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CHINESE :MUSIC. 37 lower classes, but this may be attributed to the fact that they am always so busy, so hard– work.ing, so gain-seeking, that they find no idle time to devote to pleasure ; still it not unfrequently happens that when passing along the streets towards evening one hears the strains of a fiddle coming from one shop or another, and should curiosity then lead one to enter, he might find the shopkeeper or his assistant busily engaged in quite a different pastime from that of selling candles or sugar loaves. That music is much liked in China is proved by the numerous bands of musicians which parade the streets; by the least important festival being never celebrated without music of some kind ; by the constant singing in the streets of children, domestics, hawkers, and passers-by. What does it matter that we foreigners find the popular music detestable if the Chinese themselve I I are contented with it 1 Is not contentment the first step towards health 1 And is not health the condition sine qua non of happiness 1 Well-organised theatrical performances only came into use during the T'ang (,Jlf) dynasty. The dances which had prevailed up to that time had become so licentious that the Emperor YDAN TSUNG (JG*) (A.D. 720) thought it necessary to prohibit them; and in their place proper theatrical representations were instituted. Theatrical pieces are divided into acts or 1fr ( eh~;, and are often preceded by a prologue or ~ -f. (sie-tze}, in which the various personages come on the stage to explain their names, qualities, and the part they are to play. Singing is the privilege of the principal actor in the piece. He represents generally a person of great virtue and moral qualities, and his singing consists in pompous eulogies of what is good and commendable. The singing is not unfrequently in the " recitative" style, and the way the orchestra accompanies, in broken, sudden chords or in long notes, bears a striking resemblance to our European recitative. Mr. G. C. STENT, of the Chinese Maritime Customs, wrote some years ago a ve1·y well– thought and well-rendered article on "Chinese Lyrics." 1 The comparisons between Chinese and foreign songs are admirably dnwn, and are full of wit and humour. I propose to introduce here some of Mr. STENT's paragraphs including some of the songs translated by him. I have, however, taken the liberty to replace the music which he has given by the real and conect tunes, which I have myself carefully noted down from hearing them played. Mr. STENT says :- " We are all aware that the Chinese are, as it were, an isolated race, and will not allow the privacy of their homes to be ruthlessly invaded by their own fellow-countrymen and friends, much less by foreigners. How, then, can we obtain a knowledge of their ,everyday domestic life ; how know anything of the thoughts, sentiments, feelings, affections, actions, and the t housMld little nameless nothings that help to make a Chinese home i • As we are now situated, t he knowledge of Chinese domestic or home life is only t o be obtained from three sources-novels, theatricals, and songs. In them foreigners ca.n see Chinese as t hey really are; see the interior of theili homes, have their daily life vividly depicted, even t o the minutest detail ; hear their endearing expressio~~- . . . . Much may be leamt from t heatricals. I do not mean what I should call their spectacul~ pieces, made up of gorgeous dresses, and fighting, but modern farces or comecties; in them Y, h see a good deal of Chinese life and manners, and pick up many a quaint expression or clll'ious custom.. A great play upon words is also often exhibited in them; absurd mistakes occurring through the similarity in the sounds of characters; so that for punnioa purposes I think, the Chinese language is unequalled. The songs ' See " J om·nU,l of the North-Chintt Branch of1ihe Royal Asiatic Society for 1871- 72," page 93-