Why do they make music? Music was created and played by the Chinese people. Confucius, the famous philosopher said music was for calming passions and desires, and getting rid of conflicts and disturbances within one’s self, rather than for entertainment. Thus, the ancient Chinese believed that music was used to purify one’s thoughts and soul. Therefore, music entertainers had a very low social status.
During the Chou dynasty, music was a subject that the sons of noblemen and princes had to study. However, during the Qin dynasty, music was thought to be a waste of time and many musical books, manuscripts and instruments were destroyed. Despite this, music made a comeback during the Han dynasty when a whole department of music was made to take charge of ceremonial music. During Liu Zhang’s reign during the Han dynasty, there were 3 types of orchestras. The first was for religious activities, the second for royal archery contests and the third for entertaining royal banquets. During the Tang dynasty, Emperor Tai Zong had 10 orchestras. The imperial court had a band of nearly 1400 members!
Dances are accompanied by music, usually percussion. Music is used to accompany operas and dragon dances. The music has a meaning and a feeling. Sometimes, singing can be included, to match the harmony of the music. Chinese opera is the combination of music, art and literature. Chinese opera music is harsh, with high-pitched vocals. Examples of traditional music instruments used are the erhu and the gong.
Example of a chinese opera:
Example of a dragon dance:
Music, especially Han folk music, is used during weddings and funerals. The music can be happy or sombre, and is often based on western pop and television theme songs. During funerals, the prayers are accompanied by the gong, flute and trumpet.
This is an example of han folk music:
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-Audrey and Lynette-
-2-1A-
-PLMGSS-
-Singapore-
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