Musical Instruments in Yin-Shang Period (C. 1300 BC–C. 1046 BC): Sonorous Bronze Music
摘要
This chapter introduces the replication and re-creation of musical instruments, for instance philosophies and challenges, in China’s Yin-Shang Period (1300 BC–1046 BC), including biannao (编铙, a set of nao), bo(镈), bianqing (编磬, a set of stone chimes), xun (埙, yellow-brown clay pottery with four finger holes) etc. Nao refers to a kind of bell-shaped percussion instrument and nao bells were used in ancient Chinese rituals to communicate with ancestral spirits, to sound the retreat in battles and also for entertainment as ensemble instruments in concert with other instruments, singers and dancers. Biannao (a set of nao) was a ceremonial musical instrument for aristocrats of Shang Dynasty (1600 BC to 1046 BC). Among all known members from the Chinese bronze chime bell family, it is the oldest grouped instrument with fixed pitch that displays certain tonal relationship. Pottery xun was used widely by Chinese han people prey luring and other practical purposes. Along with the archeological facts and stories, readers are offered with close-up photos and specific statistics of the evacuated musical instruments.