China's first vocal theory work in ancient times.

When the earliest humans began to make primitive tools and work collectively, primitive music sprouted in their labor rhythm and breathing. Primitive ancient music is often a combination of poetry, music and dance, all of which are directly related to primitive human production activities and the struggle against natural disasters. According to legend, in the Yao-Shun era, accompanied by earth drums and ancient chimes, people imitated the morphological dance of animals, reflecting the hunting life of primitive humans. Early music similar to spells reflected the totem worship of primitive people and the close relationship between music and witchcraft. In primitive society, music seems to have magical power on people. Ancient music recorded in primitive times includes Yunmen, Xianchi and Shao. The most important thing is Shao, who was highly praised by Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period. Ancient musical instruments are said to have drums, chimes, chimes, flutes, flutes, sheng, harp and harp. In some ancient cultural sites, Tao Xun is the most preserved ancient musical instrument.

During the Warring States period, feudal society entered a slow and long development process. Social changes have had a great impact on music culture. The decline of old elegant music and the rise of new people's music have entered the court one after another. Chu Sheng, the music of southern Chu State, provided rich nourishment for Qu Yuan's creation. The situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend" has promoted the development of music theory. Mozi's "Leap", Xunzi's "Yue Lun" and "Music of Li Ji" all show the brilliant achievements of ancient music thought. The record of three-point gain and loss method in Lu's Spring and Autumn Laws is the earliest music law literature in China. The Qin and Han Dynasties achieved national unity, and music thought also tended to be exclusive. As a part of Confucian classics, Rites and Music was in a dominant position in the Han Dynasty. Yuefu was founded in the Qin Dynasty, and it was greatly strengthened during the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, which had a great influence on the development of music culture at that time. More than 65,438+0,000 outstanding musicians in Yuefu extensively collected folk music from all over the country, and on this basis, they processed, improved or adapted their works, which greatly enriched the court music. Local performances mainly include drum music and harmony songs. Drum music originated from the ethnic minorities in the northern border, and was mainly used in the court, roads and the army in the Han Dynasty, with a certain ritual. Harmony songs are mainly used for entertainment and appreciation, so they are widely used. Among Xianghe songs, Xianghe Daqu is the most important and can best reflect the artistic level at that time. During this period, new musical instruments appeared, such as pipa, horn, flute (vertical blowing), guzheng, pipa and harp. With the further development of music law, Fang Jing's six-tone theory appeared.