Chinese music
Chinese music ( Chinese 中國 民樂 / 中国 民乐 , Pinyin Zhōngguó Mínyuè - "Chinese folk music") is the music created and performed in China or by the Chinese and thus an expression of Chinese culture .
General
Chinese music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. Much of the traditional music has been lost in the last hundred years, but thanks to the popularity of some classical instruments, including the vaulted board zither guzheng and the tubular spit violin erhu , interest in the associated history has been rekindled and the musical tradition associated with it is experiencing a new one Renaissance.
In the narrower sense, only the tradition of the Han Chinese belongs to Chinese music . In further interpretation, the music of the minority peoples must also be included, which, however, despite multiple penetrations, is mostly regarded as something independent.
Classical music
history
In the earliest times, music in China mainly served cultic purposes. Together with poetry and dance, it should on the one hand enable the control of cultural forces, but on the other hand also bring people into harmony with the cosmos. Music has always been viewed as something positive, bringing happiness - which also explains the graphic identity of the second character of the words music ( 音樂 / 音乐 , yīnyuè ) and joy ( 快樂 / 快乐 , kuàilè ).
One of the oldest evidence of Chinese music is the Book of Songs ( 詩經 / 诗经 , Shījīng ). That between 1000 and 600 BC The work written in BC contains folk tunes, religious consecration chants and national hymns, but also war, lent and lamentation songs of all kinds. The love songs in particular are captivating with the freshness and innocence of their language.
Even Confucius (551-479. Chr.) Considered music as a tool to achieve cosmic harmony. In particular, however, it should serve the moral perfection of man and the appease of his passions. The song Youlan ( 幽蘭 / 幽兰 - "Lonely Orchid") attributed to the master is considered to be the oldest preserved piece of music in China. There is also evidence of a rich musical production for the Zhou dynasty (1122–256 BC). At that time, wind and percussion instruments predominated. The oldest find is an approximately eight thousand year old bone flute. Mozi (late 5th century BC), an opponent of Confucianism, viewed music as a purely aesthetic category and thus a useless waste of time.
In the Qin Dynasty , the Imperial Music Office was established. Han emperor Wudi expanded it considerably and commissioned his officials to monitor court and military music as well as the official recognition of folk songs.
In later dynasties, Chinese music was subject to considerable influences from abroad, particularly from Central Asia . In particular, it is from there that the zithers, lutes and bow instruments that have so strongly influenced Chinese music today come from. This development reached a high point during the Tang Dynasty : Emperor Taizong had ten orchestras, eight of which consisted of foreign musicians. Numerous Chinese musicians were practicing abroad at this time. In the Tang period, too, secular music finally emancipated itself from its religious and cultic roots and gained importance in its own right. The Qin , the Chinese zither, also flourished in this period , although the instrument had been in use since the Han period . After all, the beginnings of Chinese opera go back to the Tang period : Emperor Tang Xuanzong (712–755) founded the pear orchard ( 梨園 / 梨园 , líyuán ), the first known opera group in China.
The opera genre underwent considerable further development during the Mongolian Yuan period . It was then that most of the Chinese opera types emerged. The Zájù ( 雜劇 / 杂剧 - "Varieté") also found its way into the opera, based on certain rhyme schemes as well as the newly introduced specialized roles such as " Dàn " (旦, female), " Shēng " (生, male) and " Chǒu " (丑, clown) based. The opera of the Yuan Dynasty lives on today as a Canton Opera .
Finally, in the Qing Dynasty , the most famous of all Chinese forms of opera, the Peking Opera, emerged . It is based on a synthesis of various local opera and singing traditions. The specialty of the Peking Opera is the use of the face masks, the colors of which allow the audience to recognize the character of the respective roles. The Qing emperors were also increasingly open to the influences of European music, and for this purpose Qianlong even had its own orchestra, dressed in the style of the European Baroque.
Although great importance for the harmony and longevity of the state was ascribed to music in ancient China, musicians had a considerably lower social position than painters, for example. Accordingly, there was also a much smaller theoretical-scientific study of music. Nonetheless, most emperors took on popular songs and sent officials to collect songs and thereby study the constitution of the people. The Shi Jing , one of the Confucian classics, contains a whole series of popular songs from the period between 800 and 300 BC. Chr.
Musical characteristics
The most important expressive characteristics of Chinese music are timbre and melody. The scale basically consists of twelve tones; Nevertheless, most melodies manage with a five-tone scale system without semitones.
Sound system
The tone system has been used in many scriptures since the earliest times. Initially this is done in numerical symbolic form, but later also more precisely mathematically. The invention of writing and music is traced back to the mythical "Yellow Emperor" Huangdi . A systematic music theory and ethical treatises on old and new music originated from Confucius . The Chinese tone system is based on strong influences of Indian and Mesopotamian origins.
It is based on the sequence of twelve fifths , which approximately reach the fundamental or an octave of the fundamental. The resulting inaccuracy of the Pythagorean comma was also known, but in view of the primarily monophonic or homophonic character of the music, this was of secondary importance. The resulting twelve tones, called Lü , formed the tone stock of various scale systems .
The dominant system is the pentatonic scale . A section of five of the twelve fifths forms a ladder. Within a ladder , each tone can have the function of the fundamental tone. These five modes can be constructed based on each of the 12 Lü, which results in 60 tones . In practical music practice, however, in contrast to the five modes, not all 12 tone genders were used (see also the article Chinese scales ). According to the Chinese five-element theory, the five tones are associated with a multitude of cosmological concepts as well as those relating to the environment and the inner life of the human soul. The respective basic tone ( gong ) stands for the whole, and the subsequent tones represent individual aspects. The step of the minor third was often extended by an additional intermediate note, the Bian. From around 300 BC BC the pentatonic was expanded, probably due to influences from the north, by adding two additional tones ( bian zhi and bian gong ) after the third and fifth level. This resulted in 84 heptatonic ladders, which, however, were only partially able to establish themselves in practice. The individual levels are designated as follows: Gong - Shang - Jue (Jiao) - bian Zhi - Zhi - Yu - bian Gong .
| Sound position: | 宮 gong | 商 Shang | 角 Jue | 徴 Zhi | 羽 Yu |
| Compass direction: | center | west | east | south | north |
| Season: | year | autumn | spring | summer | winter |
| Element: | 土 earth | 金 metal | 木 wood | 火 fire | 水 water |
| Planet: | Saturn | Venus | Jupiter | Mars | Mercury |
| Emotion: | mind | Concern | anger | joy | fear |
The composition of the pentatonic ladder from a whole tone and a minor third without tension-creating semitones results in a rather static character in Chinese music.
Melody and harmony
Despite the pentatonic ladders with their large intervals (in contrast to western ladders) , the melody of Chinese music is not erratic. With the preferred progression of the melody on adjacent pitches, it has a rather undulating effect. A few larger jumps can still be found. These are used for practical reasons, among other things, when a voice or an instrument continues the melody in a higher or lower octave due to the limitations of its pitch range .
An example of this is the emperor's march from the book of songs by Confucius. The melody is kept strictly pentatonic and runs in a straight rhythm that can be divided into clear groups of four and six. Jumps over fourths and fifths to the space of the sixth are still common here.
Forms of polyphony in the western sense are rather rare today. For earlier times, however, a stronger tendency towards polyphony can be assumed. This is suggested by studies on the better-researched old Japanese forms adopted from the Chinese region .
In a solo performance on string instruments , analogous to a practice that is widespread almost worldwide, sometimes two chords (mostly empty fifths ) can be heard . The mouth organs (e.g. Sheng and Hulusi , whose accompanying tones , which are usually fixed at fifth and octave intervals, permanently sound through) are sometimes performed in parallel intervals or even in chords .
In the interplay of an ensemble , the possibilities that go beyond monophony are of course used more. The parallel guidance in quarters apart is popular here. Furthermore, the heterophonic game is used in a kind of free unison , as it is also cultivated in parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. A leading melody is decorated by several instruments at the same time, in that two or more voices vary the theme in terms of tone and rhythm independently, play around it ornamentally, incorporate substitute tones, omit tones, or realize more or less strong rhythmic changes and shifts.
Instrumental music
In China, instrumental music is played on solo instruments or in smaller ensembles made up of stringed instruments, flutes, cymbals, gongs and drums. In China, musical instruments are divided into eight classes (八音 " Eight Sounds ") according to the material used to make them . One speaks of silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, pumpkin and animal skin instruments.
Silk (絲)
The first to be mentioned are the so-called silk instruments ( 絲 / 丝 ). These are string instruments; They owe their name to the fact that in the past, strings were not made of metal, nylon or gut, as they are today, but of silk. There are three subgroups:
The plucked instruments include the zithers, including the guqin (古琴; often simply called Qin) with 7 strings, the Se (瑟) with 25 strings and the vaulted board zither Guzheng (古箏; often simply called zheng) with 16–26 strings. The latter two have movable webs. The Duxianqin -Zither (独弦琴) finally has only one string. There are also different sounds: The pear shape is shown by the 4- or 5-string pipa (琵琶), introduced from Arabia in the 6th century, and the 4-string liuqin (柳琴). The Ruan (阮) and the famous four-string "moon guitar" Yueqin (月琴) , on the other hand, have a circular body . There are also the types of sounds Sanxian (三弦) and Qinqin (秦 琴). The Chinese harp was largely similar to its western counterpart and is called Konghou (箜篌).
Among the string instruments, the mostly two-stringed fiddles (Huqin 胡琴) should be mentioned. The basic form is the erhu (二胡), which is the most important instrument in Chinese opera; The Zhonghu (中 胡) and the Dihu (低 胡) are tuned lower . The latter is available in three sizes, as Xiaodihu (小 低 胡; also: Dahu (大 胡) or Cizhonghu ; one octave lower than the Erhu), as Zhongdihu (中 低 胡, one octave lower than the Zhonghu) and as Dadihu (大 低 胡; two octaves lower than the erhu). In contrast, the Gaohu (高 her) is more tuned than the Erhu , and the Jinghu (京胡), which is mainly used for Peking Opera, is even higher . Sound of coconut have the Banhu (板胡) and Yehu (椰胡), one of the pumpkin Huluhu (葫芦胡), one of the horse bones Maguhu ( 馬骨胡 / 马骨胡 ). The Zhuihu (坠 胡) and the Leiqin ( 擂 琴 / 擂 琴 ), developed in the 20th century, have a fingerboard . Four instead of two strings have the Sihu (四胡) similar to a cello tuned Gehu (革胡) and reminiscent of the double bass Diyingehu (低音革胡). The Erxian (二弦), the Tuhu (土 胡) and the Jiaohu (角 胡) are mainly found in the extreme south ; The "horse head fiddle " Matouqin ( 馬頭琴 / 马头琴 ) comes from Mongolia . A zither played with the bow is the yazheng (牙 箏).
There are also instruments whose strings are struck , namely the Chinese dulcimer Yangqin ( 揚琴 / 扬琴 ) played with two bamboo hammers , the partially plucked Zhu tremor (筑), as well as the Jiaoweiqin (焦 尾 琴) ).
Bamboo (竹)
Wind instruments are mainly made from bamboo.
Among the flutes, the transverse flutes are Dizi (笛子; with membrane); Xindi (新 笛; modern, 21 holes) and the very small Koudi (口 笛) should be mentioned, along with the long flutes Xiao ( 簫 / 箫 ), Chi (篪) and Dongdi (侗 笛) as well as the Chinese pan flute Paixiao ( 排簫 / 排箫 ).
The cylindrical guan (管) and the conical suona (唢呐) belong to the oboes, the metal bell is characteristic of the latter. Both are double reed instruments .
Finally there are the reed flutes Bawu ( 巴烏 / 巴乌 ; played across) and Mangtong (芒 筒, played lengthways ).
Wood (木)
Percussion instruments are mostly made of wood. The beginning and the end of a piece of music are marked by the Zhu (柷) and the Yu (敔), wooden sound bodies that are struck with a stick. For Buddhist ceremonies, however, the " wooden fish" Muyu ( 木魚 / 木鱼 ) is used.
Stone (石)
The plates of the lithophone Bianqing ( 编 磬 / 编 磬 ), which are hung in a wooden frame and struck with a wooden hammer, are made of stone . The sound stone game in the grave of Margrave Yi von Zeng (曾侯乙) is also made from this material .
Metal (金)
Metal is used in particular for bells and gongs. The Chuzeng Baizhong (楚 曾 百 鐘) and the Bianzhong ( 編鐘 / 编钟 ), for example, consist of 100 and 65 bronze bells suspended in a wooden frame and made to sound with a clapper. The Fangxiang (方 响) can be seen as the Chinese equivalent of the metallophone . The Bo is a single flat metal plate that is hit with a hammer. The classical Chinese gong is called Luo ( 鑼 / 锣 ). The " cloud gong " Yunluo ( 雲鑼 / 云锣 ) and the similarly constructed Shimianluo each consist of 10 small individual gongs in a frame. An example of Chinese brass instruments is the long, straight trumpet Laba (喇叭).
Sound (土)
The ocarina Xun (塤) and the cup-shaped percussion instrument Fou (缶) are made from clay.
Pumpkin (匏)
The pumpkin plant provides the sound box for various oral organs . The Sheng (笙) and the larger Yu (竽) should be mentioned in particular . The variants Lusheng ( 芦笙 ), Hulusi ( 葫蘆絲 / 葫芦丝 ) and Hulusheng ( 葫蘆 笙 / 葫芦 笙 ) are common in southwest China, and in particular in the province of Yunnan .
Animal skin (革)
Drums, in particular, are made from the skins of various animals, such as the great Dagu - ( sowie ) and Huzuo Dagu (虎 座 大鼓), Huzuo Wujia Gu (虎 座 鳥 架 鼓), Jiangu (建 鼓) and Paigu (排 鼓).
Vocal music
Chinese vocal music was typically sung in a thin, low-resonance voice or in falsetto , with solo singing predominating over the choir. Traditional Chinese singing is more melodic than harmonic. It probably developed from poems set to music from the Song era .
Folk song
The Chinese folk song can be divided into three groups: The work songs ( Haozi ) were traditionally sung together at work under the direction of a cantor. In terms of their musical structure they are usually less demanding, in terms of their character they are strong and often heroic. The mostly quite short and rhythmically free mountain segments (shange) are sung in a high voice in numerous variations. Similar to alpine yodelling, they originally served to communicate over longer distances. Finally, the most widespread are the formally relatively firmly established, but rhythmically and melodically very lively folk tunes ( Xiaodiao ). They often frame celebrations, breaks or entertainment events. In the north, passionate, moving chants predominate. The songs of the south, however, are considered to be gentle and delicate. Singing is still practiced by the broadest strata of the people. Smaller choirs often come together spontaneously in the mornings in urban parks, for example, to perform classical songs.
Chanting
Another important form of Chinese vocal music is the spoken chant Quyi or Shuochang performed by (semi) professional artists . In total, it is distributed in over 200 species. A distinction is usually made between three genres, namely pure singing (e.g. Danxuan Paizi, Sichuan Qingyin), narration with singing (Shanbei Shuo, Suzhou Tanci) and singing-free recitation (Xiangcheng, Kuaiban). Sometimes the lecturers accompany themselves on an instrument or accompany their chants with dance performances.
Opera
Main article: Chinese opera
The Chinese opera uniquely combines different art forms such as music, language, dance, masks, and even martial arts. It is still very popular today.
The Canton Opera often uses traditional fabrics from the Yuan Dynasty , such as the purple hairpin and rejuvenation of the red plum blossom . The language is traditionally Cantonese . Until the 20th century, women's roles were also traditionally played by men.
The Peking Opera has become particularly well known . Her singing, characterized by high pitched guttural sounds, is usually accompanied by the suona , jinghu , other string instruments and drums.
In addition, there a total of about 360 local opera types, key to which the clapper opera , the Pingju , the Cantonese Opera , the puppet opera , the Kunqu , the Sichuan Opera , the Qinqiang and Huangmei xi count. They differ on the one hand in the types of singing influenced by the various dialects, but also in the weighting of the individual string and wind instruments; However, the percussion groups are consistently of central importance. Most opera types have in common the extreme stylization of the role types, which is not only expressed in precisely defined mask and costume iconographies, but also in the voices, which range from nasal head voices to deep chest tones.
The opera genre came under pressure especially in the Mao period , when classical forms of censorship were exposed and in some cases were replaced by artificially created, “revolutionary” “model operas”.
Today's meaning
Traditional Chinese music is also performed in a rich repertoire, which includes both cheerful and serious pieces and is sometimes even based on Western pop music or film songs. It is also used in particular at festivities such as weddings and funerals. Often the oboe-like suona and a percussion -like instrument called a chuigushou are used . In addition, the entire everyday life of a Chinese is filled with music, be it at work in the rice field, on the way home or early in the morning in the city parks. There is a lot of popular singing, the traditional treasure trove of songs is vast.
Regional distribution
Instrumentation and songs also differ within the music of the Han Chinese; in many cases regional focuses have emerged:
In the rural areas of the north, ensembles of mouth organs, shawms, flutes, dizi and percussion instruments (especially the Yunluo gongs), which go back directly to the old imperial temple music, are valued. In Xi'an a certain type of drum music (Xi'an guyue) is practiced, in which horns are used in addition to the eponymous percussion instruments; it has spread outside of China in a very commercialized form. The reed flute Sheng is considered to be the forerunner of all western reed instruments.
Music ballads are very popular in the southern provinces around Fujian and Taiwan . They are usually performed by a singer accompanied by flute and lute players. Usually they are marked by sadness and melancholy and often deal with women entangled in unhappy love. Even further south, in Shantou and Chaozhou , Erxian and Guzheng ensembles are common.
The cities of Nanjing and Hangzhou are known for their sizhu groups (silks and bamboo), which use flutes and stringed instruments to perform harmonious and melodic pieces that are also popular in the West. Finally, in the tea houses of Shanghai, the special form of Jiangnan Sizhu is made heard.
The Cantonese music widespread in Guangdong is based on the so-called Canton Opera (Yueju), but has also absorbed numerous Western influences from the area of jazz since the 1920s.
Modern
European influences
The cultural awakening of the 1910s and 1920s aroused great interest in Western music in China. The reason for this was not least the return of numerous international students from Europe and the USA. Symphony orchestras were founded in numerous larger cities, and their concerts were accessible to a large audience, especially on the radio. There was also a reception of elements of jazz . The most important musicians of this era included Lu Wencheng , Li Jinhui , Zhou Xuan , Yin Zizhong and He Dasha .
Maoism
The Maoists were critical of this development and defamed it, especially Zhou Xuan, as decadent and pornographic. In return, they started a large-scale campaign as part of the so-called Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art from 1942 to use traditional folk songs for the creation of revolutionary songs and thereby win over the largely illiterate masses of the people for the goals of the Communist Party . An example of this is the battle song The East is Red , which is based on a folk song from Shaanxi Province . The composer Xian Xinghai (1905–1945) is also worth mentioning in this context . a. created the Yellow River Cantata , considered the most famous work of the genre. In 1969 it was performed as a piano concerto by Yin Chengzong and is still performed today.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China , revolutionary battle songs experienced a further boom; many were also - with a new text - taken over from the Soviet Union . At the same time, the symphony orchestras, playing western and new Chinese music, continued to flourish. Conservatories and other musical training centers sprang up across the country. In addition, Eastern European orchestras performed in China, while Chinese musicians and music groups took part in international events in large numbers.
At the height of the Cultural Revolution, the composition and performance of music were subject to great restrictions. Instead, a light, harmonious, catchy, "pan-Chinese" style of music called Guoyue was created on the drawing board , which was performed in particular at conservatories. After the Cultural Revolution, the old structures were largely restored.
Latest developments
In the 1970s, the cantopop developed in Hong Kong , which was intended in particular as a reaction to the traditional Shidaiqu and the popular American soft rock . Joseph Koo , Lisa Wang , Adam Cheng , Lotus , Wynners and James Wong became particularly famous . Since the 1980s, the Cantonese language has increasingly been used instead of the previously predominant English ; this second generation belong u. a. Sam Hui , Danny Chan , Kenny Bee , Anita Mui , Aaron Kwok , Leon Lai , Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung ; the latter four are also referred to as the "four gods of the cantopop". Later on, Sammi Cheng , Karen Mok and Eason Chan established themselves .
Chinese rock , of which Cui Jian is considered to be the progenitor, developed parallel to the rise of the cantopop . Other important representatives are Tang Chao , Dadawa , Cobra , Dou Wei , Zhang Chu , He Yong , Zhinanzhen , Lingdian and Heibao. Musically they move in the spectrum between New Wave (Lingdian) and Heavy Metal (Heibao). The punk music is u. a. represented by bands like Catcher in the Rye and Dixiayinger . As in all of Asia, karaoke is a widespread phenomenon. Channels such as MTV are popular, the latest techno is played in discos and huge rock concerts become a mass spectacle. But there are also groups that use elements of folk music such as Hanggai , Ajinai and Ye haizi .
The German filmmakers George Lindt and Susanne Messmer shot the documentary Beijing Bubbles , which was shown at festivals around the world, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in European cinemas. The film describes the life of young punkers, rockers and blues musicians in China. It is the first documentary film about the young music scene in China.
In 1980 the Chinese Musicians' Association was formally elected to the International Musicological Society . Chinese music groups toured overseas while foreign artists performed in China. In the mid-1980s, popular ballads, Western folk, and European classical music still attracted most of the audience. At the same time, the long-banned jazz - z. B. with the Sino-German Jazz Improvise Meeting Festival - as well as the rock 'n' roll increasing reception, especially among the younger Chinese. Furthermore, modern Chinese music is exposed to the critical eye of the government, which fears a western infiltration of Chinese values and uses military music to fill whole villages with their own propaganda day after day via loudspeakers.
See also
- List of music colleges and conservatories in the People's Republic of China
- List of traditional Chinese musical instruments
- List of traditional ensembles for regional Chinese music
- Rock music in china
literature
- Martin Gimm : China . In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . General encyclopedia of music . Part 2. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1995, pp. 695-755, ISBN 3-7618-1627-8
- Liu Dongsheng and Yuan Quanyou (eds.), Ilse Reuter and Martin Gimm (transl.): The history of Chinese music. Schott, Mainz 2009 (illustrated book)
- Herbert Hopfgartner: The sound of the Dao - the phenomenon of a 'silent music' in Daoist philosophy as well as its correspondences in western music aesthetics. (West-Eastern Paths of Thought, edited by Walter Schweidler, Volume 14) Academia Verlag, St. Augustin 2008, ISBN 978-3-89665-463-2
- Steven Jones: The East Is Red ... And White. In: Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham (Eds.): World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific . Rough Guides, London 2000, pp. 34-43, ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Günter Kleinen : Chinese Music and the Cultural Transfer on the Silk Road. epOs-Music , Osnabrück 2011, ISBN 978-3-940255-18-1
- Helen Rees, Zhang Zingrong, Li Wei: Sounds of the Frontiers . In: Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham (Eds.): World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific . Rough Guides, London 2000, pp. 44-48, ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Joanna Lee: Cantopop and Protest Singers . In: Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham (Eds.): World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific . Rough Guides, London 2000, pp. 49-59, ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Trewin, Mark. "Raising the Roof". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific , pp. 254-261. Rough Guides Ltd., Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
Web links
- The traditional music of China
- Overview of the instruments
- The Great Chinese New Year Concert
- Chinese Musical Instruments, including sound samples Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong
- The Internet Chinese Music Archive
- Detailed Archive about Chinese Rock Music in English
- Detailed History of Rock in China
- The Future of the Past: Status Quo and Perspectives of Traditional Chinese Music ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Goethe-Institut China, December 2009
- Video: The traditional piece 小月 儿 高 (Little moon in the high sky) on the pipa
- Video: The traditional piece 陽春 白雪 (white snow in sunny spring) on the pipa
Individual evidence
- ↑ Music from China . A worldtrip. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ↑ Chinese opera artelino. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ↑ Traditional Chinese Opera China Tours. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ↑ Shijing詩經or Maoshi毛詩 ChinaKnowledge.de. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ↑ 5 Elements, Sounds, Organs Epoch Times. Retrieved September 24, 2018.