Why is it that ancient music in China has only five tones: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu, while western music has seven tones?

There are these two sounds, but they are not so commonly used.

China and ancient Greece were the first civilizations to study the twelve laws (eight degrees a week, divided into twelve semitones). China's "three-point gain and loss method" is the same as the present five-degree law.

The earliest document that recorded the legal system was Guanzi, which named each sound of the Twelve Methods from the absolute pitch (sound name), namely: Huangzhong-Dalu-Taiqun-Jiazhong-Gu Xi-Zhonglu-Zibin-Lin Zhong-Yize-Lu Nan-Wushe-Zhong Ying.

Naming (roll call) by relative pitch, also called Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng and Yu, comes from the first five tones of the trisection. Because it conforms to the fifth degree relationship, and there are no discordant intervals such as the second and fourth degrees, the sound effect is pleasant and peaceful, and it is widely used in China traditional music. The semitone above the basic pitch is called "Qing", the low semitone is called "change" and the low whole tone is called "jump".

These ancient names fully show that China's music system contains all the sounds in the Twelve Laws, including 4 and 7.

In practical application, these sounds appeared later. According to the literature, there are three kinds of China Seven Tones commonly used which involve errors:

Musical scales: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Qing Jiao, Zheng, Yu and Bian Gong (1234567, that is, major scales).

Elegant Music Scale: Palace, Quotient, Angle, Flexion, Sign, Feather and Flexion (123#4567, namely Lydia Scale).

Le Yan Scale: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Qing, Zheng, Yu, (123456b7, that is, mixed scale).

Therefore, 4 and 7 are not only named in China's theory, but also applied in practice. "No four tones or seven tones" is a view that we don't know much about traditional music.

In addition, "if China's music stresses the doctrine of the mean, does it mean that semitone is easy to express impulsive feelings?" It is also a false proposition, because semitone is far from overtone series and is not harmonious to human ears. China's music attaches importance to fairness and harmony, which has a certain political meaning. It is unreasonable to simply correspond it to feelings.