Music & Entertainment Life & People in East Asia -- A brief introduction History & Musical Instruments • Chinese History is very long!! • Pre-dynastic: flutes, ocarinas, bronze bells, stone chimes • Shang (16 th -11 th c. BC) and Zhou (11 th -221 BC): Sophisticated stringed instruments • Qin (221 BC-207 BC) and Han (206 BC – 220 AD): portable plucked instruments • Wei (220 – 265) Jin (265 – 420) through Tang: double reeds, bowed fiddles. • Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing: fiddle popularity Court, Religious, Folk • Music seen by Kongzi(Confucious) as ritual, vital to the regulation of the state: the material of the instruments expressed the material of the universe • Foreign Influences (trade routes, captives, ethnic groups) on “folk” and “urban” entertainment • Buddhist chant • Don’t forget the 20 th century! Areas of Chinese Influence Instruments • The eight categories are: silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and hide . • (Western instruments are: wind, brass, percussion, strings ) Silk | Guqin (Zither) • Seven strings, no frets, no bridges • Associated with the literati (a man's instrument) • Made from a special wood • Called the koto in Japan • Dates from the Warring States Period • Joy of Gods and Men 神人畅 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VO9S5pHxaA8 ) Silk | plucked • Guzheng (古箏) – 16-26 stringed zither with movable bridges High Mountain and Flowing Water (http://youtube.com/watch?v=UBbUuvGl8kc ) • JAPAN: Koto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhxl QlZafvY ) • KOREA: Kayageum , Kumongo Silk | plucked • Pipa (琵琶) - 4 or 5 stringed pear-shaped lute “ Moonlight of Spring River ” 春江花 月夜 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lykgg5phVJE ) • Sanxian (三弦) - A plucked lute with body covered with snakeskin and long fretless neck • JAPAN: Shamisen , Biwa Silk | plucked • Ruan (Chinese: 阮; Pinyin: ru ǎn) - Moon-shaped lute in five sizes: • Liuqin (柳琴) - A small plucked lute with a pear- shaped body and four strings • Yueqin (月琴) - A plucked lute with a wooden body, a short fretted neck, and four strings tuned in pairs Silk | bowed • Huqin (胡琴) - Family of vertical fiddles • Erhu (二胡) - Two-stringed fiddle • Zhonghu (中胡) - Two-stringed fiddle, lower pitch than erhu • Gaohu (高胡) - Two-stringed fiddle, higher pitch than erhu • Banhu (板胡) - Two-stringed fiddle with a coconut resonator and wooden face • Jinghu (京胡) - Two-stringed fiddle, very high pitched, used mainly for Peking Opera Silk | struck • Yangqin (揚琴) - Hammered dulcimer of varying strings struck using two bamboo hammers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4n4NuGaaOk ) Bamboo • Dizi (笛子) - Transverse bamboo flute with buzzing membrane • Xiao - End-blown flute • Suona - A double reed wind instrument with a flaring metal bell; also called haidi (海笛) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i5_I _adjqU ) Japanese Flutes • Fue • Shinobue • Shakuhachi http://youtube.com/watch?v=y1vW24fFeDM Wood • Muyu - A rounded woodblock carved in the shape of a fish, struck with a wooden stick. Often used in Buddhist chanting Stone • Bianqing (編磬 or 编磬) - A rack of stone tablets that are hung by ropes from a wooden frame and struck using a mallet Metal • Chuzeng Baizhong (楚曾百鐘) - 100 bronze bells hung on a rack, struck using poles • Bianzhong (編鐘) - 65 bronze bells hung on a rack, struck using poles Clay • Xun (塤) - Ocarina made of baked clay (http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14 ) Gourd • Sheng - A free reed mouth organ consisting of varying number of bamboo pipes inserted into a gourd chamber with finger holes • Japan: Sho • Hulusi - A free reed wind instrument with three bamboo pipes which pass through a gourd wind chest; one pipe has finger holes and the other two are drone pipes; used primarily in Yunnan province Hide ( 革) • Dagu - Large drum • Huagu - Flower drum • Bangu - Small, high pitched drum used in Beijing oper Ensemble music • Silk and Bamboo • Theatrical traditions - Beijing Opera - Noh - Kabuki - Pansori • Orchestral and Modern - Korean Popular Singer | Rain - Taiwan | Jay-Chou - Japanese | Utada Hikaru Life back in the Tang Dynasty & Its Influence (618 - 907 AD) 290 Years The Center of the World • Cities in China 城市 –walls and markets • 754: 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures, and 1,538 counties • The greatest: Chang'an, population of 2 million • Walls: 18 feet high, enclosed an area of 30 square miles—more for security than to stop an invasion • Roads: Narrowest, 82 feet wide, those leading to the gates—328 feet wide, imperial way = 492 feet Religious Institutions • 91 Buddhist monasteries in Chang'an (64 for monks, 27 for nuns) • 16 Daoist temples (10 for priests, 6 for priestesses) • 2 Nestorian Christian churches • 4 Zoroastrian Shrines • Some Buddhist monasteries were the size of entire wards Large Goose Pagoda (210 feet) Left: Large Goose Pagoda Top: Small Goose Pagoda (149 feet) These are the only structures to survive from the Tang relatively intact (One was said to rise to 330 feet) The Pleasure Quarters • Locale for high-class courtesans (many of whom were from poor families) • Girls were only let out on the 8, 18 th , 28 th days of the month, to hear Buddhist lectures in a nearby monastery • Best courtesans were skilled in singing, dancing. They supervised feasts, played games, kept the party moving Han Xizai's Party by Gu Hongzhang (Five Dynasties) (907 - 960 AD ) 54 Years Top: Han Xizai's Party (in full) Right: Fairies in Fairyland, Yuan Gao (Five Dynasties) Clothing • Commoners: loose, baggy trousers, tunics, sashes tied at the waist, bamboo hats • Formal dress (men): Robes (think bathrobes), silk, patterned, two layers, sash, large sleeves, cloth cap/turban, boots • Formal dress (women): Similar to the kimono or the hanbok. Could be revealing (low cut), or exposing the shoulders Left: Hanbok—Korea Right: Kimono—Japan Both were derived from Tang elite fashion in China Cont. • Jewelry: • Men: element of formal court wear. Girdle pendants, belt hooks, leather belts with jade plaques • Women: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hairpins the most important (personal decorations) • Women plucked their eyebrows and colored them back on, beauty marks were added as well Tang mirrors Entertainment • Entertainers: magicians, dancers, musicians (troupes), acrobats • Sports: polo, football (soccer), archery • Early drama, puppetry, storytellers • Games: Chinese chess, pitch pot, • Parties: poetry, drinking, gambling Lives of Men and Women • The life cycle: • Pre-natal: Mother should burn incense, read poetry, sit properly and strum the guqin— fetal teaching • Woman went into seclusion a month before birth • Child (if well-to-do) could be nursed by wet- nurses, or even raised by them • Child was considered one year old at birth (life starts at conception) Examinations • Tested for child prodigies • 3 exams: Classical Masters, Advanced Scholars, Elevated Warriors • Took place in spring—Classical Masters most prestigious • Example: 740 test: 65 fill in questions for 8 classics, oral exam, 10 questions on interpretation, 3 essays on contemporary problems A shirt covered with excerpts from the Classics and commentaries, possibly used for cheating in the exams Marriage • A social contract between families (power, wealth, or out of friendship) • Arranged, love matches were rare • Girl leaves her family and moves in with husband's family (patrilocal) • Expected to serve her husband and more importantly, his parents as if they were her own Justifications for Divorce • The “Seven Dismissals” (even if the wife disagrees) • 1) No children (sons) by the age of 49 • 2) Adultery (on her part) • 3) Refusal to serve her in-laws • 4) Talkativeness (exposing family affairs) • 5) Jealousy • 6) Theft (in-laws property) • 7) Incurable disease Three Ways She Can Stay • The law offered certain protections: • 1) If she had observed the 27 month mourning period for her husband's parents (filial) • 2) He had gained wealth, rank, since she had married him • 3) She had no family to return to • If he divorced her and one of these applied, he was subject to 100 blows from the thick rod and forced to take her back China During the “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms” The Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD 320 Years ) Song Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin) The Song marked return to Han Chinese rule in China—for the first time in a major dynasty since the Han itself. Ding ware, a thin white porcelain was produced in the Song and was known for its high quality Urbanization • Shift to the cities: 10% of the population living in cities • Kaifeng (capital): trade valued at 50% more than London in 1711 (not equalled in Europe until 18 th century) • Popular urban culture: street shows, dramas, increasing freedom of movement • Cities as the center of cultural life— amusement quarters The “Qingming Scroll ” showing Kaifeng during the Song (attributed to Zhang Zeduan)--the entire painting is 5.25 meters long! Movable type printing Footbinding • Origin traced to the Tang (Emperor's concubine—dancer) • Becomes popular during the Song—restricted to upper classs. Why? • How? Early forms not as severe as the Qing—but ideal foot size was eventually 4 in. in length • Bound by mother/grandmother at age 4-7— extremely painful, could take up to 10 years • Why? Sexual appeal, a symbol of class, and later, a marker of civilization (vs. barbarians) Are these kinds of body alterations unique in the world? The Mongol Invasion (1271 - 1368 AD 98 Years ) Within 20 years of Genghis Khan’s death, the Mongol Empire spanned much of Russia, China, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Armenia, Korea (North and South), Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,