BCCPAM000M29-5-25000000000000

CHINESE MUSIC. 81 therefore content myself with quoting the principal paragraphs of his work, only adding a fe"· remarks where necessary :- " The invention of the slieng is shrouded with the obscurity of the mythical ages. Tradition attribute its invention to a mythical female sovereign who succeeded · F uH•HI, known as fr. MlJ (Nu-wo). Be this as it may, there cau be no doubt that the slteng itself is of great n,ntiquity ; for not only do we find frequeut ment iou of the instrument in the 'She ' and 'Shoo-king,' but t he comm,entators on ancient musical instru– meuts invariably mention the great age of the sheng, and seem to delight in speaking of it as a proof of the inventive genius and musical talent of the ancient Chinese It may well be possible that the :J# jf (p'ai-lisiao) (which see) was the prototype of the slieng. The dat e of the invention of the p 'ai-hsiao must at all events be earlier than that of the slieng, to which it bears unmistakable resemblance "From the Classics we learn that the sheng held a leading position among the instruments which were in favour at the Imperial Court:- ' When to the Prince our way we've m;ide, , We sit and hear the organs played.'' "The slieng is frequently mentioned in the 'She-king,' e.g. 'The lutes are stmck, the organ blows Till all its tongues in movement heave.' 2 'The drums loud sound, the organ swells Their flutes the dancers wave.' 3 "According to the 'Erh-ya' 4 and 'Shuo-wen,' 5 there are, or rather were, t wo distinct forms of the sMng : the largest, and probably more ancient, known as the Ji: (c/i,'ao), or ' bird's nest,' the smaller known as the fll (!io), or 'concord' The scale of these two instruments must have been different, as the one had 19, the other 13 reeds The modern slieng differs in many essential points from the ch'ao and lio The sheng consists of three separate parts,- the gom·d, the mouth-piece, and the . tubes. In shape t he gourd is very much . like a t ea-cup, and about as large It is (sometimes) perforat ed_at t he base and inlaid with a small piece of bone or ivory, also pe1forat ed The ' gourd ' was formerly made from a sort of calabash , but nowadays it is made of wood and lacquered. " The mouth-piece consists of t wo separate parts,-tbe mouth-piece proper, made of wood, lacquered and inserted into t he golll'd, and a bone or ivory plate which covers the free end. "'l'here are q pipes in all. Every pipe, exoept the non-sounding or mute, 1, 9, 16, 17, 6 is composed of two pieces; the upper part bamboo, the lower part of some hard wood, probably t eak. 'l'lie lowel' part of each sounding-pipe is so out as t o admit of a small brass tongue, exactly after the model of Emopean reed-tongues. The tongues • • are rudely fastened in with wax. Every sound-producing pipe has a slit on the inner side which serves to modify or intensify its tone. The tone of most of the reeds is rather sweet and soft, but some are harsh, and one or two almost inaudible. "Each sound-giving pipe has a ventage which must be stopped by the finger in order to produce the proper note. This ventage is on the outside of pipes 2, 5, 9, 7, 8, 10 , II, 12, 13, 14, 15; on the inside of pipes 3 and 4 . . The pipes r epr esent in all r I notes. Pipes 2 and 6 produce the same note; 12 gives the octave of 15, as does 13 of 14, and II of 7·" 1 "She-king", L, XI, r. "' • II, I, r. 3 II, VII, VI. 4 An ancient dictionary of terms. 5 An ancient diction:.H'Y, published A.D. roo. 6 Counting from the fa~·thest pipe on the right side of the month-piece,, I, 2, 3, 4, etc.