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18 CHINESE MUSIC. Chinese mus1cHms must often be puzzled when reading a new piece, there being no way of distinguishing a note from its octave. This defect has been remedied to a certain extent by affixing little signs indicating the octave higher; but this custom is not creneral and b ' ' owing either to negligence or ignorance, many pieces are found in which there is no mean::; of distinguishing the notes _t , R , I from their respective octaves. But, R,S will be seen, this is the least importan t imperfection of Chinese solmisation. OF THE VALUE OF NOTES. The Chinese have not for each sound several figures expressing· its value or length. Their notes indicate simply a certain sound at a certain height, but leave the reader in th e most complete doubt as to their value. Sometimes signs or dots are added on the right of ,t note to signify that it is to be held longer than the others, but still this system is not uniform , and is found only in manuscripts. This is incontestably the weakest point in Chinese musical notation. The total absence of signs showing the value, the rests, the time, etc., makes it quite impossible to learn a tune by merely reading the wTit ten notes. The best Chinese musician could only conjecture the general form of a written piece shown to ,him for the first time ; to be able to decipher it he must first hea1· it played. The following are t he principal arbitrary signs in use :- I 0 • Some notes are written larger t han the rest, to emphasise them. 2 °. A space 1s left between two notes. This may mean a rest or the end of :1, verse. 3 °. Small dots am wri tten after the notes, one dot for one time. Fol' instance, I may be ,J ; then I . will be d , and I . . . will represent 0 . OF THE RESTS. A rest is denoted by little signs ( J or X) placed in the same row as the notes, but its dum tion is mer ely a matter of taste, and must be learnt traditionally. A space left, between two notes may indicate a pause. OF TIME. The only measmc scientifically recogni~ed by the _Chinese t!1eorists i~ that in folll' ti rrw. f n practice, however, several measures a.re admitted, especially that m three t1me.