Chapter 2 The Origin of Music and Rumors of Ancient Music

Our ancestors created music very early. According to pre-Qin classics and cultural relics unearthed underground, in the primitive clan society, there were already simple singing and dancing, and simple percussion and wind instruments. Music, like other arts, also originated from life.In life, the sounds of pines and bamboos in nature, the chants of birds and insects, and the impact of tools all make them feel novel, exciting and joyful. "Wood logging, birds chirping" ("The Book of Songs Xiaoya Logging"), "The sun is setting in the spring, and there is a Gengcang" ("The Book of Songs Bin Feng July"), they live in such a colorful environment. in the natural environment.Gradually, they have a certain understanding of pitch, timbre and rhythm, etc., and try to reproduce the sounds that move them, so the most original music is produced.

From ancient legends, we can see that the music and dance in the primitive society are all related to the working life of the ancestors.In the period of primitive society, the productivity was quite low, the production tools were quite crude, and the labor intensity was quite high. They used music to coordinate movements to reduce the labor intensity.For example, the "Song of Weightlifting Persuasion" contained in "Lu Shi Chunqiu · Obscene Ci Pian": Mr. Lu Xun described this more vividly in "Writing Talk Outside the Door": "The primitive people of our ancestors could not even speak. In order to work together, they had to express their opinions, and only then did they gradually develop complex expressions. Come on, if at that time everyone was struggling to lift the wood, but they couldn't think of publishing it, and one of them shouted 'Hangyu Hangyu', then this is creation; everyone should admire it, apply it, this is equivalent to publication; If any mark is used to preserve it, this is literature; of course he is a writer and a writer, and he belongs to the "Hangyu Hangyu school." Just like the labor chant of later generations, this "Hangyu Hangyu" must have With a low and scattered melody and a concise and lively rhythm, it is actually the earliest song.The ancestors used music and dance to describe and reproduce the process and scenes of labor.

"Shangshu Yiji" records: "Kui said: 'Yu! I hit the stone and smash the stone, and all the beasts danced.'" "Strike the stone and smash the stone" means that the ancestors used labor tools such as stone knives after work. , stone axes, etc. are used as musical instruments to strike; "a hundred beasts dance together" refers to people wearing bird feathers and animal skins, pretending to be wild animals, running away and pounce, etc. This is actually the reproduction of hunting scenes. In "Wuyue Spring and Autumn", there is also an ancient "Bange" recorded: "Break bamboo, continue bamboo. Fly soil, chase meat." Only eight words vividly describe the ancestors' cutting bamboo. The scene of making bows to hunt birds and animals: people invented bows (arrows) in the process of hunting.They cut bamboo (broken bamboo), bent it, tied both ends with ropes, and made a slingshot (continued bamboo), and then used it to shoot stones (flying soil) to chase and hunt birds and beasts. (meat by meat).

These two songs describe the hunting life of the Paleolithic ancestors, that is, the legendary "Suiren" and "Fuxi" periods. From archaeological excavations, we know that our ancestors invented bone whistles, drums, chimes, bells, xuns and other musical instruments very early, and they almost all evolved from labor tools. The drum is one of the oldest musical instruments, which evolved from the earliest "drum belly". "Sui Shu · He Tuo Biography" said: "In ancient times, there was no music, drumming the belly and hitting the soil, and enjoying it." The "drumming" here refers to slapping the animal skin tied to the belly with hands.This custom is still preserved in some newly discovered primitive tribes in modern times. In myths and legends, it has become that Zhuanxu ordered to be happy first, and first to "drum his belly with his tail, and his voice is heroic" (see " Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals · Ancient Music").

The development of "drum belly" is the appearance of drum cavity.In the earliest drums, the drum cavity was made of clay embryo or pottery, and the drum skin was covered on it, and the sound of knocking was of course much louder.This is the so-called "earth drum". In 1978, a marl pottery drum about 3,000 years ago was unearthed from the Huangtucang site in Minhou County, Fujian Province, proving that the "earth drum" recorded in ancient books is indeed real.A scorpion is a drum made of bamboo and wood. The appearance of earthen drums is because people invented the technology of firing pottery in the process of labor.With the continuous improvement of production tools, especially the appearance of metal tools, it is possible for people to hollow out the wood, or even splice wooden boards into a drum frame, and the drum has evolved from an earthen drum to a drum with a wooden frame and skin.

The bell is also one of the oldest musical instruments.The earliest bell was made of pottery, and a pottery bell was unearthed at the Zhuanglongshan Cultural Site in Hakka Province, Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province.Pottery was originally a utensil for people's daily life, and people discovered that they can make beautiful sounds when they are knocked accidentally, so they are sometimes used as musical instruments in singing and dancing.People also found that pottery of different shapes, sizes, and thicknesses made different sounds from high to low, clear and turbid. Later, people specially fired large and small bells with different pitches that could play melody. Vessels become specialized musical instruments.When people mastered the smelting technology, bells were cast from metals such as bronze or iron instead of pottery.

Musical instruments evolved from pottery, and the very famous Xun.The ancestors may have inadvertently put the small pottery with holes in their mouths to blow, and the distant sound fascinated them, so they used it as a musical instrument.The earliest xun had no sound holes, and could only produce a very monotonous sound. Later, people found that the opening of the small hole on the top of the xun could change the pitch, so after continuous research and exploration, they made a duo that could play melody. Kong Xun, three-hole Xun and even multi-hole Xun. The history of the pipe can also be traced back to the fishing and hunting period.Some "bone whistles" made of tibias of birds and animals were unearthed in Meiyan, Wujiang, Jiangsu, and the Hemudu cultural site in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. There are blow holes and sound holes on them, which are obviously an ancient musical instrument.According to research, they were first used to imitate the calls of birds and animals to attract prey.The earliest pipe-shaped blowing objects used to imitate the calls of birds and animals to attract prey were reeds.When the ancestors were hunting, they heard the whining sound of the broken reeds blown by the wind, so they cut off the reeds and blew them with their mouths. This sound was used to lure prey, which greatly increased the catch.Later, the bone whistle and reed pipe were gradually made of bamboo and wood, and evolved into a whole family of wind instruments such as Xiao, pipe, flute, and 籥.

The most primitive tools are stone tools, and the musical instruments evolved from stone tools are chimes.When the ancestors sang and danced, they "struck stones and smashed stones", in fact, they struck the stone tools in their hands.Later, they used stones to make or grind stone tools specially for playing, which is the chime.The earliest chime discovered so far is a stone chime unearthed from the cultural site of the Xia Dynasty in Xia County, Shanxi Province. It is very rough, much like a stone plow for plowing.There is also a kind of chime, which is probably round, called "ball", which was probably inspired by projectiles.

It is still hard to say whether stringed instruments appeared in ancient times.The production of stringed instruments was inspired by bows and arrows. Therefore, it is not ruled out that simple stringed instruments appeared at that time, but because they are difficult to preserve, no real objects have been unearthed yet. In the primitive society, the productivity was low, so the group collaboration was very strong, and their entertainment activities were also group.It's simple, but the scene is lively; it's not necessarily highly ornamental, but it's highly entertaining. Due to the lack of data, we don't know much about music in ancient times, and we only know a little from the classics of later generations.

It is said that the earliest melody was produced by the music official Linglun during the time of the Yellow Emperor.Ling Lun cut down bamboos of even thickness to make string pipes.He took a three-inch-nine-fen bamboo pipe and played it, and set the pitch as Huang Zhong Gong Yin.He made twelve bamboo tubes of different lengths and formulated twelve laws. When Emperor Ku (Gao Xin), the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor, came to the throne, he ordered Xianhei to compose the vocal songs "Nine Moves", "Six Columns" and "Six Ying". , Guan, Xun, Chi and other musical instruments.

It is said that the music and dance of the Yellow Emperor is called "Yunmen Dajuan", the music and dance of Yao is called "Xianchi", the music and dance of Shun is called "Dalu" (that is, "Shao"), the music and dance of Yu is called "Daxia", and the music and dance of Shang Tang is called "Xianchi". It is called "Da Huan", and the music and dance of King Wu of Zhou is called "Da Wu".Did these music and dances really exist during the time of the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun? However, they were sorted out in the Zhou Dynasty or even after the Zhou Dynasty, and they were indeed used as court music performances. There are records of these music and dance performances in many classics.