Suspended Music: Chime-Bells in the Culture of Bronze Age China

Overview

The Chinese made the world's first bronze chime-bells, which they used to perform ritual music, particularly during the Shang and Zhou dynasties (ca. 1700-221 B.C.). Lothar von Falkenhausen's rich and detailed study reconstructs how the music of these bells--the only Bronze Age instruments that can still be played--may have sounded and how it was conceptualized in theoretical terms. His analysis and discussion of the ritual, political, and technical aspects of this music provide...
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Overview

The Chinese made the world's first bronze chime-bells, which they used to perform ritual music, particularly during the Shang and Zhou dynasties (ca. 1700-221 B.C.). Lothar von Falkenhausen's rich and detailed study reconstructs how the music of these bells--the only Bronze Age instruments that can still be played--may have sounded and how it was conceptualized in theoretical terms. His analysis and discussion of the ritual, political, and technical aspects of this music provide a unique window into ancient Chinese culture.
This is the first interdisciplinary perspective on recent archaeological finds that have transformed our understanding of ancient Chinese music. Of great significance to the understanding of Chinese culture in its crucial formative stage, it provides a fresh point of departure for exploring later Asian musical history and offers great possibilities for comparisons with music worldwide.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780520073784
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Publication date: 3/16/1994
  • Pages: 567
  • Product dimensions: 7.25 (w) x 10.25 (h) x 1.13 (d)

Meet the Author

Lothar von Falkenhausen is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of California, Riverside.
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
To the Reader
Introduction: Setting the Stage 1
Pt. I Rites, Technology, and Political Matrix 21
1 Bells in a Bronze Age Culture 23
2 Shape and Acoustic Properties of Chinese Musical Bells 67
3 Chime-Bell Manufacture and Its Complications 98
Pt. II The History of Chinese Musical Bells 127
4 Origins and Early Development 129
5 Perfection and Decline 158
Pt. III Musical Performance and Musical Theory 197
6 Playing the Bells 199
7 The Tone Measurements and Their Interpretation 226
8 Musical Theory through the Zeng Inscriptions 280
9 Music Suspended: Tone Theory and Its Political Ramifications 310
Appendix 1: Bibliographical List of Archaeological Sites 325
Appendix 2: A Comprehensive, Typologically Arranged List of Chinese Musical Bells 349
Appendix 3: Bells from the Zhou Peripheries 374
Appendix 4: Tone Measurements 388
Glossary 402
Place Names in Geographical Arrangement 406
Bibliography 415
Index 463
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