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Fangxiang
The ''fangxiang'' (also ''fang xiang'', ''fang hsiang''; zh, s=, t=, p=fāngxiǎng; also known in the West as the Chinese chang) is an organized-suspended (bianxuan) Chinese metallophone that has been used for over 1,000 years. It was first used in the Liang dynasty (502—557 CE), and then standardized in the Sui and Tang dynasties mostly for court music. Construction and design A ''fangxiang'' consists of 16 tuned rectangular iron, bronze, or jade tuned slabs with 16 different chromatic pitches, laid in a frame in two rows. The slabs are struck with a hammer and played melodically. Unlike the metallophone today, Chinese changed the thickness of the metal plates to obtain different pitches. Each of the slabs is of the same length and width but they are of graduated thickness, with the thicker slabs producing lower tones and the thinner slabs producing higher tones."Fangxiang (方响)." – China Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. . The method of playing is to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Music
The music of China consists of many distinct traditions, often specifically originating with one of the country's various ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country, involving either people of Chinese origin, the use of traditional Chinese instruments, Chinese music theory, or the languages of China. It includes traditional classical forms and indigenous folk music, as well as recorded popular music and forms inspired by Western culture. Documents and archaeological artifacts from early Chinese civilization show a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou dynasty (1122–256 BC) that set the tone for the continual development of Chinese musicology in following dynasties. These developed into a wide variety of forms through succeeding dynasties, producing the heritage that is part of the Chinese cultural landscape today. Traditional forms continued to evolve in the modern times, and over the course of the last centuries forms appropriated from the We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
:Category:Chinese Words And Phrases
For articles on words and phrases related to a specific area of China, or to a specific spoken variant, please refer to one of the subcategories. Words A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ... Words and phrases by language {{CatAutoTOC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclopedia Of Korean Culture
The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. It was originally published as physical books from 1991 to 2001. There is now an online version of the encyclopedia that continues to be updated. Overview On September 25, 1979, a presidential order (No. 9628; ) was issued to begin work on compiling a national encyclopedia. Work began on compiling the encyclopedia on March 18, 1980. It began publishing books in 1991. The encyclopedia's first version was completed, with 28 volumes, in 1995. It continued to be revised beginning in 1996. In 2001, the digital edition EncyKorea was published on CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ... and DVD. It launched an online version in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Musical Instruments
Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories (classified by the material from which the instruments were made) known as (). The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, Rock (geology), stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instruments considered traditional exist that may not fit these groups. The grouping of instruments in material categories in China is one of the first musical groupings ever devised. Silk Silk () instruments are mostly stringed instruments (including those that are plucked, bowed, and struck). Since ancient times, the Chinese have used twisted silk for strings, though today metal or nylon are more frequently used. Instruments in the silk category include: Plucked * ( zh, c=wikt:古琴, 古琴, p=gǔqín) – 7-stringed zithers * ( zh, c=wikt:瑟, 瑟, p=sè) – 25-stringed zither with movable bridges (ancient sources say 14, 25 or 50 strings) * () – 16–26 stringed zither with movable bridges * () – harp * () – four-st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Harrison
Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his former teacher and contemporary, Henry Cowell, but later moved toward incorporating elements of non-Western cultures into his work. Notable examples include a number of pieces written for Javanese style gamelan instruments, inspired after studying with noted gamelan musician Kanjeng Notoprojo in Indonesia. Harrison would create his own musical ensembles and instruments with his partner, William Colvig, who are now both considered founders of the American gamelan movement and world music; along with composers Harry Partch and Claude Vivier, and ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee. The majority of Harrison's works and custom instruments are written for just intonation rather than the more widespread equal temperament, making him one of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern And Southern Dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties (220–589). The period featured civil war and political chaos, but was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. The period saw large-scale migration of Han people to lands south of the Yangtze. The period came to an end with the unification of China proper by Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty. During this period, the process of sinicization accelerated among the non-Han ethnicities in the north and among the indigenous peoples in the south. This process was also accompanied by the increasing popularity of Buddhism in both northern and southern China and Daoism gaining influence as well, with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korean Court Music
Korean court music () comprises three main musical genres: ''aak'', an imported form of Chinese ritual music; a pure Korean form called ''hyangak''; and a combination of Chinese and Korean styles called ''dangak''. Korean court music and its historical origins can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE–668), the Unified Silla (668–935), Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon dynasty, Joseon dynasties (1392–1910). It was partly modelled on the court music of China, known as ''yayue''. Korean court music also shows similarities with the court music of Japan, known as ''gagaku'' and of Vietnam, known as ''nhã nhạc'', which also are also derivative of yayue. Performances in the form of banquet dances typically accompany the court music, in which musical institutions play a role in teaching and training musicians and performers on the forms of traditional Korean dance. The instruments used in Korean court music vary depending on the specific gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 38th parallel between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK). Both countries proclaimed independence in 1948, and the two countries fought the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. The region is bordered by China to the north and Russia to the northeast, across the Yalu River, Amnok (Yalu) and Tumen River, Duman (Tumen) rivers, and is separated from Japan to the southeast by the Korea Strait. Known human habitation of the Korean peninsula dates to 40,000 BC. The kingdom of Gojoseon, which according to tradition was founded in 2333 BC, fell to the Han dynasty in 108 BC. It was followed by the Three Kingdoms of Korea, Three Kingdoms period, in which Korea was divided into Goguryeo, Baekje, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanja
Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, which can be written with Hanja, and () refers to Classical Chinese writing, although ''Hanja'' is also sometimes used to encompass both concepts. Because Hanja characters have never undergone any major reforms, they more closely resemble traditional Chinese and kyūjitai, traditional Japanese characters, although the stroke orders for certain characters are slightly different. Such examples are the characters and , as well as and . Only a small number of Hanja characters were modified or are unique to Korean, with the rest being identical to the traditional Chinese characters. By contrast, many of the Chinese characters currently in use in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore have been simplified Chin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hangul
The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs used to pronounce them. They are systematically modified to indicate Phonetics, phonetic features. The vowel letters are systematically modified for related sounds, making Hangul a featural writing system. It has been described as a syllabic alphabet as it combines the features of Alphabet, alphabetic and Syllabary, syllabic writing systems. Hangul was created in 1443 by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty. The alphabet was made as an attempt to increase literacy by serving as a complement to Hanja, which were Chinese characters used to write Literary Chinese in Korea by the 2nd century BCE, and had been adapted to write Korean by the 6th century CE. Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
