Music of the Billion

Book excerpt: Music in Chinese culture is not an isolated phenomenon, but is rather a contextual phenomenon broadly related to all aspects of life. In historical China, music was integrally related to banquets, archery events, dances, etc. The word for "music" in Chinese is yue. In its inclusive meaning, yue refers to the "arts" and to music, and, together with morals, law, and politics, was traditionally considered to be one of the four fundamental societal functions. Primarily because of this emphasis, every feudal state, dynasty and republic throughout history had established an official music organization or bureau of music indicating the import of music within the society. The book is organized into two parts: one, a diachronic orientation of major musical events throughout history, and two, a synchronic focus on musical content and context. In the historical section, the patterns and themes are emphasized, so that a sense of continuation, interrelationships and changes can be observed. In part two, six topical subjects have been selected, based on what the author believes represent a sense of balance of major subjects and styles in Chinese music, that is topics on aesthetics, notation-transmission, instrumental music (high art and regional styles), theatrical music, and major musical instruments. -- Back cover.