CHINESE MUSIC.

tlie

to

K'uenhm Mountains (the OljTnpus

procure bamboo tubes to make the

of

China and the supposed source of the feng-shui),

appears that there

It

liis.

between two knots, and the sound emitted by

He

pitch-key, the tonic.^

a valley there called

is

Ling Lun cut the piece

Chiehku, where bamboos of regular tliickness grow.

is

of

bamboo which

tube he considered as the base, the

this

arranged a series of 12 tubes, according to the ideas of his master,

and they received the name f^ g (liis) that is, laws, principles, pitch-pipes.
Now, what led the inventor to the division of the octave into twelve semitones, each
represented by one
1.

Several versions are given

lil ?

Some say

that he arrived at

2.

him

by listening

to the singing of the

Pengs or Fengs

men

tribe living south of the Yangtze-kiang), the voices of the

(a powei-ful
ffivinw

it

demitones and those of the

six

women

the remaining

six.-

Others give the same theory with this particular change, that the Fengs were

human

not

beings, but birds

(liiuingP

JIi

the male being called

gl,

(feng),

and the female

Unfortunately for this theory, a third account assures us that

these birds were simply imaginary.*

3.

Another writer attributes

the

4.

first

to the rolling

waves of the Yellow River the idea of

The bamboos growing on

soimd.

its

borders were used to render

Aiaother writer, less poetical but not less positive,

bamboos according

his

perfect

convinced that Ling

to the terms of a triple progression of 12

27, 81, etc., which, indeed, exhibit the

3. 9.

is

it.*

Lun

cut

numbers, as

numerical values of a series of

fifths."^

But without questioning

to

what extent these theories may be acceptable,

is

it

more

reasonable to believe that the discovery of the 12 divisions of the octave was due to simple

and natural causes.

That the ancient Chinese should notice the
by tubes of

different length

is

quite natural

fundamental note of the then existing music

of which corresponded exactly to the

astonishing

difference of pitch between the sounds emitted

that they contrived to find a tube the sound

of their scale

quite comprehensible

is

way to the division of the octave into 1 2 semitones is not at

The Chinese have always been fond of seeking the similitude

between everything in creation.

3

is

the

emblem

proportion of 3 to

2,

Between heaven and

of heaven,

is

all

earth, they say, there is perfect

the sjonbol of earth.^

If

Douglas' "Oliina," p. 162.

"Journal of the North-China Branch

Morrison's Dictionary

Amiot, "Memories sur

les Chinois."

Paul Peuny's

'

The

jg*

character

Dictionary, P.art

says:

5c

^-

II.

On
first

of the Eoyal Asiatic Society," No. VIII, 1874, p. 96.

^.

harmony.

two sounds are in the

they will harmonise as perfectly as heaven and earth.

impossible.

or contrasts existing

a second tube was cut measuring exactly two-thirds of the length of the

'

not

and that when comparing, blowing, or cutting they

discovered the

Now,

is

that they then became anxious to have tubes corresponding to the other sounds

this principle

tube,

and the