performing both Yayue (Elegant Music) and Yanyue genres.4 The head musicians of this branch required each initiate to complete a fifteen-year training regimen, during which “there were seven intermediate levels and five advanced examinations,” as well as a requirement of mastering fifty advanced-level pieces.5 If they failed the exams they were demoted to a lesser branch: The Drum and Wind Music

(Guchushu). This rigid training system exhibits the court’s high standard for its musicians. The Imperial Court was a major source of musical employment: the New

History of the Tang (Xin Tangshu )6 documents that there were tens of thousands of musicians working for both branches.7

4 Yanzhou Xia, Xiaolong Wang, and Yong Chen, Zhongguo yinyue jianzhi [A Brief History of Chinese Music], 53. 5 Mingyue Liang, Music of the Billion: An introduction to Chineese Music Culture (New York: Heinrichshofen’s Press, 1985), 104-105. 6 New Book of Tang , co-authored by Ouyang Xiu, Songqi, Fan Zhen, and Lü Xiaqing of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127), is a chronological history book that records the history of the Tang Dynasty. It contains 225 volumes. 7 Yang Zhongguo Gu Dai Yin Yue Shi Gao shang [History of Ancient Chinese Music], 214.

Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty (reign from 618 – 626 AD) established The

Instruction Quarters as the largest institution for music, dance, theater, and acrobatics. It employed thousands of musicians and dancers for daily performing duties. Emperor

Xuanzong (reign from 712 – 756 AD) loved music and composition. He created The Pear

Garden (Liyuan) as the first exclusively musical institution in Chinese history. He personally directed the musical activity of The Pear Garden and personally instructed approximately three hundred hand-selected musicians. He composed in a style called

Faqu, a subgenre of Yanyue for small choir and instrumental accompaniment.8

The performance practice of Yanyue music evolved during the Sui and Tang

Dynasties. At the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, Yanyue was presented in a program of

Seven Numbers (Qibuji). To reflect China’s growing territorial reach, each number of the program represented a style of music from a specific region or an ethnic group. This program was increased to Nine Numbers (Jiubuji) during the late Sui Dynasty. Emperor

Taizong of Tang (reign from 626 – 649 AD) added another number (Gaochangyue) in

642 AD, totaling Ten Numbers.9 Most of the music of these ten parts originated from middle Asia or northwestern China (present-day Xinjiang area) and migrated through the old Silk Road. The following table catalogues the origin of each number:

8 Liang, Music of the Billion, 105. 9 Wang Xiaodun, Xiaohui Sun, and Shijun Chang, “Yuebu of the Tang Dynasty: Musical Transmission from the Han to the Early Tang Dynasty,” Yearbook for Traditional Music, vol. 36 (2004): 50-64.

Table 1.2 Program of Yanyue

Sui (AD 605) Tang (AD 618) Tang (AD 642) Regions Music of Nine Music of Nine Music of Ten Numbers Numbers Numbers yanyue yanyue Opening number, a type of dance that praised the ruling class. Qingyue Qingshang Qingshang Music of the Han ethnic group. Xiliang Xiliang Xiliang Mixture of music of the Han nationality and China’s northwestern bordering regions Gaoli Gaoli Gaoli Music of Korea Tianzhu Tianzhu Tianzhu Music of ancient India Qiuzi Qiuzi Qiuzi Music of Qiuzi— present-day Kuche in Xinjiang10 Shule Shule Shule Music of Shule— present-day Shule and Yingjisha cities in Xingjiang Anguo Anguo Anguo Music of ancient middle Asia— present-day

10 Xinjiang is an autonomous region in northwestern China.

Bukhara of Uzbekistan Kangguo Kangguo Kangguo Music of ancient middle Asia— present day Samarkand of Uzbekistan Libi Music for closing ceremonies. Gaochang Music of present- day Turpan, a city located in the east of Xinjian

The opening number, yanyue,11 should not be confused with Yanyue. Yanyue refers broadly to a genre of secular music performed at the imperial court, whereas in this context, yanyue is a particular dance piece from the program of Nine or Ten Numbers praising the virtue of the ruling class. The closing number Libi is a theatrical dance where the performers wear masks.12 The other numbers of the programs, Qingshang, Xiliang,

Qiuci, Shule, and Gaochang represent music of the ethnic groups, whereas numbers

Gaoli, Tianzhu, Anguo, and Kangguo originate from foreign countries. This diversity underscores the cosmopolitan musical sphere of the imperial court. Of all the ethnic groups’ music, Qiuzi (Kuchen) music was the most influential. Qiuzi, or Kuche, was located on the silk road of northwestern China. A lot of foreign music, particularly

11 I used the first letter in lowercase to be differentiated from Yanyue. 12 Yang Zhongguo Gu Dai Yin Yue Shi Gao shang [History of Ancient Chinese Music], p. 214.

Indian, was first introduced to Kucha before finally reaching the court13. I will outline how the Kuchen modal system ultimately became the blueprint of the Yanyue twenty- eight mode system in chapter three.

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang abolished the Ten Numbers and restructured the organization of Yanyue performance into two departments (Erbuji). These departments were no longer based on the music’s regional origin, but on whether the music was to be performed standing (Libuji) or sitting (Zuobuji). The following table catalogues the music of two departments (Erbuji):

Table 1.3 Music of Two Departments

Music of Two Sitting Standing Departments (Zuobuji) (Libuji) (Erbuji) Number of Performed at the central court Performed some distance Performers along with no more than twelve away from the central court dancers with about one hundred dancers Instruments Wide variety of musical Mainly wind and instruments

13 Ibid., 215.

percussion instruments

Repertoire14 Eight Pieces Six Pieces 1. Anyue (Lion Dance) 1. yanyue (banquet music, 2. Taipingyue (Music of Peace) from Music of Ten Numbers) 3. Pozhenyue (Music of 2. Changshouyue (Music of Destroying Military Formations) Longevity)

4. Qingshanyue (Music of 3. Tianshouyue (Music of Celebrating the Virtues) Heaven-taught)

5. Dadingyue (Music of Great 4. Wugewansuiyue (Birds Stability) Paying Homage to the Emperor) 6. Shangyuanyue (Music to Praise the Emperor) 5. Longchiyue (Music of the Dragon Pond) 7. Shengshouyue (Music of the 6. Xiaopozhenyue (Music of Majesty’s Longevity) Destroying Military

Formations, an abridged 8. Guangshengyue (Music of the version of the Pozhenyue in Holy Light) Zuobuji)

Although we can only guess at the Court’s motivations, I suspect this two-part division is primarily organizational, as the adoption of the various types of ethnic music had become mainstream. The “Treatise of Ritual and Music” (“Liyue zhi” ) in the New History of the Tang records:

14 Xu Liu, Old book of Tang, juan 29 Chinese Text Project, accessed December 16, 2020, https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=334756&remap=gb.

“The court also divided Yanyue performance into two parts. Those who stood outside the hall called standing musicians, and those who sat in the hall called sitting musicians.”

又分樂為二部，堂下立奏，謂之立部伎；堂上坐奏，謂之坐部伎。15

Rather than focusing on ethnic origins, the Court was categorizing based on performance practice—standing or sitting. Beyond the scope of these two departments there were additional musical performance practices of Yanyue, both from Chinese ethnic minorities and foreigners. But in the eyes of the imperial court, Erbuji was regarded as the height of secular performance.

Yanyue was a diverse musical genre. Over the course of hundreds of years of performance practice from the Zhou dynasty to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, there was neither a uniform tuning system nor a shared concept of modes. Every new conquest and migration brought new ethnic performers to the court, each incorporating new genres into an expanding repertoire. Eventually, this required the establishment of a universal theoretical system. It was during late Tang that the Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system emerged. There is no record documenting precisely when this system was created, but it was no later than the early ninth century.16

15 Ouyang Xiu et al., Xin Tangshu 新唐書, 20 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), juan 22, 4:475. The translation is quoted directly above. 16 Guan, Tang dai yinyue shi 唐代音乐史 [Music History of the Tang Dynasty], 176.

Scholarly Challenges

Chinese theorists, musicians, and scholars have been trying to interpret the twenty-eight-mode system from era of the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD, the dynasty following Tang) until the present day. The subject presents many challenges because of insufficient historical documentation. Much of the theoretical writing during the Tang dynasty has been lost. Several different notation systems were used during Tang, but only one complete original manuscript from the Tang dynasty survives. It was found in the

Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in the early twentieth century; the manuscript is called

Dunhuang Qupu (敦煌曲谱). It is over a thousand years old, making it one of the oldest surviving manuscripts from ancient China. It contains twenty-five pieces from the Tang dynasty.

There are many manuscripts of musical scores dating after Tang that designate pieces with names from the Yanyue twenty-eight modes. Some of these manuscripts were recorded in ancient Chinese texts, such as the “Baishidaoren gequ” (Ci-lyrics by White- stone Priest), “Fengya Twelve Songs” (Twelve Poetic Tunes), and “Jiugong Dacheng

Nanbei Ci Gongpu” (Comprehensive Notation for Ci-Poetry of the North and South).

Other surviving manuscripts are of ancient Japanese origin,17 such as “Nangong Pipapu”

(Nangong score for Pipa) and “Shisen gakubu” (Hiromasa’s Flute Score). In order to decipher these ancient manuscripts, it is essential to understand the Yanyue twenty-eight- mode system.

17 During the two centuries before 841 AD the Japanese Court borrowed a large amount of secular entertainment music from China.

Most of the initial scholarship interested in the twenty-eight-modes originated from the fields of literature and history. Distinguished Chinese scholars include Mao

Qiling, Hu Yansheng, Ling Yankan, and Chenli from the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912); and

Tong Wen, Xiangda, Wang Guangqi, Qiu Qiongsun, and Liu Chongde from the 20th century. The songs of the Yanyue system interested these scholars primarily for their textual content: prose and poetry. Since the mid-twentieth century, there have been important and insightful Japanese scholars also interested in the twenty-eight-mode system, such as Hisao Tanabe, Kenzo Hayashi, and Kishibe Shigeo. Since the 1980s,

Chinese literary, musicological, and historical scholars such as Huang Xiangpeng, Xiaye,

Guan Yewei, and He Changlin have greatly advanced our understanding of the Yanyue system.

Interpreting the twenty-eight-mode system poses several significant challenges.

First, several names of the Yanyue modes are identical to extant modes predating the system. An interpretation requires understanding the background fundamentals of the

Chinese modal system previously in place. Second, Chinese is a language of homonyms.

The same character can have many different meanings depending on context. Third, the extant musical examples using the twenty-eight modes from Tang or post-Tang dynasties were written in bewildering notation:

Picture 1 – No.23 from Dunhuang Qupu (敦煌曲谱)

The Yanyue twenty-eight modes emerged amidst an amalgamation of various musical cultures. Yanyue (secular music of the court) was initially based on the Han ethnic group’s folk music but then absorbed aspects from a variety of genres from

Chinese ethnic minority groups and foreign immigrants. The purpose of this document is first, to introduce the established Chinese modal system preceding the Yanyue modes; second, to introduce Kuchen modal system, which functioned as a theoretical blueprint for the Yanyue twenty-eight modes; and third, to decipher and reconstruct the theoretical system of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes based on firsthand sources—revealing this ancient Eastern system to the West. It both overlaps with and is distinct from the Western

European pitch language that was evolving at nearly the same time halfway across the world.

Chapter II: The Fundamentals of Ancient Chinese Modes Preceding Tang

The concept of modes in Chinese musical culture existed long before the establishment of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes: indeed, the concept of modes had existed for nearly a thousand years before the creation of the Yanyue twenty-eight. The ancient modes were all based on a twelve-tone system that had the same proportional acoustic relationship as the Greek Pythagorean system. In the Pythagorean system, the frequencies in a scale lie in whole number ratios to each other. For example, the frequency of an octave has a 2:1 ratio. In the Pythagorean scale all of the pitches are derived from perfect fifths, which is precisely how the pitches for at least one of the ancient Chinese modes were derived. In this chapter I will delineate three essential elements of ancient Chinese music theory preceding the Yanyue twenty-eight modes of the Tang dynasty. First, I will introduce the twelve-pitch tonal system, which was the foundation for all ancient Chinese music theory. Second, I will discuss the ancient pentatonic scale—Gong (1") – Shang (2") – Jue (3") – Zhi (5" ) –Yu (6")—whose application is similar to the western movable-Do system. Third, I will trace the origin of the three ancient modes that became the building blocks of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes: Yayue,

Qingyue, and Yanyue.

The Twelve-Tone System: Twelve Lü

The earliest text documenting temperament for the twelve lü comes from Guanzi, an ancient political and philosophical text from the Spring and Autumn period (771 - 476

BC)18. Guanzi records the earliest method of specifying the mathematical nature of pitch

18 Remarkably, Pythagoras (570 – 495 BCE) was a contemporary of this period.

in ancient China. This method is called San Fen Sun Yi Fa (), translated roughly as “the addition and subtraction of three divisions.” It is a set of three instructions to calculate five pitches.

First, a pipe of arbitrary length establishes the first pitch, Gong. Second, subtract one-third of the pipe’s total length, which produces the second pitch, Zhi. This pitch is a perfect fifth above Gong. Third, add one-third of the length of Zhi, which produces the third pitch, Shang. Shang is a perfect fourth below Zhi. In order to create the fourth and fifth pitches, Yu and Jue, repeat the same proportional steps of two and three.

Table 2.1 Example calculation of Gong, Zhi, Shang, Yu, and Jue Pitch Calculation Equivalent Western Pitch Gong 81 C Zhi 81 x 2/3 = 54 G Shang 54 x 4/3 = 72 D Yu 72 x 2/3 = 48 A Jue 48 x 4/3 = 64 E

Table 2.2 Gong, Zhi, Shang, Jue, and Yu in Western notation

Guanzi’s method for calculating these intervallic relationships only extends to the first five pitches, which correlates to any five adjacent pitches on the Western circle of fifths.

A later text called Lüshi Chunqiu19 (see picture 1) describes the method for producing all twelve lü, which follows the pattern established in Guanzi.20 The following picture is the excerpt from Lüshi Chunqiu:

Picture 1 – Lüshi Chunqiu – excerpt describing the formula for calculating the twelve lü

19 Lüshi Chunqiu, also known as Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, is an ancient, encyclopedic text compiled around 239 BCE, during the early Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC). 20 Lü Buwei et al., Lüshi Chunqiu [Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals], juan six . Accessed March 17, 2021. https://sou-yun.cn/eBookIndex.aspx?kanripoId=KR3j0009_006&id=7951

In 1978 archeologists unearthed a large collection of bells and chimes in

Mawandui, a city in Hunan.21 They date to the Spring and Autumn Warring States

Period,22 and are called Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng (曾乙侯钟). There are a total of sixty-four bells and chimes and they use all twelve lü (see picture 2).23

Picture 2 - Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng (曾乙侯钟).

There is one important difference between the twelve lü and the Pythagorean system. In the Greek system, the reference pitch was unspecified: a complete scale could be built around any base pitch. In contrast, in the Chinese system the main reference pitch, Huangzhong, would remain fixed for an entire dynasty, but would be shifted in the next. For example, the Huangzhong for the Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng was close to a modern A-flat. During the Western Zhou dynasty, Huangzhong was close to modern F;

21 Wang, Zichu , Zhongguo yinyue kaoguxue Chinese [Archaeology of Chinese music] (Fu Jian: Fujian jiaoyu chubanshe, 2014), 201. 22 Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 771 – 476 BC. 23 “Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng,” accessed March 17, 2021, http://www.dashangu.com/postimg_15981447.html.

during Tang it was close to a modern E; during the Yuan and Ming dynasties it was close to a modern D. In the following table I have corresponded Huangzhong to the western pitch, C, for ease of comparison.

Table 2.3 – The Twelve lü () Pinyin Chinese English translation Abv. Western

equivalents

Huangzhong Yellow bell HZ C

Dalü Great pipe DL C#/Db

Taicu Great frame TC D

Jiazhong Squeezed bell JZ D#/Eb

Guxi Women’s purification GX E

Zhonglü Mean pipe ZL E#/F

Ruibin Enthroned guests RB F#/Gb

Linzhong Forest bell LZ G

Yize Equalizing rule YZ G#/Ab

Nanlü Southern pipe NL A

Wuyi Tirelessness WY A#/Bb

Yingzhong Responding bell YZ B

The Pentatonic Scale: Gong – Shang – Jue – Zhi – Yu

Gong (C), Shang (D), Jue (E), Zhi (G) and Yu (A) (see table 2.1) were the first five pitches calculated in both Guanzi and Lüshi Chunqiu. They form a pentatonic scale:

Gong is 1", the Western tonic; Shang is 2", Jue is 3", Zhi is 5", and Yu is 6". It is important to reiterate that these five scale degrees—Gong – Shang – Jue – Zhi – Yu—are not fixed, similar to the western solfege system where Do can move to create a new tonic. There are five modes derived from this pentatonic scale, each mode named by its final. The following example illustrates the five modes where Gong is C.

Example 1 - The Five modes of Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi and Yu

In modern Chinese music theory (which adopted many elements from Western music theory) letter names replaced the traditional names of the twelve lü. For example, if a piece is in A-Zhi mode its final is A; and the pitches used are D-E-F#-A-B, which belong to the Western D-major scale. The following famous Chinese folk songs both use the pitches of the C-Major scale but are in two different modes—the first ending on G, the second on C.

Example 2 - “Jasmin Flower” in G-Zhi mode

Example 3 - Heben Folk Song in C-Gong mode

The Three Ancient Modes

The three ancient modes, Yayue, Qingyue, and Yanyue, all have the pentatonic scale in common—Gong (1") - Shang (2") - Jue (3") - Zhi (5") - Yu (6"). To this shared structure, they each add two pitches, for a total of seven.

I. The Yayue Mode

Zhouyu—the first volume of Guoyu from the Spring and Autumn Period (771 –

476 BCE)—is the earliest historical documentation of a seven-tone mode, called Yayue mode. This ancient text recounts the story of an exchange between Emperor Zhoujing

(544 - 520 BCE) and his chief musician, Zhoujiu Ling. Around 600 BCE—a thousand years before Tang—the emperor inquired about the twelve lü. Ling gave him each of their names (listed in table 2.3). The emperor inquired further about the seven scale degrees.24 Ling listed him their names—Gong, Shang, Jue, Bianzhi, Zhi, Yu, Biangong— and explained that each scale-degree matched a particular pitch from the twelve lü.25

This seven-tone mode used the first five pitches calculated in Guanzi. The two additional pitches are calculated by the same formula that produced the first five. The first additional tone is called Bianzhi #4", a semitone below Zhi (5"). The second is called

Biangong, a semitone below Gong (1"). This collection is the sonic equivalent of the

Western Lydian mode. The ancient Yayue mode was named after the genre of music for which it was primarily used: ceremonial music for the imperial court (discussed in

24 Most scholars translate the word Yin from this text as “sound” or “tone.” In this context it should actually be translated as the theoretical term, scale-degree, or the equivalent of tonic, supertonic, etc. in the western tradition. 25 Guoyu, Chapter Zhouyu “ : - ,” Chinese Text Project, accessed Feb 12, 2021, https://ctext.org/guo-yu/zhou-yu-xia/zhs.

chapter one). This mode is still popular in many areas of China today, especially in

Peking Opera, Henan Opera (Henan Bangzi),26 and Fujian Nanyin.27

Table 2.4 - Yayue Mode (C-Gong)

In early 1900, in the Gansu province of Northwest China, a Daoist priest named

Wang inadvertently discovered a trove of invaluable historical relics in the Mogao Caves, also known as the “Caves of A Thousand Buddhas.” Among them he found a manuscript of old Chinese music written in tablature for the pipa, including instructions for reading it. The manuscript is called Dunhuang Qupu (敦煌曲谱) dated to 933, Later Tang dynasty. It contains twenty-five pieces written in notation from the tenth century.

Dunhuang Qupu is the most valuable and credible source for modern scholars to interpret the music of Tang. Its notation is a variation of Gongche notation, a system that uses textual characters to represent musical notes. The image below is piece number twenty- four. It is entitled Yizhou, the former name of a city in the eastern part of the Xinjiang province, and is written in the Yayue mode:

26 Henan Bangzi, also called Yu Opera originates from the Henan province. One of its signature features is percussive instrument called a hardwood clapper, which beats an accompaniment to the singing. Fujian Nanyin is a style of Chinese classical music from the southern province, Fujian. It features a chamber ensemble of five instrumentalists with or without a singer. 27 Du, Yaxiong, and Dexiang Qin , Zhongguo yueli [Chinee music theory] (Shanghai: Shanghai yinyue xueyuan chubanshe, 2007), 171-172

Example 4 - Yizhou from Dunhuang Qupu, No. 24

Example 5 - A transcription of Yizhou deciphered by Dong Ye. The first line represents the pitch-collection for the Yayue mode where Gong (1") is the final, as well as fingering. The characters above each staff are Gongche notation

The phrase rhythm of this song is based on an ancient poem of a particular meter called Qijue. It is a four-line poem with seven characters to a line. Dong Ye wrote number characters as place holders for where the text of any Qijue may be inserted. Each seven-character phrase ends on either 1", 2", 5", or 6", one of the five pitches in the pentatonic pitch-collection.

II. The Qingyue Mode

The ancient Qingyue mode can be traced back to the West Jin Dynasty (266 – 316

AD). A music theorist named Xun Xu made a set of twelve bamboo flutes based on the formula from Lüshi Chunqiu. The lowest pitch for each flute was one of the twelve lü.

His flutes were able to represent precisely the proportions of the San Fen Sun Yi Fa method (documented in Guanzi). Each of the bamboo flutes had six holes, five in the front and one in the back.

Example 6 - An illustration on Xun Xu’s Huangzhong bamboo flute

Each of the twelve flutes could produce seven pitches that aligned with the ancient Yayue mode. The second ancient mode, Qingyue, was created by shifting Gong 1" to G but using the same pitch-collection.

Table 2.5 – Xun Xu’s flute modes: 12-Lü HZ D TC JZ GX ZL RB LZ YZ NL W YZ HZ L Y Western C C D Eb E F F# G Ab A B B C equivalents # b Yayue Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Mode 1" 2" 3" #4" 5" 6" 7" Qingyue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Mode #4" 5" 6" 7" 1" 2" 3" #4"

The Qingyue mode aligns with the Western diatonic major scale28 (in this example G major) and was adopted as the second most prominent mode after Yayue. In the Qingyue mode, the first additional scale-degree, beyond the five initial pentatonic scale-degrees, is called Qingjiao, one semitone above Jue (3"). The second additional scale-degree is called

Biangong, one semitone below Gong (1").

28 Yang, Zhongguo Gudai Yinyue Shi gao shang [History of Ancient Chinese Music], 171-172.

Table 2.5 – The Qingyue Mode (Gong 1" – C)

The following example is a musical excerpt from a genre called Xi’an Guyue

(music for wind and percussion ensemble). This genre originated during the Tang dynasty (Xi’an was the capital city during Tang) and has survived to the present day. It has maintained all of its traditional characteristics in terms of performance practice, form, instrumentation, names of the tunes, and scores.29

Example 630 - Excerpt from Xi’an Guyue – Qingyue mode where Shang (2") is the final.

29 Li, Shigen ,Xian guyue quanshu [Complete commentary on the music of Wind and Percussion Ensemble of Xi’an] (Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 2009), 7-87, 345-405. 30 Huang, Xiangpeng 黃翔鵬, Zhongguo chuantong yinyue yibaibashi puliji 中國傳統音樂一百八十譜例集 [One Hundred and Eighty Musical Examples of Traditional Chinese Music] (Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 2003), 88.

In this instrumental piece, Gong 1" is G, but the final is Shang 2" A. The primary pentatonic pitches for this mode are G, A, B, D, and E. Each phrase ends on either Shang

2" A, Gong 1" G, or Yu 6".

III. The Yanyue Mode

There are two possible origins of the third mode, Yanyue, which has been a source of academic debate. One side, led by musicologist Yang Yinliu, posits that the Yanyue mode emerged from a Han31 folk-music genre called Xianghege that originated from the

Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). The musicians from the Han Music Bureau32 used folk tunes as base materials, then added strings and woodwinds as accompaniment.33 The counterpoint, led by musicologist Wang Guangqi, insists that the Yanyue mode emerged from Hu34 music during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and that this origin story is documented in both The History of Song and The History of Sui. Both sides are supported by credible sources, creating a scholarly stymie. It is most likely that the ancient Yanyue mode has several possible origin stories: scholars on either side are looking at the same pitch-collection through different cultural lenses.

In the Yanyue mode the first additional tone beyond the original five is called

Qingjiao, a semitone above Jue (3"). The second is Run (b7"), two semitones below Gong

(1"). This mode is the equivalent to Western Mixolydian.

31 Han is an ethnic group in China, comprising eighty percent of China’s modern population. 32 An imperial bureaucracy that directed musical performance during entertainment activity or religious worship. It was also responsible for the development of the music and poetry. 33 Xia, Yanzhou , Yong Chen 陈, and Xiaolong Wang 龙, Zhongguo yinyue jianzhi 乐简 [A Brief History of Chinese Music], 34 34 Hu is the music of all ethnic minority groups from the western regions ancient China.

Table 2.6 – The Yanyue Mode (Gong 1" – C)

This mode was used in a variety of musical genres: folk songs, Shuochang music,35 operas, and instrumental music of the ethnic minority groups in northwestern

China. The Yanyue mode is still popular in that region today. The following example is a song from a collection called Suijin Cipu (1844) from the Qing Dynasty (1644 AD—

1911 AD). The piece originates from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907

– 979 AD).

Example 736 “Waves Dredging Sand” – Yanyue mode where Yu (6") is the final.

35 Shuochang music is a genre of music characterized by the combination of speaking and singing, literature and music in the process of artistic expression. This art form has been unique creation in different regions of China for thousands of years. 36 Huang, Xiangpeng 黃翔鵬, Zhongguo chuantong yinyue yibaibashi puliji 中國傳統音樂一百八十譜例集 [One Hundred and Eighty Musical Examples of Traditional Chinese Music], 214.

In this song, Gong 1" is E-flat, but the final is Yu 6" C. The primary pentatonic pitches are

Eb, F, G, Bb, and Ab. Each phrase ends either on, Gong 1" Eb, Shang 2" F, or Yu 6". These three songs have established a phrase pattern where phrases only end with the five primary pentatonic pitches of a given mode.

The Zhengsheng

From an auditory perspective, the same collection of pitches can be perceived as different modes, depending on the position of Gong. Table 2.7 uses the same pitch- collection—C-D-E-F#-G-A-B-C—to view all three ancient modes. When C is Gong, this pitch-collection aligns with Yayue mode (Western Lydian); when G is Gong, the collection aligns with the Qingyue mode (Western diatonic major); and when D is Gong, the collection aligns with the Yanyue mode (Western Mixolydian):

Table 2.7 – Same pitch-collection, three modes

Take the example above: the three scales all share the same pitch collection. However,

Although each mode uses the same pitch-collection, they are considered to be in different modes. In Chinese theory, the first five lü calculated in Guanzi are called the

Zhengsheng: Gong (1") – Shang (2") – Jue (3") – Zhi (5" ) – Yu (6"). While these three modes

have all pitches in common, their Zhengshengs are different, which separates them modally. In C-Yayue mode, the Zhengsheng is C-D-E-G-A; in G-Qingyue mode, the

Zhengsheng is G-A-B-D-E; and in D-Yanyue mode, the Zhengsheng is D-E-F#-A-B. In order to identify a specific mode in ancient Chinese music correctly, merely recognizing the pitch-collection is insufficient: the location of both Gong and the final are equally vital.

The Yayue mode has the longest history and had the broadest influence on court music. The Qingyue mode is most popular in the northwestern areas of China, even to this day. The Yanyue mode is still seen in today’s folk music in the Xinjiang Uygur

Autonomous Region among the Uygur and Kazakhs ethnic minority groups. Similar to the modal church music theory in the West, which evolved out of performance practice, the theoretical basis for these ancient Chinese modes evolved after centuries—theory always follows practice. These three modes—Yayue, Qingyue, and Yanyue—laid the foundation for the Yanyue twenty-eight modes of the Tang dynasty.

III The Framework of the Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes

Before explicating the Yanyue twenty-eight modes individually, I will explore the skeletal frame of the system. It was first laid out comprehensively in Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau. Miscellaneous Notes is a collection of essays written by Tang scholar, Duan

Anjie.37 The twenty-eight modes are divided into four groups of seven modes. The modes within each group share the same final: scale-degrees Gong (1"), Shang (2"), Jue (3"), and Yu (6") respectively. This framework did not originate in Tang, but was patterned after the structure of a modal system brought from Kucha to the Chinese imperial court. In this chapter, I will first discuss the Kuchen modal system. Second, with the Kuchen system as a backdrop, I will introduce the framework of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes, as documented in the Miscellaneous

Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau.

Five Dan, Seven Sheng (finals)

In 568 AD, a famous pipa player and music theorist named Sujiva (northwest China today) migrated from Kucha to the Chinese court in Chang’an as part of the dowry for the wedding between Princess Asna of Turke and Emperor Wu of the Zhou dynasty—an arranged marriage to unite the two royal lineages. Sujiva’s presence made the occasion not only politically significant but musically as well. He introduced to China a Kuchen modal system called “Five

Dan, Seven Sheng (modes).” The Kuchen system would profoundly influence Chinese musical thought.

37 Duan Anjie is a famous music theorist during the Tang dynasty (618 - x907 AD), but his exact dates are unknown.

To understand Sujiva’s impact, we turn to the Book of Sui,38 which offers the earliest references to Sujiva’s “Five Dan, Seven Sheng (finals).” In particular, it explores how Chinese court musicians of that era comprehended Sujiva’s Kuchen modal system. The pivotal passage from The Book of Sui recounts a story of a famous pipa player and music theorist named Zheng

Yi (540 – 596 AD). Zheng Yi was one of Sujiva’s students and learned the Kuchen system from him firsthand. Zheng Yi translated Kuchen terminologies into Chinese and officially implemented the system as new music in the imperial court. His pedagogical approach looks at the unfamiliar new modes through the lens of the familiar Yayue mode (Western Lydian), which was to that point the only mode used in court music.

Sujiva was a master of the four-string pipa (Hu pipa), which is a lute-like instrument played on its side. There is no documentation of a tuning system for it, but there is a record for the tuning of the five-string pipa, which was in its peak during the Tang dynasty.39 The five- string pipa required different tunings depending on the mode of a given piece. For example, in

Yayue-Shang (2") mode, where Shang is the final, the strings are tuned either as D-A-d-e-a,40 whereas in Yayue-Yu (6") mode, where Yu is the final, the strings are tuned as E-A-C-e-g. It is likely that this convention was inherited practice from the Sui dynasty. Zheng Yi was using the

Hu pipa to transcribe the Kuchen modes to match the twelve lü.

The following text is my own translation of the relevant excerpt from The Book of Sui. It will first narrate Zheng Yi introducing the fundamentals of the Kuchen system. Second, Zheng

38 Book of Sui, part of a massive chronicle of Chinese history commissioned by Emperor Taizong of the succeeding Tang dynasty. Completed in 636 AD. 39 Ye, Dong , Tangdai yinyue yu gupu yidu [Translation of music and manuscripts from the Tang dynasty] (Xi’an: Shanxisheng shehui kexueyuan yinshuachang, 1985), 62. 40 Small notes are one octave higher.

Yi will present inconsistencies—misalignments—between the Kuchen modes and the Yayue modes of their traditional court music.

隋書·音樂志41 History of the Sui, “Treatise of Music”

[ 隋] [In the second year (582) of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui, Emperor Gaozu] decreed to recruit musicians to gather in the office of the central

government and set up musical system. ZHENG ] Yi, Duke of Pei, reported [to the emperor]:

“According to our study, the musical system for

bells and stone instruments all recorded the mode of gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu, biangong, and

bianzhi. Within these seven scale-degrees

(sheng), three are mismatched. We kept

consulting various musicians and archives, but

never resolved this problem.

41 魏徵 el. Suishu 隋書 [History of the Sui], “Yinyue zhong” 音樂中 “[Treatise of Music]” Part Two, 6 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973), 2:345-346.

先是周武帝時，有龜茲人曰蘇祗 Previously, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Zhou, the Kucha native SU Zhipo came to China 婆，從突厥皇后入國，善胡琵 as an attendant to the Empress of Turk. He was

琶。聽其所奏，一均之中間有七 skilled in the Hu pipa. When listening to his playing, one could hear seven scale-degrees 聲。因而問之，答云：『父在西 (sheng) within the same pitch collection (yun).

域，稱為知音。代相傳習，調有 Someone asked how he achieved this effect, he replied, “My father lived in the West Region and 七種。』 was well known for his musical knowledge. My

family has for generations practiced music and

passed down seven kinds of modes (diao).

以其七調，勘校七聲，冥若合 To use his seven modes (diao) to test the seven scale-degrees (sheng) [in the Yayue mode], they 符。一曰『娑陀力』，華言平 match as if destined to be so. [SU Zhipo’s] first

42 聲，即宮聲也。二曰『雞識』， mode is called Ṣatar in the Kuchen language, equivalent to the Chinese “level tone” 華言長聲，即商聲也。三曰『沙 (pingsheng), or Gong. The second is called Keṣe,

識』，華言質直聲，即角聲也。 equivalent to the Chinese “long tone” (changsheng), or Shang. The third is called

Ṡaiṣṣe, equivalent to the Chinese “plain and

42 Ṣatar, Keṣe, Ṡaiṣṣe, Sȧk-granth, Sāle, Pañcam, Orkamñe all are all Kuchen, which was listed in Yewei Guan’s article “Guanyu Suzhipo diaoshi lilun de yan jiu” [Research on Sujiva’s modal theory], Yinyue Yanjiu, vol 1 (1980), 43-47.

四曰『沙侯加濫』，華言應聲， straight” tone (zhizhi sheng), or Jue. The fourth is called Sȧk-granth, equivalent to the Chinese 即變徵聲也。五曰『沙臘』，華 “resonating tone” (yingsheng), or Bianzhi. The

言應和聲，即徵聲也。六曰『般 fifth is called Sāle, equivalent to the Chinese “harmonious tone” (hesheng), or Zhi. The sixth is 贍』，華言五聲，即羽聲也。七 called Pañcam, equivalent to the Chinese “five

曰『俟利』，華言斛牛聲，即變 tone” (wusheng), or Yu. The seventh is called Orkamñe, equivalent to the Chinese “calf” tone 宮聲也。」 (huniu sheng), or Biangong.

譯因習而彈之，始得七聲之正。 Zheng Yi then applied SU’s system to

his pipa playing and therefore mastered the 然其就此七調，又有五旦之名， correct sounds of these seven modes. There are 旦作七調。以華言譯之，旦者則 not just these seven modes but also five dan, and

(each) Dan has seven modes. If (we) translate dan 謂均也。其聲亦應黃鐘、太簇、 into Chinese, it means pitch collection (yun). 林鐘、南呂、姑洗五均，已外七 These five pitch collections start with

Huangzhong, Taicu, Linzhong, Nanlü, and Guxi 律，更無調聲。 respectively. The other seven lü do not have

modes.

Zheng Yi tuned the strings and sound-posts on the pipa he was playing in order to figure out the sound of each pitch collection (yun) and set up

another seven pitch collections (yun).. Combining these seven with SU’s five, Zheng used these

twelve pitch collections (yun) to correspond to the

twelve lü. Each lü has seven finals, and each final sets up a mode, hence seven modes in each of the

仍以其聲考校太樂所奏，林 twelve lü, altogether eighty-four modes.

Matching them in turn, Zheng Yi found they all 鍾之宮，應用林鍾為宮，乃用黃 fit one another. Zheng Yi thereupon used [the

鍾為宮；應用南呂為商，乃用太 seven modes and twelve lü] to measure the music performed by the Institute of Music (Taichangsi). 簇為商；應用應鍾為角，乃用姑 In a [Yayue] piece, Linzhong was used as Gong,

洗為角。故林鍾一宮七聲，三聲 but in a [Kuchen] piece, Huangzhong was used as Gong; Nanlü was used as Shang, but Taicu was 并戾。 used as Shang; Yingzhong was used as Jue, but

Guxi was used as Jue. The result was when

Linzhong was used as Gong there were three

pitches dislocated.

Zheng Yi’s summary is introducing an unfamiliar Kuchen system to the imperial court through the lens of the familiar—the Yayue mode. He is making an effort to draw together

disparate musical traditions into a unified system. I will discuss two salient elements from Zheng

Yi’s summary: first, the inconsistencies between the Kuchen mode and the Yayue mode of their traditional court music, which has puzzled many scholars; second, the function of Dan in the

Kuchen mode—a theoretical concept that up to this point had not existed in Chinese modal theory.

Three Dislocated Pitches

Zheng Yi listed seven Kuchen modes (Ṣatar, Keṣe, Ṡaiṣṣe, Sȧk-granth, Sāle, Pañcam, and Orkamñe) and their finals (Gong 1", Shang 2", Jue 3", Bianzhi #4", Zhi 5", Yu 6", and

Biangong 7"), outlined below:

Table 3.1 – Seven Kuchen modes when Gong is C

Scale- Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong degrees as Final (C) (D) (E) (F#) (G) (A) (B)

Modes Ṣatar Keṣe Ṡaiṣṣe Sȧk-granth Sāle Pañcam Orkamñe

It is important to note that these seven Kuchen modes all use the same pitch-collection, just with different finals, precisely like the Yayue mode. In Zheng Yi’s summary, he observes that the seven pitches of the Kuchen modes do not always align perfectly with the seven pitches in the Yayue mode: “when Linzhong (G) is used as Gong (1") there are three pitches dislocated.”

This discrepancy has confounded scholars. Linzhong is one of the twelve lü introduced in the previous chapter. It is a perfect fifth above the reference pitch, Huangzhong (western C). The

Linzhong-Yayue mode uses the Yayue pitch-collection (Western Lydian), but with a final of G, creating the equivalent of the Western diatonic G-major scale—G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G. In

comparing it with Su Zhipo’s Kuchen Sāle mode (when 5" is the final) , Zheng Yi observed that there were three pitches that did not match. However, he did not elaborate on which pitches or why the misalignment.

In order to resolve this discrepancy, I will examine Kuchen music’s primary instrument, the Bili. The Bili is a nine-hole flute that had been imported from Japan, popular during the Tang and Song dynasties. It had seven holes in the front and two in the back with an open pitch of G.

The pitch of the nine-hole Bili in the following illustration is based on the temperament of

Tang’s Yayue mode.43

The pitch collection of the Bili is G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G. The open pitch is G, which implies that the final of the first Kuchen mode, Satar, should be G. Therefore, Table 3.1 should be altered to reflect Gong (1") as G.

43 Guan Yewei , “Cong xinjiang de gulao yinyue tansuo yanyue jiqi diaoshi yinjie lilun” [explore modal theory of Yanyue through ancient Uygur music], Yinyue Yanjiu, vol 1 (1980), 92.

Table 3.2 – Table 3.1, but with Gong as G Finals Gong Shang Jue Qingjue Zhi Yu Run

(G) (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

Modes Ṣatar Keṣe Ṡaiṣṣe Sȧk-granth Sāle Pañcam Orkamñe

This pitch-collection places the two semitones between scale-degrees 3" and 4", and between 6" and 7". This collection mirrors the intervallic pattern of the ancient Yanyue mode

(Western Mixolydian), not Yayue (Western Lydian). Yanyue is one of the three ancient modes discussed in the previous chapter. In the Book of the Sui, Zheng Yi states, “In a [Yayue] piece,

Linzhong was used as Gong, but in a [Kuchen] piece, Huangzhong was used as Gong.” This is where the discrepancy arises: Zheng Yi is only aware of the Yayue mode, so he interprets each

Kuchen mode using Yayue as his archetype. Unfortunately, as demonstrated above, the Kuchen mode do not align with Yayue modes. Table 3.3 illustrates what the three dislocated pitches are based on Zheng Yi’s description. I compare the Yayue and Kuchen pitch-collections:

Table 3.3 - Comparison between Linzhong-Yayue (G) mode and Huangzhong-Kuchen (C) Mode Western G Ab A Bb B C C# D D# E F F# notation Twelve lü LZ YZ NL WY YZ HZ DL TC JZ GX ZL RB

Yayue Mode Gong Shang Jue ( Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong

Kuchen Mode Zhi Yu Run Gong Shang Jue Qingjue

In the Yayue mode, Gong aligns with Linzhong (G), while in the Kuchen mode Gong aligns with Huangzhong (C). When Zheng Yi compared the two modes, he observed that the intervallic relationships between each scale-degree was shifted in certain of the Kuchen modes.

As basis for comparison, he used the only theoretical system he was familiar with, the Yayue

mode, where the semitones lie between 4- - 5" and 7" - 1". His limited knowledge of other pitch- collections (such as the Yanyue mode) prevented him disentangling the modal mismatches, so he merely mentions “dislocated pitches” and moves on. Unfortunately, Zheng Yi didn’t realize the

Kuchen pitch-collection actually aligns with the Yanyue mode (Western Mixolydian) discussed in chapter two.

The Function of Dan

Dan is a Kuchen word that did not exist in Chinese theoretical terminology. Zheng Yi’s summarization translates Dan as the equivalent of Yun () in Chinese. In ancient Chinese music theory, a Yun is a pitch-collection of seven notes derived from the Pythagorean pattern of ascending fifths. A Yun is constructed of seven fixed pitches from the twelve lü. When rearranged as a stepwise structure, the pattern aligns with the Yayue mode (Western Lydian):

Huangzhong44 (C) – Taicu (D) – Guxi (E) – Ruibin (F#) – Linzhong (G) – Nanlü (A) – Yingzhong (B)

Yun is similar to the concept of key signatures. The Yun—or Kuchen Dan—determines the starting pitch (Gong 1") of a pitch-collection or mode. For example, Huangzhong-Dan signifies the Kuchen pitch-collection (Western Mixolydian) where C is Gong 1"—C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C. In

Zheng Yi ‘s description of the Kuchen system “Five Dan, Seven Sheng (finals),” only five lü

(pitches) can function as Dan: Huangzhong (C), Taicu (D), Guxi (E), Linzhong (G), and Nanlü

(A). This means that only these five lü can be the starting pitch (Gong 1" ) of a given Kuchen mode (Western Mixolydian). Within each mode, seven scale-degrees can function as finals. With this information we can construct a complete diagram of Su Zhipo’s Kuchen modal system.

44 These are the names of pitches from the twelve lü.

Table 3.4 - Su Zhipo’s Five Dan, Seven Sheng (finals)45

Five Dan Gong 1" Shang 2" Jue 3" Qingjue 4" Zhi 5" Yu 6" Run b7" Huang C D E F G A Bb Zhong C D E F G A Bb Dan (C) C D E F G A Bb C D E F G A Bb C D E F G A Bb C D E F G A Bb C D E F G A Bb Taicu D E F# G A B C Dan (D) D E F# G A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G A B C Guxi E F# G# A B C# D Dan (E) E F# G# A B C# E E F# G# A B C# E E F# G# A B C# E E F# G# A B C# E E F# G# A B C# E E F# G# A B C# E Linzhong G A B C D E F Dan (G) G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F Nanlü A B C# D E F# G Dan (A) A B C# D E F# G A B C# D E F# G A B C# D E F# G A B C# D E F# G A B C# D E F# G A B C# D E F# G

45 During this time, Huangzhong is equal to modern F#, see Kenzo Hayashi , translated by Moruo Guo , Sui Tang Yanyue yanjiu [Research on the Yanyue from Sui and Tang dynasties] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1955), 38.

The excerpt from Book of Sui is the only extant text describing the structure of the

Kuchen modes: as such, it represents the earliest surviving text exploring Chinese musical thought. Much remains incomplete or unknown, like an explanation of why only five pitches can function as Gong (1"). There are no surviving manuscripts of Kuchen music. But the Book of Sui illustrates the lasting influence the Kuchen theoretical system had on the Yanyue twenty-eight- mode system, essentially as its blueprint. The Kuchen system was organized in five groups (Dan) of seven modes, a pattern on which Tang musicians would base their own ornate theoretical system, specifically for Yanyue music.

The Framework of the Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes

In Chapter Two, I discussed the three fundamental ancient Chinese modes: Yayue,

Qingyue, and Yanyue. In the context of the twenty-eight modes of Tang, Yanyue essentially means secular music, not to be confused with the coincidentally named Yanyue mode from chapter two. In the Kuchen system the modes are grouped into five Dan, each a different key.

The Yanyue twenty-eight modes are organized similarly, but into four systems of seven modes, each system named after its common final: Gong (1"), Shang (2"), Jue (3"), and Yu (6").

The framework of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes was first laid out comprehensively in

Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau, which includes writings on music, dances, and plays.46 It was not the first text to discuss the twenty-eight modes, but it is the earliest text with a detailed record of their names (unfortunately, a diagram of the twenty-eight modes was lost). The text is written in literary Chinese, concise and sparce in its use of characters and typical of most ancient Chinese literature. Over centuries there have been fourteen

46 Wan Yunjun , "Yuefu zalu ", Zhongguo da baike quanshu [Encyclopedia of China], vol. 2, (1980) p. 1214.

editions. A combination of editors’ lack of musical knowledge and general clerical errors poses challenges for modern scholars. I have translated the following excerpt of Miscellaneous Notes, which delineates the framework of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes.

Original text in literary Chinese47 Translation

舜時調八音，用金、絲、竹、匏、 In the time of Shun, [the court] mediated

土、革、木，計用八百般樂器；至周 eight modes, using eight hundred kinds of musical instruments, made respectively of 時改用宮、商、角、徵、羽，用制五 metal, silk string, bamboo, gourd, clay, 音，減樂器至五百般；至唐朝又減樂 leather, and wood. To the Zhou era, [the 器至三百般。太宗朝，三百般樂器 court changed eight modes] to five, 內，挑絲竹為胡部，用羽、角、宮、 namely, Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, and Yu,

商，並分平、上、去、入四聲；其徵 and reduced the number of musical

音有其聲，無其調。 instruments to five hundred. To the Tang

dynasty (618AD-907AD), the number of

musical instruments to was reduced to

three hundred. During the reign of

Taizong (626 – 649 AD) of the Tang, the

court chose those made of string and

bamboo among the three hundred musical

47 Duan Anjie , “ Yuefu Zalu” 杂 [Miscellaneous notes on songs from the Music Bureau], in Zhongguo gudian xiqu lunzhu jicheng [Collected works of Chinese classical operas], vol 1, (Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1959), 62-63.

instruments to form Hu branch,48 using

Yu, Jue, Gong, and Shang modes and

categorized them into flat, rising, dipping,

and falling, these four pitches.49 There is

no Zhi mode (Zhi as final).50

羽七調 Flat Yu Seven modes First Yun Zhonglü mode, second Yun 第一運中呂調，第二運正平調，第三 Zhengping mode, third Yun Gaoping 運高平調，第四運仙呂調，第五運黃 mode, fourth Yun Xianlü mode, fifth Yun

鍾調，第六運般涉調，第七運高般 Haungzhong mode, sixth Yun Banshe

調。 mode, and seventh Yun Gaobanshe mode.

角七調 Rising Jiao Seven modes First Yun Yuejiao mode, second Yun 第一運越角調，第二運大石角調，第 Dashijiao mode, third Yun Gaodashijiao 三運高大石角調，第四運雙角調，第 mode, fourth Yun Shuangjiao mode, fifth

五運小石角調，第六運歇指調，第七 Yun Xiaoshijiao mode, sixth Yun (mode)

運林鍾角調。 Xiezhijiao mode, and seventh yun (mode)

Linzhongjiao mode.

48 Hu branch is the institution in charge of the Hu music during the Tang dynasty. Hu was the collective name for all the ethnic minorities in the West Regions or Northen China. Western Regions, xiyu, historically referred to a region that was present day west of Yumen pass and central Asia between third century BC and eighth century AD. See Xia, Yanzhou , Yong Chen 陈, and Xiaolong Wang 龙. Zhongguo yinyue jianshi 乐简 [A Brief History of Chinese Music], 40. 49 Four tones are four tone classes in the Chinese language: flat, rising, dipping, and falling. 50 What it means here is that Zhi cannot be act as a final. (clarify this in ch2: modes are named after their finals, if Zhi if final, it’s Zhi mode).

宮七調 Dipping Gong Seven Diao (modes) First Yun Zhenggong Diao, second Yun 第一運正宮調，第二運高宮調，第三 Gaogong Diao, third scale Zhonglü Gong, 運中呂宮，第四運道調宮，第五運南 fourth scale Daodiao Gong, fifth scale

呂宮，第六運仙呂宮，第七運黃鍾宮 Nanlü Gong, sixth scale Xianlü Gong,

seventh scale Huangzhong Gong.

商七調 Falling Shang Seven Diao (modes) First yun (mode) Yue Diao, second yun 第一運越調，第二運大石調，第三運 (mode) Dashi Diao, third yun (mode) 高大石調，第四運雙調，第五運小石 Gaodashi Diao, fourth yun (mode)

調，第六運歇指調，第七運林鍾商調 Shuang Diao, fifth yun (mode) Xiaoshi

Diao, sixth yun (mode) Xiezhi Diao, and

seventh yun (mode) Linzhongshang Diao.

This passage illustrates the imperial court’s desire to create a national common practice that would embrace China’s multiplicity of musical traditions: note the vast number of instruments that are being incorporated within a well-articulated system of scales and finals.

Half a world away, a similar modal system was becoming established in Western ecclesiastic music. There, the motivations were different: during the European Middle Ages, the only secular culture sanctioned by the Church was that of ancient Greece; the modes were viewed as a way of perpetuating Greek musical practice. Nevertheless, the Chinese and European modes are

an example of what biologists term “convergent evolution”: two cultures with virtually no contact with each other developing musical systems that are remarkably similar.

Eventually, the paths followed by the two traditions would diverge: Western music would evolve away from the Church’s musical orthodoxy towards a tonal system reduced to two modes—major and minor. Meanwhile, the Yanyue system would essentially remain fixed.

However, as we will see in the next chapter, Chinese musicians introduced a concept typically associated with the tonal system—the possibility of modulating keys—much earlier than their

Western counterparts.

I have consolidated the Yanyue twenty-eight modes in the following table:

Table 3.3 – Skeletal structure Yu Jue Gong Shang First Yun Zhonglü mode Yuejue mode Zhenggong mode Yue mode Second Yun Zhengping mode Dashijue mode Gaogong mode Dashi mode Third Yun Gaoping mode Gaodashijue mode Zhonglü mode Gaodashi mode Fourth Yun Xianlü mode Shuangjue mode Daodiao mode Shuang mode Fifth Yun Haungzhong mode Xiaoshijue mode Nanlügong mode Xiaoshi mode Six Yun Banshe mode Xiezhijue mode Xianlügong mode Xiezhi mode Seventh Yun Gaobanshe mode. Linzhongjue mode Huangzhong mode Linzhongshang mode

Miscellaneous Notes is a crucial historical resource, but it is not without its shortcomings.

For instance, there is a fundamental difference between the meaning of the character Yun in this text and its meaning in Sujiva’s Kuchen modal system. Yun is two different characters in each text, but they are pronounced identically.51 In the Kuchen modal system as Zheng Yi explains,

Yun is similar to the western concept of key signature. Duan Anjie does not explain what Yun

51 In the Kuchen modal system, Zheng Yi used character In the Yanyue modal system, Duan Anjie used character 運.

means in Miscellaneous Notes. Unfortunately, Miscellaneous Notes only depicts the general framework of the twenty-eight modes and omits one vital element: the pitch collections of each

Yun. In chapter four I will explore this omission using other resources in order to construct a complete view of the Yanyue system’s structure.

Chapter IV: The Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes

Up to this point I have referenced three distinct meanings of the word, Yanyue. In chapter one, I introduced Yanyue both as a musical genre—secular music of the imperial court during the Tang dynasty; and yanyue—the opening dance number of a nine-part program that praised the ruling class. In chapter two, I introduced Yanyue as the name of one of the three ancient, primary modes (western Mixolydian). In the context of the twenty-eight modes, Yanyue refers to the secular music of court.

Historically it has been a challenge for scholars to paint a complete picture of this modal system for several reasons. First, much of the scholarly writing on the subject was not written by music theorists, which led either to opaque or objectively incorrect conclusions. Second, before the twentieth century all of the scholarly writing about the modes is in Classical Chinese, which in comparison to modern Chinese is grammatically abbreviated, often leaving the modern Chinese reader with bewildering guesswork to fill in gaps of meaning. Third, over the centuries many original manuscripts have been destroyed by dynastic cycles or lost. In this chapter I will present a complete and coherent picture of the Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system, introducing it to a Western audience for the first time.

Piecing together the puzzle of the Yanyue modal system is a theoretically intricate endeavor. In order to illuminate the path, I present a complete diagram of the twenty- eight modes up front in Table 4.1—a matrix using the framework depicted in

Miscellaneous Notes (from chapter three) as a backdrop. I will then walk through the process of building out the system. Each of the tables 4.2 to 4.5 represent one of the four

Yanyue systems. Each system is named after its final: Gong (1"), Shang (2"), Yu (6"), or

Biangong (7"). The Gong (1"), Shang (2"), and Yu (6") systems each have seven pitches per mode, while the Biangong (7") system has eight. There are two salient pitches in each mode: Gong, which is essentially the equivalent to the western concept of tonic, or scale- degree (1"); and the final, which is the final pitch of a given song. In tables 4.2 to 4.5 I have highlighted Gong (1") with circles, and the final with squares. Because Duan Anjie did not specify precisely what Yun means, for my purpose it will merely mean “row.” I have assigned each mode a number for clarity.

Table 4.1 - Yanyue twenty-eight modes (same as table 3.3) Yu (6") Jue (3") Gong (1") Shang (2") 1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 First Yun Zhonglü mode Yuejue mode Zhenggong mode Yue mode

1.2 2.2 3.2 4.2 Second Yun Zhengping mode Dashijue mode Gaogong mode Dashi mode

1.3 2.3 3.3 4.3 Third Yun Gaoping mode Gaodashijue Zhonglügong Gaodashi mode mode mode 1.4 2.4 3.4 4.4 Fourth Yun Xianlü mode Shuangjue mode Daodiao mode Shuang mode

1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 Fifth Yun Haungzhong Xiaoshijue mode Nanlügong mode Xiaoshi mode mode

1.6 2.6 3.6 4.6 Six Yun Banshe mode Xiezhijue mode Xianlügong mode Xiezhi mode

1.7 2.7 3.7 4.7 Seventh Yun Gaobanshe mode. Linzhongjue Huangzhong Linzhongshang mode mode mode

Table 4.2 - Gong (1") system

First yun Zhenggong mode 3.1 C D E F# G A B C Second yun Gaogong mode 3.2 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Third yun Zhonglügong mode 3.3 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fourth yun Daodiaogong mode 3.4 C D E F G A B C Fifth yun Nanlügong mode 3.5 C# D E F# G A B C# Six yun Xianlügong mode 3.6 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Seventh yun Huangzhonggong mode 3.7 C D E F G A Bb C

In the Gong system, Gong and the final are the same pitch, so there is no circle/square distinction.

Table 4.3 - Shang (2") system

First yun Yue mode 4.1 C D E F G A Bb C Second yun Dashi mode 4.2 C D E F# G A B C Third yun Gaodashi mode 4.3 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Fourth yun Shuang mode. 4.4 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fifth yun Xiaoshi mode. 4.5 C D E F G A B C Six yun Xiezhi mode. 4.6 C# D E F# G A B C# Seventh yun Linzhongshang mode. 4.7 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

Table 4.4 - Yu (6") system

First yun Zhonglü mode 1.1 C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode 1.2 C D E F G A B C Third yun Gaoping mode 1.3 C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode 1.4 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode 1.5 C D E F G A Bb C Six yun Banshe mode 1.6 C D E F# G A B C Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode 1.7 C Db Eb. F G Ab Bb C

Table 4.5 - Jue/Biangong (7") system

First Yun Yuejiao mode 2.1 C D E F G A Bb B C Second Yun Dashijiao mode 2.2 C C# D E F# G A B C Third Yun Gaodashijiao mode 2.3 C Db D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fourth Yun Shuangjiao mode 2.4 C D Eb E F G A Bb C Fifth Yun Xiaoshijiao mode 2.5 C D E F F# G A B C Six Yun Xiezhijiao mode 2.6 C# D E F# G G# A B C# Seventh Yun Linzhongjiao mode 2.7 C D Eb F G Ab A Bb C * Additional pitch – small, bold font

When arranged from Gong (1")—disregarding for the moment the additional pitch in the Jue (7") system—each mode mirrors the intervallic pattern of the ancient Yayue mode (Western Lydian), one of the three primary modes introduced in chapter two. There are two half-steps in each system (disregarding the additional pitch in Jue (7")). When arranged from the final, the systems’ modal alignments diverge: Gong (1") aligns with

Western Lydian, Shang (2") aligns with Western Mixolydian, Yu (6") aligns with Western

Dorian, and Biangong (7") aligns with Western Phrygian. This rearrangement by final reveals a rather astounding twist: these four pitch collections precisely mirror the Western medieval church modes, which were being developed simultaneously half a world away.

The elegance and internal consistency of the modal system is readily apparent.

However, the path to arriving at a clear description has proven to be torturous for scholars of Chinese music. In order to decipher the Yanyue twenty-eight modes, I will turn to ancient Chinese texts. Examining these source materials reveals not only the system itself, but also the challenges in documentation and analysis.

While Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau (see chapter three) was the earliest text to list each mode by name, Brush Talks from Dream Brook was the first text to provide a comprehensive view. Its author, Shen Kuo (1031 – 1095 AD), was an intellectual genius: a philosopher, scientist, and statesman with expertise in dozens of different fields. He had a prolific and distinguished career during the Northern Song dynasty (960 – 1127 AD). After retiring, he lived in isolation in a lavish garden he named

“Dream Brook,” where he wrote his culminating work—a massive three-volume encyclopedia encompassing astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, technology, music, Chinese history, and much more. The first volume is called Brush

Talks from Dream Brook, followed by Supplement to Brush Talks, and Continuation of

Brush Talks. The latter two volumes both complement and correct material from the first.

It is in the first two volumes that Shen Kuo painted the comprehensive picture of the

Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system.

I will examine two central elements that Shen Kuo introduces in his first two volumes: first, Gongche notation; second, the complete structure of the Yanyue modal system. Gongche notation was an ancient Chinese musical notation system invented during the Tang dynasty. It used preexisting Chinese characters that were arbitrarily assigned to a particular existing pitch. In Brush Talks, Shen Kuo attempts to correlate

Gongche notation with the characters of the twelve Lü (pitches)—essentially the same way in which Western notation—a note fixed on a staff—is correlated with a letter-name pitch. The Gongche notation is the note-on-staff, the Lü is the letter-name. This system became widely used during Song, when Shen Kuo was writing. To understand the modes, we first have to understand Gongche notation. I will examine a passage from Supplement to Brush Talks using my own translation, where Shen Kuo uses Gongche notation to list and organize the pitches of each of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes.

Gongche Notation and The Twelve Lü

In Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Shen Kuo’s first attempt to match Gongche notation to the twelve lü was unsuccessful.52 For unknown reasons, he positioned the pitches correlated with the Gongche characters in between the notation characters of the twelve Lü. This misalignment creates an obvious problem: the notation does not match

52 See Appendix for my translation of Shen Kuo’s discussion on Gongche notation and the twelve Lü from the first volume, Brush Talks from Dream Brook.

the pitches that instruments were able to produce. This mistake would seem impossible from the perspective of modern scholarship. Perhaps it was the result of Shen Kuo not primarily being a musician. Musicians who performed or composed music are typically not documenting the theory of musical practice. Regardless, he recognized the mistake and reconciled the conflict in his second volume, Supplement to Brush Talks, which I illustrate in table 4.7. Table 4.6 is my translation of his corrected version of the Gongche notation from Supplement to Brush Talks:

Table 4.6 - Shen Kuo’s writing on Gongche notation and the twelve Lü

• • • Supplement to Brush Talks • Volume One • Yanyue Fifteen Tones 53

(532)[1] [1] In Yanyue music, there are a total of sixteen different pitches: the standard , twelve semitones within one octave,

plus the doubling of the first four notes one octave higher. However, today there are only fifteen pitches.

[2] Today’s temperament is two [2] semitones higher than the temperament in ancient times, and there is no pitch to match Huangzhong

[3] Today’s Yanyue uses the character

“he” () to match Huangzhong.

53 Hu, Daojing and Kuo Shen., 2011. Xin Jiao Zheng Meng Xi Bi Tan, Meng Xi Bi Tan Bu Zheng Gao [New edition of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Supplement and continuation to Brush Talks] (Shanghai: Shanghai ren min chu ban she, 2011), 205

[3] “Xiasi” to match Dalü,

“Gaosi”to match Taicu,

“Xiayi” to match Jiazhong,

54 “Gaoyi” to match Guxi,

“Shang” and Zhonglü “Gou”

to match Ruibin“Che”

to match Linzhong, “Xiagong” () to

match to Yize, “Gaogong” to

match Nanlü, “Xiafan” to

match Wuyi, “Gaofan” to

match Yingzhong. “Liu” to

match the higher octave of

Huangzhong, “Xiawu” to

match the higher octave of Dalü,

“Gaowu” to match the higher

octave of Taicu, and “Jinwu”

to match the higher octave of Jiazhong.

Shen Kuo’s descriptions have some errors and inconsistencies. For instance, in his opening statement he writes that there are only fifteen pitches in current Yanyue music.

This appears to be an obvious oversight as he proceeds to describe sixteen pitches later in

54 In Daojing Hu’s edition, characters in ( ) were writing errors from the original text, which he replaced them with the correct characters in [ ].

the text. He lists the twelve pitches within the octave plus the doubling of the first four pitches one octave higher; the doubled pitches use different Gongche characters, unlike the modern concept of pitch class. Tables 4.7a and 4.7b illustrate both the misalignment of the Gongche notation from volume one and the correction in volume two:

Table 4.7a – Misalignment as written in Brush Talks from Dream Brook 12-Lü DL TC JZ GX ZL RB LZ YZ NL WY YZ HZ DL TC JZ (Qing) (Qing) (Qing) (Qing) Western C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# Notation Gongche Noataion

Table 4.7b – Corrected alignment from Supplement to Brush Talks 12-Lü HZ DL TC JZ GX ZL RB LZ YZ NL WY YZ HZ DL TC JZ (Qing) (Qing) (Qing) (Qing) Western C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# Notation Gongche Noataion *The reference pitch is Huangzhong, C

In Supplement to Brush Talks, Shen Kuo alters his original placement of the

Gongche character “he” () from volume one, shifting it one-and-a-half semitones lower to align with Huangzhong, C. But he writes that “there is no pitch to match

Huangzhong.” On the surface this makes no sense: how can there be no reference pitch?

But a historical perspective reveals the answer: he is referring to Huangzhong in the context of the reference pitch changing from one dynasty to the next. During the Song dynasty (when he wrote the book), the position of the reference pitch Huangzhong had been shifted two semitones higher from its position during Tang. When Shen Kuo writes that “there is no pitch to match Huangzhong,” he means if Tang’s Huangzhong was C,

Song’s Huangzhong would be D.

Shen Kuo adjusts the order of the Gongche characters from the pitch Gaogong

(western A) to Xiawu (western C#) as shown in Table 4.3. He also adjusts

the position of Liu(western C) one semitone higher than Fan () (western B) to match Huangzhong, but one octave higher. This corrected alignment of the characters in

Gongche notation became standardized for all the dynasties that followed.

Although simplified notation and staff notation was introduced and widely adopted in China during the second half of the twentieth century, traditional Gongche notation is still used today in Chinese opera and in the folk music of certain rural regions.55 The following example is an aria using Gongche notation from a modern

Cantonese opera by Chen Jinrong56 from 2009.

55 Du, Yaxiong, and Dexiang Qin , Zhongguo yueli [Chinee music theory], 328-329. 56 Chen Jinrong (1943-), Cantonese opera composer.

The Characters of Gongche Notation Used in Each Mode and Final

Having established the correct relationship between Gongche notation and the twelve Lü in Supplement, Shen Kuo then meticulously discusses the Gongche characters used in each of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes. I have divided my translation of the text into three parts: opening statement, seven sentences, and closing statement. I will discuss each individually.

Part I: Opening Statement

Table 4.8 - Shen Kuo’s writing on the Gongche notation used in each mode Original Text 57 Translation • • • Supplement to Brush Talks • Volume One • Temperament II • Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes (Opening Statement): Opening Statement:

(531 The twelve Lü are used as different 58 scale degrees in different modes.59 The Zhenggong mode, Dashi mode, and Banshe mode have seven

common scale-degrees: Gong, Yu,

Shang, Jue, Zhi, Biangong60 and

Bianzhi.

57 Hu, Daojing and Kuo Shen., 2011. Xin Jiao Zheng Meng Xi Bi Tan, Meng Xi Bi Tan Bu Zheng Gao [New edition of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Supplement and continuation to Brush Talks], 204-205. 58 In this edition of Supplement, characters within ( ) are mistakes from the original text, and characters inare corrections by Hu Dao Jing. 59 For example, C would be tonic in one mode and supertonic in another.

The opening statement lists the scale-degrees used in only three of the modes,

(presumably because this establishes a pattern maintained throughout the following twenty-five and saved him many dips of the quill): Zhenggong, Dashi, and Banshe—

Gong (1"), Yu (6"), Shang (2"), Jue (3"), Zhi (5"), Biangong (7") and Bianzhi (#4").61 These are the same seven scale-degrees as in the ancient Yayue mode (Western Lydian) discussed in chapter two.

Part II: Seven Sentences

The seven sentences detail the construction of each of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes. In my translation I associate each mode with the assigned numbers from table 4.1.

Each of the seven sentences is comprised of two clauses. The first relates to three specific modes, one from each of three systems: Yu (6"), Gong (1"), and Shang (2"), named after their final. The second clause lists the pitches of each mode in the Jue (3") system, in which each mode has ten pitches: the two doubled plus an additional pitch placed one semitone above 1".

61 This is Shen Kuo’s ordering of the pitches. It would suggest that they did not necessarily conceive of these pitch-collections as step-wise, or perhaps it confirms he is not a musician.

Table 4.9 - Shen Kuo’s writing on Gongche notation used in each mode (part II) Original Text 62 Translation

• • • Supplement to Brush Talks • Volume One • Temperament II • Yanyue Twenty-Eight Modes First sentence: First sentence:

The Zhenggong mode (3.1), Dashi mode (4.2) and Banshe mode (1.6) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters gaoswu (), gaofan (

), gaogong (), che (), shang

(), gaoyi (), gaosi (), liu ()

and he (). The Dashijue mode (2.2) uses the same nine pitches plus the

Gongche character xiawu (), making ten pitches in total. Second sentence: Second sentence:

The Zhonglügong mode (3.3), Shuang mode (4.4) and Zhonglü mode (1.1) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters jinwu (), xiafan (),

gaogong(), che (), shang (),

xiayi (), si (), liu (), and he (). The Shuangjue mode (2.4) uses the same nine pitches plus the the

62 Hu, Daojing and Kuo Shen., 2011. Xin Jiao Zheng Meng Xi Bi Tan, Meng Xi Bi Tan Bu Zheng Gao [New edition of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Supplement and continuation to Brush Talks], 204.

Gongche character gaoyi (), making ten pitches in total.

Third sentence: Third sentence:

The Gaogong mode (3.2), Gaodashi mode (4.3) and Gaobanshe mode (1.7) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters xiawu (), xiafan (

),gong (), che (), shang (), xiayi

(), xiasi(), liu ()and he (). The Gaodashijue mode (2.3) uses the same nine pitches plus one more that is represented by the Gongche

character gaosi (), making ten pitches in total. Fourth sentence: Fourth sentence:

The Daodiaogong mode (3.4), Xiaoshi mode (4.5) and Zhengping mode (1.2) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters gaowu (), gaofan (),

gaogong (), che (), shang (),

gaoyi (), gaosi (), liu ()and

he (). The Xiaoshijue mode (2.5) uses one more pitch that is represented by the Gongche character

of gou (), making ten pitches in total.

Fifth sentence: Fifth sentence:

The Nanlügong mode (3.5), Xiezhi mode (4.6) and Nanlü63 mode (1.3)64 have seven pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters xiawu (), gaofan (),

gaogong, () che (), gaoyi (),

gaosi (), and gou (). The Xiezhijue mode (2.6) uses one more

Gongche character xiagong (), making eight pitches in total. Sixth sentence: Sixth sentence:

The Xianlügong mode (3.6), Linzhongshang mode (4.7) and Xianlü mode (1.4) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters jinwu (),

xiafan (), gong (), che (),

shang (), xiayi (), gaosi (),

liu () and he (). The Linzhongjue mode (2.7) uses one more Gongche

63 Nanlü mode is Gaoping mode. 64 Qi, Mingjing “Lun Qingshang sandiao zhi pingdiao ” [Discussion on ping modes of the Qingshang three modes] August 18, 2016, https://www.docin.com/p- 2076712037.html.

character gaogong (), making

ten pitches in total.

Seventh sentence: Seventh sentence:

The Huangzhonggong mode (3.7), Yue mode (4.1) and Huangzhongyu mode (1.5) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche character gaowu (),xiafan (

), gaogong (), che (), shang (

), gaoyi (), gaosi (), liu (

), and he (). The Yuejue mode

(2.1) uses one more pitch that is represented by the Gongche character

gaofan (), making ten pitches in

total.

I will now combine the information from the seven sentences with Shen Kuo’s outline of Gongche notation (table 4.7b) to create tables 4.10 to 4.14. Each of these tables represents one sentence from the seven except the first and the fourth—in those two

Shen Kuo made a crucial mistake I will break down below. For clarity, I will include the Western pitches and Western abbreviations of the twelve Lü (pitches). The three modes grouped in the same row share an identical pitch-collection (Yun), but each has a different final. The fourth mode originates from the second clause and includes the extra pitch.

Table 4.10 - Modes from the second sentence Western C D Eb E F G A Bb C Eb notation Lü HZ TC JZ GX ZL LZ NL WY HZ JZ (qing) (qing) Gong Zhonglü gong System (3.3) Shang Zhonglü he si xiayi shang che gaogong xiafan liu jinwu System (4.4) Yu Shuang System (1.1) Jue Shuangjue System (2.4) gaoyi

Table 4.11 - Modes from the third sentence Western C Db D Eb F G Ab Bb C Db notation Lü HZ DL TC JZ ZL LZ YZ WY H DL (qing) (qing) Gong Gaogong System (3.2) Shang Gaobanshe he xiasi xiayi shang che xiagong xiafan liu xiawu System (4.3) Yu Gaodashi System (1.7) Jue Gaodashijiao System (2.3) gaosi

Table 4.12 - Modes from the fifth sentence Western D E F# G G# A B C# notation Lü TC GX RB LZ YZ NL YZ DL (qing) Gong Nanlü Gong System (3.5) Shang Xiezhi gaosi gaoyi gou che gaogong gaofan xiawu System (4.6) Yu Nanlü (Gaoping) System (1.3) Jue Xiezhijiao System (2.6) xiagong

Table 4.13 - Modes from the sixth sentence Western C D Eb F Ab A Bb C Eb notation Lü HZ TC JZ ZL YZ NL WY HZ JZ (qing) (qing) Gong Xianlü Gong System (3.6) Shang Linzhongshang] System (4.7) he si xiayi shang xia-gong xiafan liu jinwu Yu Xianlü System (1.4) Jue Linzhongjiao System (2.7) gaogong

Table 4.14 - Modes from the seventh sentence Western C D E F G A Bb B C D notation Lü HZ TC GX ZL LZ NL WY YZ HZ TC (qing) (qing) Gong Huangzhong Gong System (3.7) Shang Yue System (4.1) he si gaoyi shang che gaogong xiafan liu gaowu Yu Haungzhong System (1.5) Jue Yuejiao System (2.1) gaofan

The construction of the modes from Shen Kuo’s first and fourth sentences presents a problem: they both use identical Gongche characters, which is to say they share an identical pitch-collection. It would be like taking the C Major pitch-collection and calling it G Major. It is hard to imagine an error this longstanding not to have been corrected by now. It was not corrected by Daojing Hu’s new edition of She Kuo’s text.

This is not the only error from older versions of Shen Kuo that Hu leaves uncorrected.

However, like Shen Kuo himself, Hu is primarily neither a musician nor musicologist, which would make it nearly impossible for him to understand the modes in the necessary theoretical context. It is possible that the duplication of the first and fourth sentences is merely a clerical error over hundreds of years of transcribing the text—we will never know for sure. Regardless, I will reverse engineer these two ambiguous modes after the pattern established by the other five sentences.

I will first reorganize the modes from sentences two, three, five, six, and seven— following the four-system structure outlined in Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the

Music Bureau. In Table 4.15a I have delineated the five complete modes of the Yu (6") system from tables 4.11 to 4.14 (I have omitted the repeating pitches from the higher octave for simplicity). The missing Zhengping (1.2) and Banshe (1.6) modes are from the problematic first and fourth sentences. I will address their pitch collections below.

Table 4.15a Yu (6") System Yu (6") First yun Zhonglü mode C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode ? (sentence 4) Third yun Gaoping mode C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode C D E F G A Bb C Sixth yun Banshe mode ? (sentence 1) Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C

Each mode in the Yu system has 6" in common as its final and follows the same intervallic pattern as the Yayue mode: W-W-W-H-W-W-H (western Lydian). For example, in the Zhonglü mode from the first Yun, Eb is Gong (1") because it is the only starting point where the prescribed intervallic pattern aligns with the prescribed pitch collection. The final will be C, which is Yu (6"). Following this pattern, we can find the

Gong (1") and Yu (6") for each of the other four modes. In table 4.15b, I have highlighted

Yu (6") with squares and Gong (1") with circles.

Table 4.15b - Yu (6") System Yu (6") First yun Zhonglü mode C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode Third yun Gaoping mode C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode C D E F G A Bb C Six yun Banshe mode Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode C Db Eb. F G Ab Bb C

The pitch collection of the Zhengping mode from the second Yun, as listed in Shen Kuo’s fourth sentence, is: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. By following the structural logic of the other modes, we can deduce that F is Gong (1"), and D is Yu (6") as illustrated in Table 4.15c:

Table 4.15c - Yu (6") System Yu (6") First yun Zhonglü mode 1.1 C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode 1.2 C D E F G A B C Third yun Gaoping mode 1.3 C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode 1.4 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode 1.5 C D E F G A Bb C Six yun Banshe mode 1.6 Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode 1.7 C Db Eb. F G Ab Bb C

If we insert the same pitches into the sixth Yun—Banshe mode—and follow the same pattern, C will be Gong (1"), and A will be Yu (6"). F must be altered to F-sharp in order to maintain the intervallic pattern of the other Yu modes. Therefore, the Gongche notation

Shang () (western F) in Shen Kuo’s first sentence should have been written as Ge ()

(western F-sharp). Therefore, sentence four is correct as written, while the Gongche notation in the first sentence should be altered to:

First sentence: First sentence:

The Zhenggong mode (3.1), Dashi mode (4.2) and Banshe mode (1.6) have nine pitches, which are represented by the Gongche characters gaoswu (), gaofan (), gaogong (), che (), ge (), gaoyi (), gaosi (),

liu () and he (). The Dashijue mode (2.2)

uses the same nine pitches plus the Gongche

character xiawu (), making ten pitches in

total.

This corrects a mistake that has survived for a millennium.

The following table presents the complete and correct Yu (6") system.

Table 4.15d - Yu (6") System Yu (6") First yun Zhonglü mode 1.1 C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode 1.2 C D E F G A B C Third yun Gaoping mode 1.3 C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode 1.4 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode 1.5 C D E F G A Bb C Six yun Banshe mode 1.6 C D E F# G A B C Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode 1.7 C Db Eb. F G Ab Bb C

Having corrected the erroneous pitch collections from Shen Kuo’s first and fourth sentences, tables 4.16 and 4.17 represent the complete and correct Gongche notation and pitch collections:

4.16 – Modes in the first sentence Western C D E F# G A B C C# D notation Lü HZ TC GX RB LZ NL YZ HZ DL TC (qing) (qing) (qing) Gong Zhenggong System (3.1) Shang Dashi he gaosi gaoyi ge che gaogong gaofan liu gaowu System (4.2) Yu Banshe System (1.6) Jue Dashijiao (2.2) System xiawu

4.17 - Modes in the fourth sentence Western C D E F F# G A B C D notation Lü HZ TC GX ZL RB LZ NL YZ HZ TC (qing) (qing) Gong Daodiaogong System (3.4) Shang Xiaoshi he gaosi gaoyi shang che gaogong gaofan liu gaowu System (4.5) Yu Zhengping System (1.2) Jue Xiaoshijiaodiao (2.5) System ge

Now that I have established the correct pitch-collections for each mode in the Yu (6"), I will construct a complete picture of the Gong (1") and Shang (2") systems in table 4.18 and

4.19:

Table 4.18 - Gong (1") System65 Gong (1") First yun Zhenggong mode 3.1 C D E F# G A B C Second yun Gaogong mode 3.2 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Third yun Zhonglügong mode 3.3 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fourth yun Daodiaogong mode 3.4 C D E F G A B C Fifth yun Nanlügong mode 3.5 C# D E F# G A B C# Six yun Xianlügong mode 3.6 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Seventh yun Huangzhonggong mode 3.7 C D E F G A Bb C

Table 4.19 - Shang System Shang (2") First yun Yue mode 4.1 C D E F G A Bb C Second yun Dashi mode 4.2 C D E F# G A B C Third yun Gaodashi mode 4.3 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Fourth yun Shuang mode. 4.4 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fifth yun Xiaoshi mode. 4.5 C D E F G A B C Six yun Xiezhi mode. 4.6 C# D E F# G A B C# Seventh yun Linzhongshang mode. 4.7 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

The Yu, Gong, and Shang systems each have seven pitches with two semitones.

According to the second clause in each of Shen Kuo’s sentences, each mode in the Jue system has eight pitches, and four semitones. The additional pitch in each mode is one semitone above its Gong (1"). This eight-tone mode was not only documented in

Supplement to Brush Talks, but also in The History of Song—a sprawling four hundred ninety-six-chapter historical record of the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD). The following excerpt from The History of Song describes the additional pitch:

65 In the Gong system, the final and Gong (scale-degree one) are the same pitch.

· The History of Song · Music add one tone in all seven Jue [modes].

The origins of the eight-tone mode can be traced back to the Yayue genre of the Sui dynasty (581 – 619 AD), documented in The History of Sui:

·· The History of Sui·Music Because the basic set of bells and chimes are cast in eight pitches, we can thus compose music using these eight pitches.

In Table 4.20 I have matched the eight pitches of the Jue (3") mode with the

Gongche notation from Brush Talks from Dream Brook. Gong (1") is circled and the additional pitch is in bold.

Table 4.20 – Jue (3") system Jue (3") First Yun Yuejiao mode 2.1 C D E F G A Bb B Second Yun Dashijiao mode 2.2 C C# D E F# G A B Third Yun Gaodashijiao mode 2.3 C Db D Eb F G Ab Bb Fourth Yun Shuangjue mode 2.4 C D Eb E F G A Bb Fifth Yun Xiaoshijiao mode 2.5 C D E F F# G A B Six Yun Xiezhijiao mode 2.6 C# D E F# G G# A B Seventh Yun Linzhongjiao mode 2.7 C D Eb F G Ab A Bb

If we were to follow the pattern of the other three systems (Yu, Gong, and Shang) the final of each mode in the Jue system would be the Jue (3") of each mode. However, the

Supplement to Brush Talks makes clear that in this case a different principle applies. The excerpt below describes the finals of four of the twenty-eight modes, one from each system. I have extracted each sentence from a longer passage that follows the same pattern for all twenty-eight:

Table 4.21 - Shen Kuo’s description of each mode’s final in Gongche notation Original Text66 My translation When Huangzhong (western C) is Gong (1"), and is used as the final,

this is the Zhenggong mode (3.1)67. The final pitch is represented by “” the Gongche character “liu” ().

When Huangzhong (western C) is Shang (2") and is used as the final,

this is the Yue mode (4.1). The final pitch is represented by the “” Gongche character “liu” ().

When Huangzhong (western C) is Jue (3") and is used as the final,

this is the Linzhongjue (2.7) mode. The final pitch is represented by “” the Gongche character “che” ().

When Huangzhong (western C) is Yu (6") and is used as the final,

this is the Zhonglü mode (1.1). The final pitch is represented by the “” Gongche character “liu” ().

Three of the four modes are from the first Yun and each uses the same pitch, Huangzhong

(western C) as the final. In the Zhenggong mode, Gong (1"), is the final; in the Yue mode,

Shang (2") is the final; in the Zhonglü mode, Yu (6") is the final:

66 Hu, Daojing and Kuo Shen., 2011. Xin Jiao Zheng Meng Xi Bi Tan, Meng Xi Bi Tan Bu Zheng Gao [New edition of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Supplement and continuation to Brush Talks], 207 – 208. 67 See Table 4.4.

Zhenggong mode (3.1) C D E F# G A B C

Yue mode (4.1) C D E F G A Bb C

Zhonglü mode (1.1) C D Eb F G A Bb C

When Huangzhong (western C) is Jue (3), the pitch-collection is Ab - A68 - Bb -

C - D - Eb - F - G, as listed in Table 4.15. In Shen Kuo’s description the final of this mode is the Gongche character, che (). “Che” () is Western G, which is the seventh pitch of this mode, one semitone below Gong. The pitch below Gong is called Biangong

(equivalent to the Western leading tone). Therefore, Jue in this context does not mean 3" but 7".

The rest of Shen Kuo’s text follows the pattern from the excerpt in listing the finals from each of the twenty-eight modes: in the Gong (1") system, Gong is the final; in the Yu (6") system, Yu is the final; in the Shang (2") system, Shang is the final.

The Jue (3") system is an exception: the final is not Jue, but Biangong (7"). Many non-

Chinese scholars have misunderstood the structure of the Jue system: because Jue literally means the third scale-degree they assume it follows the pattern of the other three systems but that is not the case.

I have created a diagram for the Jue/Biangong system to reflect its two pitch distinctions from the other three systems: eight pitches in each mode with the final,

Biangong (7"):

68 A is the additional 8th pitch in the Jue system and is not counted as a scale-degree.

Table 4.22 – Jue/Biangong (7#) system Jue/Biangong (7") system First Yun Yuejiao mode 2.1 C D E F G A Bb B C Second Yun Dashijiao mode 2.2 C C# D E F# G A B C Third Yun Gaodashijiao mode 2.3 C Db D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fourth Yun Shuangjiao mode 2.4 C D Eb E F G A Bb C Fifth Yun Xiaoshijiao mode 2.5 C D E F F# G A B C Six Yun Xiezhijiao mode 2.6 C# D E F# G G# A B C# Seventh Yun Linzhongjiao mode 2.7 C D Eb F G Ab A Bb C * letters in small font are the additional pitches of each mode in the Jue system.

Part III - Closing Statement

Table 4.23 – Shen Kuo on the Gongche notation used in each mode Closing statement: Closing statement:

Where a pitch is used that falls outside the prescribed gamut of a given mode, this process

is called fandiao [modulation].

The closing statement indicates that as early as the late Tang and Song dynasties (around

900 AD) the concept of modulation was already a common practice, preceding its

Western counterparts almost by half a millennium.

My close reading of Shen Kuo’s Brush Talks from Dream Brook and Supplement to Brush Talks—using the framework established in Miscellaneous Notes as a backdrop—represents the first complete and correct picture of all twenty-eight modes in a

Western text. If we look at this entire modal system from a Western theoretical viewpoint, we can summarize the system as follows: there are four systems, each with a different final—Gong (1"), Shang (2"), Yu (6"), and Jue/Biangong (7"). The seven individual modes from each system are essentially transpositions of the same “key”: Huangzhong

(C), Dalü (D-flat), Jiazhong (E-flat), Zhonglü (F), Linzhong (G), Yize (A-flat), and Wuyi

(B-flat). Whereas Western music eventually developed the notion of a tonic specific to each key, the Yanyue twenty-eight modes allow greater flexibility. The same pitch- collection can have different finals—even within a particular pitch collection, a much wider array of musical inflections and pitch patterns is possible.

The Yanyue 28-mode systems has posed some intractable problems, because of inconsistencies in Shen Kuo’s descriptions and the misunderstandings of later scholars.

Yet, when deciphered, it reveals an ornate and logical musical system on par with those of its contemporaneous Western counterparts.

Chapter V – Yanyue in Practice

For thousands of years Chinese dynastic cycles perpetually led to the destruction of artifacts from the preceding dynasty, among them many historical documents and manuscripts. As a result, very few musical examples of the Yanyue modes from the Tang dynasty survived. In this chapter, I will examine four musical examples that each represents one of the four systems of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes. The first is

“Yangzhou, slow,” originating from the Song dynasty and representing the Gong (1") system (Lydian); the second is “Banshe Mode,” originating from Tang and representing the Shang (2") system (Mixolydian); the third is “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys,” originating from Song and representing the Yu (6") system (Dorian); the fourth is “Ganzhouzi,” originating from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 AD – 960/979) and representing Jue/Biangong (7") system (Phrygian). These songs not only exhibit the modal qualities of the Yanyue systems, but they also embody the rich history of Chinese poetry.

They also reveal an ornate system of notation. Along the way I will introduce a new and divergent analytical approach to viewing structure of the Yanyue modes.

The prevailing perspective structurally divides the twenty-eight modes into four groups of seven, each based on the ancient Yayue mode. In the tradition of the Yayue mode, a mode’s primary pitches are constructed from the Zhengsheng: Gong (1") – Shang

(2") – Jue (3") – Zhi (5" ) – Yu (6") (outlined in Chapter Two). I will reframe the Yanyue modal system, viewing only Gong and Yu through the lens of the Yayue mode, while reconfiguring our view of Shang and Jue through the lens of the Yanyue/Kuchen mode.

This modification will reveal the Yanyue twenty-eight modes to be not merely a historical

novelty, but a multivalent system reflecting the culmination of cultural and musical blending during the Tang dynasty.

Three notation systems

Unlike the West, which established a universal notation system, ancient Chinese musicians used three different notation systems constructed of Chinese characters. The first system is Jianzi notation, or abbreviated character notation, which was only used for zither. It is similar to Western tablature notation (see picture 1). The second system is

Lülü notation, which uses the characters of the twelve-lü (see picture 2). The third system is Banzi notation, or half-character notation, which is a variation of Gongche notation

(see picture 3).

Picture 169 - Guyuan from “Ci-lyrics by White-stone Priest” in Jianzi notation

69 Kui, Jiang, “Baishidaoren gequ” 白石道人歌曲[Ci-lyrics by White-stone Priest] in Siku Quanshu [Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature], juan one. Accessed March 10, 2021. http://skqs.guoxuedashi.com/wen_3003y/69972.html.

Picture 270 - Emperor Youxiang Guping Diao from “Ci-lyrics by White-stone Priest” in Lülü notation

Picture 371 – Yangzhou, Slow from “Ci-lyrics by White-stone Priest” in Banzi notation

Zhonglügong

70 Ibid. 71 Kui, Jiang, “Baishidaoren gequ” 白石道人歌曲[Ci-lyrics by White-stone Priest] in Siku Quanshu [Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature], juan four . Accessed March 10, 2021. http://skqs.guoxuedashi.com/wen_3003y/69975.html

In table 5.2 I compare western notation, Lülü notation, Gongche notation, and Banzi half- character notation.

Table 5.2 Comparison between four different notation systems

The Jianzi and Banzi notation systems are still in use today—Jianzi is used for zither; Banzi is used in Xi’an Guyue (music for wind and percussion ensemble). Lülü, on the other hand, has become obsolete.

Example 1 Gong (+,) system

Table 5.2 Yayue - Gong (1") System Gong (1") First yun Zhenggong mode 3.1 C D E F# G A B C Second yun Gaogong mode 3.2 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Third yun Zhonglügong mode 3.3 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fourth yun Daodiaogong mode 3.4 C D E F G A B C Fifth yun Nanlügong mode 3.5 C# D E F# G A B C# Six yun Xianlügong mode 3.6 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Seventh yun Huangzhonggong mode 3.7 C D E F G A Bb C

We will begin by examining Example 3, a song titled “Yangzhou, slow.” This song was composed by Jiang Kui (ca. 1155 – 1230), a distinguished bard of the Song

dynasty. It originates from his collection of one hundred and nine songs: “Ci-lyrics by

White-stone Priest” (Baishidaoren gequ 白石道人歌曲). Twenty-eight of the songs have musical scores that use all three varieties of notation. Ci is a type of classical Chinese poetry that originated in late Tang and was developed by the poets during the following

Song dynasty. The oldest surviving examples of Ci are from the eighth century

Dunhuang manuscripts72 (see Chapter One). In the Ci tradition, poetic text was written to fit a preexisting melody of folk or popular origin. The poetic meter of Ci is irregular but with rigid rules regarding tones and rhyme scheme.

In 1129 AD, during late Song dynasty, the army of Jin began a mass invasion southward, pillaging many cities and towns. In 1161, Wan Yanliang (the leader of the army) invaded a town called Yangzhou. The fighting in Yangzhou continued for many years. The city sustained enduring massive structural and economic damage. In 1176, fifteen years after the invasion, Jian Kui passed through Yangzhou. He composed both the music and text to “Yangzhou, Slow” in homage to the city.

The following example73 is a transcription in modern notation of “Yangzhou, slow,” by Yinliu Yang.74 The original manuscript is in Banzi notation, in which each textual character is aligned directly to the right of its musical counterpart. The name of the song’s mode, Zhonglügong (see Table 5.2) is written beneath the title; it uses the

72 Liang, Music of the Billion, 116 73 English translation of the text by Nanxiu Qian, Professor of Chinese Literature at Rice University. 74 Yang, Yinliu , Falu Yin . Song Jiangbaishi chuangzuo gequ yanjiu [Research on the song compositions of Jiang Baishi from the S ong dynasty] (Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 1979), pp. 42-43. I transposed his version two semitones down because Yang based his transcription on the Huangzhong (reference pitch) D. For the purposes of this paper Huangzhong is C, which reflects its position during Tang. It was shifted to D during the Song dynasty.

following pitch collection: Eb - F - G - A - Bb - C - D - Eb. In this mode, both Gong (1") and the final are Eb.

Structurally, “Yangzhou, slow” is divided into two distinct sections. Both the text and the melody are divided into two parts: the first half depicting the destruction of the city; the second half depicting Jiang Kui’s feelings. Each half contains four phrases. The first two phrases, about the city’s desolation, can be subdivided into smaller melodic fragments that move primarily in more conjunct motion. In the second half, the melodic profile becomes increasingly disjunct, perhaps reflecting Jiang Kui’s inner turmoil. Each of the four phrases in both sections ends on the same pitches respectively: Eb, G, C Eb.

The last phrase of both sections is nearly identical (m. 12 to m. 16; and m. 28 to the end), creating a formal punctuation.

One of the distinguishing sonic characteristics of this song is the tritone. Three phrases begin with an Eb-A tritone leap; phrase five ends on Eb, with phrase six beginning on A. This sonority makes sense in the context of the pitch collection (Western

Lydian); but whereas that interval was avoided in modal music of the West, its frequent use here suggests that this sonority was fully embraced as a sonic signature in ancient

China.

Jian Kui is in the mold of the troubadours and trouvères from France around the same time. Their songs are monophonic, sometimes with accompaniment. But where the songs of the troubadours are strophic with a melodic profile more conjunct in nature, Jian

Kui’s melody is primarily disjunct “Yangzhou, slow” also illustrates word painting. For example, in m. 18 the pitched aligning with the two characters meaning “coming back” leap downward from B-flat to C (the lowest pitch of the song). In m. 26-27, there is a melodic leap downward from C to E-flat aligning with the character for “disturbed,” musically reinforcing the textual meaning.

Example 2 Yu (-,) system

Table 5.3 Yayue -Yu (6") system Yu (6") First yun Zhonglü mode 1.1 C D Eb F G A Bb C Second yun Zhengping mode 1.2 C D E F G A B C Third yun Gaoping mode 1.3 C D E F# G A B C Fourth yun Xianlü mode 1.4 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C Fifth yun Haungzhong mode 1.5 C D E F G A Bb C Six yun Banshe mode 1.6 C D E F# G A B C Seventh yun Gaobanshe mode 1.7 C Db Eb. F G Ab Bb C

The second music example, “Banshe Mode” was written for the five-string pipa, an ancient Chinese instrument that is no longer in use today. This instrument has a pear- shaped wooden body with a crooked neck and ten frets. I introduced the pipa in Chapter

Three as the instrument Zhengyi learned from Sujiva. It is played horizontally; the strings are plucked with a wooden plectrum (Picture 5). The five-string pipa originated in

Central Asia and was introduced to China through the Silk Road during the Northern and

Southern dynasties (420 – 589 AD). This particular instrument reached its peak popularity during the Tang but essentially fell out of use during the Song dynasty.75

75 Gao Yanming , “Wuxian pipa de zhongguohua fazhan” [The development of five-stringed pipa in China] , Huanghe zhi sheng 1 ( 2017): 113.

Picture 5 - Replica of five-stringed pipa from Tang Dynasty in the collection of Shōsō-in (正倉院) in Nara, Japan

The score for “Banshe Mode” originates from a document called Five-Stringed

Pipa Manuscript, one of the oldest surviving manuscripts from the Tang dynasty. It contains twenty-eight songs for the five-string pipa and is now preserved in Yōmei Bunko, a historical archive located in Utanokaminotanicho, Kyoto, Japan.76 This example is the fifth piece from this collection and is titled after the mode it is in, Banshe (1.6)77:

C - D - E - F# - G - A - B - C (C is Gong, and A is final).

76 Ye, Dong , Tangdai yinyue yu gupu yidu [Translation of music and manuscripts from the Tang dynasty] (Xi’an: Shanxisheng shehui kexueyuan yinshuachang, 1985), pp. 54 - 55, 106. 77 Ibid, 108.

This instrumental piece is through-composed and is rhythmically much more complex than “Yangzhou, slow.” There are six phrases in total, each ending with a fermata that signifies a stylistic pause. The melodic profile is mostly disjunct. The primary pitches used in this piece are C (Gong), E, G, A (final); A is the most frequently used pitch. Most of the phrases end in a rising fourth, echoing the Western dominant- tonic cadential pattern. Even so, Western ears will not experience a tonal center in this melody as they are accustomed to. The opening phrase orbits around C (Gong) while the latter half orbits around A, which transmits Yu mode (Western Dorian) quite clearly.

This piece is written in the Banshe mode, one of the two modes that Shen Kuo accidentally conflated in Supplement to Brush Talks. If he had been able to view a score

like “Banshe Mode,” he would have been able to ascertain the correct pitch collection.

The fact that he did not illustrates the disconnect between theory and practice. Of course, it is not impossible that Shen Kuo’s mistake is instead a clerical error made at some point over hundreds of years of transcriptions.

Divergence

Listening to these melodies, it is interesting to envision how listeners of the Tang and Song eras perceived their modal structures. What were their sonic experiences? What does Gong sound like versus the final (which are rarely aligned)? Where is the tonal center?

The earliest structural outline of the Yanyue twenty-eight mode system was written in Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau by Tang scholar, Duan

Anjie (introduced in Chapter Three). In his organization of the modes he indicates that the pitch-collections of all four systems—Gong, Shang, Yu, and Jue—align with the ancient Yayue mode (Western Lydian). In Supplement to Brush Talks, Shen Kuo’s organization of the pitch-collections of each mode mirrors the same pattern.

Consequently, all of the transcriptions of the modes and scholarly research on them over the centuries has followed the same blueprint.

However, Duan Anjie has made a critical error. The collection of primary pitches in all ancient Chinese modal music is called the Zhengsheng, which, as I discussed in

Chapter Two, is formed from rising fifths: Gong (1") – Shang (2") – Jue (3") – Zhi (5") – Yu

(6"). These five scale-degrees are constant across all three of the ancient modes. There are

three different possibilities for 4" and 7", which essentially determines the mode of a melody:

Table 5.4 – The three ancient Chinese modes

Yayue mode

Qingyue mode

Yanyue mode

(same as Kuchen mode)

In all modes, Gong and final are drawn from the Zhengsheng. However, for songs in the

Shang and Jue modes, the Gong and final do not align with the Zhengsheng of the Yayue mode. As a result, Shang and Jue systems should not be classified as belonging to Yayue; their placement there was a theoretical mishap from the beginning.

The ancient Yayue mode where Shang (2") is the final aligns exactly with the ancient Yanyue mode where Gong (1") is the final. Imagine a C major scale next to a D

Dorian scale. They use an identical pitch-collection but present completely different sonic experiences—diatonic major with #7" (diatonic major) versus minor with #6" and flat-7"

(Dorian)—all determined by the position of the almighty tonic. I have illustrated this relationship in table 5.5, highlighting the alignments of Shang/Gong. For simplicity, I

based it on the Yayue-Gong mode, where Gong is C. It’s important to remember that, in the Western modal tradition, only the tonic function as the final, whereas in the ancient

Chinese modal tradition, finals can be any pitch from the Zhengsheng. This feature can feel slightly off kilter from a Western perspective, where a melody would never end on 2".

Table 5.5 – Comparison of Yayue-Shang and Yanyue-Gong modes Western C D E F# G A B C D Pitches Yayue Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Shang Mode 1" 2" 3" #4" 5" 6" 7" 1" 2" Yanyue Gong Shang Jue Qingjiao Zhi Yu Run Gong (Kuchen) 1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6" b7" 1" Mode

While the Yayue-Shang and Yanyue-Gong modes share an identical pitch-collection they have a different Zhengsheng, which determines the mode: Yayue-Shang - C – D – E – G –

A; Yanyue-Gong - D – E – F# – A – B. That’s a critical distinction: as we will see, the

Zhengsheng of the Shang and Jue/Biangong systems align with Yanyue, not Yayue.

We will first view the musical examples from the conventional perspective, in which they are classified as belonging to Yayue mode. I will demonstrate that it makes much more sense to view them both through the lens of the Yanyue/Kuchen mode.

Example 3 Shang (4,) System

Table 5.6 – Yayue-Shang (2") System Shang (2") First yun Yue mode 4.1 C D E F G A Bb C Second yun Dashi mode 4.2 C D E F# G A B C Third yun Gaodashi mode 4.3 C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C Fourth yun Shuang mode. 4.4 C D Eb F G A Bb C Fifth yun Xiaoshi mode. 4.5 C D E F G A B C Six yun Xiezhi mode. 4.6 C# D E F# G A B C# Seventh yun Linzhongshang mode. 4.7 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

The third song is titled “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys.” The song is one of twelve from the collection, Twelve Poetic Melodies of the Book of Songs78 (Feng-Ya shier shipu 风雅十二诗谱)The poetry from this collection is of much older origin, likely dating from 1000 - 600 B.C. (from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn period). The poems come from The Book of Songs (Shijing ), which originated from Northern

China and is the oldest extant example of ancient Chinese poetry.79 The Book of Songs was traditionally believed to be compiled by Confucius. These twelve poems were set to melodies composed by Zhao Yansu (1148 – 1196 AD80). These twelve songs are written in Lülü notation (see Picture 4). In contrast to Banzi notation, where the musical characters are aligned to the right of the textual characters, Lülü musical characters are aligned beneath the textual characters.

“‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys” takes its title from the first line of the first stanza, similar to Western motets and madrigals that take their opening line of text as the title.

78 This collection is found in Comprehensive Interpretations to the Commentaries on the Classic of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yili jingzhuan tongjie 仪礼经传通解), compiled during the reign of Emperor Qiandao (1165 – 1173 AD) of the Song dynasty. Wang, Yaohua . Zhongguo chuantong yinyue yuepuxue [A study on ancient Chinese manuscripts] (Fuzhou: Fujian jiaoyu chubanshe, 2006), p. 38. 79 There are two Chinese poetic traditions: Wind and Sorrow (Feng-Sao ), a Chinese term representing a poetic dual nature. The Book of Songs (Shijing ) represents the Northern Chinese tradition; The Songs of the South, or The Songs of Chu (Chuci ) is a collection that represents the Southern Chinese tradition. The Songs of Chu was compiled in its present form in the first century A.D. The earliest and most important works from the collection date from around the fourth century BCE. Influenced by shamanism, Chuci is more rhapsodic in tone and with more fantastical imagery than the more sober-minded poetry of the North. 80 Zhao Yansu was a distinguished scholar during the Song dynasty.

Picture 481 - “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys,” from Twelve Poetic Melodies of the Book of

Song

Yue mode

The following example of “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys” is my transcription in modern notation of the Lülü notation from Picture 4.82 Lülü musical notation does not indicate rhythm, so the rhythm of the melody conforms to the poetic meter, which when read in Chinese conveys the wonderfully asymmetric 5/4 meter. This piece is set in Yue mode (4.1), which uses the following pitch collection: Bb - C - D - E - F - G - A - Bb (B- flat is Gong; C is the final).

81 Xi, Zhu, “Feng-Ya shier shipu” [Twelve Poetic Melodies of the Book of Songs] in Yili jingzhuan tongjie [Comprehensive Interpretations to the Commentaries on the Classic of Etiquette and Ceremonial], juan 14 . Accessed March 12, 2021. http://skqs.guoxuedashi.com/wen_120899grku/291010.html 82 English translation of the text by Arthur Waley, The Book of Songs (New York: Grove Press, 1996), 81-82.

In “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys,” there are ten phrases, each ending on one of four different scale-degrees: C (2"), E (4"), G (6"), or A (7"). E (4") and A (7") are used with particular frequency, including on phrase endings. In the first two examples, 4" and 7" clearly play a background role. Each example had a different final: “Yangzhou, slow”-

Gong 1"; “Banshe Mode” - 6". Neither song uses 4" as a primary pitch aligning with a structural point like a phrase ending or final. In “‘Fair, fair,’cry the ospreys,” E

(4") and A (7") are more structurally salient than Gong (1"), Jue (3"), or Zhi (5"). This presents a clear and present clash with the conventional structure of the Yayue mode, in which finals are only derived from a mode’s Zhengsheng.

This theoretical incongruity can be resolved by shifting the mode. If I displace the scale-degrees of the Yayue Zhengsheng in “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys,” one whole- step up—from C (2"), E (4"), G (6"), and A (7") to C (1"), E (3"), G (5"), and A (6")—the key finally turns in the lock: when C is Gong the pitch-collection shifts from ancient Yayue-

Shang (Western Bb Lydian) to align with the Yanyue/Kuchen structure (Western C

Mixolydian) and indeed the Gong and final are now derived from the Zhengsheng. I have illustrated this shift in table 5.7:

Table 5.7 – Realignment Western Bb C D E F G A Bb C Pitches Yayue Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Shang Mode 1" 2" 3" #4" 5" 6" 7" 1" 2" Yanyue Gong Shang Jue Qingjiao Zhi Yu Run Gong (Kuchen) 1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6" b7" 1" Mode

It is important to note that the pitches of a particular song will remain unchanged regardless of whether the Yayue mode or Yanyue/Kuchen mode is applied to it. This issue

merely affects the theoretical notation of the melodies. But misattributing the mode gives a mistaken impression of the listenng experience, in which the perceived tonal center unexpectedly clashes with its own mode—like a piece written in G major sounding like A dorian. In effect, the Western transcription of the manuscript illuminates its own problem.

There is an E-flat in the key-signature, but then every last E is naturaled. I have transcribed “‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys” in the correct mode: Yanyue-Gong, the equivalent of Western Mixolydian. My transcription is set in “the key of C,” indicating that C is both Gong (1") and the final.

Example 4 Jue/Biangong (7,) system

Table 5.6 – Yayue-Jue (7") system Jue (7") system Yuejiao mode 2.1 C D E F G A Bb B C Dashijiao mode 2.2 C C# D E F# G A B C Gaodashijiao mode 2.3 C Db D Eb F G Ab Bb C Shuangjiao mode 2.4 C D Eb E F G A Bb C Xiaoshijiao mode 2.5 C D E F F# G A B C Xiezhijiao mode 2.6 C# D E F# G G# A B C# Linzhongjiao mode 2.7 C D Eb F G Ab A Bb C

My fourth and final example is titled, “Ganzhouzi,” from Comprehensive

Notation for Ci-Poetry of the North and South,83 (Jiugong Dacheng Nanbei Ci Gongpu

)—an enormous eighty-two volume anthology of songs, Ci poetry, operas, etc. originating from the Tang to Qing dynasties (Qing was the last dynasty of the

Chinese feudal system, ending in 1912 AD). This collection was completed in 1746 AD and includes manuscripts using twenty of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes.84

The manuscript of “Ganzhouzi” comes from volume thirty-nine of the collection

(Picture 6). The Ci (poem) to this piece was written by poet Gu Xiong from the Five

Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 AD – 960/979). Each of Gu Xiong’s Ci is about romantic love.

83 Zhou, Xiangyu et al., Xinding jiugong dacheng nanbeici gongpu, Internet Archive. Accessed March 17, 2021. https://archive.org/details/02111009.cn/page/n34/mode/2up 84 Wu Zhiwu , “‘Jiugong dacheng’ gong diao yu yanyue ershiba diao zhi guanxi” [The relationship between “Comprehensive Notation for Ci-Poetry of the North and South” and the Yanyue twenty-eight modes ] , Yinyueyanjiu 2 ( 2017/3):

Picture 6 - “Ganzhouzi” from the Comprehensive Notation for the Ci-Poetry of the North and South

Xiaoshijue mode

The music of “Ganzhouzi” originated from the Instruction Quarters (Jiaofang) of

Tang. In “Comprehensive Notation for the Ci-Poetry of the North and South,” it is notated in the Yayue-Xiaoshjue mode (2.6) in Gongche notation:

E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E (F is Gong, and E is final):

The modern transcription85 demonstrates the identical modal conundrum from

“‘Fair, fair,’ cry the ospreys.” Three of the four phrases end on B (4") or E (7"). F, the putative Gong, only occurs three times as a passing-tone arriving on E, which is to say: this is not in Yayue mode.

85Huang, Zhongguo chuantong yinyue yibaibashi puliji , p.90

The first two examples of the Yayue songs are replete with tritones, the sonic signature of Yayue (in “Banshe Mode” the tritone is not overt, but the axis of Gong C and

F# is pervasive in the first half). In contrast, the tritone is conspicuously missing from both

“‘Fair, fair,’cry the ospreys” and “Ganzhouzi” there is exactly one between them.86 Gong, which in Yayue is F, serves exactly no structural function, theoretically or sonically.

Predictably, when I shift this piece to the Yanyue mode, the primary pitches, B and E, shift from 4" and 7" to 3" and 6", aligning them with its Zhengsheng. This shift places

Gong as G 1", which reinforces its sonic function as a tonal center—the high G repeats four times as the melodic peak; the lower G occurs three times on strong beats. This reclassification shifts “Ganzhouzi” from ancient Yayue-Jue/Biangong (Western F

Lydian) to align with the Yanyue/Kuchen structure (Western G Mixolydian). I have illustrated this shift in table 5.7:

Table 5.7 - Realignment Western F G A B C D E F C Pitches Yayue Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Shang Mode 1" 2" 3" #4" 5" 6" 7" 1" 2" Yanyue Gong Shang Jue Qingjiao Zhi Yu Run Gong (Kuchen) 1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6" b7" 1" Mode

I have transcribed the melody of “Ganzhouzi” in the Yanyue mode to reflect G as Gong

(1") and E Yu (6") as the final.

86 See m. 7 of “‘Fair, fair,’cry the ospreys,”—a falling tritone from Bb to E.

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Western tonal centers tend to be explicit, as established by tonic cadences. In contrast, ancient Chinese modal structures allow for a much greater flexibility of tonal movement within a single song. We might perceive Gong as an ephemeral tonal center for a segment or a phrase (such as in mm. 5-8), only to feel it shift to the final or to any other pitch of the Zhengsheng. Phrases can theoretically end on one of five pitches, which

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can present an unpredictable, flexible soundworld. However, the final pitch of a piece must be either 1" Gong, 2" Shang, 6" Yu, or 7" Jue/Biangong, whichever system a song is in.

“Ganzhouzi” is (supposed to be) written in the Yanyue-Yu mode, where Gong is G

1" and the final is E 6". While G’s role clearly justifies its hierarchical position, the final E is the clear tonal center throughout, which is strongly reflected by the tonal atmosphere of

Western Phrygian.87 If the final were a different pitch from the Zhengsheng, the listener would experience a wholly different modal atmosphere. Unlike in the more rigid tonal structures Western music, the Yanyue twenty-eight-modes allow for a remarkable tonal flexibility while maintaining structural integrity. It allows for wildly interesting melodies.

I have summarized my reconstruction in Table 5.7. Each of the four systems is in bold. Here there are two systems in each mode, rather than all four in Yayue. Like alter egos, Yayue-Shang has become Yanyue-Gong, and Yayue-Jue/Biangong has become

Yanyue-Yu. This renovation also reveals another symmetry between modes: now that the finals of all the modes will be either 1" Gong or 6" Yu:

Table 5.7 – Reconstruction of the four systems (based on the Yayue-Gong C system) Western C D E F# G A B C D Pitches Yayue Gong Shang Jue Bianzhi Zhi Yu Biangong Gong Shang Mode +, 2" 3" #4" 5" -, 7" 1" 2" Yanyue Gong Shang Jue Qingjiao Zhi Yu Run Gong (Kuchen) +, 2" 3" 4" 5" -, b7" 1" Mode

As I discussed in Chapter One, secular foreign music gained popularity in the imperial court (the Program of Nine parts88). As a whole, the Yanyue twenty-eight mode

87 Definitely the mode I would go with for a long, happy night of love murmuring. 88 See chapter one.

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system represents both the traditions of the imperial court and of foreign influence.

Kuchen music and its modal structure significantly influenced the music scene of the

Tang court. My theoretical reconstruction of this system illustrates a blending of genres:

Yayue (ceremonial court music) and Yanyue (secular court music) integrated in performance practice of Tang.

Tang musicians could not have conceived of ending a phrase or song on 7", any more than a modern musician would end a piece by Bach on the leading tone. More than merely bringing balance, coherence, and Mixolydian color to the system, my reconfiguration—where half the structure reflects Yayue and the other half

Yanyue/Kuchen—mirrors the blending of culture that occurred in the migration during the Tang dynasty.

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Conclusion

There is a dearth of Western scholarly research on ancient Chinese music. Unlike the trajectory of Western music—where the Catholic Church facilitated a centralized and well-chronicled musicological evolution—ancient Chinese music’s history is fragmented and incomplete. Dynastic cycles often led to hostile transitions of power and the destruction of the cultural vestiges from the preceding fallen dynasty. As a consequence, the elegant Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system of the Tang dynasty is scarcely known or understood in the West.

My theoretical sleuthing—synthesizing my knowledge of the Chinese language and music (and dogged hours pushing notes and characters around)—allowed me to eradicate the musicological mishaps of the past and to construct the first complete and perfect picture of the Yanyue twenty-eight modes. Initially I thought that this was the central thrust of this document: to unearth a unique, hidden vestige of ancient Chinese music, clean up Shen Kuo, and present it in its full form to a Western audience. What I discovered was not merely a musicological artifact, but in fact a sonically ornate and diverse musical architecture whose structural organization colors our image of life in ancient China.

After exploring the early influences and scholarly writing of the Yanyue modal system, constructing a historical picture of its place in the Tang era, and renovating its problematic theoretical organization, I examined four songs, one from each system. This was pivotal for me. Despite having already mined these modes for their theoretical logic, as I sang and played the melodies I was surprised by their unique and diverse tonal

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qualities. It is rare for modern ears—essentially acclimated to every conceivable musical sound—to encounter music that is new, ironically in something old.

Where Shen Kuo’s mistakes are visible to the naked eye of a trained theorist, in singing and listening to the songs, I discovered a more opaque conflict veiled within the inner guts of the Yanyue system. The tonal centers, as I experienced them, did not align with the prescribed mode from my fully restored (or so I thought) Yanyue architecture.

Without listening to and singing these melodies, the inveterate theoretical misalignment of the Yayue/Yanyue relationship would likely have eluded me just as it had eluded scholars before me. The solution was in the sound.

The Tang dynasty was a period of renaissance and artistic cultivation. It embraced migration and the blending of disparate cultural traditions. My final renovation of the

Yanyue twenty-eight modes theoretically restructured them into a Yayue-Yanyue/Kuchen binary. This reconstruction reveals the system itself to be a modal melting pot, symbolically emulating the ideals of the culture that generated it. The Yanyue twenty- eight modes were designed to be societally flexible—functioning as both ceremonial and secular—and present nearly limitless tonal and poetic possibilities.

The tonal and textual diversity of each song from the four systems demonstrates the Yanyue twenty-eight-mode system’s broad expressive potential—from a lamentation over a desolate city; to a virtuosic pipa solo; to a song anguishing unrequited love; to a love song whose love is quite requited. While the Zhengsheng is the system’s backbone, these songs each convey a unique and modally adventurous soundworld with shifting tonal centers—a system whose inner logic is simultaneously fixed and pliable. Music is a

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mirror of its society and the Yanyue twenty-eight modes reflect the expressive exoticism of the Tang dynasty.

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Appendix

Corrections [1]In Yanyue music, there are a total of sixteen different notes: the standard twelve semitones within one octave, plus the doubling of the first four notes one octave higher. However, today there are only fifteen pitches. [2]Today’s temperament is two semitones higher than the temperament in ancient times, and there is no pitch to match Huangzhong (C).92 The [Gongche] character “he” is still a bit higher than the note dalü (C#) in ancient temperament, thus it lies between dalü (C#) and taicu (D). [3] In Yanyue music today, the pitch of “Xiasi” is close to taicu (D); “gaosi” is close to jiazhong (Eb); “xiayi” is close guxi (E);

“gaoyi” is close to zhonglü (F); “shang” is close to ruibin (F#); “gou” is close to linzhong (G); “chi” is close to yize (G#); “gong” is close to nanlü; “Gaogong” is close to wuyi; and “xiafan” is close yingzhong.

[ 4] Furthermore, “xiafan” matches the pitch of huangzhong in a higher octave, and “gaofan” matches dalü in the higher octave, while “xiawu” and “gaowu” match taicu and jiazhong in the higher octave respectively.93

89 Hu Daojing and Kuo Shen, Xin Jiao Zheng Meng Xi Bi Tan, Meng Xi Bi Tan Bu Zheng Gao New corrections on Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Supplement to Brush Talks, and Continuation of Brush Talks] (Shanghai: Shanghai ren min chu ban she, 2011), 52. 90 In Daojing Hu’s edition. The characters in “” are in Gongche notation. 91 In Daojing Hu’s edition, characters in () were writing errors from the original text, and he replaced them with the correct characters in . 92 In this document Huangzhong is the equivalent to the western C. 93 Which in western terminology is to say they belong to the same pitch class.

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