What are the three stages of harmony in the history of ancient Chinese music?

The three-stage theory of harmony in the history of ancient Chinese music consists of calmness and harmony, lightness and harmony, and neutralization.

The three-stage theory of he is a common categorization in the history of ancient Chinese music, which includes the three stages of calmness and harmony, lightness and harmony and neutralization. The Pinghe stage refers to early music, which is dominated by single sounds and rhythms; the Fadehe stage refers to middle-period music, with colorful but uncomplicated tunes; and the Zhonghe stage refers to late-period music, which is more complex in musical form and full of changes and innovations.

Chinese music has a long history. It is known from the fossils of ancient apes found in Yuanmou and other places in Yunnan Province that since about one million years ago, ancient human beings have been laboring, living and reproducing on the land of China. When the earliest human beings began to make primitive tools and labor collectively, primitive music sprouted in their labor rhythms and labor cries.

The legends of ancient music in ancient literature can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the ancient music named after so-and-so's clan, such as the music of Zhuxiang's clan, the music of Yinkang's clan, the music of Gertian's clan, the music of Iqian's clan, etc.; the other is the ancient music of the times of Huangdi, Zhuanxu, ?àcu, Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, and Xia Yu, who are honored as the ancient emperors.

It is said to have been the Yao and Shun era's "Elk in the Fou and Drums ...... to Dance with Hundreds of Beasts" ("Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals") and "Strike the Stone and Pat the Stone, and Hundreds of Beasts Dance at the Same Rate" ("Shangshu - Yiji"), and the "Shangshu - Yiji". Shangshu - Yiji"), is actually people in the soil drums, stone chimes and other primitive musical instruments accompanied by imitation of the animal form of the dance, which is a reflection of the hunting life of primitive mankind, and people also get the power of encouragement from it. The music of the Gertian clan was "three people manipulating the tail of a cow, throwing enough to sing eight songs" ("Lü Shi Chun Qiu"), i.e., the dancers held the tail of a cow and danced and sang at the same time.

Among the eight songs sung, there were the songs of "Attacking the Grass and Trees," "Endeavoring the Grains," and "Totaling the Beasts and Fowls," which expressed the people's wish for a good harvest in agriculture and animal husbandry. The music of the Yinkang clan was a kind of music and dance used as a kind of "propaganda" under the situation of flooding and congestion of waterways, where "the people's qi was blocked and stagnant, and their muscles and bones were constricted and could not be reached" (Lüshi Chunqiu). The music of the Zhu Xiang clan was a kind of music used to invoke "yin qi" in times of drought. All these are closely related to the production and life of primitive human beings.

Characteristics of ancient Chinese music include:

1. Based on the pentatonic scale: Traditional Chinese music uses a pentatonic scale, i.e., gong, shang, jiao, zheng and yin. This is different from the seven notes in Western music.

2. Emphasis on melody and rhythm: Ancient Chinese music emphasizes the beauty of melody and rhythm, and usually has no clear chord structure.

3. Unique artistic expression: Ancient Chinese music emphasized the expression of emotion and the creation of mood, often realized through chanting poetry or instrumental music.

4. Diversified forms: Ancient Chinese music took various forms, including zither music, flute music, songs, dance music and so on.

5. Focus on cultural connotation: Ancient Chinese music focuses on cultural connotation and expresses the values, aesthetic interests and national spirit of traditional Chinese culture.