中國民族器樂的歷史與審美
修海林
《中国民族器乐典藏》“代序”
一、追溯音乐历史长河中的民族器乐
民族器乐在中国音乐发展的历史长河中，具有独特的历史价值。
中国音乐史的起源，能够远溯到大约八千年以前，是因为贾湖骨笛在历史遗址中的发现；中国音乐经过八千年的发展，仍然能够让今人再次听到那些在每一个历史时期、曾经激起过炎黄子孙音乐情感的音响、曲调，是因为作为音乐的物化形态而存留的乐器及其组合；中国人能够以“礼乐之邦”而在世界民族之林宣扬、炫耀自己的古老文明和文化传统，是因为早在周代就已在钟磬之乐中展示的感人心志的音乐文化。
当代华人能够以学术含义决不在古代“四大发明”之下的、西元前五世纪的曾侯乙编钟及其他乐器，向世人展示先秦辉煌的乐律学、乐器学、声学以及先进的冶炼铸造技术，是因为曾侯乙墓出土的乐器及其组合；在世界所有古代文明的发展中，中华文明作为唯一不曾间断的文明，在中外文化交流和沟通中能够展示其世代延承的音乐，其中作品众多、保留完整、内容丰富，也是最主要的音乐门类，就是那些不仅为华人所喜爱、并得到世界各国人民欣赏、讚誉的民族器乐；当人类希望用音乐与地外文明达成某种交流时，通过由西元一九七七年八月二十日美国发射的“航行者”号太空船携带的唱片而探寻与宇宙文明的接触，唯一被选上的中国音乐，就是能够成为体现“人的意识与宇宙的交融”的器乐——古琴音乐。历史上保存下来的琴谱有一百五十多种，有近七百首琴曲。若加上同一琴曲的不同版本，其乐曲数则可达三千馀首。琴乐文献，是曲目最为丰富的中国古代音乐文献。古琴音乐，被视为数千年前中国以及人类音乐文明在旋律、曲目、技法、音乐思想方面达到最高水准的范例。
从现今留存的音乐文物可知，在新石器时期，就已经有了骨笛、骨哨、陶埙、陶鼓、陶钟、石磬、鼍鼓等乐器。这类乐器在《尚书》、《吕氏春秋》等先秦文献中也有记载。就器乐的演奏形式而言，《管子‧轻重甲》中就记载夏代（约西元前十六世纪）的末代帝王桀曾组织“女乐三万人，晨噪于端门，乐闻于三衢”。《吕氏春秋‧侈乐》也记录“夏桀殷纣，作为侈乐，大鼓、磬、管、箫之音……”。这些记录虽然不可避免有传说中的夸大，但在乐器制作和乐队组织上追求奢侈、过度的享乐，恐怕是一种印象深刻的历史记忆。到了周代，正是由于乐器种类的繁多，才第一次出现了被称为“八音”的乐器分类法。虽说当时“乐”的活动，其艺术表现形式主要具有歌诗、器乐、舞蹈一体化的综合艺术的特徵，但是器乐在一些祭祀活动中，是发挥著主要作用的。从《诗经‧周颂‧有瞽》中“应田县鼓，鞉磬柷圉。既备乃奏，箫管备举”的描写看，器乐在祭祀活动中，发挥著重要作用。在《周礼‧春官‧宗伯》的记录中，掌管乐器演奏（或同时掌管乐舞）的乐师佔了多数。在《诗经》一些作品的描写中，琴瑟、埙篪、钟鼓的组合相和，也有某种规律可循。
春秋战国时期，不仅乐器的发展更为完善，器乐的演奏形式也更为丰富，乐队的规模也更扩展了。可能也正是因为器乐在各诸侯国贵族音乐活动中的发达，当时很有影响的思想家墨子，才会有针对地提出“撞巨钟、击鸣鼓、弹琴瑟、吹竽笙而扬干戚，民衣食之财将安可得乎？”这样的质问，甚而提出“非乐”的主张。在战国早期曾侯乙墓葬中，除了墓中室由编钟六十五件（含甬钟四十五件、钮钟十九件、楚王鎛一件）、编磬三十二件、鼓三件、瑟七件、笙四件、排箫二件、篪二件构成的由一百一十五件乐器组成的钟磬乐队，在墓乐室，还有由瑟五件、琴一件、均钟（亦称五弦）一件、笙二件、鼓一件总共十件乐器组成的乐队。这一时期，在器乐审美上，既有行乐求“和”求“乐”的雅乐审美观，又有受到质问的“听乐而震”（《国语·周语下》），以“昌大嚣庶为乐”的享乐音乐审美观。
在对器乐的审美上，战国末期的大思想家荀子，在其《乐论》中描写雅乐中不同乐器演奏在他心中产生的审美意象。他说，“鼓大丽，钟统实，磬廉制，竽笙肃和，管籥发猛，埙篪翁博，瑟易良，琴妇好”（今译：鼓声宏丽，钟声浑厚，磬声清晰，竽、笙肃和，管、籥昂扬，埙、篪广远，瑟声平和，琴声柔婉）。荀子还形容“乐”的审美意象为“故其清明象天，其广大象地，其俯仰周旋有似于四时”。这样的博大音乐气象及其审美意象，可以说是直接由音色多样、配置丰实的器乐演奏而促成的。
秦汉时期，器乐的重要发展是在军旅、仪仗行进之乐上，即所谓“旌旗鼓吹”（《汉书》）。这类马上演奏的军旅之音，统称为鼓吹乐。其中又有“鼓吹”、“横吹”之分，“有箫笳者为鼓吹，用之朝会道路”，“有鼓角者为横吹，用于军中，马上所奏者是也”（《乐府诗集》记“北狄乐”）。鼓吹乐被用于多种社会音乐活动，不仅用于仪仗行进，也用于宴乐群臣。且因应用场合、乐器编配的不同，分有黄门鼓吹、骑吹、短箫铙歌、箫鼓等类别。
魏晋南北朝时期，器乐在清商乐的活动中得到较大的发展。清商三调（平调、清调、瑟调）的伴奏乐器，分别由笙、笛、节、琴、瑟、筝、琵琶、篪组合成不同的编制。在清商三调歌舞表演的三部性曲体结构中，开首即是被称为“弦”的器乐段落。而在被称为“歌弦”的部分，器乐也在其展开中、以及在与声乐段落的对比中，发挥著重要作用。这一时期，一些由琴、筝、笙等乐器演奏的器乐独奏形式，也从相和大曲、清商乐的乐队演奏中独立出来，并被称为“但曲”，同时形成了自己的演奏曲目。如琴曲《广陵散》（又名《广陵止息》），就是这类脱胎出来的器乐独奏曲。现存最早的、用文字谱记写方式保存在下来的琴曲《幽兰》，是经由南朝梁会稽人丘明（四九三至五九○）传至唐代。后远传至日本，其谱本又于近代从日本带回中国，并被中国琴家重新打谱演奏而得以重现其乐调。古琴的独奏形式，在汉以来琴作为文人音乐的定位中，其独立性被大大强化了。这一时期的器乐演奏和组合形式，还可以从这一时期遗存的音乐文物中领略一二。
由南北朝至隋唐时期，在与外族外域的音乐交流中，不仅新的乐器种类增多，并在不同的音乐歌舞表演中形成多种多样的乐队编制。唐人段安节在其《乐府杂录》中声称当时的乐器有三百种左右。唐代的乐队编制多样，其中以清乐、龟兹乐、西凉乐较具代表性。鼓吹乐虽然仍保持有汉魏以来鼓吹乐的特徵，但在乐器使用和类型上，仅筚篥、鼓、角类就各有数种。唐代各类乐队所用的乐器主要有：琵琶、五弦、弹筝、刍筝、笙、箫、笛、筚篥、竖箜篌、卧箜篌、拍板、羯鼓、毛员鼓、都昙鼓、答腊鼓、腰鼓、鸡娄鼓、节鼓、齐鼓、担鼓、和鼓、贝、铜钹、琴、瑟、筑、钟、磬、阮、叶、埙等。在唐高祖李渊的堂弟李寿墓的石壁上，刻有坐部伎、立部伎的奏乐图，真实而直观地展示了当时燕乐的乐队演奏编制。除了史书上的记载，在保留至今的隋唐壁画及陶俑等音乐文物中，能够看到当时的各种乐队组合方式。
在器乐独奏方面，古琴保持其特有的美学品格和艺术魅力。唐天宝年间宫中琴待诏薛易简曾作《琴诀》七篇。晚唐琴人陈康士写的琴曲《离骚》也传承至今。唐代器乐独奏水准，从现存文献中看，在许多乐器上都有集中体现。《乐府杂录》中“琵琶”条，记长安康昆仑、段善本较量琵琶技艺，翻调弹奏；又记曹纲、裴兴奴琵琶技艺各有所长，所谓“曹纲有右手，兴奴有左手”。“筝”、“箜篌”、“笛”、“筚篥”、“五弦”、“方响”、“击瓯”、“琴”、“阮咸”、“羯鼓”、“鼓”、“拍板”诸条，都分别记写当时有很高演奏技艺的乐人。唐人南卓撰有《羯鼓录》，记善奏者与知音者诸事，以及一百多首羯鼓曲名。诗人白居易的长诗《琵琶行》，生动地描写了琵琶演奏技艺达到的艺术感染力：
轻拢慢捻抹复挑，初为《霓裳》后《六么》。大弦嘈嘈如急雨，小弦切切如私语；嘈嘈切切错杂弹，大珠小珠落玉盘。间关莺语花底滑，幽咽泉流水下滩。水泉冷涩弦凝绝，凝绝不通声暂歇。别有幽情暗恨生，此时无声胜有声。银瓶乍破水浆迸，铁骑突出刀枪鸣。曲终收拢当心划，四弦一声如裂帛；东船西船悄无言，惟见江心秋月白。
白居易还专写有《五弦弹》一诗，专写五弦琵琶独奏产生的审美效应：
五弦并奏君试听，凄凄切切复铮铮，铁击珊瑚一两曲，冰泻玉盘千万声。杀声入耳肤血寒，惨气中人饥骨酸，曲终声尽欲半日，四座相对愁无言。
与唐代器乐演奏的高度发达相应，唐代也产生有用于各类乐器演奏的器乐谱，如古琴减字谱、筚篥谱、筝谱、笛谱以及羯鼓谱等。
唐五代时期，在当时权贵豪门的声乐娱乐活动中，器乐演奏成为重要的音乐表演形式，并且演奏者主要是女性乐人。这方面，五代南唐宫廷画家顾闳中的《韩熙载夜宴图》，为我们提供了最为直观的见证。其中的一幅画面是有五位家伎组成“清吹”小乐队（筚篥三支、横笛二支）进行演奏，同时有一位贵客在旁参与，敲击拍板；另一幅画面是展示主客聚集在一起，专心欣赏琵琶独奏。五代前蜀王建墓中石棺座三面刻有二十四块乐舞伎正在奏乐的生动图像，其表情、姿态栩栩如生，非常传神，在古代音乐文物中不得多见。其乐队的编制，可以看到从西域传入的龟兹乐与代表汉魏传统的清乐两种乐队编制融合的迹象。
唐宋之后，絃乐器有了较明显的发展。唐代已有奚琴、轧筝，宋代有了用马尾制成弓以演奏的胡琴类乐器。金、元时从北方传入的唢呐，使鼓吹乐的演奏形式发生重要变革。唢呐成为军旅乐队和民间各种鼓吹中的重要乐器。
宋元时期的器乐，大体上可分为两类，一类是独立的器乐，一类是各类戏乐中的器乐。独立的器乐演奏形式，以宫廷教坊乐最为典型。其乐队建制基本承袭唐制，但其中值得注意的是，教坊乐队中新增的嵇琴，在乐队中的演奏人数，超过以往在传统乐队中一直居首位的琵琶。这表明弓弦乐器开始在乐队中居有重要地位。宋代的民俗音乐活动中，有多种器乐演奏形式，如具丝竹乐特点的“细乐”、“清乐”。“细乐”所用乐器有箫、管、筝、嵇琴、方响等；“清乐”所用乐器有笛、笙、筚篥、拍板、方响、提鼓、札子等。宋代的散乐其乐器组合也较丰富，从禹州白沙宋墓散乐壁画中，可以看到有乐伎十一人，演奏的乐器有筚篥（二）、横笛、细腰鼓、拍板、鼓、笙、排箫、五弦、箫等。此形式与《辽史》卷五十四记载散乐的乐器大致相同。
明清时期，宫廷鼓吹统称铙歌乐，分为卤簿乐、前部乐、行幸乐、凯旋乐四类。其中卤簿乐就是帝王的仪仗乐队。故宫博物院藏有描绘康熙一六八九年第二次南巡的《康熙南巡图》，其中第一卷展示的是康熙南巡的“大驾卤簿”，乐队是其中的重要部分。卤簿乐中使用的乐器有：大鼓四十八、仗鼓四、板四、龙头笛十二、金（锣）四、画角二十四、金钲四、小铜角八、大铜角八。当锣鼓震响，号角齐鸣，乐声激起，其气势之威武雄壮，可想而知。关于清宫各类乐队使用的乐器，故宫所藏《皇朝礼器图册》，由乾隆二十三年（一七五八）允禄等上表纂修，至乾隆三十一年（一七六六）告竣，历时八年。全书九十二册，共分祭器，仪器、冠服、乐器、卤簿、武备六部分，其中五十三至六十册为乐器部分，每开分图、文两面，有乐器的绘录和文字说明，共一百八十四开。
明清时期，民间的器乐演奏形式，种类繁多。大至可分为弦索乐、丝竹乐、鼓吹乐、吹打乐、锣鼓乐五类。弦索乐是全部由弦乐器组成的乐队。如著名的《弦索十三套》（收录于清荣斋编器乐曲集《弦索备索》），以二胡、琵琶、筝、三弦四件乐器组成。其中十三部器乐合奏曲的曲名分别是：《合欢令》、《将军令》、《十六板》、《琴音板》、《清音串》、《平韵串》、《月儿高》、《琴音月儿高》、《普庵咒》、《海青》、《阳关三叠》、《松青夜游》、《舞名马》。《河南板头曲》主要以三弦、筝、琵琶等弦乐器组成；《潮州弦诗》以二弦、筝、琵琶等乐器组成；《广东汉乐》以头弦、筝等乐器组成。
丝竹乐是以一、二件弦乐器、竹管乐器为乐队的主奏乐器，加上其他乐器而组成的乐队。《二人台牌子曲》主要以四胡、笛子、扬琴组成；《江南丝竹》主要以二胡、笛子为主奏乐器；《广东音乐》以粤胡、秦琴、扬琴、箫为主要乐器。
鼓吹乐在演奏形式上是以吹管乐器如唢呐、笛子等为主奏乐器，同时配合其他弦乐器。其中的锣鼓乐主要起伴奏、间奏作用，也会有少数独立演奏段落。《冀中管乐》、《山西八大套》多以管子为主奏乐器。《山东鼓吹》分别以唢呐、锡笛、笛子为主奏乐器。
吹打乐是以管弦乐器（或仅用管乐器）与打击乐器配合演奏的器乐演奏形式。曲中也常有专门的锣鼓或鼓的独奏段落。《西安鼓乐》（又称“长安鼓乐”）有“坐乐”“行乐”两种演奏形式。“坐乐”乐器分为旋律乐器和节奏乐器两类。旋律乐器有笛、笙、管、双云锣、方匣子五种，以笛为主奏乐器，以众笙相协笛声，有时也用管子。节奏乐器有各种型制的鼓、铙钹、锣，另有木梆、木鱼、铃等打击乐器。至今仍有演出的坐乐套曲有《尺调双云锣八拍鼓段坐乐》。另有《十番鼓》、《十番锣鼓》、《浙东锣鼓》、《潮州锣鼓》等吹打乐。清人李斗撰《扬州画舫录》（一七九五）记《十番鼓》“用笛、管、箫、弦、提琴、云锣、汤锣、木鱼、檀板、大鼓十种，故名十番鼓。”比这早一百零六年，故宫所藏《康熙南巡图》第十卷，画康熙一六八九年第二次南巡到绍兴祭大禹陵之后，取道返京至南京。卷中绘有南京秦淮河画舫乐队的实景图像，有七八人演奏三弦、鼓、笙、笛、云锣、板、胡琴等乐器。
锣鼓乐是用打击乐器组成的器乐合奏形式，民间有“清锣鼓”之称。锣鼓乐可以以某一乐种中的一种演奏形式存在，如《十番锣鼓》、《冀东管乐》，又可以以独立的乐种形式存在，如《四川闹年锣鼓》。《十番锣鼓》有多种乐器组合演奏形式。其中除打击乐器外，兼用管弦乐器的称“丝竹锣鼓”（俗称“劳荤锣鼓”），只用打击乐器的称“清锣鼓”（俗称“素锣鼓”）。而其中以笛为主奏乐器的丝竹锣鼓，称笛吹锣鼓，以笙为主奏乐器的丝竹锣鼓，称为笙吹锣鼓。
二、传统民族器乐的人文情怀与美学范畴
中国音乐的美学特质，主要在于人文情怀的抒发。在音乐中，这种人文情怀的抒发，根据不同的心境或寄託，又有不同的指向。
器乐的审美，在音乐表现形式上，比之于声乐、歌剧、舞剧等综合性音乐门类，能够更为集中而且高度调动器乐的音乐表现力和演奏技艺，器乐摆脱了歌唱中词义的传达，以及歌剧、舞剧等综合类音乐体裁中被剧情笼罩著的情感氛围，也不再通过人物行为情节和言语对白来转达具体的、概念化的思想情感内容，而是单纯以音响来描绘和展现投射于其中、却又无法用概念性的语言来传达的表现物件，其中包括从物象到心象、从情感到意识等诸方面在音响中的主观构建。在一定的文化传统和人文环境中，这种表现，在整体的风格构成上，又传达著一种人文情怀，体现著某种艺术精神。无论是在器乐的创造、表现还是审美中，人对音乐的感知和体验，始终与人的诸种感性体验乃至精神体验，处于随时的沟通、互动之中。因此，器乐又可以成为在音乐和人的沟通和互动中，最为自由、最具精神性的音乐表现形式。
中国的传统民族器乐，相较其他音乐门类，成为中国人通过音乐抒发其人文情怀，一种精神内涵最为深厚、想像力最为丰富、文化承载力最强、同时又最具自由度的传统音乐门类。
中国人对于器乐的认识，比之于西方对乐器的选择更强调某种音乐声学标准的取捨来说，更注重对音色的认识。不论一件乐器多麽简单，甚至其音色显得如何“刺耳”、“沙哑”，只要其音色具有自己的个性，并且在文化的应用中展示著特有的风格、承载著特有的人文情怀，这一乐器就不会被某种声乐标准而淘汰。
中国人对器乐的表现，比之于西方更注重对人在现实抗争中激烈情感的抒发、以及与这种激情在心理上构成平衡的、寄託于神灵并充满虔诚的宗教情怀表现，要更注重于音乐中人与宇宙、自然一体化的意境表现，以及以某种更为世俗化形式和充满趣味化情态的音响，对山林溪谷之音和世俗生活情态以模仿、表现。
在中国传统器乐作品中，人的哀思离情、感慨伤怀和所有人类音乐一样，都有自己的表达，但是因其独特的、个性化的乐器音色、演奏技法以及多种乐器编配、组合，更重要的是在其音响传达背后，作为音乐展开的动力而不断输入能量的人文情怀，使其具有无可替代的、也是最为宝贵的文化个性。
中国传统器乐审美所重者，首在人文情怀，即音乐中人文情怀的寄託与体验。其音乐的表现，虽不乏对欢乐激情的震憾表达和对内心感伤的沉鬱直抒，但就传统器乐所推崇的美学特质而言，并非是重情绪的外在展现，而是重心怀的内蕴表述。简单说，是虽求“情态”却更重“心怀”。此心怀，是主客一体、心声相映、天人合一之“心怀”。
文人情怀
中國傳統器樂中最具中國人文精神者，首推琴。「驀回首觀往事鄭聲喧囂興極一時隨聲隨滅，誠感慨視如今琴樂猶存傳承百代心存心榮」，其人文情懷正在「樂以象德」。所謂「德者得也」，琴樂何所「得」？或者說據何而「得」？琴的歷史，並非琴藝的歷史，而是琴人的歷史；琴的歷史，並非琴工的歷史，而是文人的歷史；琴對於中國知識份子，真正有價值的、也是真正值得繼承的文化精神，承繼的並非僅僅是儒家的「守以自禁」，也不只是道家的「游心太玄」，而是儒道精神在出世、入世之間的張力與平衡。所謂「達則兼濟天下，窮則獨善其身」的通達、自覺，在「盡人事」與「知天命」兩端保持足夠的張力。猶如儒者關切的是人世倫理、博愛之心的實踐，而道者潛心的是擺脫異化、合於自然的超越。兩者共通處是仍須知行合一，同需事上修練。這樣一種藝術精神，在琴樂中的直接呈現，既有《神人暢》，又有《龍翔操》；既有《瀟湘水雲》儒道情懷的合一，又有《幽蘭》獨善執一的孤寂；既有《流水》的寄情自然、心懷山水，又有《憶故人》的孝悌仁愛、人倫思情……可以體驗到不同的文人情懷。
欢乐情态
传统民间生活中的世俗情态，在音乐中的表达，以吹打乐的表达更为充分而尽兴，其表现以节庆中的热烈欢快气氛见长。若要将此种情态提升、凝结为一种最具典型性的审美范畴，可以用一个“乐”字来表达。
就“乐”的民俗情态表达而言，吹打乐是最为直接、淋漓尽致的。人心底被激发出的、最具本能的快乐情态，最擅长表达的，就是锣鼓一类打击乐器。自远古以来，鼓类乐器就以其震憾的声响，真真切切地使人心产生震动，并由此宣洩或激起内心快乐的情绪。从神话中黄帝时期的雷神之鼓，直到今日民间的各种锣鼓吹打，千百年来，鼓乐一直以其无可替代的魅力存在于世俗生活中。鼓乐的存在，透露著一个永恆的历史资讯，快乐情态的率真表现，是需要一定的震撼的。即使这种情绪在生活中受到某种压抑，也需要在某种时刻能够让其得到尽情的宣洩，体验生命的激情和力量。这可能就是民俗音乐活动中，各类锣鼓吹打经久不衰、代有传承的原因所在。
吹打乐生存、扎根于民俗生活土壤。就其文化功能而言，吹打乐在民俗生活中，既用于婚、丧、求雨迎神等仪式的演奏，也用于春节、中秋以及庙会、赛龙船等民俗节庆活动中。其表现的欢乐，多为丰收中欢乐、节庆中的欢乐、婚俗中的欢乐。吹打乐的承载者，主要为各种民间班社，其成员无论是亦农亦艺的民间吹鼓手，或是有吹打之技的道士，甚至直接来自于百姓，当地的民俗活动，也就是他们的活动，他们就是民俗活动中百姓的一员。他们在情感的投入、审美态度上，并没有“艺术家”与“人民”之间的距离感。
民间吹打的情态特徵，经常是情绪热烈，气氛红火。在传统民间吹打乐中，“乐”的情绪发展，是依据人生命情态的自然生发过程来呈现的，经常是在被结构化了的套曲程式中，由慢板、中板而至快板，直达高潮。在一些节庆吹打的边走边奏中，也会有优美、昂扬的慢板段，但整体上仍然具有由慢到快、层层递进、推向高潮的过程。在吹打乐的演奏中，来自于戏曲曲牌、民歌小调的旋律段与打击乐的锣鼓段相为呼应，或交替演奏，或衔接呼应。即使有以独奏乐器担任主奏功能的锣鼓乐，能够担任主奏的乐器，也是唢呐、笛这类在音响上具有很强穿透力，甚至被某类“音乐的耳朵”认为“刺耳”的乐器。其实，正是这种穿透力，才使得这类乐器能够在广场式、民俗性的吹打乐活动中发挥其特有的艺术魅力。这也是与吹打乐擅长表现“乐”的世俗情态美学特质相一致的。
人生离情
传统民族器乐曲中对人生离情的表现，虽然曲目并不算多，但在一些常见的经典曲目，选用题材却相对集中：王昭君思念故土、苏武牧羊、蔡文姬别子归汉，都是汉时故事，另有据唐诗意境而作、反映边塞离情的《阳关三叠》。这些都是深深刻印在中国人心中特有的、具有自身文化意识的一种历史情感。
值得注意的，在这些历史故事中的“离情”，在地域上，都跨越于中原与西域、边塞这一空间范围。这些乐曲所表达的情感，都有唐宋诗情的印记。如唐人卢照邻《昭君怨》诗就有“汉地草应绿，胡庭沙正飞。愿逐三秋雁，年年一度归”的名句；唐人边塞诗中，既有王昌龄《从军行》诗中“琵琶起舞换新声，总是关山别旧情”的诗句，更有王维《送元二之安西》诗中“劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人”的名句。到了近代，当中国处于内忧外患之际，苏武牧羊、苏武思乡的历史题材，也在传统器乐曲乃至学堂乐歌中得到表现。
可以说，在汉唐故事、唐宋诗情中提供的这些历史情感，之所以会在多种民族器乐创作中，反复得到较为集中的表现，就是因为其中提供了一种包括有与母子诀别、朋友分手，以及飘泊异乡的人生离情。这种历史情感也因其深沉和倾述中具有情绪表达的强度，可以寄託久远，并可以在不同的时代，通过不断的演绎，甚至在这些乐曲中投射各种各样的人生离情……这甚至可以说成一种历史情结。我们今天可以在琴、筝、胡琴、琵琶、扬琴乃至箜篌这些民族器乐中不断看到这种人生离情的複述。
在当代二胡的创作和演奏中，人生离情也同样造就了诸如《江河水》、《新婚别》一类器乐独奏曲乃至协奏曲。其中犹以《江河水》对生离死别中悲愤欲绝的情感表达，以及对人物内心情感变化的尽力刻划和倾诉，几乎成了凡是聆听过这首器乐曲的人心中抹不掉的情感印迹。
宫怨情思
反映宫怨情思的器乐曲，更是具有中国宫闱女性文化特徵、反映传统伦理道德规范下女性人物特定情思表现的音乐作品。而这类器乐作品中的历史情结，比之于器乐作品中的人生离情要更为集中。“汉宫秋月”环境下的宫怨思情，成了这类器乐曲创作中一个挥之不去的历史情结。
以《汉宫秋月》命名、或与汉宫情怨内容有关的器乐曲，琴、琵琶、筝、二胡以及三弦皆有之。汉宫情怨作为一个历史情感题材，若要究其情感题材的来源，恐怕首先要提到汉成帝时班婕妤写的诗篇《怨歌行》。其中“常恐秋节至，凉飚夺炎热”，诗中以秋凉代替夏季的炎热，暗喻成帝先是宠倖班婕妤，随后移宠赵飞燕姊妹。班婕妤遂请求入长信宫侍奉太后，渡过寂莫馀生。
今传各种版本的器乐曲《汉宫秋月》，其表达的内容基本一致：宫闱淑女，秋夜愁绪，抑鬱伤感，哀情抒怀。当然，在这类乐曲的传承和不断改编中，无论是表现的是汉宫中佳人怨情，还是后来以《陈隋》之名写宫闱妇怨，无论其曲调来源是否一致或借用他曲作标题改换，但是，“汉宫秋月”这一情感意象，却在民族器乐的审美中保留下来。
同样是反映宫怨情思的汉宫轶事，还有以《长门怨》为题材的器乐曲。《长门怨》最初作为文学题材，与汉武帝“金屋藏娇”典故有关，但写的是陈阿娇失宠被打入冷宫之后，花重金请司马相如作《长门赋》，继而复得宠倖之事。此事唐吴兢《乐府解题》记：“《长门怨》者，为陈皇后作也。后退居长门宫，愁闷悲思。闻司马相如工文章，奉黄金百斤，令为解愁之辞。相如为作《长门赋》，帝见而伤之，复得亲倖。后人因其赋为《长门赋》焉。”在音乐史上，《长门怨》曾作为相和歌作品而被演唱（《乐府诗集‧相和歌辞‧楚调曲》）。清代山东诸城琴派编纂的《梅庵琴谱》，收有琴曲《长门怨》。今又有黄桂芳以三弦演绎的器乐曲《长门怨》。此曲的琴声古韵，故然可以以清冷委婉见长。然而吟、猱、滑、抹，行腔润调，泣诉哀怨，却也正是三弦所长。
悠扬心境
表现悠扬心境的民族器乐曲，其共通的审美意象，是人在与自然山水的同处中，于心中生成的意境。若作艺术的比较，或者可以说，反映悠扬心境的民族器乐曲，好比是绘画中的自然山水画。人处于山水环境中，以悠扬之心意映对其境，生发和成就主客一体的审美意境，此即谓“悠扬心境”。
在这类器乐曲所表现的审美意境中，就主体面对的自然物境而言，其特徵有三：一是自然山水环境；一是处于令人閒适自得的春秋之季；一是促人生悠思之情的晚景。而此种物境中，“静”是其心理特点。只有“静”，才能显其悠扬、空旷、容其思远。而只有在自然山水之境中，才会有心理上空旷的视界，也才会有音声的漫长悠远。这类审美意境，可以称其为优美之境。
如《春江花月夜》、《渔舟唱晚》等一类具此种审美意境的民族器乐作品，或写春江两岸新柳嫩绿、春意盎然、月下花色，或写彭蠡之滨秋水荡漾，落霞满天、渔歌迴响。这类民族器乐作品较多，其演奏大多音调优美和谐、生动悠扬，属于世俗人伦情感的表达。
在这类乐曲中，若作人伦情感的比较，可以提到具道教情境的《月儿高》和具佛教情境的《普庵咒》。《月儿高》描绘月色仙境，表现意境显然与历史上唐明皇游月宫闻记仙乐的神化传说有关。唐代法曲《霓裳羽衣曲》的产生，就被附会上了这一传说。然其恬静淡雅的审美意境，却让人心旷神怡。《月儿高》同名曲，清《弦索十三套》中有此一套。又有用琵琶演奏、甚至以民乐队形式合奏的《月儿高》。“月夜之境”已然成为传统器乐曲中一个永恆的审美意象。《普庵咒》（也称《释谈章》）中的音乐意境，据《天闻阁琴谱》题解记，“其音韵畅达，节奏自然。清夜弹之，逼真暮鼓晨钟，呗经梵语。如游丛林，如宿禅院。令人身心俱静”。应当说，佛寺钟鼓，颂经声韵，称得上是别种悠扬意境。
情趣生动
“趣”，是中国传统音乐美学中应当受到重视、并且需要重建的美学范畴。在中国音乐美学史上，最早用“趣”这个词来评价器乐演奏的，一是《列子‧汤问》所记“曲每奏，锺子期辄穷其趣”，一是嵇康《琴赋》中所论“推其所由，似不解音声；览其旨趣，亦未达礼乐之情也”。值得一提的，这也是中国美学史上有关“趣”、“旨趣”的最早记载，并且都是针对琴乐审美而言。在后世包括琴乐在内的音乐美学理论中，“趣”在一定程度上被忽视了。
“趣”作为音乐美学范畴的主要特徵，一是主要指情趣（涵盖趣味、旨趣、风趣、意趣等），二是具有突出的生动性。就“情趣”而言，主要指其表现有一定的意图和意义，而“生动性”，则与某种高超、自然的演奏形态、技巧以及相关的心理体验有关。“趣”，既体现在音乐美的创造中，也体现在音乐审美体验中。情趣生动，就是对“趣”这一音乐美学范畴主要特徵的概括表述。相对于其他的民族音乐表现形式，民族器乐在其创作和演奏中，“情趣生动”的展示和体验，是最鲜明，也是最具典型性的。
这方面的典型案例，如笛曲《鹧鸪飞》，原曲虽为湖南民间乐曲，但原来是用箫来演奏，在1926年严个凡编的《中国雅乐集》中，原曲题解称“本曲不易用笛”。后来不仅用丝竹乐来演奏，并且改编为笛曲，久演不衰。其原因就是在该曲的情趣生动上，重新演绎，形神兼备，发挥了笛乐的优势。虽为“由雅入俗”，反向移植，却获得极大成功。这可以说是器乐领域“情趣生动”美学实践的成功。
在民族器樂曲上，我們既可欣賞到《老鼠娶親》（絳州鼓樂）、《老虎磨牙》（西安鼓樂）、《鴨子拌嘴》（西安鼓樂）、《滾核桃》（絳州鼓樂）、《沖天炮》（四川鑼鼓）這類富有情趣的鼓樂，也可體驗到笛曲《蔭中鳥》、嗩呐曲《抬花轎》、笙曲《鳳凰展翅》等趣味不一的獨奏曲。民族器樂曲中的「情趣生動」，一方面體現在「動象」模仿的生動，另一方面體現在「意象」表達的生動。尤其是在音樂審美中，「趣」直接相關於「情」而非「理」；「趣」並非僅僅是一種審美判斷力，同時也是一種創造和表現；「趣」也更重視「快樂」而非「平和」。相對而言，「趣」也更近民俗而非典雅。
生命抒怀
所谓“生命抒怀”，指的是在器乐演奏中对生命情怀、人生感悟以深切的抒发。其特点之一，是以直觉而自然的呈现，将烂熟于心的音乐曲调，在随心而动、随情而发的状态下进行演奏和抒发。这种状态甚至可以是处于下意识的、即兴的演奏状态；其特点之二，是其演奏所展示的，虽然只是乐曲的情绪化表现，但却寄託了创作者以及演奏者对人生的体验和深切感悟一类精神性内容，成为“有意味的形式”。因此，在这种器乐的演奏中，乐曲的情绪状态本身就与演奏者的内心生活，或者说是生命的运动形式，具有类似性。由于这种生命的运动形式在音乐情感心理的整合中，综合著多种心理活动，并且具有一定的节律感，随著心绪不断生成、延展，因此，其乐曲的展示，不仅有著丰富的情感意味，并且具有一定的节奏模式和自然成生、变奏的曲体特点。在民族器乐曲中，具有这种美学特质的、最为经典的乐曲及其演奏，就是华彦钧的二胡曲《二泉映月》。
全曲的深沉感歎、抑扬起伏，在具一定规律的节律感的制约下，作即兴性的、单一主题的变奏，正具有一种在长期的抒发中形成的表现方式。这种表达仍然可以延续下去。阿炳的表达，因其即兴性，可以因时而异，可以不断展开……这是真正具有生命运动形式的音乐，是演奏者对人生感怀的直接抒发。其存在已经超出了一部音乐会作品的意义。
这样的民族器乐曲，在当今的中国音乐的宝库中还能举出多少？或者说还能产生多少？或许在刘天华的创作中、我们能够体验到这种“生命抒怀”，或许在当代的民族器乐创作中，我们还能听到这样的音乐？传统民族器乐演奏的精髓之所以是重在“演绎”，就是因为这个过程。这是一个生命情怀的感受、蕴积被不断抒发的心理过程。其即兴性、延展性、节律感以及潜意识深处积蓄的人生感怀，在直觉状态下的情绪性抒发，正是这种“生命抒怀”的美学特质所在。因此，这已经不是通常意义上所说的，一首音乐会曲目演奏那般意义上的演奏。
民族乐风
在艺术审美中，风格既是对某种艺术表现样式的判断，也关係到对其审美价值的评价。就像“风格”是音乐审美中一个很重要的判断和评价标准那样，在民族器乐审美中，一首作品是否具有其鲜明的民族音乐风格，同样是审美判断和评价中的重要标准。特定艺术风格的形成，不仅和包括创作技法、作品样式在内的艺术发展有关，也和某一民族的艺术风格，某一时代的民族精神和审美意识相关。艺术作品的民族风格，基于特定民族文化群体中对其艺术样式和表现方式的认同，既是个性与共性相统一的主观表达，同时也是一个客观的存在。在民族器乐创作和表现中，一部作品是否具有独特的民族乐风，是否具有特定时代的民族精神，是审美评价中必须关注到的一个方面，同时也成为一种审美态度和要求。从这个意义上说，“民族乐风”也是一个音乐审美范畴。
民族器乐风格特徵的形成，其构成要素是多样而统一的。其中既包括对各种民族乐曲、音调（包括方言音调）、音乐表现技法上的特点等作为素材在创作中的吸收和运用，也包括将构成民族音乐风格的各种因素，在创作上化为自己的语言，对作品的音乐风格作整体的把握和表现。从民族器乐的创作实践来看，越是具有地方民族音乐风格的作品，就越容易为广大民众接受。例如陝西的秦腔、河南的豫剧、河北的梆子、京剧的曲牌、河北秧歌、广东音乐以及新疆歌舞音乐，其鲜明而有特色的音乐风格，都直接影响并产生了一大批具“民族乐风”特徵的民族器乐曲。
壮怀激荡
在民族器乐审美范畴中，如果说“悠扬心境”作为一种审美意境，其艺术表现可称之为“优美”之境，那麽，表现“壮怀激荡”的审美意境，其艺术表现可比之为“壮美”。当然，“悠扬心境”和“壮怀激荡”作为民族器乐审美范畴，之所以不等同于“优美”、“壮美”，是因为更为突出人处于自然、社会环境中生成的审美意境。相比较而言，“悠扬心境”主要体现的是音乐中表现的、人在与自然山水同处中产生的审美意境，而“壮怀激荡”则主要体现的是音乐中表现的、人处于充满矛盾衝突社会生活中而形成的审美意境。这其中的“壮怀”，主要指壮美、悲壮之感怀；而“激荡”则首先指音乐情感表现上的激荡之情，这种激荡之情，经常是与音乐作品中的宏大敍事联繫在一起的。
称得上是“壮怀激荡”的民族器乐独奏曲，可以提到琵琶独奏曲《十面埋伏》、《霸王卸甲》。这两首乐曲以历史上的楚汉战争为其音乐题材，以题性敍事作为乐曲展开和情节描述的依据，在史诗般的战争场景中，或营造战场氛围，刻划人物心态。只有在中国的民族器乐——琵琶中，才能将如此宏大的战争场景作绘声绘色的表现。其中的许多表现技法的运用，虽然是具像的、甚至是像声的，但全曲给人的体验，却是一种整体的、也是深刻的意象，在心灵上留下更多的，是一种气氛上的心理印象。其独特的音乐表现方式，恐怕对于现代派作曲家也是非常具有挑战性的。
以民族器乐协奏曲的形式来表现“壮怀激烈”审美意境的作品，在当代音乐创作的宏大敍事中，产生有不少好作品。在这部典藏中就琵琶协奏曲《草原英雄小姐妹》、二胡协奏曲《长城随想》、古筝协奏曲《汩罗江幻想曲》等。
以上对中国民族器乐的历史与审美所作扼要的敍述和阐发，仅仅是一个粗线条的勾勒。其中有关中国民族器乐的人文情怀与审美范畴的论述，提出有一些新的见解。面对中国传统民族音乐的美学特质，如何构建中国自己的音乐美学范畴体系，进行提炼、归纳和总结，仍需作不断的探索。值此中秋之夜，联想由古至今“月亮”在传统民族器乐中作为审美意象，在中国人心中留下的深深文化烙印，特撰七言诗一首，与这部《典藏》中所收“月境”之曲相证：“自古中秋月有辉，无关晴雨乱云飞。一镜千心成众愿，犹如千手渡慈悲”。
本文撰写应香港龙音制作有限公司之邀而作，是为《中国民族器乐典藏》之代序。
中国音乐学院 中国音乐史学研究中心主任
修海林
二○○七年中秋于北京和平里
修海林：
《音乐研究》编委
中国音乐史学会常务副会长
中国音乐美学学会理事
中国音乐学院教授
前中央音乐学院音乐研究所所长
前中国教育部高等学校社会科学发展研究中心研究员
前绍兴文理学院蔡元培艺术学院院长
中国音乐学院中国音乐史学研究中心主任
The History and Aesthetics of Chinese Folk Music Instruments
Chinese Music Conservatory
Director of Centre of Chinese Music History Studies
Xiu Hailin
Hepingli Lane, Beijing, on Mid-Autumn Festival of 2007
[I] Retrace Folk Music Instruments in the River of Music History
Folk music instruments possess very unique historical values in the river of music history in China.
The origin of Chinese music history can be traced back to about eight thousand years ago, when bone flute of Jiahu Lake was discovered in historical relics.
After eight thousand years’ development, it is the instruments and their combinations which exist as the materialized morphology of music that allow people of current era to be able to hear the tunes and melodies which have enlightened and excited every Chinese in each historical period about their nation.
Thanks to its enlightening music culture which originated from Zhou Dynasty when people then were already enjoying the beauty of bells and chime stones, people of China can publicize and show off its ancient culture and traditions in the world of different nationalities and cultures in the name of descendents of “nation of rites and music.”
Only with the instruments and their combinations unearthed in century 5BC from the tomb of Yi, King of Zeng State, can Chinese people of current era display to the world its achievements in studies on melodies, instruments, vocality and advanced metal casting technologies of ancient Qin Dynasty, which are no lower than the “Big Four Inventions” of ancient China in terms of excellence.
Among ancient cultures of the world, Chinese culture is the only one that has never been interrupted in its development. In this culture, it 1s also the folk instrumental music which is enjoyed by not only Chinese but also people of other parts of the world that is inherited and passed on from generation to generation in the international cultural communication and exchanges, and that is rich in product types, complete in forms and colorful in contents and becomes the mainstream music type.
When human beings wanted to use music to reach certain communication with extraterrestrial civilization, and when America decided to bring some music with the spacecraft to be launched on Aug. 20″, 1977 so as to get in touch with other possible cultures in the space, the only Chinese music selected was that of gugin, considered to be instrumental music that represents the “mingle of human consciousness with the space.” There are over 150 types or saying over 700 pieces of music score books passed on in the history. If different editions of the same score books are considered, the amount reaches over 3,000 pieces. Scriptures about gugin music are most abundant ones in the Chinese ancient music field. Gugin music 1s the example that can show the highest level of the music cultures in China or the earth in fields of melodies, music pieces, techniques and music philosophy thousands of years ago.
According to music antiques still existent nowadays, there were already instruments such as bone flutes, bone whistles, pottery xuns, clay drums, clay bells, stone gings (chimes), tuo drum. Such instruments were also recorded in such ancient Qin scriptures such as “Shang Shu” and “Lushi Chunqiu (A Work of Diversified Subjects Compiled by Lu Buwei, an official in Qin Dynasty)”. As for the performance types of those instruments, there were related recordings in “Guanzi— Qin Zhong Jia”. It says that the last king of Xia Dynasty (around 16″ century BC)—Jie—once organized “thirty thousand female musicians” to play “in the morning at Gate Duan”, which echoed all around the thoroughfare.” “Lushi Chunqiu—She Yue (Big-Scaled Music)” writes, “Jie of Xia Dynasty and Zhou of Yin Dynasty liked to organize big-scaled and exaggerated music, played by big drums, gings, pipes and xiaos (vertical bamboo flutes), etc. Such recording was no exceptions to some legendary exaggerations, but it is an unforgettable description of the historical happening when people of that time searched for luxury and over-enjoyment by organizing super-big bands to make instruments’ performance. When the time reached Zhou Dynasty, there emerged for the first time the classification of instruments of “Ba Yin (music sounds produced by ancient instruments of eight different materials—metal, stone, string, bamboo, gourd, clay leather and wood)” due to too many types of instruments. Though the activity of “yue” at that time was a combination of performance types as poems’ singing, instrumental music and dancing, music performance played by various instruments was still the most important among activities for offering sacrifices to gods or ancestors. Descriptions in “Collection of Poems—Odes to Zhou Dynasty—You Ye” such as “Yingtian county drums and Taoqing Zhuyu, are ready for performance, and so are xiaos and pipes” show the importance of instrumental music in such activities. In descriptions in “Rites of Zhou Dynasty—Chun Guan—Zhong Bo”, music masters responsible for instrumental performances (or dancing music performances as well) covered the largest proportion of the band. Among works in “Collection of Poems”, combinations of gins and sehs, xun s and chis, chimes and drums are popular and organized regularity.
In Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period, not only instruments developed even more, but also performance types became more colorful and bands bigger in sizes. Maybe it was due to the prosperity of instrumental music in activities held by nobles of various states that Mo Z1, a great thinker of the ancient Qin period and founder of Mohism, sharply questioned such activities like this—*“super bells and drums are stricken, gins and sehs are played, yus and shengs are blown, but where can people get their clothes, food and other properties?” He even advocated “no music activity” any more. In the tomb of Yi, king of Zeng State in the early stage of Warring States, people found not only one big-scaled chime-and-qing band in the Middle Hall of consisted of 115 pieces of instruments, including 65 bel/ sets (45 pieces of yong chimes, 19 pieces of niu chimes, and one piece of King Bo of Chu), 32 chime sets, 3 drums, 7 sehs, 4 shengs, 2 pai xiaos and 2 chis, but also a 10-instrument band in the music hall of the tomb consisted of 5 sehs, 1 gin, 1 jun bell (also called jive-strings), 2 shengs and one drum. At that time, in the aesthetics on instrumental music, people preferred not only “Ya Yue (court music)” which searched for “harmony” and “happiness” of music, but also the hedonistic music which was mainly for “Guo Yu—Zhou Yu Xia”) (“Guo Yu” is the earliest work in China about histories of different states) as “astonishing when music is played.”
Another great thinker at the end of Warring States period Xun Z1 (also called Xun Kuang, known for his doctrine of man’s natural wickedness), described in his work “On Music” different artistic conception created in his minds by different instruments in “court music.” He said, “Drums sound so grand and magnificent, be//s so sonorous, yus and shengs solemn, pipes and yue exciting, xun and chi far-reaching, sehs peaceful, and gins elegant.” Xun Z1 also described the artistic conceptions that “yue—court music” created in his mind “as clear as the sky and as wide as the earth and its far-reaching influence is forever.” It is fair to say that such majestic music phenomenon and artistic conceptions were directly contributed by instrumental performances of various tones, modes and rich combinations of instruments.
The important development of instrumental music in Qin and Han dynasties was mainly in that played in military events and rituals, i.e., “drums played to the flying of army flags.” (“Han Shu (History on Han Dynasty)”). This kind of military music played on horses was classified as “Gu Chui Music (ensemble of wind and percussion music), which again included “Gu Chui” and “Heng Chui”. “If there are xiao and jia (a kind of whistle made of reed), it is called Gu Chui and normally used on the road for royal gathering.” “If there are clarion and horns, it is called Heng Chui and normally used in military events and played on horses.” (recorded in “Beidi Music” of “Yuefu Shiyji (Poem Collection of Royal Music Bureau)’). Gu Chui music was widely used in many social events, not only in the marching ceremonious of guards of honor, but also in banquets held for officials. Due to different occasions and organization of the instrumental bands, there are also classifications of Huangmen Guchui, Qi Chui (performance on horses), Duanxiao Naoge (music played by short flutes and nao) and Xiao Gu (music by xiao and drums).
In periods of Wei, Jin and South-North-Dynasty, instrumental music achieved considerable development via Qingshang Music activities. Instruments used for accompaniment in Qingshang Three Tones (Ping Tone, Qing Tone and Seh Tone) are normally different combinations of sheng, flute, jie, gin, seh, zheng, pipa and chi. In dancing and singing performances in Qingshang Three Tones which were normally in three-chapter patterns, the beginning was normally instrumental music chapter called “xian (string).” Meanwhile, in the chapter named as “ge xian (literally songs and strings)’, instrumental music continued, and exerted its important influence as comparison to the singing paragraphs. At this period of time, some solo performance type by instruments like gin, zheng, and sheng also derived from some band performances of Xianghe Daqu and Qingshang Music, and was named as “Dan Music,” and formed its own repertoire works. For example, gin work “Guangling San” (also named “Guangling Zhix1’) was one solo piece derived from them. Qin work “You Lan (Fragrant Lily)”, which is the earliest qin piece recorded by character notes so far, was passed on to Tang Dynasty by Qiu Ming (493-590) from Huiyji of Liang State in South Dynasty. It was later spread to Japan, and its score tablature was brought back to China from Japan. Chinese gin musicians re-scored it for performances so that its ancient tunes were recovered. The solo character of qin performances greatly strengthen since gin music has been considered as music for scholars. We can still know a little about the instrumental performances and bands’ organization of this period of time from some music relics excavated.
In South-North-Dynasty, Shui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, people had more music exchanges with exotic regions, which brought up more types of instruments as well as diversified organizations of bands in various dancing and singing performances. Duan Anjie of Tang Dynasty said there were around 300 types of instruments at that time in his work of “Yuefu Zalu (Tittle-Tattle about Royal Music Bureau).” The organization of Tang’s bands diversified a lot, among which Qing Music Band, Guizi Music Band and Xiliang Music Band were most typical. Guchui Music still maintained its characters since Han and Wei dynasties, but changed somewhat in the usage and organization of instruments. For example, there were different types simply in instruments like bili, drums and clarions. Instruments used by bands of Tang Dynasty mainly included pipa, ftve-strings, tan zheng, chu zheng, sheng, xiao, flute, bili, vertical kung-hung, lying kung-hung, clapper, jie drum, maoyuan drum, dutan drum, dana drum, waist drum, jilou drum, jie drum, qi drum, dan drum, he drum, bei, brass cymbals, gin, seh, zhu, bell, ging, ruan (a kind of pipa), ve, xun, etc. In stone walls of the tomb for Li Shou (cousin of Li Yuan, first emperor of Tang Dynasty), there were inscriptions of pictures showing performances of Zuobu Ji (sitting professional female dancer or singer in ancient China) and Libu Ji (standing professional female ones), which visualized the organization of instrumental bands of Yanyue Music at that time. Besides historical recordings, we could also see the organization of various bands on music relics like frescoes and pottery-cotta figurines of Shui and Tang dynasties maintained so far.
In solo instrumental performances, ancient gin always maintained its unique beauties and artistic charms. Xue Yijian, a gin official serving in Tang court during the reign of Tianbao, wrote seven articles named as “Qin Jue (literally secrete scores of qin).” The qin piece “Li Sao (the title of a long poem authored by Qu Yuan of the state of Chu during the Epoch of Warring States in which Qu Yuan vented his grievances for being disparaged and discarded by the king)” composed by Chen Kangshi, a qin musician in late Tang Dynasty, was also passed on today. Solo performances in Tang Dynasty were of high level in many instruments based on existent scripts. In the volume “Pipa” of “Yuefu Zalu’, it described the competition of pipa between Kang Kunlun and Duan Shanben in Xi’an city. In this story, one of the musicians played solo pipa piece backward from the end to the beginning. It also thought highly of the skills of pipa performances by Cao Gang and Pei Xingnu by writing “Cao Gang has his excellent ‘right-hand performance’ and Pei Xingnu is good at ‘left-hand skills’.” In volumes of “zheng”, “kung-hung”, “flute”, “bili”, “five strings”, “fangxiang”, “ji ou”’, “qin”, “ruanxian”, “jie drum”, “drum”, and “clapper’’, the author wrote all kinds of excellent performers at that tme. Nan Zhuo of Tang also wrote the book “Jie Drum Lu (On Jie Drum)” to retell stories about the performers and their audience, and also recorded about 100 jie drum works. The long poem “Pipa Xing (Pipa Song)” written by Bai Juyi described vividly the great artistic charms of pipa performance when it reached certain level.
Slightly touching and then plucking,
Playing first “Ni Shang” and then “Liu Yao.”
Bold strings-they pattern like the dashing rain,
Lighter strings-they sound like lovers’ whispers. C
hattering and pattering, pattering and chattering,
As pearls, large and small, on a jade patter fall.
One time, they sound smooth as the chirping of golden oriole under the valley flowers;
The other time, they become chopped water fighting to run through the ice.
Like the water is stopped by ice, strings were frozen as well;
And sounds gradually pause in the middle.
Thus, depressing sentiments revolve around persons present;
No music now, but more exciting when silent.
Suddenly, a silver pot breaks, and bursts out the water;
In such a power, it is like iron cavalry charging without fear.
Here comes the end when plectrum plucks in the middle;
Four strings create one sound of cracking.
No voice from the audience on this boat and either on that boat;
Only the autumn moonlight whitely reflects itself in the middle of river!
Bai Juyi also wrote one poem “Wu Xian Tan (Five Strings)” to especially depict the beauty of solo performance of five-stringed pipa.
Listen to the five strings;
Sad, miserable, and then powerful.
One or two pieces played with plectrum;
Like pearls, large and small, on a jade patter fall.
Sounds of battlefield echo around—cooling the blood in the skin;
Miserable like when hunger in stomach and aching in bones.
Now, long after music ends;
Still nobody talks, in sadness.
In accordance to the advanced development of the instrumental music performances in Tang Dynasty, there emerged also scores used by different kinds of instruments in this dynasty, such as Jian Zi Pu (Scores in Simplified-Word)” for ancient gins, Bi Li Score, Zheng Score, Flute Score and Jie Drum Score.
In Five Dynasty Period, among various vocal and music entertainment activities held by the powerful officials and rich and influential clans, instrumental performances were important ones and were mainly played by female musicians. The painting “Han Xizai Evening Banquet” by the court painter Gu Hongzhong of South Tang State during the Five Dynasty Period provided to us the most visualized proof of such kind of performances. One of the scenes in the painting showed a “pure organ instrument” band (including 3 pieces of bili and 2 flutes) formed by five professional female musicians serving in nobles’ families were performing, while one of the noble guests was clapping beside. Another scene showed guests and the host got together and enjoyed the solo performance of pipa with great concentration. In the tomb of Wang Jian in the Early Shu State of Five Dynasty Period, people found 24 vivid pictures on three sides of his coffin showing professional dancers dancing with lively and delicately painted facial expressions and gestures, which was quite rare in the ancient relics related to music. The organization of their bands showed traces of the integration of two kinds of bands—the guizi music band imported from Turkestan regions (currently Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) and Qing Music band—the representative of traditions passed on from Han and Wei dynasties.
Stringed instruments achieved very obvious development after Tang and Song dynasties. There were already xi gin and zha zheng in Tang dynasty, and some urheen-like instruments played with bow made of horse tails in Song Dynasty. So-na which was introduced from the North in Jin and Yuan periods greatly reformed the performance types of Guchui Music. So-na became an important instrument in military bands and various Guchui Music activities in folklore.
Among instruments of Song and Yuan dynasties, there were generally two categories: one was for those played in independence; and the other was for those played in operas. Royal court Jiaofang Music was the typical one among independent instrumental performances, and the organization of bands inherited the tradition of Tang Dynasty. However, it is noteworthy that ji gin, a new instrument in Jiaofang Music Band, was played at that time with most performers within the band, even beyond the number of pipa performers which used to be the highest in traditional band. This shows that bow-and-stringed instruments began to hold important status in bands. Among folklore music activities in Song Dynasty, there were diversified performance types, such as “Xi Music” and “Qing Music” specialized in bamboo-and-stringed instruments. In “Xi Music” performances, common instruments included xiao, pipe, zheng, ji gin and fangxiang; while in “Qing Music” performances, performers normally used flute, sheng, bili, clapper, fangxiang, ti drum and zhazi, etc. In “San Music” performances of Song Dynasty, the combinations of instruments were also very colorful. From the San Music murals excavated from Song tombs in Baisha of Yu Zhou, we could see 11 professional music lady performers using 2 pieces bili, and horizontal flute, narrow waist drum, clapper, drum, sheng, pai xiao, five strings and xiao. This organization was almost same as those instruments recorded for San Music in Volume 54 of*Liao Shi (History of Liao).”
In Ming and Qing periods, Guchui Music in courts was called Nao Ge Music, classified again into four categories: Lubu Music, Qianbu Music, Xingxing Music (Xingxing means either emperors travel outside of the courts or they stay overnight in certain concubines’ courts) and Trrumph Music. Among them, Lubu Music was played by royal guards of honors. “Kangxi Nanxun Tu (Picture on Emperor Kangxi Travels South)’ (Kangxi, an emperor (1662-1723) in Qing Dynasty) kept in the Imperial Palace Museum described what happened when Kangxi made an imperial inspection tour of the South for the second time in 1689. Volume I showed “Dayjia Lubu” (the royal guards of honors), for which the band was one important part. Instruments used in Lubu Music Band included: big drums (48pcs), zhang drums (4pcs), clapper (4pcs) dragon-head flutes (12pcs), jin (gongs) (4pcs) hua jiao (painted clarions—24pcs), jinzheng (4pcs), small brass clarions (8pcs), and big brass clarions (8pcs). When gongs and drums were stricken and clarions were blown, sounds suddenly burst out, and the grandeur and power was vividly mirrored in people’s minds. Yun Lu, one official in Qing Dynasty, asked for the royal permission to edit the “Collection with Pictures of Royal Ritual Objects” in 1758 (year 23 of the reign of Qianlong, an emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1736-1796)), which included various instruments used in royal bands. The collection was completed in 1766 after eight years’ edition and revision. It included 92 volumes, including six parts as for funeral objects, ceremonious objects, official costumes, instruments, lubu and military equipment. Volumes 53 to 60 were for instruments and two sides of each page were devoted respectively to the picture and literature explanations about the instruments. Totally, there are 184 pages.
Folk instrumental performance types in Ming and Qing dynasties wer every diversified. They could be roughly categorized as Xiansuo Music, Sizhu Music, Guchui Music, Chuda Music and LuoGu Music.
Xiansuo Music was played by bands with only stringed instruments. Famous ones included “Xiansuo Shisan Tao (Xiansuo Thirteen Ensembles)” (collected into the music collection of “Xiaosuo Beisuo” compiled by Rongzhai of Qing Dynasty) played by bands of wrheen, pipa, zheng and sanxian (three strings). The thirteen instrumental works are respectively “He Huan Ling”, o> ce 29 “Jiangjyun Ling”, “Shiliu Ban”, “Qinyin Ban’, “Qingyin Chuan’, “Pingyun Chuan’, “Yue’er Gao”, “Qinyin Yue’er Gao”, “Pu’an Zhou”, “Hai Qing”, “Yangguan Sandie”, “Songqing Yeyou” and “Wu Mingma.” “Henan Bantou Qu” was played by bands composed of sanxian, zheng and pipa, etc. “Chaozhou Xianshi” was played by bands of erxian (two strings), zheng, pipa, etc., and “Guangdong Hanjia” was by bands of touxian, zheng, etc.
Sizhu Music was played by bands with one or two stringed or bamboo-pipe instruments as the leading ones plus other instruments. “Er’rentai Paizi Qu” was by sihu, flute and cimbalom; “Jiangnan Sizhu (South Yangtze River Stringed and Bamboo Music)” mainly by urheen and flute; while “Guangdong Music” mainly by Guangdong urheen, qin qin, cimbalom and xiao.
Guchui Music was mainly played by wind instruments such as so-na and flutes accompanied by other stringed instruments. Gongs and drums also served as accompanying instruments and sometimes solo instruments in certain chapters. “Jizhong Pipe Music (Middle Hebei Pipe Music)” and “Shanxi Eight Ensembles” mainly used pipes; while “Shandong Guchu1” mainly used so-na, xi flute and flute.
Chuida Music is a kind of performance type mainly using orchestra instruments (or sometimes only wind instruments) accompanied by percussion instruments. There are often solo chapters of gongs and drums. “Xi’an Guyue (also named “Chang’an Gu Yue)” has two kinds of performances— “Zuoyue Music (Music Played When Seated)” and “Xing Yue (Music Played When Walking)”. Instruments of “Zuoyue Music” are classified into two types respectively for melody and beats. Those for melodies include flutes, sheng, pipe, shuangyun gong and fangxiazi, with flute as the leading one and sheng group or sometimes pipes to accompany flute sounds. Those for beats include drums, naobo, gongs, wooden bang, muyu (wooden knocker) and chimes in various shapes. Zuoyue Music works that are still played nowadays include “Chidiao Shuangyun Gong Music with EightBeat Drum Chapter’, “Shifan Drum”, “Shifan Gong and Drum”, “Zhedong Gong and Drum” and “Chaozhou Gong and Drum”. Li Dou of Qing Dynasty wrote “Yangzhou Huafang Lu (Recordings in the Tourist Boat of Yangzhou)” (1795) described “Shifan Drum” like this—‘Performers used ten kinds of instruments as flute, pipe, xiao, xian, tiqin, yun gong, tang gong, muyu, tan clapper and big drum. Therefore, this kind of music is called Shifan Drum.” 106 years earlier than this, in Volume X of “Kangxi Nanxun Tu” kept by the Imperial Palace which showed Kangxi took the route of Nanjing to return to Beijing after paying his tribute to Dayu Tomb in Shaoxing in his second royal inspection to the South in 1689. There was real picture about the band in the tourist boats along Qinhuai River of Nanjing where seven or eight peopled bands used sanxian, drum, sheng, flute, yun gong, clapper and urheen.
Luogu (gong and drum) Music is a kind of ensemble performance type using percussion instruments mainly. There was another name of “Qing Luogu (pure gongs and drums)” in the folk. Luogu Music can exist as a kind of performance form within certain music type,such as in “Shifan 999 Luogu” and “Jidong Guanyue’” it can also exist as an independent music type, such as in “Sichuan Naonian Luogu (Sichuan Gong and Drum Music to Celebrate Festivals)”. There are different performance forms for “Shifan Luogu’”. That played by percussion instruments as well as orchestra instruments is called “Sizhu Luogu” (more worldly name is known as “Laohun Luogu (literally means mixed luogu)’”). That simply played by percussion instruments is called “Qing Luogu” (more worldly name ias “Su Luogu (literally means pure luogu)”). Among Sizhu Luogu, there are also Dichui Luogu which uses flutes as major instrument, and also Shengchui Luogu which uses shengs as Major instrument.
[ll] Humanistic Sentiments and Aesthetic Ideography of Traditional Folk Music Instruments
The aesthetic nature of Chinese music mainly lies in the expression of humanistic sentiments. In music, such expression of humanistic sentiments can differ from different states of mind and wishes and can also have different directions.
The aesthetics of instrumental music can be more concentrated and more enlightening in activating the expressiveness and performance skills of music than other comprehensive music types such as opera, vocal music and theatrical music in terms of music representation methods. Instrumental music gets rid of the limitations that meanings need to be expressed with words in singing or by the emotional atmosphere popular in the dramatic contents of opera or music theatres. It also doesn’t require the acting plots and dialogues of the personnel to express the concrete or conceptual contents of thoughts and motions. Instead, it uses pure audio effects to depict and display subjects that are innate but hard to be expressed with generalized languages. Such subjects include such subjective constructions depicted by the audio effects as materialized images as well as mental images, from motions to consciousness. In certain cultural traditions and humanistic environment, such depiction and representation again pass a kind of humanistic motions and represents a kind of artistic spirit in terms of overall stylistic construction. No matter it is the creation, representation or aesthetics of instrumental music, people’s senses and experiences of the music keep communication and exchanges at all times with their perceptual experience or even spiritual experience. Therefore, instrumental music becomes the most free and spiritual representation method in the communication and interaction between music and people.
Chinese traditional instrumental folk music, compared with other music types, has become the type with the deepest spiritual connotations, the most colorful imaginations, the strongest power to convey cultures and the highest flexibility that Chinese people can use to express their humanistic motions.
Compared with western people who stress more on the choice or giving-up of some music types based on certain music or vocal standards, Chinese people stress more on the understanding of music timbres of certain instruments. For one piece of instrument, no matter how simple it is and no matter how “sharp” or “rough” its timbre is, so long as it has its own individuality and can display its unique style in applications and convey unique humanistic sentiments, this instrument will not be eliminated simply due to certain vocal standards.
Westerners like to express by music the strong emotions that people have in minds when struggling with the reality as well as the loyal religious sentiments that people have developed to balance their strong feelings by placing hopes on gods. Rather than that, Chinese pay more attention to the expressions of minds achieved by the integration of human, the space and the nature, and also to mimic and represent the sounds in the woods, the water and the valleys as well as the real lite by using more worldly and interesting audio effects.
In traditional Chinese instrumental music works, people have their own ways to express depressions due to parting from families, relatives and friends like the music of all other nationalities. However, due to their uniqueness and individuality in timbres, performance skills and the organization and combinations of multiple instruments, and more importantly, due to the humanistic sentiments that lie behind the music and that continuously give power to the expressions of music, traditional instrumental music possesses the most powerful and valuable cultural characters that are not to be replaced.
The aesthetics of traditional Chinese instrumental music focuses first on humanistic sentiments, i.e., the entrustment and experience of humanistic sentiments inside music. Though there are no exceptions to direct expressions of the movement due to happiness and excitement or depressions in mind, but aesthetical natures that traditional instrumental music most prefers are more on internal implications rather than external expressions. Simply speaking, Chinese instrumental music makes “emotional expressions” but stresses more on “internal implications.” “Internal implications” mark the integration of the subjects and the objects, the integration of minds and sounds expressing the minds, and the integration of human beings and the heaven.
Scholarly Sentiments
The instrument embedded with the most humanistic sentiments among traditional Chinese instruments is gin (lyre). “All of sudden, when (1) turned my face back, I remembered many things in the past. Music of Zheng State still echoed in my mind, but now everything has become silent after years’ fluctuation. It is really touching to think that so many gin music works have been inherited from generation to generation, while generations of gin musicians have passed away.” The scholarly sentiments embedded in this poem imply “enjoying music 1s ethical”. There is saying, “Ethical people can obtain more things.”, What does gin music “obtain?” Or let’s say gin “obtains” from what. The history of gins is not that of gin art, but that of qin masters. The history of qins is not that of gin players, but that of scholars. The most valuable and more inheritable cultural spirit that qins have contributed to Chinese scholars does not lie simply in the philosophy advocated by Confucians that “to maintain is to self-control,” or not in the “free mind” advocated by Taoist. Instead, it is the integration of Confucius and Taoist philosophies that are more valuable for Chinese scholars which give tensions to and at the same time balance the spirits of “living in high profile” and “living in low profile” in the human world. The philosophy of being self-sensible and self-aware of having obtained what one is searching for which can be best explained by the saying that “A person should be concerned of other people of the world if being wise and powerful; or otherwise, he should do his best to perfect himself’ keeps good tensions as well as balance between the two ends of “being in search of all the things in the world” and “being satisfied with what has been obtained.” Confucians are concerned about advocating logics in the human world and practicing the universal fraternity, while Taoists bury themselves in shaking off dissimilation and becoming in accordance with the nature. The common points of the two lie in that practitioners of both philosophies must practice what they advocate. The direct presentation of such artistic spirit can be found in such works as “Shenren Chang” and “Longxiang Cao”. In other works, such as “Xiaoxiang Shuryun (Water under the Cloud in Xiaoxiang River), we can feel the integration of Confucius and Taoist sentiments; in “You Lan ( Fragrant Lilies)”, we can sense one’s stubborn loneliness; in “Liu Shui (Running Waters)”, we can see people’s emotions entrusted in the natural beauties of waters and mountains; in “Yi Guren (Remembering Old Friends)”, we can imagine the loyalty and respect to superiors, siblings, relatives and friends, etc. From different works, we have experienced different humanistic sentiments.
Joyful Mood
Among various instrumental music, wind and percussion instrumental music is the one which expresses to the most extent the joyfulness and happiness of traditional folklore life. It is especially strong in expressing the warmth and happiness of the festival celebrations. If we need to summarize this nature of the wood-wind and percussion instrumental music by using an aesthetic 1deographical term, the word “Le (meaning happiness)” 1s the most suitable one.
Wood-wind and percussion instrumental music is the most straight, vivid and incisive expressive method to display the nature of “Le.” Percussion instruments such as gongs and drums are the best instruments for people to play to express the happiness that 1s generated from depth of mind and that is most natural emotion of human kind. Since far ancient times, percussion instruments have fundamentally moved human minds with their powerful sounds to such an extent that people utter their emotions fully and are also stirred up with real happiness. From the “Drum of Thunder’s God” said to exist in Huangdi Emperor period in the mythology to various kinds of gongs and drums used in current days, wood-wind and percussion music has prospered thousands of years in people’s life with its irreplaceable charms. Its existence implies a piece of eternal historical information, which is the real and straight expressions of pleased minds require certain powerful methods to release. Though such emotions might be pressed in the life, it requires certain time to let them released so as to experience the enthusiasm and power of life. This might explain why various wood-wind and percussion instruments such as gongs and drums are prosperous from generation to generation without interruption in various folk music activities.
Wood-wind and percussion instrumental music is deeply rooted in the soil of folklore life. In terms of its functions, wood-wind and percussion music is not only used in performances for marriages, funerals and other activities offering respect or sacrifices to the god or to pray for rains, but also used in other folk festival celebrations such as Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and temple celebrations as well as dragon-boat matches, etc. The joyfulness presented by such music is mainly that of good harvests, festivals and marriages. Major players come from local groups consisted of players who are both farmers and also musicians, or Taoists who are good at playing instruments, or simply local residents. Local folklore activities are also their activities so that they are members of those activities. Therefore, in terms of the devotion of emotions and aesthetic attitude, there is no sense of distance common between so-called “high-level artists and “folklore audience.”
The wood-wind and percussion instrumental music normally creates warm emotions and hot atmosphere. The development of the emotion of “joyfulness” in the music also mimics the real development of the natural feelings of human beings in the structured patterns—trom adagio to moderato to allegro and finally to the climax. In some festival celebrations where musicians play instruments while walking along the road, there are also episodes of adagio with beautiful and highspirited melodies; but in general, the music of such kind develops from adagio to allegro in steps and finally reaches the course of climax. In such wood-wind and percussion instrumental music performances, melodies originated from local opera pieces or folklore songs echo with paragraphs solely played with gongs and drums, played on turns or paragraphs of this kind played in connection of paragraphs of the other kind. There are also solo performances of certain wood-wind and percussion instruments, but instruments that can be played solo are mainly those like so-na (Chinese trumpets) or flutes that can create sounds with penetrating forces or even “sharp” sounds to some “musical ears.” Actually, only with such penetrating power can those instruments be used to perform and exert their unique charms in activities held for folklore celebrations at big-sized locations such places. This is also in accordance to the worldly aesthetical nature of the wood-wind and percussion instrumental music, 1.e., to express “joyfulness.”
Sorrows of Parting
There are not so many works in the traditional folk instrumental music toexpress sorrows and depressions due to parting from home or friends, etc., and some classical pieces are mainly concentrated on several subjects. For example, Wang Zhaojun misses her hometown is one of the subjects. (Wang Zhaojun, a court lady during the Han Dynasty, was given to the chieftain of a northern tribe as his wife in the performance of matrimonial diplomacy.) Other examples in Han Dynasty include Su Wu herbing sheep (Su Wu (C. 143-60 B.C.) was an emissary spending 19 years in captivity among the Hu ethnic people in Han Dynasty) and Cai Wenji returning to Han court after parting from her husband and son (Cai Wenji, a talented woman whose father Cai Yong was a famous scholar at the end of the Han Dynasty, was kidnapped by a northern tribe for 12 years before she was ransomed when she left both her husband and son for the Han.) There are also other works, such as “Yangguan Sandie”, made out of sorrowful and depressed sentiments of poems in Tang Dynasty to express soldiers trouped at the border of the country missing their hometowns. All those works expressed a kind of historical sentiment which is deeply rooted in Chinese people’s minds and is rich in self-awareness and self-consciousness of Chinese cultures.
It is note-worthy that “sorrows of parting from hometown” in those historical stories normally spanned central China at that time, Turkestan regions (current Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region) and Chinese border at that time in terms of space. From emotions expressed by those music pieces people can find traces of poems in Tang and Song dynasties. For example, “Depression of Zhaojun” written by Lu Zhaoling of Tang Dynasty says like this, “Fields of Han must have been in green now, but here in Hu regions, they are still covered by flying sand. How much I hope to become a wild goose and be able to head back home in every autumn!” Among poems written on people staying at the border of the country, there are well-known sentences like those in “Cong Junxing (Traveling with the Army)” by Wang Changling—“Dances start to the new tunes of pipa, but what I memorize is still old friends and hometown. , and also the one in “Song Yuan’er Zhi Anxi (Sending Yuan’er Off for the West)’ by Wang Wei—“Friend, please drink another cup of wine, because after getting out of Yangguan (the west border of Tang Dynasty) this time, there will be no friends any more.” In modern China when the country was placed in worries and depressions created by internal corrupted government and external invasions, subjects such as Su Wu Herbing Sheep and Su Wu Missing Hometown were also very popularly presented in many traditional instrumental music pieces as well as songs sung in schools.
It is fair to say that those historical sentiments provided by stories and poems from Han, Tang and Song dynasties are repeatedly presented by various instrumental music pieces with great concentration is because they provide a channel to utter sorrows people feel when parting from parents, descendents, friends and when traveling outside of home. Such historical sentiments can create far-reaching influences and also be depicted and presented repeatedly in different ways at different times because of their depth and power in utterance, and therefore be able to be mirrored by different emotions created out of those music works……. This almost becomes a kind of historical complex. Today, we can see how folk instruments repeatedly retell us such historical complex via pieces played by gins, zhengs, hu qins, pi-pas, yang-qins and kung-’hou.
In the creation and performance of urheen works, sorrowful sentiments also help the development of such instrumental solo or concerto pieces as “Jianghe Shui (River Water)” and “Xinhun Bie (Parting upon Newly Married)”. Especially in “Jianghe Shui” where the hero cries his bitterest sorrows and angers due to separation by death and where the hero’s internal emotional changes are vividly depicted and uttered so that it leaves irremovable memories and traces on almost everbody who has listened to this piece.
Sorrows and Depressions of Court Ladies
Instrumental music pieces depicting sorrows of court ladies were normally works created under special cultural environment where Chinese court ladies were regulated and limited by traditional moralities and ethics. The historical complex represented in such music pieces is even stronger and more concentrated than that in works depicting sorrows due to parting from home. The court sorrows and depressions in the environment of “Han Court under the Autumn Moonlight” becomes a repeated historical subject in creations of instrumental music works.
There are works for all those instruments such as gins, pi-pas, zhengs, urheen and san-xians (three strings) in the name of “Han Court under the Autumn Moonlight” or with contents about sorrows and depressions of court ladies in Han Dynasty. The subject about court ladies’ sorrows and depressions actually originated from the poem “Yuan Ge Xing (Sorrowful Songs)” written by Ban Jieyu (Concubine Ban) in the reign of Emperor Cheng. The sentence “Fans help reduce the heat during the hot summer, but when autumn comes, they are thrown into rubbish cans” implies that Emperor Cheng first doted on Ban Jieyu but later favored Zhao Fetyan and her sister so that Ban Jieyu lost his attention from then on. Ban Jieyu pleaded to serve at the court of queen mother so to spend the rest of her lonely life there.
Several editions of the instrumental music piece “Han Court under Autumn Moonlight” existent nowadays depict almost the same contents: ladies in the court can’t hold their sorrows and depressions in the autumn evenings that they have to express in certain way. Of course, in the inheritance and continuous revisions of such kind of music pieces, no matter they are about ladies’ sorrows and depressions in Han court or in other courts as written later in pieces named as “Chen Shui’, and no matter the origin of their melodies is same or they come from different titles, the phenomenon of “Han Court under the Autumn Moonlight” is maintained in the aesthetics of Chinese folklore instrumental music.
There are other instrumental music pieces which also depict sorrows of Han court ladies with the subject of “Changmen Yuan (Sorrow at Changmen Court).” “Changmen Yuan” was originally a literary subject related to the story that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty built “ a house of gold to hide A’jiao,” but it mainly retold the story that Chen Ajiao re-gained favor of the emperor after she knew she lost the emperor’s preference but she paid highly to Sima Xiangru (great literarist in Han Dynasty) to write the poem “Changmen Fu (Poem on Changmen Court).” This story was recorded also in “Yuefu Jieti (Explanations on Court Poems)” by Wu Jin in Tang Dynasty. He said, “The work “Changmen Yuan” was made for Queen Chen. When the queen lost emperor’s favor and was placed in Changmen Court, she become very sorrowful and depressed. Once she heard that Sima Xiangru excelled in literature, so she paid him hundreds grams of gold to Xiangru to write poems so as to utter her sorrow. Xiangru wrote the poem “Changmen Fu”, which was read later by the emperor and brought up memories of the queen in his mind. Then, the queen re-gained the favor of the emperor. This is the ongin of “Changmen Fu” In the music history, “Changmen Yuan” was sung as Xianghe works. (as seen in “Yuefu Poem Collection—Xianghe Ge Ci—Chudiao Qu (Collection of Court Poems—Volume on Xianghe Songs—in Tunes of Chu State)’. The gin piece “Changmen Yuan” was later included in the “Mei’an Qin Pu (Mei’an Qin Score Collection)” compiled by followers of Zhucheng Qin Sect of Shandong Province in Qing Dynasty. Today, there is also the piece “Changmen Yuan” played by Huang Guifang with san xian (three strings). The charm of this ancient qin work lied not only in its melodious and elegant tunes, but also in the sadness like murmuring 1n tears created by various skills like singing, rou (rubbing), hua (sliding), and mo (brushing), which are skills that san-xian (three strings) is normally good at.
Free and Relaxed State of Mind
The artistic conceptions in the instrumental music works created free and relaxed state of mind by placing the audience in co-existence with the nature, the mountains and the waters. In terms of artistic features, folk instrumental music which creates free and relaxed state of mind can be compared with paintings that depict natural sceneries such as mountains and waters as well. When people are located in natural beauties of mountains and waters and naturally generate a kind of free and relaxed state of mind which integrates the subjects—the audience—and the objects— sceneries—together, and this is so-called “free and relaxed state of mind.”
In the artistic conceptions of such kind of instrumental music, the natural objects that subjects are facing have the following three features: first, natural water and mountain environment; second, normally in seasons of summer and autumn which are comfortable and relaxing; third, normally evening sceneries which can activate people’s free-thinking. “Peace” is the psychological feature under such environment, because only in peaceful state the environment can become lingering, spatial, and far-reaching to allow free thinking. Also only in natural beauties of waters and mountains people can have the psychological room for free thinking and the music can be resounding and lingering. This is so-called beautiful environment.
Music pieces such as “Chunjiang HuaYue Ye (Moonlit Night on the Riverof Spring and Flowers)” and “Yuzhou Changwan (Singing on the Returning Fishing Boats)” are works with such aesthetic sentiments. They either depict the tender spring atmosphere of freshly green willows, and flowers under the moonlight on both sides of the river in spring; or the waving waters, red clouds full in the sky, beautiful and echoing of songs from the fishing boats at the side of Boyang Lake. There are quite a lot of this kind of music works normally with beautiful and harmonious tunes and lively beats, expressing the happiness of worldly life.
If we talk about the ethics and moralities implied by this kind of works, we should mention “Yue’ er Gao (Moon High in the Sky)” which is rich in Taoist atmosphere and “Pu’an Zou” which is full of Buddhism sentiments. “Yue’er Gao” depicts the fairy land in the moonlit beautiful environment related to the fairy tales that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty made a tour in the court of moon and heard the fairy music. The emergence of the big-scaled music piece “Nishang Yuyi Qu (The Dance in Leathery Clothes)” in Tang Dynasty was also said to be due to this fairy story. The beautiful, peaceful and elegant sentiments that the music implies are very pleasing. The music piece of the same name as “Yue’er Gao” 1s also included in one suite of the “Xiansuo Shisan Tao (Xiansuo Thirteen Suites of Music Pieces).” There is also another kind of ““Yue’er Gao” played by Pipa, or even by the folk instrumental band. “Beautiful Scenes in the Moonlit Evening” has become an eternal artistic conception in the traditional instrumental music works. The music conception of “Pwan Zhou” (also named “Shi Tan Zhang”) is similar to the explanation of the title of “Tianwenge Qinpu (Tianwenge Score Book of Qins)’—“Its phonology is so smooth and beat so natural. When played in the evening, the sounds were so like to those of drums in evenings or bells in mornings, and the mystery is like that of canons or Sanscrit. The audience who listens to such music feels complete peace and security both physically and mentally, like traveling in green woods or staying over-night in holy temples.” It is fair to say that drum and bell sound in temples or sounds of monks’ singing of canons or Sanscrit are another kind of artistic conception which makes people relaxed and pleased mentally.
Lively Taste
“Taste” is an aesthetic category to which Chinese traditional music aesthetics’ researchers should pay high attention and that requires re-construction nowadays. In Chinese music aesthetics studies in the history, there are two earliest occasions where people used “tasty” to comment the instrumental performances. One occasion was recorded in “Liezi—Tang Wen” when the author described, “Whenever the music is played, Zhong Ziqi (famous ancient gin player) fully displays the taste of the piece.” The other occasion was in the work of “On Qins” by Ji Kang (famous man of letters in East Jin Dynasty) where he wrote, “If we try to reason the meaning of music, it seems not very understandable; if we consider its objective as a whole, it hasn’t reached the level for music with ethical beauty.” It is worth mentioning that those recordings were also the earliest recordings about “taste” and “objective” in Chinese aesthetics studies; meanwhile, they were related to aesthetic conceptions about gin music. In music aesthetic principles including those for gin music works in latter centuries after the above two examples, “taste” had been ignored to certain extent.
“Taste”, as the major character in the category of music aesthetics, mainly refers to “sentiment” (which covers the implications of interest, objective, and wittiness) on one hand; and to very obvious liveliness on the other hand. In terms of “sentiment”, it means the music presents certain objective and meaning; in terms of “liveliness”, it refers to certain technical and natural performance posture and related psychological experience. “Taste” is not only implied in the creation of music beauties but also in the experiences of music beauties. Lively taste is a summarized description of this major character in this music aesthetic category. Compared with other types of national music performances, the display and experiences of “lively taste” of folklore instrumental music in its composition and performances is the brightest as well as most typical.
Typical examples in this field include flute work “Zhegu Fei (Flying Partridge).” This music originally comes from the folk music in Hunan Province, but it was originally played with xiao. In “Collection of Chinese Yayue Music” compiled by Yan Gufan in 1926, the author explained that “this piece is not suitable for performance by fiute.” Later, this music was played not only by bamboo and stringed instruments but also revised for performance of flutes; and became a repertoire piece. The reason was that composer revised the music work to re-present the “lively taste” both in patterns and also in music conceptions, and fully exerted the advantages of flutes. Though such revision was opposite to the normal way and went in direction “from being elegant too being worldly”, it won great success, and can be considered as one successful experiment in the “lively taste” of the aesthetic music category.
Therefore, we can not only enjoy the “tasty” drum music works such as “Mouse Gets Married” (Jiangzhou drum music), “Tiger Grinds His Teeth” (X1’an drum music), “Yazi Banzui (Ducks Squabble)” (X1’an drum music), “Gun Hetao (Roll the Walnuts)” (Jiangzhou drum music), “Chong Tianpao (Pigtail Directing to the Sky)” (Sichuan gong and drum music), but also other works of different tastes including flute music “Yinzhong Niao (Birds in Shadows)”, so-na music “Tai Huajiao (Carry the Bride’s Sedan)” and sheng music “Fenghuang Zhanchi (Phoenix Extends Wings)”. The “lively taste” of folklore instrumental music pieces is implied by the lively mimicking of “moving images” on one hand, and by lively interpretation of “conceptive images” on the other hand. Especially in music aesthetics, “taste” 1s directly related to “sentiments” rather than “reasoning”. “Taste” is not simply the judgment on beauties, but also a kind of creation and presentation. “Taste” also emphasizes “happiness” rather than “peace.” Comparatively, “taste” is closer to folk customs rather than elegance.
Ode to the Life
So-called “ode to the life” refers to the in-depth expressions of the understanding and inspiration about life. One of the characters is to perform melodies with which performers are already so familiar in a kind of intuitive and natural way led by performers’ minds and sentiments. Such kind of performing status is like when somebody is under sub-consciousness and improvising. Another character is that such kind of performance of music, though being only a kind of sentimental presentation, becomes a “meaningful object” where the composer and performers entrust their mental subjects such as their experiences and in-depth sentiments about life. Therefore, in this kind of instrumental performances, the mental sentiments the music creates itself are similar to the mental movements of performers or a kind of movement of life. The movement of life continues accumulating to create the sentimental atmosphere of the music and integrating multiple kinds of psychological movements; it is also melodious and continues growing and extending with the development of performers’ feelings. Thus, the performance of music is not only entrusted with a lot of sentiments, but also endowed with a lot of melodious patterns and music features and changes that naturally emerge. Among folk instrumental music pieces, the most classical work and performance with such kind of aesthetic feature is the urheen one “Erquan Yingyue (Two Springs Reflecting the Moon)” by Hua Yanjun.
The whole piece is melodious, enlightening, and in some order; however, despite of such limitation of patterns, the deep sentiments and exclamation and the rise and fall of tunes of the music experience a kind of improvised variation centering a single subject. Such kind of presentation develops itself along with long-term psychological movement and accumulation; and it will continue developing itself. The performance of A Bing (Hua Yanjun) can differ from time to time and continue developing itself because he always improvises in certain way……. Such music 1s real music with life and movement. It is the direct expression and ode of the performers for the bitterness and sweetness of life. Its existence has already gone beyond the meaning of a simple music work.
How many other examples of such kind in current Chinese folk instrumental music pieces? Or, we should say how many more can come out. Maybe we can still experience some “ode to the life” in compositions of Liu Tianhua. Or maybe we can still hear such music in current folk instrumental compositions. That the essence of traditional instrumental music works is on the “performance” is due to the process of this experience of “ode to the life.” This is a psychological process where sentiments about life are continuously generated, accumulated and expressed. It is in the intuitive expression of sentiments, which are improvised, to be developed, melodious and subconscious, that beauties of such sentiments of “ode to the life” exist. Therefore, those performances already go beyond the normal understanding of “performances” such as on stages.
Folk Styles
In the appreciation of arts, styles are not only the judgment on certain artistic performance but also are related to the appreciation of its beauty and value. “Style” is therefore an important standard for people to judge and comment in music appreciation. Similarly, whether one folk instrumental music work has its unique and prominent “folk style” can greatly decide whether it can be appreciated or not. The formation of some special artistic styles is not only related to such innate artistic development as composition skills and patterns, but also to the artistic styles and the spirit of certain nationality, as well as aesthetic conceptions of this nationality at certain stage. The national styles represented by artistic works, based on the acknowledgement of a special group of cultural population on its cultural type and presentation method, are not only a subjective expression of the integration of individuality and generality, but also a kind of objective existence. In the compositions and presentations of folklore instrumental music, it is necessary and also a kind of attitude and requirement for one to judge and enjoy a piece of work by appreciating the unique national style and also the spirit of this nationality in a special stage. In this sense, “folk style” also becomes an element in the category of music aesthetics.
The formation of folk styles requires multiple but unified elements. It not only requires the absorption and application of such materials as various folk music, tones (including dialect tones) and music presentation skills but also requires the composers to transfer those stylistic elements into their own music language and conduct overall maneuver and presentations of the music styles. In reality, the more local and folklore stylistic the music works are, the easier they can be accepted by people. Music works of such types as Qin Quang (literally meaning voices of qin region, currently Shan’x1 Province), Yu Opera of Henan Province, Bangzi of Henbei Province (one of local opera tunes in China with wooden clappers to strengthen rhythms), Qu Pai (names of tunes of Beijing Operas), Yangge of Hebei Province, Guangdong music and dancing music of Xinjian region all possess very special and prominent music styles. They have directly affected the creations of large amount of folk instrumental music pieces with “folklore styles.”
Sentiments of Grandeur and Fluctuations
In the aesthetic field, if we say “free and relaxing” performance creates a kind of “beautiful” status and atmosphere in artistic expressions, then, the performance in “grandeur and fluctuations” creates the beauty of power. Of course, “free and relaxed state of mind” and “sentiments of grandeur and fluctuations” are not equal to “free and relaxing beauty” and “powerful beauty” because the former two emphasize more on human kinds’ sentiments and aesthetic enjoyment when placed in the nature and social environment. “Free and relaxed state of mind” mainly tells people’s aesthetic experiences in music which mirrors for people beauties of the natural waters and mountains; while “sentiments of grandeur and fluctuations” display how people experience in the music the bitterand-sweetness when located in middle of various social conflicts. “Sentiments of grandeur” mainly refer to those feelings in power but solemnity; while “sentiments of fluctuations” focus first on those mental movements created by variations of music sentiments, and such varied sentiments are normally related to grand story-telling in the music.
Folk instrumental solo performance works that can be labeled as music of” sentiments of grandeur and fluctuations” include pipa solo piece “Shimian Maifu (Ambush at Ten Sides)” and “Bawang Xiejia (Heroic Emperor Takes off His Armor)’. These two music pieces used the battle between Chu and Han states in the history as their subjects. They center on the narration and plotting of the stories and re-create the battlefield atmosphere and vividly present the mental movements of characters by displaying epic scenes in front of the audience. It is only with the Chinese folklore instrument—pipa—that performers can so vividly present to the audience such grand battlefield scenes. Though many applications of the skills give concrete images, even onomatopoeic images, they leave the audience with more conceptive and psychological feelings and experiences. Many unique music presentation methods applied in those two pieces are even challenging for many contemporary composers.
There are also a lot of good works emerged out of the story-telling method where performers use the type of concerto to present the aesthetic “sentiments of grandeur and fluctuations.” In this collection we can find pipa concerto work “Chaoyuan Yingxiong Xiao Jiemei (Heroic Sisters from the Great Grassland)”, urheen concerto work “Changcheng Shuixiang (Capriccio on Great Wall)” and guzheng concerto work “Muiluojiang Huanxiangqu (Fantasia of Miluoyiang)”.
Above paragraphs and words are only a broad-brush description and explanation on the history and aesthetics of Chinese folklore instrumental music. I offered some new ideas on the humanistic sentiments and aesthetic conceptions. In the meantime, I think we still need to continue our efforts to refine, induct and summarize actions needed to construct the aesthetic features of Chinese traditional folklore music. On the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival, I wrote a seven-word-patterned poem in relation to the traditional and irreplaceable aesthetic conception on “moon” in Chinese instrumental music, which might also be a good echo to music works about “moonlit atmosphere” compiled in this “Collection”. “Mid-autumn moon reflects light since ancient times, No matter fine or rainy clouds flying at times; A mirror perfecting lots of people’s longing, As if Goddess of Mercy blesses many times”.
This article is written upon the invitation from Dragon Music Co., Ltd. of Hong Kong as the pre-lude for “Classical Collection of Chinese Traditional Instrumental Music”.
