Musician, Dezhihua; Golden stone silk bamboo, the instrument of music. Poetry, words and aspirations; Song, chant; Dance, move. The three are originally from the heart, and then enjoy it, it is deep and civilized, full of spirit and god, and shunji and Yinghua is outgoing, and the only pleasure cannot be false. The sound of de yin, then the sound of zhong zhen and the harmony of the bell, and the dance of the dry Qi Xu Di (in the Book of History and Music). Chinese music has a long history, it is like a huge treasure that has been sleeping for a thousand years, along with the historical evolution of China from ancient times to the present, telling her own unique musical story. In the long history of Chinese music, the Chime Bell, a Chinese instrument that can shock the world, represents the highest musical achievement in ancient China. Its appearance not only reflects the development and inheritance of musical instruments in ancient China, but also benefits from the invention and prosperity of Chinese bronze casting. The establishment of the Western Zhou ritual music system pushed the chimes to the peak of the ceremonial heavy instrument.
- 1 - Traceability
In order to promote Chinese culture, disseminate classical music, revitalize ancient music art, and unite the national spirit, the Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra was founded. The orchestra has formed a well-organized and professional performance team with traditional Chinese instruments such as chimes, chimes, guqin, ser, and 埙. Since its establishment, the troupe has performed nearly 100 performances, footprints all over the world, has been sent by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to visit the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries and regions, and has also been invited to participate in large-scale performances such as the Yellow Emperor Ceremony of the Global Chinese Public Festival. The artistic style is fresh and elegant, ancient and majestic, quite innovative, fully demonstrating the ancient charm of the traditional music culture of the ancient capital Chang'an.
At the beginning of the new year in 2021, the wonderful works of the Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra were unveiled in the "Very Legendary" column of China Central Radio and Television Corporation. After the return of CCTV, the ancient orchestra non-stop choreographed the theme performance of "Bell Ringing Drum Music", which was shockingly presented at the Xi'an People's Theater, and then carried out a provincial tour in Meixian Zhangzai Square, Zhouzhi County Zhongnanshan Ancient Louguan, Ankang, Hanyin, Huangling, etc., and opened a national tour in Zhengzhou, the hinterland of the Central Plains, which won the praise of the people. The concert takes the chimes as the core of this huge and ancient instrument, and the main performance works include the chime song "Chaole", the chime song "Spring River Flower Moon Night", the Xi'an drum music "Indigo Blossom", the piano song "Guan Ju", the instrumental chorus song "Zun Dao Guide", etc., which concentrate on showing the unique charm of ancient style, ancient rhyme, ancient song and ancient dance, and summoning the return of ancient music culture in the land of Sanqin. According to Huang Teng, dean of Xi'an Foreign Affairs College, founder of Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra, and chief planner of the "Bell Ringing Drum Music" concert, the success of the concert strengthened his confidence in vigorously developing ancient music art, and the re-prosperity of ancient music has become a trend, and the core position of chimes in the Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra has become unshakable.
Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra performance photos
- 2 - Unique and unique
In 1978, in the tomb of Marquis Zeng yi of The Drum Dun in Sui County (present-day Suizhou), Hubei Province, a large set of ceremonial instruments, Zeng Houyi chimes, was excavated, which was believed to be owned by the zeng monarch in the early Warring States period. The excavation of zenghou yi chime bells caused a sensation in the country and shocked the world, it is composed of 45 yong bells, 19 button bells and 1 piece of cadmium clocks. The basic tone is listed as a seven-tone scale, and the twelve laws are possessed, which can be suspended, and its range reaches five octaves. The excavation of the Warring States Zenghou Yi chimes rewrote the history of world music, and this set of chimes showed the world many of the world's firsts in the field of musical instruments. Zeng Houyi Chimes has the most complete known Zhou Dynasty music series and its musical title system. At the same time, as a ritual instrument, it also contains rich cultural ideas of lilly music, which is a brilliant epitome of Chinese civilization in the 5th century BC, which represents the highest achievement of China's pre-Qin lile civilization and bronze casting technology.
The excavation of Zeng Houyi's chimes has set off a boom in the revival of ancient Chinese music, and a large number of excellent musical works dominated by chimes have emerged. Huang Teng said: "In recent years, many places in the country have replicas of Zeng Houyi chimes, which has had a very positive impact on the display and dissemination of traditional Chinese music culture. Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra also has one piece, which grows and grows with the orchestra!"
Zeng Houyi chimes
With the development of the orchestra and the continuous expansion of musical works, majestic and grand works need chimes with thicker timbres and wider sound range to support, and Zeng Houyi's chime replicas can no longer meet the performance needs of the orchestra. Huang Teng has been planning a bigger project, and he has spent many years to carefully design and painstakingly create the set of chimes with the largest number of pieces, the best sound and the widest range so far, the "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell", which is about to come out.
The reason why Huang Teng named it "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell" is enough to show that it is by no means a replica of the ZengHou Yi chimes, nor is it an upgraded version of it. As we all know, Zeng Houyi was the monarch of the Zeng Kingdom of the Zhou Royal Princely Kingdom, and the Zhou Dynasty ritual music system was strict, which determined the manufacturing specifications and grades of Zeng Houyi's chimes (the princes hung on three sides of the "Xuan County"), while the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell was designed and manufactured according to the specifications of the Tianzi (Tianzi hung the bell "Gong County" on all sides).
The yellow vine is inscribed with the inscription "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell"
1. Shape and phoneme. The bell frame of Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell is tall, with a total height of 300 cm, and the front façade frame is 1280 cm long. This set of chimes totals 111 pieces, which are hung on the bell stand in four groups and three layers: a group of 25 bells, 9 in the upper layer, 11 in the middle (the middle yong bell), and 5 on the lower level; There are 31 pieces of the second group of stolen curved clocks, 12 pieces in the upper layer, 13 pieces in the middle layer (middle level Yong bells), and 6 pieces in the lower layer; There are 29 cloud thunder clocks in the three groups, 11 in the upper layer, 12 in the middle layer (yong bell in the middle layer), and 6 in the lower layer; There are 26 pieces of four sets of bells, 9 pieces on the upper level, 12 pieces in the middle layer (middle level Yong bells), and 5 pieces on the lower level.
"Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell" design drawing
The phonemic arrangement of Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell is based on the overall "safe and reliable, sound range design, convenient playing, beautiful and harmonious" and other elements of the whole chime for overall design. It ensures that the overall bell frame is load-bearing and balanced, and the chimes have a wide range, which is convenient for transposition and music. The lower large clock phonemes are arranged according to a harmonious symmetrical relationship; The middle and upper levels of the yong bell are played according to convenience, from the bottom note to the high note, and the bell body size is arranged in order.
The range of Zeng Houyi chimes is C2 (large character group C) - #D7 (small characters four groups rising D), spanning 5 octaves. The range of Zhou Tianzi's Chang'an Bell is G1 (a group of large characters) - F8 (small characters five groups of F), and its difference of one tone is 7 octaves, which can be said to span 6 and a half octaves. This is 3 tones lower than the lowest note of Zeng Houyi chimes and 3 notes higher than the highest note of the piano.
111 weekly clock bitmaps
2. Bell type characteristics. Zenghou Yi chimes are mainly Yong bells and button bells, and in addition to the Yong bells, the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell makes extensive use of the Western Zhou Dynasty bells and the stolen curved and cloud thunder bells, which is a highlight of the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell. According to "Lü's Spring and Autumn": "Zhou Ding has a stealing song, which is very long, and it is curved up and down, so as to see the extreme defeat." "The silken pattern began in the Western Zhou Dynasty, prevailed in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, and was an important decorative pattern of the Zhou Dynasty.
The Yangjia Village cellar has unearthed a bell
It was excavated in 1987 in Yangjia Village, Mei County, Shaanxi Province, and belongs to the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The bell cavity is tile-shaped, long, the inner concave of the mouth margin is curved, the dance part is in the middle of the Yong, there is a rotation, dry, and the lower edge is weaker than one-third of the height of the cavity. The spinning, dancing and seal parts are decorated with poor curved patterns, but the poor curved patterns on the spin are decorated with eye patterns, the center of the drum is decorated with a dragon pattern opposite, and the right drum pronunciation part is engraved with a phoenix pattern.
The ornamental elements used by the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell represent the bronze culture of the most prosperous period of the Zhou Dynasty, the top casting process, and the highest specification chime configuration. The whole set of chimes is elegant, majestic and solemn, highlighting the arrogance of the royal family.
Plagiarism
Cloud thunder pattern
3. Inscriptions. Chimes were instruments dedicated to the upper classes of ancient China and were symbols of rank and power. According to research, the bell body of Marquis Yi of Zeng is engraved with a wrong gold inscription of more than 2,800 words, recording the music theory of the pre-Qin period and the correspondence between the names and rank names of the laws and ranks of the Zhou, Chu, Qi and other princely states.
Most of the bells of Zhou Tianzi's Chang'an Bell are engraved with inscriptions, which are related to musical rhythms, record many musical terms, and show the advanced level of ancient Chinese musical culture. The upper body of the bell is smaller, and the inscription of the general seal is also smaller, only indicating the phonetic name, and the middle and lower level bell body is larger, not only the name of the sound, but also the longer musical inscription, which records in detail the name of the bell, the name of the order and the change of the name. It is worth mentioning that these inscriptions are written by Huang Teng himself, which is of far-reaching significance.
4. Pillars. The pillar of The Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell did not imitate the "sword bronze man" of the ZengHou Yi chimes, but used the "犼", which is also a major feature of this set of chimes. It is said that the calf is the king of the divine beasts in the ancient period, its nature is relatively fierce, its limbs are very strong and powerful, it is mighty and powerful, the front legs are upright, the hind legs are squatting separately, the head is roaring, there is a tendency to leap up at any time, and the whole body is permeated with a domineering and arrogant spirit. The beast sitting on the Huabiao in front of the Tiananmen Tower is the calf, and the dragon at the top of the Huabiao pillar roars at the sky, which is regarded as transmitting Providence and issuing people's feelings.
Pillar design drawings
From the overall shape, the "sword and bronze man" of Zeng Houyi's chimes is closer to the realistic style, while the "sword and bronze man" of the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an bell is more romantic. We can only imagine the appearance of the calf from ancient myths, the horns are like deer, the head is like a camel, the ears are like a cat, the eyes are like shrimp, the mouth is like a donkey, the hair is like a lion, the neck is like a snake, the abdomen is like a mirage, the scales are like a carp, and the front paws are like an eagle and the back claws are like a tiger. The chime represents a kind of strength, and the chime is a symbol of power. The bold use of the calf complements the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell and complements each other, showing the majesty and momentum of the emperor even more.
- 3 - Chimes Narrative Dialogue Yellow Vine
Reporter: You and your team have studied and carefully designed and built the "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell" this year, please talk about the design concept of this set of chimes?
Huang Teng: We completed the entire design of this set of chimes last year, and the chimes factory in Suizhou, Hubei Province, is working overtime to cast for us. The person in charge of the chime factory was amazed when he got the design draft, and counted out 24 world firsts, and once this set of chimes came out, it could apply for the "Guinness World Record". We have done a lot of homework in the whole set of chimes, from the outline of the bracket to the pattern of the column, and which symbolic animal figures to use. There is also the inscription on the chime, which I personally wrote in a seal book, and after writing it, let the craftsman process it when casting it and cast it on the bell. Of course, the design is copyrighted, and the factory can no longer cast it for anyone else. Therefore, after this set of chimes leaves the factory, it will become a set of chimes with the largest number of pieces, the widest range and the highest specifications in China so far! Due to the difficulty of manufacturing, the construction period may be delayed a little, but it will not be too long, and it is expected to be released in this year.
Reporter: It can be seen that you have a love for ancient Chinese traditional music and culture, and you have a deep affection for chimes!
Huang Teng: Yes, it took us 7 years from the idea to the drawing. The whole process is really very long, I personally led the members of our team, they come from the Central Conservatory of Music, Xi'an Conservatory of Music, as well as Vienna, Russia and other overseas students returned, we are not afraid of difficulties, common progress and retreat, to overcome many problems. I visited Suizhou, Wuhan, Henan and other places, visited their museums, universities, visited the homes of some experts, and got in touch with 5 clock factories.
I have been thinking about a question, what is the typical representative of Chinese music? That is to say, what is the sound that we are making now, and only China has this kind of voice? In fact, sometimes it is not so easy to find, some of our ethnic minority musical instruments are still special, and there are very few Han Chinese, because many Han musical instruments are also foreign instruments. In our traditional musical language, what is the representative of our own heritage, culture, and musicality, and it is not a small piece, it has a scale, then the only thing is the chimes. The nationality of chimes, the scale, specifications and sounds of chimes are difficult to replace by other musical instruments.
Reporter: The design blueprint of this set of chimes is so grand, the name "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell" should be the most accurate positioning of it!
Huang Teng: This can be said from the specifications of ancient chimes. From the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, its ceremonial music system was very strict and had high requirements for the regulation of musical instruments. There are strict restrictions on what level of instruments people use. According to historical research, Tianzi hung bells on all sides (Gong County); Princes hanging on three sides (Xuan County); Qing and Dafu are hung on both sides (judging county); Only one side is allowed (special county). Therefore, we will restore this regulation to a Tianzi level, and now the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum is placed with a set of replicas of the Zenghou Yi chimes, so that it feels that the specifications are not enough, and I hope that in the future, this set of chimes can be used in the sacrifices of the Yellow Tombs.
The capital of western Zhou, Hojing, is the seat of present-day Xi'an. And the Zeng Houyi chimes belong to the late Warring States period, and I think this must not be copied from the model of Zeng Houyi, and the original form of the Western Zhou Bell should be used. It was particularly fortunate that in Yangjia Village, Baojimei County, a cellar chime from the Western Zhou Dynasty was unearthed, and I personally went to see and take pictures, and it provided us with a complete specimen of a single bell, so that we could imitate and cast from the shape of the bell and the appearance of the bell.
There are a total of 65 chimes of Zeng Houyi. In ancient times, although the entire Twelve Laws had been formed, the Chimes of Marquis Zeng were also recorded in great detail. However, at that time, the casting technology was limited, the tuning was completely listened to by the human ear, and the pitch and timbre of the whole set of chimes would have a certain deviation, so our orchestra would encounter some troubles when using ancient chimes, which was inevitable. Zhou Tianzi Chang'an bell a total of 111 bells, from the number of nearly 50 more, the technical difficulty of making the clock has become very large, the current measurement technology is very advanced, from the pitch, range, timbre in all aspects to have a breakthrough, is a shuttle history of the era memory.
Reporter: So how much has the range of this chime expanded?
Huang Teng: Taking the piano as a reference, it is only about 3 notes higher than the lowest note of the piano, and 3 tones higher than the highest note of the piano. The treble area reached the goal we originally designed, but the bass area is difficult to complete, the manufacturer has repeatedly tested and demonstrated, due to technical reasons can not meet expectations, but can do this level is now the world's highest level, no one can surpass!
Reporter: Zeng Houyi chimes were unearthed as early as 1978, and its imitations also have at least a dozen pieces in the country. But why is it so difficult for us to hear chime music, and it feels that promotion is difficult, what do you think is the problem?
Huang Teng: First of all, the range and pitch of the chimes have long plagued us, and there is this problem that cannot be solved when the orchestra is participating.
Second, in addition to a relatively complete set of chimes excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, although the clock unearthed in other places, especially our Shaanxi Province, is very old, it is not presented in the form of a band when it is excavated, but in the form of a cellar, which cannot reflect the form of performance. Then if you want to show it in a traditional form as much as possible, so that people can feel its simplicity, ancient, special, but also in line with the aesthetic and musical habits of modern people, how to take care of these things, it has become a very difficult difficult point.
Third, casting. We seem to think that the casting technology is now very developed, and we can build anything, but when it is really applied to reality, we can't complete it now in the process, including the ratio of the alloy, the size of the volume, and the control of pitch.
Music has developed to modern times, Western music has almost occupied our mainstream market, how do you balance modern and ancient? In the theoretical and technical requirements of music, the realization of a docking and interaction with all musical instruments must be considered and completed. Otherwise, this set of chimes can only be seen and cannot be used!
Reporter: The repertoire currently played by the ancient orchestra should be difficult to meet the function of this chime. Have you considered creating a new set of pieces specifically for this set of chimes?
Huang Teng: The music tailored for this set of chimes is still being created, because his range is very wide, and I hope that there is a set of music that can use the function of this chime to the fullest. But this group of music must be simple and ancient, combined with traditional Chinese music, and at the same time, it must also have this pursuit of aesthetics and this satisfaction of aesthetics in modern people.
Any retro, including literary movements, is actually at the service of innovation. No one can go back to ancient life, and no one wants to go back to ancient life. We just need to inherit such a tradition and give it new life with our modern aesthetic and technology.
It has been suggested that the repertoire played by our ancient orchestra could be used as the main repertoire of the New Year's concert. I think this is a good idea, now Chinese New Year's concerts are all learning from the West, mainly played by Western symphony orchestras. Then if the "bell and drum music" is used to complete the performance of the New Year's concert, it will be a representative attempt and effort to revitalize Chinese culture and highlight cultural self-confidence.
A set of chimes, an orchestra, a set of music, this is the ideal we pursue.
- 4 - Afterword
Listen to a Western Zhou music and enjoy a bell ringing Chang'an. This court's elegant music and dance, this swinging bell. You seem to be on top of the palace feast of various princes in the Zhou Tianzi Palace! As an ancient traditional ritual music in China, chimes are the splendid historical treasures of the Chinese nation and the magnificent magnificence of Chinese civilization. The appearance of the Xi'an Foreign Affairs Ancient Orchestra not only had a positive impact on the spread of chime culture, but also contributed to the inheritance of Chinese culture.
Huang Teng is a person with a heart for the world, he is not only a tall and courageous educator, but also a disseminator and practitioner of ancient Chinese traditional music. The "Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell" designed by him is a new exploration of the ancient Chinese ritual instrument, and his feat of making bells will surely have extraordinary significance for the inheritance and development of the traditional ritual music cultural spirit. The Zenghou Yi chimes are the heavy instruments of ancient chinese music, and the Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell will create a more brilliant musical feast for this new era. Looking forward to the magnificent debut of Zhou Tianzi Chang'an Bell in the near future, stunning the world! (Source: Music World text/ Wu Zhen)