Ancient musical instruments can be divided into two categories according to their use: sacrifices, banquets, ceremonies and military use. Ancient bronze instruments can be roughly divided into nine categories, including cymbals, plutonium, sentences (gōu), diào, duo, bells, bells and drums.
Bronze musical instruments are the most representative and important historical relics of the music culture of the Three Dynasties of Xia and Shang. For example, the bronze musical instruments in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng excavated in Suizhou, Hubei Province, provide extremely valuable archaeological data for the study of bronze musical instruments.
Excavation site of the tomb of Marquis Zeng yi in Suizhou, Hubei Province
First, the bell
The brass bell is an ancient musical instrument. The shape of the bell is also similar to a bell, but much smaller than a bell. "Zhou Li Chunguan": "The Great Sacrifice rings the bell to respond to the chicken people." "In ancient times, in addition to using it as a musical instrument, bells were tied on cars, flags, and dogs.
Bells are pronounced by striking the outer wall, while bells are tongues that swim in the cavity, shaking the bell body and striking the tongue to make sounds. The shape of the bell is usually small, and the height is mostly below 10 cm.
Warring States brass bell
Han Dynasty brass bells
There were already copper bells during the Erlitou cultural period, such as a copper bell excavated in the tomb of Yanshi Erlitou in 1981. In addition to the yin dynasty bells that were still unearthed in the coffins of the tombs, some of them came from under the necks of horses in the pits of carriages and horses, or from the necks of the dogs martyred in the tombs. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, brass bells were also used as horse tools. In addition, western Zhou bronze vessels also have bells on the base or in the circle foot.
Copper bells were unearthed at the Erlitou site
Unlike the usual ornaments that are worn solely by color and shape, bells are mainly worn to vibrate them and make them sound crisp to the ear. In this sense, when the bell first came out, it already had something in common with the function of Yueqing, and it was the invention of the bell that inspired people to further invent the bell percussion instrument.
Second, cymbal (náo)
The náo (铙) is one of the bronze percussion instruments used in ancient China, and its original function was to spread orders in the military. It was popular in the late Shang Dynasty and continued to be used at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. It is a bronze round instrument, often played with cymbals.
Animal Face (náo)
Cloud Thunder Pattern (náo)
According to the Zhou Li records and Han commentaries, scholars now generally refer to a bronze musical instrument from the late Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties as náo (铙), whose shape is characterized by: the cavity resembles a bell, and the cross-section is also leaf-shaped, but larger, more horizontal and wide, the mouth is more concave, a few are flat, there is a hollow and the same short handle as the body cavity, and the mouth is squared or trapezoidal protrusion along the outer center of the body.
Bronze braided cymbal (náo)
The outer surface of the cavity (náo) cavity is mostly decorated with ornaments, and there are inscriptions inside and outside the body and outside the handle, and the ornaments and inscriptions are positive in the direction where the handle is located, which shows that when the cymbal is used, the mouth is upward. The small náo (铙) should be connected to the wooden handle in a hollow short handle, and the hand holding the wooden handle strikes the sound. However, large náo (náo) is not easy to hold, and it is inserted into the seat and tapped.
3. Bell
Bells are the most common musical instruments in ancient chinese and foreign peoples. In the two-week era of China, this instrument was widely used:
First, it is used as an instrument for temple sacrifices and clan feasts. "Shijing Xiaoya Chutz": "The ceremony is prepared, the bell and drum are also precepted", "the imperial corpse is carried, the drum bell is sent to the corpse", that is, the bell is struck and the drum is played in the ritual of the noble sacrifice. For example, in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the king of Li made his own (hú) bell, which is a ceremonial vessel used for sacrifice in the royal temple.
(hú) clock
Second, the nobles of higher status also played bells in their daily lives to show off their status, such as the "Zuo Chuan" Xianggong Thirty Years Record Zheng Ruling Bo had a thirst for alcoholism, and drank at night, striking bells. ”
Bell Ringing Ding Food - The Aristocratic Life of the Ancients
Third, bells can also be used as military instruments. The "Left Biography" Zhuang Gong thirty years old: "All teachers, there are bells and drums to cut, no invasion, light attack." ”
Fourth, the bell also has the same purpose as a general container-like ceremonial vessel, and The Ming Lu Gong Yan. Another example is the bell made in the twenty-second year of King Weilie of Zhou, whose inscription records the merits and honors of the maker with the three Jin Dynasty alliances.
Bronze chimes
Fifth, in the liturgical system, the number of chimes and the method of hanging also have the role of hierarchical naming positions in the aristocratic class, such as the ancient Tianzi musical instruments hanging on all four sides, as if there were walls on four sides, called "palace suspension"; the princes inevitably hang their musical instruments on three sides, called "Xuan hanging", and the doctor hung on the left and right sides, called "judgment suspension"; the soldiers only hung on the east side or between the steps, called "special suspension".
IV. Palladium (bó)
The bó (bó) was a large single percussion instrument with a shape close to that of a bell, and was often used by the nobility in conjunction with chimes and chimes (qìng) during feasts or sacrifices. It is characterized by ring buttons, flat mouths, oval or tile shapes.
Three inscriptions on the found plutonium (bó) are self-named bó, namely the mid-Spring and Autumn Su Ming (bó), the late Spring and Autumn Shuyi (bó), and the late Spring and Autumn Gongsun Ban (bó).
Bó
Shuyi (bó)
The name of the bó as a musical instrument is found in the classics, such as the "Preface" of the Zhou Li Chunguan: "The Two Sergeants of the Bó Division", and Zheng Xuan's Note: "The Bó is as big as a bell".
V. Palladium (zhēng)
Zhēng (zhēng) is an ancient Chinese musical instrument, shaped like a bell and narrow and long, with a long handle to hold, and the mouth is struck upwards with objects, and it is struck during the march.
Ran 钲(zhēng)
绹纹钲(zhēng)
Tiger striped palladium (zhēng)
Deformed animal face palladium (zhēng)
Animal face palladium (zhēng)
"钲(zhēng), 铙(náo) also, like a bell, the handle in the up and down." Also known: "铙(náo), small palladium (zhēng) also." According to this statement, plutonium (zhēng) is closely identical to cymbals (náo), only náo (náo) is small and palladium (zhēng) is large, and is distinguished by size, and zhēng has not seen self-names so far, while palladium (zhēng) can see self-names, such as Ran Hao (zhēng).
Sentence (gōu) 鑃 (diào)
The gōu (gōu) 鑃 (diào) is an ancient Chinese bronze percussion instrument, somewhat similar in shape to a chime, resembling a plutonium (zhēng), with a handle to hold, the mouth facing upwards, and the hammer strikes it. The gōu (gōu) 鑃 (diào) is an ancient musical instrument used in sacrifices and feasts, and was popular in southern Wuyue and other countries during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Among the bronze instruments unearthed are those who call themselves "sentence (gōu) 鑃 (diào)", also known as "hook 鑃 (diào)", which belonged to the Spring and Autumn Warring States, such as the second sentence (gōu) 鑃 (diào) of the Yue Kingdom, the Gufeng sentence (gōu) (diào), and the Wu guo's matching sentence (gōu) 鑃 (diào).
Second sentence (gōu) 鑃 (diào)
Gufeng hook (gōu) 鑃 (diào)
Matching hook (gōu) 鑃 (diào)
Sentences (gōu) diào were often grouped when excavated. For example, in 1958, in the inner city river of Yancheng in Wujin, Jiangsu Province, a group of sentences (gōu) and diào was excavated, a total of seven pieces, and the size was second.
VII. Duo (duó)
The duo (duó) is an ancient Chinese musical instrument, a large bell, shaped like a náo (铙(náo), a plutonium (zhēng) and a tongue, which was used in ancient times to declare political and religious decrees. It flourished from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty in China.
Duó
Bronze Duo (duó)
Duó is mostly used in military service, and its shape is slightly closer to that of the Yong bell, but smaller than the bell. The stalk is short and square. There is or no tongue in the body cavity. Those with tongues can shake to make sounds. The tongue is made of copper and wood. The copper-tongued one is duó and the wooden-tongued one is duó. "Zuo Chuan Xianggong 14th Year": "Therefore, the Book of Xia says: 'The people of The People of The People are on the Road with mu duo (duó)'". Note: "The servant, the official who performs the order." Duó, the golden bell of the wooden tongue".
VIII. Chún (chún) in
The chún (錞) is the ancient bronze percussion instrument of the mainland. Often in conjunction with drums and plutonium (zhēng), it was applied to the Jin and Wu states by the late Spring and Autumn period, and since it was found in the Zhou Li ( Zhou Li ) , which was written during the Warring States period , chún ( chún ) may have been more widely used in the Eastern Central Plains states during the Warring States period. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, in the northern region, the form of chún yu was not known to ordinary people.
Spring and Autumn Tiger Button (chún) in
Warring States Tiger Button (chún) in
In addition to being used as a military musical instrument, the chún can also be used as an instrument used during sacrifices, such as the Shanghai Museum's collection of chún (chún) in the collection.
The overall characteristics of chún are large and small, with a round head on the top, a barrel-shaped lower body, an approximately elliptical cross-section, and a cavity formed by the inner void.
Nine, drums
Judging from the archaeological excavation data, most of the drums and drum frames in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties were wooden, such as the traces of wooden drums found in the Tomb of the Royal Family of Houjiazhuang Northwest Gang M1217, and the drum surface was made of crocodile skin. Excavated in the summer of 1978 in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Suizhou, Hubei Province, there were also excavated a so-called "jian drum" with a handle drum and inserted in a bronze drum seat, and the drum frame was also wooden, and the leather of the drum surface had decayed.
Copper drums were unearthed in Chongyang, Hubei Province
Copper drums were unearthed from Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan
The Guangxi Museum collects copper drums
The use of drums is mostly found in two-week texts. "Shijing Xiaoya Futian": "Qinser drumming, with Mitazu", this is drumming for fun, greeting Tianzu to pray for the New Year. The "Zhou Li Diguan Drum Man" also says: "Teaching the sound of the six drums and four golds, with the sound of the festival, with the harmony of the army, with the Battle of Zhengtian", "Chinese Wu Language": "Wang Nai Bingyu, personally ringing the bell, drum, Ding Ning, Yu, Zhenduo", all show that the drum can also be used as a military instrument used by the army in battle with the field.
Bronze instruments
The appearance of bronze is an important symbol of the arrival of the era of civilization. According to archaeological findings, as early as the Longshan culture period in Henan, the Heluo region centered on Luoyang has taken the lead in entering the Bronze Age, thus giving birth to the ancient music culture of Luoyang built on the basis of bronze civilization in the Xia and Shang Dynasties, and initiating the earliest glory of traditional Chinese music.
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