Suspended music : chime-bells in the culture of Bronze Age China / Lothar von Falkenhausen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Falkenhausen, Lothar von.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bells--China.

Bells.

Bronze age--China.

Bronze age.

Chimes.

China--Antiquities.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvi, 481 p. ) ill., maps ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

To the Reader

Introduction: Setting the Stage

PART I: Rites, Technology, and Political Matrix

1. Bells in a Bronze Age Culture

2. Shape and Acoustic Properties of Chinese Musical Bells

3. Chime-Bell Manufacture and Its Connotations

PART II: The History of Chinese Musical Bells

4. Origins and Early Development

5. Perfection and Decline

6. Playing the Bells

7. The Tone Measurements and Their Interpretation

8. Musical Theory through the Zeng Inscriptions

9. Music Suspended: Tone Theory and Its Political Ramifications

APPENDIX

1. Bibliographical List of Archaeological Sites

2. A Comprehensive, Typologically Arranged List of Chinese Musical Bells

3. Bells from the Zhou Peripheries

4. Tone Measurements

GLOSSARY

PLACE NAMES IN GEOGRAPHICAL ARRANGEMENT

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 415-462) and index.

ISBN:

0-520-91107-5

0-585-10845-5

OCLC:

1419789626