CHINA- “Sleeping Tiger of Asia”

Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese as well as

other ethnic minorities within mainland China. It also includes music produced by people of Chinese origin in some territories outside mainland

China using traditional Chinese instruments or in the Chinese

language. It covers a highly diverse range of music from the traditional to

the modern.Source: Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia

Chinese Music history must be approached with a certain sense of awe. Indeed, any survey evokes the music of a varied, still-active civilization whose archaeological resources go back to 3000 BCE and whose own extensive written documents refer to countless forms of music not only in connection with folk festivals and religious events but also in the courts of hundreds of emperors and princes in dozens of provinces, dynasties, and periods.Source: Chinese Music| Britanica.com

National musicMain article: GuoyueThe term Guoyue, or national music, became popular in the early 20th century and was used loosely to include all music written for Chinese instruments in response to a particular nationalistic consciousness. The term however may have a slightly different meaning when used by different Chinese communities. It was originally used only referred to the music of the Han Chinese; it later began to include music of various ethnic minorities in China.In the Republic of China, in Taiwan, Guoyue emphasized music of the mainland China over the Taiwanese local traditions. In mainland China a new term minyue (民乐 , short for minzu yinyue or "people's music") was coined post-1949 in place of guoyue to encompass all compositions and genres for traditional instruments. In other Chinese communities, it may also be referred to as huayue (for example in Singapore) or zhongyue (in Hong Kong)

Musical instruments were traditionally classified into 8 categories known as bayin.

Traditional music in China is played on solo instruments or in small ensembles of plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, and various cymbals, gongs, and drums.

The scale is pentatonic. Bamboo pipes and qin are among the oldest

known musical instruments from China; instruments are traditionally divided into categories based on their material of composition: animal skins, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal, and stone.

Chinese orchestras traditionally consist of bowed strings, woodwinds, plucked strings and percussion.

Instruments

Woodwind and percussion:

dizi, sheng, paigu, gong, paixiao, guan, bells, cymbals, bottle gourd silk

Bowed strings:

erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin

Plucked and struck strings:

guqin, sanxian, yueqin, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu

Chinese vocal music has traditionally been sung in a thin, non resonant voice or in falsetto and is usually solo rather than choral.

All traditional Chinese music is melodic rather than harmonic.

Chinese vocal music probably developed from sung poems and verses with music.

Instrumental pieces played on an erhu or dizi are popular, and are often available outside of China, but the pipa and zheng music, which are more traditional, are more popular in China itself. The qin is perhaps the most revered instrument in China, even though very few people know what it is or seen and heard one being played.

The zheng, a form of zither, is most popular in Henan, Chaozhou, Hakka and Shandong. The pipa, a kind of lute, believed to have been introduced from the Arabian Peninsula area during the 6th century and adapted to suit Chinese tastes, is most popular in Shanghai and surrounding areas

Han Chinese Folk's feelings are displayed in its poetry-like feeling to it with slow soothing tempos that express feelings that connect with the audience or whoever is playing the piece. Han Folk is delivered in a way, using silences that alter its meaning, this also creates a sound similar to poetry.

Music of the Han culture

China has been the home of a colorful culture of folk music. Largely based on the pentatonic scales , Chinese folk music is different from western traditional music, paying more attention to the form expression as well.

Folk music

One of the most popular folk songs of China is Mo Li Hua ("Beautiful Jasmine")

Vocal PercussionKouji is the Chinese vocal percussion.

The plum blossom has been an important symbol in Chinese culture. As a “friend of winter,” the plum blossom most vividly represents the value of endurance, as life ultimately overcomes through the vicissitude of time. The fragrance of plum blossoms “comes from the bitterness and coldness,” as the Chinese saying goes. Souls are tempered in the depth of experience, growing in inner strength and unyielding courage.

Example of a Chinese song: “Plum Blossom”

Dances in China

Dance in China is a highly varied art form, consisting of many modern and traditional dance genres. • The dances cover a wide range,

from folk dances to performances in opera and ballet, and may be used in public celebrations, rituals and ceremonies.

• There are also 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China, and each ethnic minority group in China also has its own folk dances. The best known Chinese dances today are the Dragon dance and the Lion Dance.

These may be folk dances, or dances that were once performed as rituals or as entertainment spectacle, and some may have been performed in the imperial court.

Among the best-known of the Chinese traditional dances are the Dragon dance and Lion dance, and both dances were known in earlier dynasties in various forms.

A form of lion dance similar to today's lion dance was described as early as the Tang Dynasty, the modern form of the dragon dance however may be a more recent development

Traditional dance

The early Chinese folk dances, like other forms of primitive art, were essentially ritual enactments of superstitious beliefs performed in the hope of a good harvest, or – in the case of the earliest Chinese folk dances – in the hope of a good hunt, since the earliest Chinese folk dances were performed by hunter-gatherer folk.

Dragon dances mentioned include a dance performed during a ritual to appeal for rain at time of drought as Chinese dragon was associated with rain, acts in the baixi variety shows where performers dressed up as a green dragon playing a flute, and acts where fish turned into a dragon.

Modern Dragon Dance uses light-weight structure manipulated by a dozen or so of men using poles at regular intervals along the length of the dragon, and some forms of the dragon can be very long and involve hundreds of performers.

There are more than 700 different dragon dances in China

The Lion dance has been suggested to have been introduced from outside China as lion is not native to China, and the Chinese word for lion itself, shi (獅 ), may have been derived from the Persian word šer

Detailed description of Lion Dance appeared during the Tang Dynasty and it was then recognized as a foreign import, but the dance may have existed in China as early as the third century AD.

Suggested origin of the dance include India and Persia,

A version of lion dance resembling modern lion dance was described by Tang poet Bai Juyi in his poem "Western Liang Arts" (西凉伎 ), where the dancers wear a lion costume made of a wooden head, a silk tail and furry body, with eyes gilded with gold and teeth plated with silver, and ears that moves.

There are two main forms of Chinese Lion Dance, the Northern Lion and Southern Lion. A form of the Lion Dance is also found in Tibet where it is called the Snow Lion Dance

In northern China, the Lion Dance is generally much more evocative, being performed by acrobatic dancers, suggesting all the ferocity and agility of the mighty lion. It was accordingly a favorite dance at court as well. The colors of the "northern" lion were usually a combination or red, orange and yellow (i.e., royal colors) – though green body fur was generally used to represent the female specimen – and with an oversized, shaggy, golden head for the male specimen.

In southern China, the lion takes on the more symbolic role of one who guards against – or in some cases exorcises – evil spirits. The color scheme of the "southern" lion was of no particular importance, therefore they appear in a variety of colors. The head of the southern lion is also oversized, but with even disproportioniately larger eyes, with a "unique horn" (single horn) at the center of the head and with a mirror on its forehead, reflecting light with each of the beast's movements.

Folk dances of ethnic minorities in China

There are many minority groups in China and each have their own dances that reflect their culture and way of life.[14] A few examples of their dances:

Baishou Dance - a dance of the Tujia people

Mongolian Bowl Dance (頂碗舞 ) - a dance where female dancers balance several bowls on their heads while dancing.

Long Drum Dance (長鼓舞 ) - a dance of the Yao people which inspired the orchestral composition Dance of the Yao People.

Sanam - an Uyghur dance.

Lhamo - a Tibetan opera with dancing and singing

Tang Dynasty Show, originated from the court dance of the Tang Dynasty, is considered as a must-see attraction for each tourist to Xi'an. China Highlights' tours to Xian all include a chance to watch this pageantry.

many of the dances of ethnic minority groups share common themes such as rivalry, jealously and love – but also forgiveness – as well as matrimonial bliss and the communal bond

The folk dance is one of the most cherished forms of artistic expression among the Chinese people. In a sense, the folk dance can be interpreted as the simplest and most immediately available form of informal theatre

Folk dance of Dai minority