Source: Date: 26-4-22 2:42:3

No matter whether it is a geisha in a grotto or a musician in the world, the styles of their musical instruments and their playing methods are the same, which are the portrayal and epitome of social music culture in various historical periods.

3. Decorative musical instruments with patterns

Since ancient times, China has the habit of painting or carving musical instruments on buildings as a kind of worship sacrifice, and many of them have the meaning of auspicious. This is the case with the musical instruments carved on the top of the Great Wanwu Buddha Cave in Dongshan, Longmen Grottoes. A big lotus flower is carved in the center of the top algae well of the cave, and all kinds of musical instruments, flying birds, lucky birds, pavilions, towers and floating clouds around it are arranged and combined into a decorative ring, and the outside of it is carved with orderly small sitting buddhas, which complement each other in motion and motion and are ingenious in conception. This pattern made of musical instruments is called "self-singing without drums" in Buddhist scriptures. In the figure, the musical instrument is tied with a winding ribbon and decorated in the sky, indicating that there is no one playing in heaven, and the musical instrument will ring without drums and give out the sound of Yue Xian. This ingenious idea adds to the illusory feeling of the Buddhist temple.

(3) Varieties and shapes of musical instruments

1. Traditional musical instruments

Before the Western Han Dynasty, Chinese musical instruments were mainly ancient traditional musical instruments, such as bells, chimes, drums and cymbals. Although there are also wind music such as sheng and spring, and strings such as Qin, Qin and Zhu, the composition of the band is still very simple. With the smooth traffic between the Central Plains and the western regions, many new elements have been added to Chinese musical instruments and songs, thus changing the content of China music and dance (see Table 1 and 2). The traditional musical instrument images of the Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty preserved in Longmen Grottoes are as follows.

(1) Sheng, playing musical instruments. The sheng in Longmen Grottoes in the early Northern Wei Dynasty (Figures 1 and 2) is roughly the same as that in Dunhuang and Yungang, with a long mouth and uneven bamboo tubes. In the form of sheng, the accuracy of size ratio and modeling is quite different, and the number of bamboo tubes is vague and uncertain. This may be related to the fact that the Northern Wei moved to the Central Plains at the beginning of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the degree of sinicization was not deep and the integration with the musical instruments in the Central Plains was not enough. From the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (Figure 3), the sheng was still a long-billed sheng, with neat and long bamboo tubes. As for how many bamboo pipes are set up, it is often vague and only symbolic imitation. Its shape is similar to that of Sheng in Chinese Han stone reliefs and Chu-se lacquer paintings in the Warring States Period. According to the musical instrument statistics of Longmen Grottoes in the Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, Sheng was very popular in both the Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty (see Table 1 and 2).

(2) flute, playing musical instruments. The flute in Longmen Grottoes (Figures 4 and 5) was developed from a wind instrument called "Transverse Blowing" in ancient times, commonly known as "flute". The pipe body is long, and there are no blowholes, finger holes, membrane holes and sound holes carved on it, only a symbolic imitation pipe body is made. According to the statistics of musical instruments in Longmen Grottoes, the flute was very popular in the Northern Dynasties, less in the Tang Dynasty, but it was still the main national musical instrument at that time (see Tables 1 and 2).

(3) playing flute and playing musical instruments. The flutes of the Northern Dynasties in Longmen Grottoes (Figure 6) are arranged by several bamboo pipes with different lengths, most of which are multi-wind instruments with a long end and a short end, which are shaped like wings. In the Tang Dynasty (Figure 7), the shape of the flute was changed, and the bamboo tubes were arranged neatly, with the same length. Judging from the musical instruments in Longmen Grottoes, flute playing was very popular in the Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty (see Table 1 and 2).

(4) Zheng, playing stringed instruments. The shape of the Zheng in Longmen Grottoes (Figures 8 and 9) is a symbolic imitation. The length and width of the speakers are different, and its upper strings and columns are not engraved, or sparse and vague, so it is difficult to get a clear image. Judging from the Longmen Grottoes, Zheng was popular in the Northern Dynasties, but it was extremely popular in the Tang Dynasty (see Table 1 and 2).

(5) Ruan, playing stringed instruments. It has existed since Qin Dynasty, and it is one of the ancient pipa. It is characterized by a round speaker, straight neck, twelve grades and four strings, which was called "Qin Pipa" or "Yueqin" in ancient times. Ruan Xian was good at playing this straight-necked pipa in the Western Jin Dynasty, which was called "Ruan Xian" in the Tang Dynasty and "Ruan" in later generations. Judging from the Longmen Grottoes, Ruan's shape (Figure I O) is a right circle, with a slender and straight handle, four strings and columns, which are played with a plectrum. In the Northern Dynasties, Ruan was popular, and there were two, four and six kinds of Ruan. By the Tang Dynasty, Ruan was extremely rare, with only two pieces (see tables 1 and 2).

(6) rock, percussion instrument. There are only two chimes in Longmen Grottoes (Figure 11), which appear on the top of Binyang Middle Cave and South Cave in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and belong to a single chime. It is in the shape of a "human", with the right hand holding it and the left hand holding the mallet for percussion.

(7) percussion instruments. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the striking plate appeared in Longmen Grottoes (Figure 12). It consists of nine or six rectangular wooden boards, which are connected by ropes, and the plates are pronounced with both hands.

(8) Xiao, playing musical instruments. Judging from the Longmen Grottoes, the Xiao (Figure 13) is very long, vertically blown, with no holes in it, and is generally only carved symbolically. Xiao rarely appeared in either the Northern Wei Dynasty or the Tang Dynasty.

2. musical instruments imported

There are the following musical instruments imported in Longmen Grottoes since the Han and Wei Dynasties.

(1) shells, playing musical instruments. Also known as clam and conch. Bei is also a religious musical instrument, called "Fan Bei" and "Fa Luo". It is made of a large snail shell with its spire removed. It has a loud sound and a rich tone. It is a common instrument in religious ceremonies and rituals. Judging from the Longmen Grottoes, there are very few images of the geisha music of blowing shells, only two in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and by the Tang Dynasty, the geisha music of blowing shells had disappeared.

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