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14 CHir ESE MUSIC. CHINESE SYSTEM OF NOTATION. The 12 lus, as has been shown before, formed a kind of semi-diatonic scale, resembling more or less our Western chromatic gamut. The ancient Chinese might thus have had hepta– tonic and chromatic scales in all the keys; they did not, however, extend the use of their discovery so far, for up to the time of the Yin (~j) dynasty (B.C. 1300), only five notes-the sounds emitted by the five first lus (see Diagram No. 2)-were in general use. 1 To express these five sounds in wTiting, certain characters had been selected ; they were- g (lcung), if6 (shang). jij ( chiao). ~ (chih). ~ (yu ). But at the beginning of the Chou (WJ) dynasty (B.C. I 100) , two more notes (the sounds emitted by lus Nos. 6 and 7 of Diagram No. 2) were introduced. 2 These were called- fl g (pien-lcu,ng), literally changing into lcung; and fi ii (pien-chih), ,, chi h. Ts'AI Tzu (~ ::;. ) says: "Between kung and shang, shang and chiao, chih and yu, there is only the interval of one lu; we skip over one lu and use the next one (see Diagram No. I); but between chiao and chih, yu and kung, there is an interval of two lus. Now, when the notes are separated only by one lu the distance is not great, and their succession is satisfactory; but when two lus stand between two notes the connexion between these seems interrupted." 3 To remedy this deficiency, the two pien were added to the scale, bringing the number of notes to seven ; and these were called the seven principles, because they are produced by tbe first seven tubes, and because, as seen in Diagram No. 2, they engender ont· another. The ancient scale was therefore as follows. Like the European diatonic scale, it is com– posed of five full tones and two half tones; but one of the half tones is found in the Cmnese gamut between the fourth and fifth degrees, whereas in the Westem gamut it stands between t,he third and fourth degrees. I ~ lt J;.( fir f.!! tf :Ii. "ff , ~ WJ ~ * fJJJ = !ii i; z ..t; !!, etc. 3 'i; ~ f.{j , f.!j !Ii!- ffJ, lt ft ~ ' ffJ -1". ii' - ft - ffJ ft~' ~ ~ g, ;{ft ~ ffu = {t, - ~ IU if i1ff jp, :: ~ !{lj ~ jj'jj ~ ;{ft 7.{, t/J. , etc.