Chapter 3 Section 2 Ancient Musical Relics

The ancient musical objects that may be preserved to this day are mainly bone, pottery and stone (jade) musical instruments.Although the number of such musical instruments obtained in modern archaeological excavations is small, they have attracted extensive attention from scholars and experts at home and abroad. They have very important research and cultural values ​​in the field of world music history. The bone whistle is one of the earliest wind instruments used by the ancient ancestors, and it is also a tool for trapping animals in the hunting labor of the ancestors.Such musical instruments were unearthed from Hemudu, Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province, and Meiyan Neolithic Site, Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province (Fig. 5).The bone whistle is made of limb bones of animals and poultry, with one to three holes, and can play simple tunes. It can be used to simulate the singing of animals and poultry, and can lure animals to come and hunt them.Today, the Daur, Oroqen, Ewenki and other ethnic groups living in the primeval forests of Daxing’an Mountains still use wooden deer whistles and bark roe whistles to play the cries of doe and young roe deer to trap male and female roe deer.

Another bone wind instrument used by ancient ancestors is the bone flute. In 1987, more than 10 such musical instruments were unearthed at the Neolithic site of Jiahu, Wuyang County, Henan Province. According to scientific determination, the age is from 6500 BC to 5500 BC, which is more than 7000 years ago.Among them, the complete and uncracked one is 22.2 centimeters long, with seven sound-pressing holes on it, both ends are straight through, and one end is a blowing hole.After auditions and scientific tests, it can blow out the musical performance of "56b71235" or "1234567".

Xun is a wind instrument made of clay and shaped like a goose egg or fish.One-hole, two-hole and three-hole xuns were unearthed from Neolithic sites such as Hemudu in Zhejiang, Banpo in Xi'an, Wanrong in Shanxi, and Huoshaogou in Yumen, Gansu.The top of the three-hole xun is a blowing hole, and the other two holes are finger holes, which can blow out the "135" three-tone series, with a mellow, deep and reserved tone.The discovery of multiple pieces of pottery Xun proves that Xun was widely used in the music life of ancient ancestors.In the Shang Dynasty, the production of Xun tended to be standardized, and some Xun had developed to five pressing holes, which could blow out eight consecutive semitones (Figure 6).

The chime is made of clear-sounding stone, and Yue Guankui's words "strike the stone and smash the stone" refer to this kind of percussion instrument.In oracle bone inscriptions, the word chime is used as an important percussion instrument for spiritual energy. Before the Bronze Age came, the ancient ancestors used clay to create the earliest clocks.The pottery bells unearthed from the Neolithic site in Hakshinzhuang, Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province, and Miaodigou, Shanxian County, Henan Province, are similar in shape to later bronze bells (Figure 8), and are generally considered to be the ancestors of bronze bells.Bells developed to the Shang and Zhou dynasties and began to be cast in bronze, arranged and used like "chimes", called "chimes".

The discovery of ancient musical instruments made of bone, stone, and pottery not only shows the intelligence and innovative spirit of the Chinese ancestors, but also allows us to imagine the scene of the ancient ancestors using music in ceremonial and sacrificial occasions: Playing stone tools and pottery bells, some playing bone flute and pottery xun, the dancers are all bare chested and painted with colorful colors, and some are dressed up as various animals and birds, playing percussion music in intricate, sonorous and melodious Singing and dancing, cheering and cheering... What a wonderful and fiery ancient music and dance scene!