Chapter 47 Chen Yang/Author of the masterpiece "Music Book" on music theory

Chen Yang, whose name is Jinzhi, is also called Jinshu.Song Fujian Minqing people.Shao Shengzhong (1095-1098) was admitted to the system department and was awarded the Shunchang Army Jiedu Tuiguan.During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he was a doctor of Taixue, the secretary of the provincial government, and a tired official to Honglu Taichang Shaoqing and the minister of the Ministry of Rites. Since Confucius listed "music" as one of the six classics, music has played a very important role in court sacrifices, banquets, court meetings and people's daily life.The "Book of Music" was lost in the Qin and Han Dynasties, but there were music officials in the imperial court, and "Music Records" ("Historical Records" called "Book of Music") in the history books, so that we can know the development and current status of music in various historical periods.In addition to the official history books, there are also some music works written by individual musicians, such as "Ancient and Modern Music Records" by Chen Shizhi in the Southern Dynasties, "Yueshu Yaolu" by Tang Yuan Wanqing, "Jiaofangji" by Tang Cui Lingqin, and "Jiegulu" by Tang Nanzhuo , Tang Duan Anjie's "Yuefu Miscellaneous Records", Song Wangzhuo's "Bijimanzhi", Ming Han Bangqi's "Yuanluozhile", Ming Zhu Zaiyu's "Musical Laws", Qing Mao Qiling's "Jingshan Musical Laws", etc.The achievements and influences are very great, and Chen Yang's "Book of Music" is the most famous one.

Chen Yang's "Book of Music" is a large-scale music encyclopedia with rich text and pictures.This book was compiled during the reigns of Song Shenzong Xining and Yuanfeng (1068-1085), and it was presented to Song Huizong Zhao Ji in the first year of Jingguo (1101), which lasted nearly forty years. "Leshu" is voluminous, reaching two hundred volumes.The first part is called "Xun Yi" (Volumes 1-95), which is an excerpt of Confucian classics such as "Book of Rites", "Zhou Li", "Yi Li", "Shang Shu", "Spring and Autumn", "Zhou Yi", "Xiao Jing", "Mencius" and other books related to music chapters, and explain them sentence by sentence.The next part is called "Le Tu Lun" (volumes 96-200), which includes the theory of rhythm, ritual music system, musical instruments, vocal music, music and dance, and Baixi, etc.Among them, the three categories of musical instruments, vocal music and dance acrobatics are divided according to Yabu (temple), Hubu (foreigners) and Subu (folk). The octave classification methods of soil, leather, silk, bamboo, gourd, and wood belong to their own families, thus forming a self-contained classification series.What's more valuable is that these expositions about musical instruments not only have literature basis and size specifications, but also have 540 illustrations listed in them, making it clear at a glance.

Chen Yang's views are relatively conservative, advocating that "music is based on Taixu, sound rhythm is based on Zhongsheng, and Zhongsheng is based on people's hearts", and he even opposes the two changes other than the five tones, saying: "The five tones The twelve rhythms are the righteousness of music; the second change and the four clearnesses are the beetle of music." That is to say, apart from the five tones of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu, the two tones of Biangong and Bianzheng are not required ( That is, other than the five tones 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, not even 4 and 7), and the high and low tones other than the five tones are not required (the ancients used clear to represent high tones, and turbid to represent low tones).However, the second volume of "Book of Music" has left us with many precious historical materials of ancient music history.

The advent of "Music Book" is a sign of the maturity of large-scale music reference books compiled in ancient China, and it has not lost its special historical value so far.In particular, the long-lost music literature of the Tang and Song Dynasties and the all-encompassing living folk materials of that time and place compiled by it make it one of the most valuable works reflecting ancient music culture.