Chinese Music, the body of vocal and instrumental music composed and played by the Chinese people. For several thousand years Chinese culture was dominated by the teachings of the philosopher Confucius, who conceived of music in the highest sense as a means of calming the passions and of dispelling unrest and lust, rather than as a form of amusement. The ancient Chinese belief that music is meant not to amuse but to purify one's thoughts finds particular expression in the cult of the qin (ch'in), a long zither possessing a repertory calling for great subtlety and refinement in performance and still popular among a small circle of scholar-musicians. A famous qin scholar once said, “Though the qin player's body be in a gallery or in a hall, h
|
This is only the first few lines of this paper. If you would like to view the entire paper you need to register here.
|
Get Instant Access to 100,000 Essays!!
|
|