TWO PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS WERE;

Ritual

Music ( ya yueh )
Banquet Music ( yen yueh )

Over the centuries the precise meanings and

contents of common and court music, ritual and
banquet music, and the civil and military dances
changed, but the distinction themselves survived
until the twentieth century. We shall see them first
during their systemization under the Han dynasty
Because of the destruction of many book and
instruments under Chin-shih-huang-ti in the short
Chin dynasty (221-206 b.c), the court music of the
Chou period disappearance, but the idea of court
music was far from dead in the great intellectual
revival under the Han ruler.

The orchestras used in the Han official court rituals

and banquets were quite large and, somewhat like
Western symphony orchestras; consisted of large
numbers of string and wind players plus a backing
of percussionists.
The ritual dance troupe was also generally large. In
both cases the number of participants was
governed by Confucian numerology.

 The

two major areas of cultural vulnerability in China were its western

and northern borders. During the six Dynasties period the chemise
heartland was no longer unified; hence we find that the North China
kingdoms were heavily influenced by music from both border areas,
while the southern kingdoms held as best they could to the old court
and popular over the Western.
The influences from the North consisted primarily of militaristic drum,
trumpet and oboe music, including Tatar cavalry bands.

 The

western influences included Indian music

theory, particularly as it related to Buddhist
chanting. The main streams of Western music came
from the Central Asian Gandharan, Iranian, and
Tokharian cultures.
These traditions came in China by three main
routes:
o via the trade cities of khotan to the south ( third to
fifth centuries )
o Kucha in the center ( fourth through eighth century )
o Turfan to the North ( fifth through ninth centuries )