ancient chinese musical scale

Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, Yu.

"Book of Rites" records: "Gongyin" represents the emperor, the commander of "Zhongyin", "Shangyin" represents the ministers, "Jiaoyin" represents the common people, "Zhengyin" represents political affairs, and "Yuyin" represents all things.

The five tones of Gong Shang Jiao Zheng Yu are the basic scales of Chinese ancient music, which are different from those in the West.

If we compare it with the seven-tone scale of Western music, the "five tones" of ancient and Chinese music are equivalent to do, re, mi, sol, la, minus the semitone ascending "fa" and "ti".

Of course, the five-note roll call of ancient Chinese music cannot be the same as the "Duo, Lai, Mi, Suo, La" of Western music. In the Tang Dynasty, "He, Si, Yi, Chi, Gong" was used; in ancient times, "Gong" was used.

, Shang, Jiao (pronounced jué), Zheng (pronounced zhǐ), and Yu".

Therefore, if we pay closer attention, authentic ancient Chinese music does not have two scales: "fa" and "ti".

For example, the Jiangnan tune "Jasmine" that is still heard from time to time is one of the ancient songs. If the whole song is hummed in roll call, there are only "duo, lai, mi, suo and la" without the two words "fa" and "xi".

Sound; famous ancient music, the same is true for "Man Jiang Hong" written by Yue Fei.