Ling Lun () is the legendary founder of
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
in ancient
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
Mythology
In
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...
, Ling Lun is said to have created
bamboo flutes
The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kno ...
which made the sounds of many birds, including the mythical
phoenix. "In this way, Ling Lun invented the five notes of the
ancient Chinese five-tone scale (gong, shang, jiao, zhi, and yu, which is equivalent to 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in
numbered musical notation or do, re, mi, sol, and la in western solfeggio) and the eight sounds made by eight musical instruments. The
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...
(Huangdi) is said to have ordered the casting of bells in tune with those flutes.
An alternative text, the ''
Lushi Chunqiu'' (; ), from the third century BCE credits another culture hero,
Kui—who is often confused with a one-legged mythical monster bearing the same name—with the invention of music. In one version of the story, Kui makes a drum by stretching animal skin over an earthen jar that defeats another monster. In another version,
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...
fashions a drum from the skin of a ''kui'' monster.
Cultural legacy
In the computer games ''
Civilization IV
''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 2005 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series and was designed by S ...
'' and ''
Civilization V
''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...
'', Ling Lun appears as a great artist. The 2020 film ''
Bill & Ted Face the Music'' features Ling Lun as one of the musicians in the titular characters' band, portrayed by Sharon Gee.
References
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Lun
Chinese flautists
Pre-Xia Chinese people