During the primitive hunting and sacrificial activities of the early people, the earliest Chinese folk songs were produced, and the music history of the five tones was also unveiled. After thousands of years of development and evolution, Chinese music has always opened its mind to the world, always inspired free and genuine shouts, absorbed, learned and integrated, and finally formed a colorful Chinese movement.
The history of Chinese music, ancient documents generally trace back to the Yellow Emperor. Although the legend about the Yellow Emperor is mixed with the ideal elements of later generations and contains many supernatural contents, it is not completely credible (for example, it is said that the "Twelve Laws" were established during the Yellow Emperor's time, which is to attribute later creation to the Yellow Emperor. This is inconsistent with modern Scientific archaeological discoveries are inconsistent.) It is too late to regard the Yellow Emperor as the source of Chinese music: modern archaeological discoveries have greatly advanced the history of Chinese music from the Yellow Emperor's era to its history, which is far older than the Yellow Emperor's era!
From 1986 to 1987, at least 16 bone flutes were unearthed from the Neolithic site in Jiahu Village, Wuyang County, Henan Province. According to carbon 14 dating, these bone flutes are 8,000-9,000 years old. How long! These bone flutes were made from the ulna of cranes, and most of them had seven holes drilled. Some of the sound holes still have the division marks carved before drilling. A small hole was drilled next to some sound holes, which should be used to adjust the pitch. used. These circumstances at least show that at that time, people already had certain requirements for the accuracy of pitch, and they also had a preliminary understanding of the relationship between pitch and pipe length. Musicians have measured the sound of the most complete one of them and found that China, which is said to be dominated by the pentatonic scale, actually had a stable structure that went beyond the pentatonic scale as early as seven or eight thousand years ago. . (This historical fact eloquently illustrates that the later dominance of pentatonic music in Chinese music was not due to the so-called "imperfect development of scales" as some people imagine, but the result of a historical and aesthetic choice.) This also proves that Music at that time had developed to a very high level, far beyond people's imagination. Before that, Chinese music must have existed for a long historical period. It is difficult to guess whether this period is measured in thousands or tens of thousands of years.
In addition to bone flutes, musical instruments from the Neolithic period have also been found including bone whistles, xuns, pottery bells, chimes, drums, etc. These musical instruments are distributed over the vast land of China and span a wide time span, indicating that they were the main musical instruments in China's primitive period. Among them, bells, chimes, and drums have been greatly developed in later generations. As for xuns and whistles, there are also instruments with the same shape and principle as bone flutes (called "chiu" today), and they are still alive among the people today.
Xun is a very distinctive musical instrument. It is made of clay and looks like an egg (or in various deformations). Its size is similar to a Chinese fist, and it is hollow with a blow hole at the top. One or several finger holes are made in the chest and abdomen. Apart from the bone flute, the Xun is the only instrument found in the primitive era that can produce more than one tone with certainty. The Xun in the primitive period only had 1-3 sound holes and could only produce 2-4 tones. (This is very strange. It may be related to the fact that it is more difficult to calculate the holes in the small egg-shaped xun than in the tubular flute.) They reflect the development process of the Chinese scale to a certain extent, and can especially reveal the development of the Chinese scale. The interval relationship that occupies an important position in the process; some scholars today point out that it is the minor third interval that has been repeatedly emphasized from the first tone hole Xun, which can only produce two sounds. This point of view undoubtedly has important guiding significance for understanding the development of Chinese scales, the rhythmic relationship between scale tones, and even the internal mechanism of the phenomenon that the Chinese heptatonic scale still uses pentatonic as the backbone.
Music and dance in primitive times are inseparable. This is probably a unique phenomenon in the history of all nations in the world, and China is no exception. As late as the 11th century BC, China had called this art form that combined music and dance "Le". Even after music and dance became independent art forms, "Le" could still refer to both dance and music. Its vague meaning has been preserved. Today, "yue" refers specifically to music, so scholars generally refer to the "yue" in the primitive period as "music and dance." Some of the existing primitive rock paintings vividly depict primitive music and dance scenes, which are group singing and dancing activities.
According to the fragments of "memories" preserved in later documents, it can be seen that the performance of primitive music and dances and sacrifices such as praying for a good harvest were "one in two, two in one", so they must contain the reproduction of production activities.
In the primitive period, music and dance were not the objects of social division of labor. There were no full-time musicians in primitive society. Music and dance were generally social activities in tribal societies. Therefore, music and dance in the primitive period did not become independent from society as a specialized art form.
Strictly speaking, it was not until the establishment of the Xia Dynasty around the 21st century BC that music and dance truly became a social division of labor and gained independence from society. Legend has it that both Qi, the king of the early Xia Dynasty, and Jie, the last king of the Xia Dynasty, used large-scale music and dance for their own enjoyment. This shows that in the late Xia Dynasty, society had created a large number of professional music and dance personnel. This is a sign that music and dance are art and independent of society. .
Because primitive music and dance are closely integrated with primitive witchcraft, sacrifice and other activities, people's mysterious thoughts about music, dance and even some musical instruments may have originated very early. After the emergence of a country, rulers will use and strengthen the mystical view of music to manipulate and control music and dance to strengthen their rule. Some of the preserved musical myths and stories are the product of such a social background. Legend has it that the large-scale music and dance "Nine Debates" and "Nine Songs" divided into chapters were obtained from the sky by King Qi of the Xia Dynasty. We can still see the image of Qi on the musical instruments unearthed from the early Warring States Period (5th century BC). It seems that he already had the status of the god of music at that time. It is also said that the Yellow Emperor got an animal that looked like an ox and was named Kui. He used its skin to cover a drum and used the bones of the thunder beast as drumsticks. When he beat it, "the sound could be heard for five hundred miles." Be famous all over the world. Kui and the thunder beast are both imaginary magical animals. The drums at that time were actually the same as those of later generations, mostly made of cowhide, but there were also some made of cowhide (now called alligator) skin, so they also became mythological materials. Later, Kui transformed into a "man" (god) in charge of music. Kui of Menggu became the god in charge of music, which should be seen as a tortuous reflection of the dominant role of the drum, an instrument that controls rhythm, in music and dance.
The Jiahu bone flute was unearthed near the legendary Xiatai of the Xia Dynasty. This tells us that the activity area of ??the Xia Dynasty was the area where Chinese music developed at a high level. According to legend, the music and dance of the Xia Dynasty obviously surpassed that of the previous generations, which is completely understandable. If we strip away the mythical elements of the above-mentioned "Nine Bian" and "Nine Songs" that they were inspired from heaven, then the only thing left is that the "Nine Bian" and "Nine Songs" in reality are indeed incomparably magnificent and beautiful. Only this is enough to trigger people's reverie that "this music should only exist in heaven", and thus further create myths.