Ancient Chinese Music and Foreign Exchange
The music cultural exchange between Chinese people and foreign nations in ancient times was recorded in Li's Spring and Autumn Annuals:Ancient Music.In it,the Yellow Emperor gives Ling Lun,a musician a task to create the 12-tone equal temperaments,that is,the 12 tones that are sounded from 12 pitch pipes made of bamboos and constitute music.Therefore,Ling Lun walked westwards from a place called Daxia to the north slope of the Kunlun Mountain where he found bamboos in streams.Today,academic circles both at home and abroad have different opinions on where Ling Lun arrived.Some of them suppose that Ling Lun reached an ancient country west of Congling Mountain,today's northern part of Afghanistan;while others deduce he arrived in the southeast part of Gansu Province,China.Regardless,the book records that the economically and culturally advanced central plains became a center of Chinese music culture as early as 4,000 years ago.There is no doubt that the tribes in the central plains had frequent exchanges on music with peripheral tribes.
In 200 BC in the Western Han Dynasty,Zhang Qian was sent on two diplomatic missions to the Western Regions.In his first mission,China established direct connections with civilizations cradled in the regions west of China.Thereafter,countries in the central and west Asia introduced their musical instruments,songs and dances to the central plains through the Silk Road,adding new color to Chinese music there.
In mid AD 400 of the Southern Dynasty,Buddhist music was introduced from Tianzhu(present-day India)in to China.Monks sang songs to attract audiences and spread Buddhist doctrines.Meanwhile,Chinese monks translated these Sanskrit songs into Chinese and sang them in Chinese melodies.
Since the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534),the guizi music originated from the Western Regions,as the masterpieces from the minorities,prevailed in the central plains,together with other foreign music.They laid a firm foundation to the development of the imperial court music of the Sui and Tang dynasties.During the three centuries of the Sui and Tang dynasties,Sino-foreign exchange of music reached an all-time high.The overland Silk Road spanned over countries in the Western Regions and led up to continental Europe.Through it,Christianity was introduced to China from Europe,and so were Christian hymns.At the same time,the maritime "Silk Road"links China with its neighbors Japan and Korea.In the Sui and Tang dynasties,Anguo music,Tianzhu music,Corean music(from present Korea)and Funan music(from present Cambodia)were widely incorporated into imperial court music such as Seven Kinds of Music,Nine Kinds of Music and Ten Kinds of Music.They became popular song and dance works of society at the time.
Melody of White Feathers Garment composed by the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty embodies the introduction and influence of Indian music.It was recorded that the Emperor Xuanzong had a fancy imagination when he was climbing the Sanxiang Chamber and looking far into the Nuer Mountain in Kaiyuan Period.He was inspired and began to compose Melody of White Feathers Garment.By chance,Yang Jingshu,general of Xiliang Prefecture,presented the Indian Brahman Melody to him.The Emperor discovered the Indian melody had some tones that coincided with his composition and then incorporated them into Melody of White Feathers Garment.
The Nestorian stele,formally the Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin,is proof that attests Christianity was introduced to China in the early Tang Dynasty.Daqin refers to the Roman Empire;the Luminous Religion is a branch of Christianity,namely the Nestorianism.In AD S00,Christian hymns spread to Nestorian churches and,through these churches,were introduced into China.These hymns become a milestone in the history of Sino-foreign exchange of music.
