Literati music

refers to traditional music composed or participated in the creation by intellectuals with certain cultural accomplishments in the past. It mainly includes Qin music and Ci tune music.

1. Qin music

That is, lyre music. The contributions of literati in the past dynasties to the creation and development of Qiweiqin music are mainly reflected in four aspects: Qin songs, Qin music, Qin theory and Qin scores.

Qin song is a genre that is sung with the accompaniment of the qin. The piano and the song are in an equally important position, and are played and sung by the same person. Literati in the past dynasties either absorbed elements from folk music and adapted it; or they turned their feelings about life into musical instruments to express their true feelings.

Qin music is instrumental music played only with the piano without singing. According to existing records, there are more than 3,000 pieces, of which more than 650 pieces have been passed down as music scores, and more than 100 pieces have been notated and performed. In the development process of qin music, the main contributions of literati in the past dynasties are (1) composing qin music to express their feelings directly; (2) inheriting and organizing it, forming various qin schools. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, there were Wu sound and Shu sound, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was the Zhejiang school. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were the Jiang School and the Zhejiang School. In the late Ming Dynasty, there were the Yushan School, the Shaoxing School, and the Jiang School. In the Qing Dynasty, there were the Guangling School. In modern times, there were the Fujian School, the Sichuan School, and the Shandong Zhucheng School.

Guqin music theory, written directly by literati of all dynasties, is an important part of ancient Chinese music theory. It involves theoretical issues in many aspects such as performance, creation, music temperament, and music aesthetics, which is a treasure trove for the development of music theory.

In the process of creating the Guqin notation (subtracted notation), as well as the collection, arrangement, preservation, and publication of Guqin music scores, literati of all ages have also made important contributions.

2. Ci-melody music

It is a music genre that is sung in conjunction with lyrics. The main contributions of literati to ci-tune music include: first, the selection of tunes and creation of tunes; and the second, the theoretical research of ci-tune music.

Selecting tunes and creating tunes are two ways of creating music with lyrics and tunes. Choosing a tune, also known as filling in lyrics with sound, that is, using old tunes to fill in new lyrics. The sources of quoting old tunes are: (1) from foreign regions or border areas; (2) from the folk; (3) excerpted from Daqu and French tunes. Choose a beautiful and independent passage to sing. In the application and transformation of this old Ci brand, both the graceful and bold poets have made important contributions. Creating a tune is a self-made tune. Literati made use of various tune materials circulated among the people to create innovative word brands. This method originated from Liu Yong, and Zhou Bangyan was also able to compose his own music. However, Jiang Kui (1155~1221), the most conscious creator, created "Songs of the Taoist Baishi" and made various explorations for the development of Ci Dong. and contribution. In the long-term development process, word-melody music has formed four types: Ling, Yin, Jin, and Slow, as well as changing forms such as breaking, reducing words, stealing sounds, promoting beats, and breaking tunes, as well as structures such as overlapping rhymes and couplets. form.

For the study of Ci tune music, Zhang Yan (1248~1320) has always been recommended first. His book "Etymology" gave a relatively comprehensive description of the characteristics of Ci tune in the Song Dynasty, which has become a precious research material. After that, Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan", Wang Zhuo's "Bi Ji Manzhi", Zhao Delin's "Hou Zhen Lu", etc. all left important information.

The unique characteristics of literati music are the individuality of the creative process, the centrality of creative expression, and the relative stability of music tunes.