What is the development history of Sheng?

Sheng is an ancient reed instrument with a long history in China, which can play harmony. Through the vibration pronunciation of the spring and the tube, the reed can vibrate freely in the spring frame. It is the earliest musical instrument in the world that uses free springs.

According to historical records, Nu Wa was Fuxi's sister, and Fuxi was revered by the ancients as the ancestor of mankind. According to legend, Nu Wa and Fuxi are different in human head and snake body, and Nu Wa is also regarded as the mother of mankind and an important figure in the history of China.

Nu Wa repaired stones to make up the sky, controlled water, dug earth to create people, saved the people from disasters and multiplied human beings, and achieved many great achievements. Among them, the most important thing is that Nu Wa invented the sheng spring. Boya quoted Ishimoto as saying:

Nu Wa played the sheng spring. Sheng, sheng also,

Like a thing, it is born with a sigh, it

Hollow and spring-loaded.

Explaining the word "You" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi;

The saint in ancient times, the one who changed everything.

Looking at the relationship between them, we can see that Nu Wa is the great mother who breeds human beings and creates everything. Legend has it that Nu Wa took bamboo from the warmest stream at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, arranged some bamboo tubes with different sounds with ropes or wooden frames, and added bamboo reeds into the bamboo tubes. Then choose the best gourd growing in the mildest reach of the Yellow River basin and make it into a bucket. The mouthpiece is made of wood, which is the famous nanmu. Arrange the arranged bamboo tubes on the bucket in a horseshoe shape. After all this is done, you can blow out a pleasant sound.

Sheng's monochrome is cool and sweet, the treble is crisp and transparent, the alto is soft and full, and the bass is deep and deep. Nu Wa gave this instrument as a gift to her children. She said, "Son, when you can't express your joy in words, you can play a song with it, and that song is the expression of your mood."

People think it's amazing, scrambling to learn from Nu Wa, and soon the skill of making this instrument spread among people.

Under the guidance of Nu Wa, people have also invented many other uses of Sheng Spring, for example, using it to express happiness, celebrate harvest, love between men and women, etc., but the tunes are different.

Looking at the children's safe and happy lives, Nu Wa feels that her work has been completed. As for the rest, she believes that human beings will continue to learn and make progress in their later lives.

At this time, a mine car led by Bai Chi, surrounded by Huang Yun and controlled by Feilong landed on the ground. God sent someone to bring Nu Wa back to heaven. Nu Wa boarded the thunder.

Car, ride a dragon. In order to thank Nu Wa for her kindness and express her memory, people on the ground regarded Nu Wa as the queen of Nu Wa and made a grand sacrifice to her.

As early as the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, China had the rudiment of Sheng. There is a record of "harmony" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins. "Harmony" is the predecessor of Xiao Sheng in later generations. Er Ya Shi Le records:

Great prosperity is the nest, and small prosperity is harmony.

In the classification of ancient musical instruments in China, Sheng is a kind of musical instrument. Xiaoya Luming Literature wrote in The Book of Songs:

I have a group of good guests, playing the piano and playing the piano. A blowing sheng reed, a basket of gifts.

It can be seen that Sheng was very popular at that time. From the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, * * * recorded two similar musical instruments, Sheng and Fu. In Zhou Li Chun Guan, there are:

Shi Sheng, ... Yu, Sheng, Xun, Xiao, Chi, Qi and Guan.

"Sheng" is the official name, and the position is to be the general manager to teach musical instruments such as blowing and sheng. The difference between sheng and sheng is: the sheng is small and the spring is less; The shovel is big and has many springs. In the early days, both of them were inserted into the gourd with braided tubes embedded with springs, and the gourd was the singing body. Therefore, some documents think that bamboo pole is a kind of sheng with different shapes, such as the high embroidery note in Lu Chunqiu's midsummer:

You are the best.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Sheng was an important wind instrument. At one time, it was widely popular among courts, nobles or citizens.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Sheng developed greatly. Generally speaking, "Sheng" is used to entertain important ceremonies or banquets. Confucius, an educator in the Spring and Autumn Period, was a famous sheng performer, which shows that the importance was attached to sheng at that time. Later, in the Warring States period, Sheng had a broader development space and became an important position in playing musical instruments. During the Warring States Period, the monarch of the State of Qi especially liked to listen to Yu's grand ensemble, which he played in the court.

Gates formed a big band of 300 people so that he could often listen to the band. There is a man named Mr. Nan Guo, who can't play the flute and joined the band. When playing, he imitated others, holding a reed in his hand, shaking his head and pretending to play. As the days passed, no one found that he was also rewarded by Qi Xuanwang.

After Qi Xuanwang's death, his son Qi Zhuo succeeded to the throne. On the other hand, the new king likes to listen to solos. He called the band and asked them to play one by one. Seeing this, Mr. Nanguo, fearing that the truth would be revealed, committed the great crime of deceiving the monarch and slipped away halfway.

The idiom "make up a few mistakes" comes from this fable. Great changes have taken place in the shape of Sheng since the pre-Qin period. Before the Han Dynasty, sheng pipes were mostly made of reed or purple bamboo, and the number of sheng pipes varied from 12 to 18. Reed was made of bamboo and sheng dou was made of bamboo. After the Han Dynasty, reeds were gradually changed into copper. In the ancient books of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the shape of Sheng was recorded. In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, there are:

Sheng, thirteen springs, like a phoenix.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Shuo Wen Jie Zi recorded 36 springs. A 26-tube reed was unearthed from Mawangdui No.1 Han Tomb in Changsha, and a folding tube was installed to produce bass. The spring is made of copper. From the unearthed pottery figurines in the Western Han Dynasty and stone carvings in the Eastern Han Dynasty, we can also see the important position in the Baixi Band.

In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yu still existed, but it was no longer used in Jiu Yue and Shi Yue, while Sheng was adopted in Qing Yue, Xiliang Yue, Koryo Yue and Qiuci Yue among Sui Jiu Yue and Tang Shi Yue. Many famous Sheng performers emerged in the Tang Dynasty, and their skills all reached a higher level. Many poets in the Tang Dynasty also wrote poems for Sheng.

Listening to blowing sheng Next Door is the work of Tang Dynasty poet Lang Shiyuan. From the beginning of listening to Sheng, this poem uses metaphor, synaesthesia and imagination to create a fascinating artistic conception. Poetry:

Blowing sheng's voice, like a dark cloud from the sky, I don't know which wall. The gate of the city gate was not searched, but they fantasized in their hearts that there must be a thousand peach trees.

The poet conveys his heart music through the strike, and the heart music corresponds to the strike. It is this word "doubt" that skillfully combines the heart song with the sheng song. In this dreamlike fairyland, people really feel the joy of sheng music next door.

In 74 1 year, Yuan Danqiu, a good friend of poet Li Bai, was invited by Princess Yu Zhen, the sister of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and * * * went to Chang 'an in the west from his secluded place, passing through Yinqiu in Yanzhou City. Li Bai wrote a farewell poem for him, consisting of sixteen sentences. The feeling of farewell was moving.

Immortals have loved blowing sheng for fifteen years, and they have learned colorful things in Kunqiu, Feng Ming.

At first I smelled refined gas and golden liquid, and then I went to Yujing.

Yujing is thousands of miles away, and Shengfeng has reached infinity.

If you sigh, your lips will turn crimson, let alone adjust your fingers.

At this time, I can't bear to say goodbye to you.

Sing the true song and blow it, while play the fairy song to ring Lv Yun.

Lv Yun turned off the letter with purple gas, and went to the door to look for Gou's.

If you don't learn from Prince blowing sheng, you will never return to Fushan.

After the Tang Dynasty, musicians changed the bucket into wood and painted patterns around the bucket in the form of 19, 17 and 13 springs. Later, a kind of 17 spring tube sheng became popular. In addition to the 17 spring, this sheng is also equipped with two "righteousness tubes" for replacement during tuning. Later 19 Chunsheng was also lost. Later, it spread, wooden barrels were replaced by copper barrels, and reeds were changed from bamboo to copper.

During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, China's Sheng and Ru Dong spread to Japan. In the Zhengcang courtyard of Tuduo Temple in Nara, two sets of Wu and Ru made in the Tang Dynasty in China have been preserved so far. One set of fake bamboo sheng and one set of you are 17 tubes, all of which are arranged in a horseshoe shape. Except for the curved mouthpiece, there are painted figures or figures on the barrel. According to ancient books, there are many pipes, but the pipe used for storing Tang folk music in Zhengcang Hospital is 17 pipe with sheng.

In the Song Dynasty, jade disappeared. Among the thirteen schools, there was only Sheng color, but no jade color. In the third year of Jingdezhen in the Northern Song Dynasty, namely 1006, the court musician Shan Zhongxin produced 19 Lusheng, and since then 19 Lusheng has been widely used in the court and among the people.

Since Ming and Qing Dynasties, the most popular sheng are 17, 14, 13 and 10.

Sheng played a positive role in promoting the development of western musical instruments in China. Sheng first spread to Persia through the "Silk Road", and in 1777, the French missionary Amiod spread Sheng again.

Go to Europe.

1780, Kosnik, a Danish organ manufacturer living in Russia, made the reed handle of the organ according to the reed principle of Sheng in China. Since then, the organ began to use soft and comfortable free springs.

At the end of 18, Astilyn, an academician of Russian Academy of Sciences, wrote an article praising Sheng as "the most popular China organ". Later, it promoted the invention of organ and accordion.

Because Sheng has been circulating for a long time, Sheng in different regions also has different styles. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese musical instrument manufacturers and musicians have carried out constant reforms on Sheng, and many new varieties such as amplified Sheng and keyboard Sheng have been produced one after another, which have overcome the shortcomings of Sheng's wide range, inability to tune and inconvenience in fast playing, and brought new vitality to Sheng. At present, there are 13 spring, 14 spring, 15 spring, 17 spring and so on, but 14 spring and 17 spring are the most popular.

Sheng timbre is bright and sweet, high notes are crisp and transparent, midrange is soft and full, bass is deep and deep, and the volume is loud. Moreover, among the traditional wind instruments in China, it is also the only instrument that can play harmony. When playing with other musical instruments, it can play the role of harmonizing the timbre and enriching the sound of the band. In large national orchestras, sheng sometimes uses three kinds of sheng: treble, alto and bass.

Nowadays, after the reform, Sheng has become a solo instrument with rich expressive force, which can not only play vigorous and powerful tunes, but also play beautiful and lyrical melodies, such as "proud as a peacock" and "Phoenix Spread its Wings".