

Thus, traditional musical instruments play significant roles in expanding the popularity of the music industry. P.S.China has got a reputation for its exotic classical music for a thousand years. Our team speak English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, and serve customers worldwide with passion and hearts. So far we carry 3000+ goods covering Ladies Fashion via, Kungfu Fashion, Home Furnishings, Babies & Kids, Painting Arts, Textile Arts, Carving Arts, Tribal Jewelry Art, Wall Masks and Musical Instruments. Having direct partnerships with artisans, designers, craft masters and tailors, along with 15 years of solid experience in e-commerce via, we are well positioned to bridge talented artisans in the East with the rest of the world, and directly bring you finely selected products that are of good quality and aesthetic taste. “A Social Enterprise in E-commerce Promoting Oriental Aesthetic Worldwide!”Īileen & Norman co-founded Interact China in 2004 with specialization in fine Oriental Aesthetic products handmade by ethnic minorities & Han Chinese. Last but not least, check out this video clip for a short Bianzhong performance at the Blackhawk Museum with all the musicians in Traditional Chinese Han clothing! One fun fact about these stone tones are, Bianqing are usually played along with Bianzhong (smaller than Tezhong), and the harmonic melody the two make together are called “The sound of golden stone”! A Whole Set of Zhong Nowadays, again, we can only find this kind of instruments in museums, and Chinese archeologists are gradually finding more and more instruments from the emperors’’ graves and archeological sites. It was invented during Shang Dynasty (B.C 1600) and was mostly played with Ya Music (Ya Yue, 雅乐, similar to Japanese Gagaku).

It’s made of bronze and has a sonorous and loud sound. Thedifference between a Tezhong and a Bianzhong is a Tezhong is usually hanging alone and larger in terms of size. Tezhong ( 特钟 ) – It is a single large stone tablet hung by a rope in a wooden frame and struck using a mallet, works in a very similar way to a bell.

In the Han dynasty treatises on music, its sound is referred to as “reminding to the monarch about his officers who died while protecting the borders”. Qing is even mentioned in the Analects as one of the instruments played by Confucius.

But what we are sure about, is that this kind of instruments, along with the traditional melodies, are widely favored by Chinese ancient scholars and literati. However, the mentioned names do not have much currency in the classical literature. Important information on Qing nomenclature is contained in the Erya dictionary (尔雅, the oldest surviving Chinese encyclopedia known): the large sounding stone was called xiāo(毊), and a solo performance on Qing, jiǎn(寋). The shape of such stones was often quoted as description for the reverent ritual pose. Qing (Sounding Stone, 磬 ) – Not necessarily a set, a single L-shaped flat stone could also make great sound as a chime itself. The Famous Zeng Hou Yi Bianqing (曾侯乙编磬) A Bianqing with 24 Chimes The melody Bianqing usually plays is comparatively slow-paced and provides a calming and majestic feeling. Instead, it mostly appeared in historical and art museums and temples worldwide, and in some film and television works as well. It was imported to Vietnam as well as Korea back at the ancient time, and nowadays, people could seldomly see this set of instruments and get the chance to play with it. Along with the bronze bells called Bianzhong(编钟), they were an important instrument in China’s ritual and court music going back to ancient times. The chimes were hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet.
#Chinese stringed instrument played with padded bamboo skin#
As we discussed last time, Chinese traditional musical instruments are divided into 8 categories, including – silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd, and skin instruments. I guess stone must be the most questionable category among all, so here are some examples of traditional stone musical instruments: A Set of Japanese Style Bianqingīianqing ( 编磬 ) – It is an ancient percussion instrument consisting of a set of L-shaped flat stone chimes known as Qing(磬), played melodically.
