Strothers 1

Sarah Renata Strothers

Enhanced Lecture Notes

Chapter Thirteen: A Musicultural History of the Chinese Zheng

Class 1: Introduction - The People’s Republic of China and the Zheng

*As students are walking in: Play Online Musical Example #26 “The Fighting Typhoon”*

Activity

-With a partner, make a list of how China is portrayed in Western popular culture and/or how China is stereotyped (essentialized) musically, culturally, or socially.

  • 5 minutes of collaboration and then have classroom discussion.
  • After getting ideas, if this has not been mentioned, discussed the music played in Chinese restaurants.
  • Play online musical example #26 briefly and ask students if they have heard this instrument before, either in movies, restaurants, and so on. Then give them the name of the instruments. The zheng.
  • Purpose of this exercise: To deconstruct stereotypes associated with a particular culture, and in this case, China. *Could also use this as a question to ask the students to see if they can understand the purpose of the exercise*

Lecture

-For this unit, we shall explore the musiculture history of the zheng and discuss elements of Chinese history, political movements, and ideologies that have shaped it that will allow us to gain some insight as to why instruments like the zheng and other aspects of Chinese culture are “essentialized.”

-We will survey a variety of music associated with the zheng and ancient times (different dynastic eras) that will lead us to the development of solo zheng playing in main land China at state sponsored music conservatories and the incorporation of Western music idioms associated with the Period of Openness. We will also take a glance at the zheng portrayed in Chinese popular culture in addition to looking at contemporary zheng performances.

**Show Musicultural Map**

-Label the pickup truck “music”

-The streets “avenues”

-The building and swing set “culture”

  • We are using music as a tool to explore the avenues of culture.
  • If we are exploring China, what additional label can I write on the pick up truck?
  • Zheng.

People’s Republic of China

-Nation-state.

  • What is a nation-state? (Remember from chapter 2).

-Very ancient civilization.

  • 3500 plus years

-Population of 1.3 billion

  • World’s largest

-World’s third largest nation in geographical size

  • 1st Russia, 2nd Canada

-Capital: Beijing (formerly called Peking)

-Mandarin: Official Language

  • Other dialects exist: Cantonese

-Han Chinese – Chinese ethnic majority.

  • 92% of the population

-Remaining 8%, “ethnic minorities”: Tibetan, Uygur (Wee-gur), Manchu, Mongols

  • There are a total of 55 ethnic minority groups

Major Historical Periods Discussed.

-Dynastic Eras

  • Qin, Han, Tang, Ming, Qing

-Republican period (1912-1949)

  • Jiang Jieshi, a.k.a., Chiang Kai-shek

-Communist Period

  • Initial communist period, (1949-1965) Mao Zedong
  • Cultural Revolution, (1966-1976)
  • Chinese communist party complete control over what music and art expressed.
  • Period of Openness, (1970s/1980s-present)
  • Deng Xiaoping

-Throughout virtually the entire history of imperial China, music was regarded as an important component of political life. Rulers recognized, respected, and exploited what they perceived as music’s special capacity to reflect, influence, and model an idealized Chinese social order: from Confucianism to communism.

Thanks China!

-The Dynastic Era Invented:

  • Paper, wheel-carts, grid maps, accurate time-measurement devises, guns, gunpowder, and cannons.
  • Medical science - developed a full understanding of the body’s blood circulation system, circadian rhythms, and the dietary causes of deficiency diseases some two thousand years before such foundational features of human biology were “discovered” by Europeans.
  • The chromatic scale of Western music.
  • Reportedly worked out by a Chinese music scholar using bamboo pitch pipes in the 16th century before being adopted into the mainstream of Western music during the 17th century.
  • Institutions such as government music ministries and state music conservatories and research institutes were also “inventions” of the ancient Chinese
  • More Importantly…
  • Noodles!

How did this information even get to us, and not only us, other parts of the world?

-The Silk Road

  • Expansive trade route of antiquity that connected China to lands as distant as Central Asia, India, Egypt, and Turkey
  • Early form of globalization.

Religions of China

-Buddhism

  • 1st/2nd century
  • Ch’an-Buddhism (Zen Buddhism)
  • Now popular in Japan
  • Associated with many musical styles
  • Chanting
  • *Play track 1, Monshogodo: Meditative Sounds of Old Japan.* Example of Buddhist chant but with shakuhachi.
  • *Play CD EX. 3-28, Tibetan Buddhist Chant

-Confucianism

  • 1st century
  • Teaching of Confucius – Kong Zi*show picture*
  • Emphasis on social order, stressed ethical action
  • Qin – 7 string zither

-Daoism (Taoism)

  • Obscure origins
  • Teachings of Lao Tze*show picture*
  • Famous Taoist text - Dao De Jing-The Way and its Power
  • Emphasized the virtue of Wu Wei, “non-action”
  • Where the Confucian stressed ethical action, the Taoist spoke of the virtue of Wu Wei (non-action), going with the flow of things.

Confucius and the Qin *show picture of qin and Confucius*

-Corner stone of Chinese society and social policy under the rule of the Han dynasty and some of the philosophies are still influential in different aspects of today’s Chinese culture.

-Confucianism insisted upon the need for social control and direction at every level. Hierarchical social stratification, deference to authority, codification of behavior across the full range of social classes, and the primacy of fulfilling one’s duty to society above all other considerations underscored its fundamental goal: the establishment preservation, and perpetuation of a morally virtuous social order. All facets of society-from family dynamics and political administration to the arts, religious belief and ritual, and cultural and intellectual life-were bound up in the Confucian code of moral virtue as “right” social order.

-When properly employed, music was a medium for establishing and maintaining a good and moral society.

  • Cultivate inner character
  • To mold people’s minds and hearts in ways that would make them more committed to and better capable o serving the common good

-Certain types of musics for each social class.

  • Music is essential matching the right kinds of music with the right kinds of people.
  • Junzi – “superior individuals”
  • Junzi instrument – Qin

-Qin

  • Possible ancestor to the zheng
  • 7 string, board zither chordophone
  • No bridges
  • Smaller than a zheng
  • Softer dynamic range than a zheng
  • Instrument of the gentlemen scholar
  • Played solo, and in solitude
  • Playing the qin was seen as an aid to enlightenment, disciplined thinking, and self-reflection. Many Chinese works of art and poems depict the figure of a junzi with qin engaged in quiet contemplation. Confucius himself is believed to play the qin.

More on the Qin

-Play CD #3-20

  • Portion of a solo performance on the qin.
  • Melody based on an ancient Buddhist chant.
  • Tao Chu Sheng, Qin master from Taiwan.
  • Example of Tau Chu Sheng
  • Note the playing techniques.

Confucius Say…

-Serious Quotes

  • “To know your faults and be able to change is the greatest virtue."
  • "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others."
  • "Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't."

-Jokes (Essentializing)

  • Don't drink and park - accidents cause people.
  • Man who sneezes without tissue takes matter in his own hands.
  • Wise man never play leapfrog with unicorn.

Extra Credit Assignment

-Find an instrument or music genre within this chapter that isn’t thoroughly discussed in class.

  • Xiao, pipa, Beijing Opera – These are just examples.
  • Anything but the Zheng or Qin.
  • E-mail me your topic.
  • Create a five minute power point presentation and teach this instrument/music to the class.
  • Proposals due Tuesday October 25th

-Since the book mainly focuses on the zheng, this is a good opportunity for you to explore the other instruments and musical genres that are in China. There are quite a few instruments/genres

Next Class

-Histories linked with the zheng

-It’s evolution in the different dynastic eras

-Role of Woman

-Different regional styles

Class 2: The Zheng and its Histories

*As students are walking in: Play Online Musical Example #3-23 “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace”*

The Zheng

-Chinese board zither chordophone

-Zither: any type of musical stringed instrument with a construction that features a series of strings laid lengthwise across a wooden frame.

-Ancestor is the Qin. 7 string zither. Invented more than 2,500 years ago.

-Construction: Wooden frame, 16-21 strings nylon/steel strings.

-Strings are supported by movable bridges.

  • The qin does not have movable bridges.

-Positioning of the bridges is adjusted for different tunings.

-Similar instruments: Japanese koto, Vietnamese dan tranh, Mongolian jatag, Korean kayagum.

Deng Haiqiong

-Teaches Chinese Ensemble at FSU

-Leading zheng player of her generation

-Born: 1975, started playing at the age of 8.

-Shangai conservatory of Music.

-1995: 1st prize in National Zheng Competition of China

-Concertized in China, Japan, Singapore, and U.S.

  • New York’s Carnegie Hall

-Studied ethnomusicology

Activity: Play Musical Guided Tour, Page 297

-Have students follow along in their books. Highlight important phrases on the power point.

  • Range of 4 octaves for 21 stringed zheng
  • Range of 3 octaves for 16 stringed zheng
  • Alter the positions of the movable bridges on the instrument allows for several different pentatonic tunings.
  • Traditional playing style: The right hand is only used.
  • Since 1950’s, both hands have been incorporated.
  • Techniques reflect Western musical influences – especially from piano music.
  • Uses highly developed melodic ornamentation such as:
  • Yao zhi – tremelo/roll
  • DaYauzhi - faster tremelo/roll (a quicker motion back and forth)
  • “Four-point fingering technique” – alteration of middle, thumb, and index finger
  • Gua-zou or glissando
  • Narrow or wide vibratos
  • Tremelos/rolls
  • Harmonics

Theories of Origin

-Theory 1:

  • Onomatopoeic: Reflecting the timbre of the instrument when it’s plucked.

-Theory 2:

  • Due to its translation: “Dispute.” Involved an argument between sisters during the Qin dynasty
  • - (Qin dynasty) – Legend has it that during the ancient era of the Qin dynasty two sisters in the imperial palace got into a heated argument over a 25 string se zither and broke the instrument in half. This yielded two instruments, one with 12 strings, the other with 13. Amused by the incident, the emperor named these new “half” instruments “zheng” in acknowledgement of the “dispute” that have given rise to them. According to some versions of the story, the 13 string instrument was eventually given as a gift by the Qin emperor to the imperial house of Japan, giving rise to the 13 string koto. The 12 string model, meanwhile, ended up in Korea, where it became the prototype of the 12 string Korean kayagum.

-Unknown origins:

  • Earliest documentation of the zheng found in Qin era manuscripts, referring to musicians that:“Beat clay drums and earthen jars, play zheng and slap their thigh to accompany songs.”

-Zheng’s rise in popularity due to:

  • Loud, portable, and adaptable to musical situations.
  • Geographical and musical diffusion
  • Advent of the first “popular” music in China

Zheng in the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 BCE)

-Confucianism established as the foundation of Chinese social action.

-Emphasis on ethical behavior and fulfilling your role in society

-Zheng: instrument of entertainment, public ritual, and self cultivation.

  • Weddings, banquets, funerals, and accompany elaborate entertainments that involved singing, acrobatics, and dance.
  • So depending on your class, it would dictate how the instrument is used.

-Played by professional court musicians, woman, slaves, and commoners.

-Some considered it a vulgar instrument, while others hailed it as a tool to embody high moral character.

  • If you were of high social status you may thought the instrument vulgar if you saw someone of low social status playing it.

The Zheng and the Tang Dynasy (618-907 CE)

-The zheng reached musical heights.

-Music ministry program that employed 30,000 musicians and dancers.

-Musical experimentations with the Zheng:

  • Ensembles
  • Pipa (pear shaped lute), Xiao (flute), Erhu (fiddle)
  • Play CD #3-21 Duet for zheng and pipa
  • Pipa looks like what type of instrument?
  • Play CD # 3-22Zheng, pipa, xiao, and pipa
  • A modern example of traditional Chinese instruments playing together.

-New features added to the Zheng

  • More strings
  • New playing techniques introduced
  • Earliest examples of Zheng music notation

-Rise of women playing the zheng

  • Previous eras, usually of low status.
  • Became popular with women of high social status

-A woman playing the zheng became a romanticized image and associated with romantic subjects.

  • The beauty of nature, the beauty of women, sentimental feelings of love, memories of sadness and longing.

-Emperor Xuanzong*Show picture of him (google images)*

  • Played an integral role in cultivating the zheng as a “women’s instrument.”
  • Promoted women’s performances:
  • Hired musicians to train women how to play.
  • These women would entertain imperial guests at banquets.
  • Improved the overall social status of musicians.

The Zhengand the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

-Rise of the middle class

-Zheng became a “household” item

-Girls and young women were especially encouraged to study and play the instrument.

-Regional styles of Chinese opera:

-Xi, Xiqu, Xiju: Zheng important accompaniment instrument.

  • “Distinctive zheng playing techniques and styles of melodic ornamentation were developed in each region to capture nuances of regional languages and dialects, especially in connection with local types of opera, song, and their related instrument musical styles” (Bakan, 304).
  • Read Insight and Perspectives – Chinese Opera and Beijing Opera in Dynastic and Post-Dynastic China as a class.

-This era heavily important to the emergence of regional styles of solo zheng playing.

The Zhengand the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

-Distinct regional styles of zheng playing have crystallized:

-Developed out of existing regional traditions of folk opera, sung poetry, musically accompanied storytelling, and instrument ensemble music involving the zheng: they also reflected a long history of mixing between folk, popular, and court music traditions.

  • Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Chaozhou, Hakka, and Zhejiang all had different characteristics of playing styles.
  • *Show map of the different regions (google images)*

-These regional styles exist today, though, in many respects, they have been absorbed into the “national” style of the conservatories.

-Regional styles gave rise to traditional solo zheng Music

-Common to the various regional styles is the baban:

  • Traditional Chinese melodic form with 8 main melodic phrases.

-Each regional style has its own distinctive yunor regional character.

  • For example: The yun of the Henan zheng is known for its liveliness and short descending melodic phrases.

-Each regional style (including the bulk of all traditional Chinese music) is associated with a specific yijing:

  • Designated emotional quality of a musical work. Usually complex and multifaceted rather than simple and straightforward.

-Example of regional style

  • “Autumn Moon Over the Han Palace”
  • Performer: Deng Haiqiong
  • CD #3-23
  • Representative of Shandong regional zheng style
  • Played on a 16 string zheng with steel strings.
  • Smaller zheng is preferred for traditional pieces.
  • Yijing: “Sadness.”
  • “The yijing of a sadness that’s in your heart, that you keep inside yourself…It’s very gentle, moderate, and controlled. This sense of moderation is what has to come through when you play the piece. More important than expressing ‘sadness’ through the music for me is expressing this mood of moderation, of a certain sense of peacefulness and restraint” (Bakan, 306 – Deng Haiqiong).

Activity: Guided Listening Page 307, Play CD-23 “Autumn Moon over the Han Palace.”

-Have students listen to the track and follow along with the guided listening.

  • Point out the different playing techniques.
  • Possibly have them raise their hand when they hear a glissando, up-glide, down-glide, and etc in Phrases 2-8 to engage “active” listening.

Next Class

-Conservatory Solo Zheng style

  • Communist China
  • Cultural Revolution Era
  • Period of Openness

-Zheng in musicultural life post-1970s

  • Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

-Zheng in popular culture

  • Kung Fu Hustle

Class 3: The Zheng - Music and Politics Traditions and Transformations

*Play ”Return of the Fishing Boats,” By Lou Shuhua CD EX. 3-25 as students walk into the class”

Emergence of Conservatory Solo Zheng Style

-Republic Era (1912-1949)

  • Political instability and massive cultural reform
  • Appropriating Western technological, economic, and cultural systems
  • Chinese traditional musics seen as regressive.
  • Wholesale replacement of Chinese music with Western music.
  • Western music was prized as an adopted icon of Chinese modernity
  • “Race towards modernization”
  • Attitude: Prevalent notion that Western music was superior.
  • Ethnomusicologist Stephen Jones:
  • “Students of traditional Chinese instruments are plainly considered inferior to students of Western music…For many urban Chinese, their traditional music is ‘backward,’ less ‘scientific,’ than Western music.”
  • Many schools/conservatories were devoted to the cultivation of Western music instead of Chinese music.
  • Total adoption of Western music conservatory system.

Republic Era: Different School of Thought

-Liu Tianhua(Lee-oo Tee-en hwah)

  • Chinese composer and musician
  • Argument: Traditional musics and instruments should not be discarded, but reformed and modernized.
  • Incorporating Western elements
  • Collecting, transcribing, and publishing traditional folk music from different regions of China and rearranging it sound more “current.”
  • Folk music was used to provide a base upon which a new Chinese national music would be created with the aid of more “advanced” musical resources.
  • This was to be a music imbued with Chinese “national characteristics,” fused with elements of Western music so that it can be “the equal of Western music.”
  • Regional zheng musics still existed-but at local musicultural scenes.
  • New pieces based on traditional tunes and forms modified in ways that reflected new musical values and approaches.

“Return of the Fishing Boats” by Lou Shuhua