The origin of the serpent is very old, and it accounts for the largest proportion of stringed instruments found in archaeology. Its excavations are concentrated in the three provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Henan, and most of them come from the tombs of Chu in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Other provinces, such as Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Liaoning, have only a few sporadic discoveries. The literature records that "Ku Xi" is a Se [1].

Legend has it that there was already a Thor in the Xia Dynasty. The word "music" on the oracle bone inscription has the word "silk" on the top and the word "wood" below. If you want to use strings, then the production of silk should be after the appearance of silk. The raw material of strings is at least the technology to reel silk to make strings. The stringed instruments before and after the pre-Qin period were the qin and se.

Another speculation is that instruments such as the harp may be related to hunting bowstrings. Of course, the raw material of the bowstring can also be made from beef tendon or other animal leather bands. In the 1984 replica of the Se unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, the thickest bass strings are ox tendon strings.

Se is one of the earliest stringed instruments in our country, the pre-Qin Dynasty was extremely popular, the Han Dynasty was also very popular, the Northern and Southern Dynasties were often used to accompany the song of Xianghe, the Tang Dynasty used a lot, and the later generations gradually used less.

Thur

Thur

"The Book of Songs: Xiaoya" has: "...... Qin Se beats the drum, to Yu Tian Zu, to pray for Ganyu, to introduce my millet, to Gu my native girl. This is the earliest record in ancient books, indicating that Se is at least 3,000 years old. Confucius was good at drumming and used it to accompany poetry, and at that time, Confucius was an independent family and was known as the "Confucian Commander" ("The Analects of Confucius"; From the Se, Xi is the gate of the hill")

"Zhou Li: Musical Instrument Diagram" records: Yaser 23 strings, Song Se 25 strings, decorated with precious jade, said "Bao Se", painted like brocade, said "Jin Se".

"Hanshu Suburban Ritual Chronicles" said: "The Emperor ordered the female drum to be fifty strings, sad, and the emperor's ban could not be stopped, so it was broken into twenty-five strings." Later, the production of Se gradually refined and became more versatile. In the family temple of King Fengwen in the Zhou Dynasty, a silk string dyed vermilion is tied on it, and there is a sparse sound hole at the bottom, which can make a soothing sound when playing.

"Historical Records: Feng Zen Book": In the spring, both destroyed South Vietnam, and there was a concubine Li Yannian who saw him with good news. The secretary of state said: "The ancients have joy in the world, and the gods can get and salute." Or said: "The emperor made the plain girl drum fifty strings, sad, the emperor forbade more than that, so the break was twenty-five strings." "So in the south of the country, the prayer shrine Taiyi and Houtu began to use music and dance, and the songs were called to make twenty-five strings and empty Hou Qinse.

2 Historical developmentsEdit

The earliest Se has fifty strings, so it is also called "fifty strings", and there are records in the Book of Songs, "My Fair Lady, Qin Se Friend", "I have guests, drums and drums". Se has disappeared for thousands of years, and now "Youlan Han Music" will once again present the legendary sound on the stage, the piano and the sound of the music such as flowing water, such as the phoenix, such as the south wind, such as the moon, leading us into the deep fragrance of nature.

Ancient stringed instruments. It has a long history. "The Book of Music" quotes the "World Book": "Sacrifice and Se". According to the record of "Etiquette", in the ancient township drinking ceremony, township shooting ceremony, and swallow ceremony, they all sang with the accompaniment of Se. From the Warring States period to the Qin and Han dynasties, the "joy of the war" prevailed. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Se was a common musical instrument that accompanied Xianghe songs. It was used for Qingle during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Later, it was only used for court music and Ding festival music.

In the Zhou and Han dynasties, there were many discoveries in archaeological excavations. The No. 1 Chu Tomb of Liuchengqiao in Changsha, Hunan Province (about the late Spring and Autumn Period or the early Warring States Period) was unearthed, which is the earliest known physical object. The Chu tombs in Xinyang, Henan, Jiangling, Hubei, the tomb of Zeng Marquis B in Suixian, Hubei, and the No. 1 Han tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha have all been unearthed, and the number of strings ranges from 23 to 25 strings, and most of them are 25 strings.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han dynasties, dozens of ancient Se have been unearthed, but most of them are incomplete or the position of the column is unknown. However, the No. 1 Han Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha was unearthed and well preserved.

Although the strings have decayed and deteriorated, they remain in place, and the position of the columns is relatively clear, providing direct physical evidence for us to understand Gusser's tension and tuning. The twenty-five strings are divided into three groups by three tails, counting the inner nine, the middle seven, and the outer nine. The inner and outer nine strings are arranged more regularly, and the pitch of the fixed strings is the same, while the middle seven strings are more disordered, but it also vaguely shows that it is connected with the inner nine strings as a step progression. Extrapolating from the proportion of the effective chord lengths of each column, it can be seen that it is tuned according to the pentatonic scale.

The above-mentioned Guser was lost to the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the documents contained in the literature and the court used in successive dynasties have been quite different from the ancient Se in terms of shape, string tension, and tuning. At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Xiong Penglai (1246-1323) compiled six volumes of the Sepu. The book describes the form and performance of Se, and includes 12 old scores of the Song of Songs, 20 new scores composed by him, and scores of sacrificial music from the Confucian Temple. At that time, there was a long mountain at the end of the mountain, and there were a number of corresponding string holes on the outside of the two mountains, and the strings were opened in turn. There are twenty-five strings in total, and the pitches are arranged according to the twelve rhythms. The middle string (thirteenth string) is not played, and the remaining twenty-four strings can play twenty-four notes of two octaves. Play the "middle voice" (lower octave) with the right hand and the "clear voice" (upper octave) with the left hand. The left and right hands can also play upper and lower octaves at the same time. The basic fingering is to pluck the strings with the major, ecliptic, medium, and nominal, fingers, and the inner and outer directions respectively. It is called breaking, supporting, wiping, picking, hooking, picking, beating, and picking, a total of eight kinds. In later generations, the string setting method changed slightly, and the middle string could also be played, and the string was set according to the pentatonic scale or the seventh-tone scale. The left hand can take a change of tone according to the left chord of the column if necessary.

The Music Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts has a collection of early Qing Dynasty Se. Length 207, width 43 cm. Twenty-five strings. The all-over black lacquer depicts a golden floral pattern. In the thirties of this century, the Shanghai Datong Music Association reformed the production of two seers, one with 50 strings, named "Ku Xi Se", changing the traditional single column (one column supporting one string) to a continuous column (seven or eight strings sharing one column), and using a live string outside Yueshan to facilitate tuning. The other is the hundred-string Dase, which uses the method of double rows of columns and interspersed strings to arrange the strings. Useful explorations have been made in increasing the volume of the ser, improving the timbre and facilitating the performance.

As of August 2008, Wuhan National Musical Instrument Factory Zhang Kaiyi and Zhou Dunfa made an imitation of 25-string Chuse according to the archaeological excavation of Chu Se in kind, absorbing the reasonable part of the modern Zheng structure. Length 176, width 42, height 10 cm. Play arpeggios, harmonies, chords and fast melodies. You can also use kneading, portamento and other techniques, with a unique charm. He has performed in the Hubei Provincial Song and Dance Troupe's "Chime Music and Dance". [1]

3 Form editing

In ancient times, it was carved and hewn from a single piece of wood, while the Se made in the Qing Dynasty has been glued into a rectangular resonance box by a panel, a bottom plate and a frame plate. The strings are made of silk strings, and on the shelf of the kototo, there is a goose column that can be moved left and right on each string to adjust the length of the string and determine the pitch.

Since the 30s of the 20th century, China has produced nearly 20 pieces of Se in Changsha, Xinyang and Jiangling tombs, most of which are of the same shape, consistent with the pre-Qin and Han Dynasty documents (very few are 23 or 24 strings). The strings are divided into three groups, with a middle group of seven strings and two sets of nine strings each.

It can be seen from the Mawangdui No. 1 Han Tomb unearthed in the early Western Han Dynasty that the thickness of the strings is divided into two groups, the outer nine strings are one group (the diameter of the outer and inner strings is reduced from 1.2 to 0.6 mm), the middle seven strings and the inner nine strings are another group (the diameter of the inner and outer strings is reduced from 1.9 to 0.5 mm), and the column position of the inner and outer nine strings is more regular, showing a stepped sequence, which is now treasured in the Hunan Provincial Museum.

The serpentatonic scale is generally set according to the pentatonic scale, and the seventh-tone scale is obtained by raising the semitone by pressing the strings.

In 1979, the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suixian County, Hubei Province unearthed a piece of Guse, which was made by Zeng Guo, the princes of Chu in the early Warring States period (before 433 BC), with the image sculpture of the dragon at the end, and the painted phoenix pattern on the side of the resonance box. It is the oldest surviving in our country and is now in the Hubei Provincial Museum.

The seer as we see it today is usually divided into two types, large and small, according to its length and number of strings. The big one is 18O~19o cm long and has 25 strings, while the small one is about 120 cm long and has 16 strings. In the collection of the Institute of Chinese Music in Beijing, there is a delicate Daseer made in the early Qing Dynasty (17th century), which is 209 centimeters long.

4 Production MethodEdit

There are generally three ways to construct it:

First, the whole wood is carved into a body, and the bottom plate is installed in another place, and other parts are inserted. This is a relatively primitive manufacturing method. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period, Chu Se mostly used this method;

Second, the sphant board is made of single wood, surrounded by thin wall panels, which is more common;

Third, it is completely assembled in a way that not only the bottom plate and wall board are made of wooden boards, but even the panel of the Se is made of multiple wooden boards. The ends of the head and tail are painted. Most of the surface is light, and a few are painted with deformed phoenix patterns and geometric patterns.

In the tombs of Jiangling Chu, there is often a kind of seer made of whole wood. The middle part is a little higher than the two plates, and the two tons are slightly wider. Dig a groove at both ends of the bottom plate, no resonance box, and some dig a rectangular groove in the middle of the bottom to disperse the sound.

When it comes to the craftsmanship of Se, we must understand the appearance of Se and the ornamentation is gorgeous. The Chu people are very fond of Se.

The Gusers in the various places excavated have exquisitely painted and embossed appearances of various shapes. The most representative is several pieces of painted Jinse unearthed from the Chu tomb of Changtaiguan in Xinyang, Henan Province (Changtaiguan Jinse ornamental map). The head and tail and both sides are painted with black lacquer, the middle is plain, the mountain is painted with diamond patterns, the black background on both sides is painted with symmetrical continuous gold and silver deformation cloud pattern, in the first and last two parts and the side of the wall board are also painted with a series of delicate patterns, that is, there are hunting figures, hunting figures, wizard figures, wizard holding magic weapon figures, wizards playing snakes, witches playing dragons, beasts, beasts, swallows, prayers, beasts, etc., and the hunters, musicians, nobles, wizards and other characters and various animals are depicted vividly.

5 Differences with the zitherEdit

1. Structure

Same: the whole wood is chopped, the surface is slightly raised, the body is hollow, and the bottom plate is embedded under the body.

Differences: There is a long mountain at the end of the mountain and three short mountains at the end. The tail end is equipped with four string-tied sheaths. The commonly used serrats are twenty-five strings. There is a front mountain at the head of the zither surface and a back mountain at the end. There are three sound holes (and there are also two sound holes), and there are 21 strings in the current commonly used zither.

2. Set the strings

Se is basically tuned according to the pentatonic scale, and later generations have slightly changed the string method, and the middle string can also be played, and the string is set according to the pentatonic scale or the seventh-tone scale. The range of the zither is related to the number of strings. Twenty-one strings are four octaves and zero minor thirds, generally with the lowest note as D, and the strings are set according to the pentatonic scale. From the point of view of the fixed string, there is not much difference between the Se and the Zheng.

3. Playing

Se: Fingering is to pluck the strings with the big, ecliptic, medium, and nominal fingers in the inner and outer directions respectively. It is called breaking, supporting, wiping, picking, hooking, picking, beating, and picking, a total of eight kinds. The left hand can take a change of tone according to the left chord of the column if necessary. Zheng: Basic fingering: hook, support, wipe, big pinch, small pinch, shake, repel, hit, hook and wipe to, toke and go. The right hand is singing, the left hand is making music, the right hand is playing the sound, and then the left hand is rubbing and sliding to get the change from my own playing.

The technique of playing the seer and the zither is very similar. Perhaps the biggest difference is that because the surface of the ser is different from the surface of the zheng, the finger drop is naturally different when playing, and the sound produced may be different.

4. Timbre

Because the body is larger than the guzheng, and it is all single-string articulation, the sound of the seer is slightly empty in the low register, and the high range is slightly thin.

Se, an ancient Han stringed instrument, has a total of twenty-five strings. The shape of Guser is roughly the same, the body is mostly made of whole wood, the surface of the body is slightly raised, the body is hollow, and the bottom plate is embedded under the body. There is a long mountain at the head of Semyon and three short mountains at the end. The tail end is equipped with four string-tied sheaths. There is a corresponding chord hole on the outside of Mt. Mt. Touo. There is also a wooden pillar, which is applied under the strings. A total of 12 bodies were unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi, mostly made of beech wood or catalpa wood, with a total length of about 150 to 170 and a width of about 40 cm. The whole body is painted with lacquer and bright color.

"On the Afternoon Collection" and "Jade Character Department" Se

[Ancient text] "Tang Rhyme" cut "set rhyme", "rhyme", "rhyme" and "rhyme" color cut, sound Xuan. "Shuowen" is also composed by Ku Xi's string music. "Xu Said" The Yellow Emperor made the female drum fifty strings, and the Yellow Emperor was sad, which was divided into twenty-five strings. This article is a seren. "Music Book" Zhu Xiang's envoy made the five-string Se, and then judged the five-string Se to be fifteen strings, and the compound was increased to eight for twenty-three. and "Litu" Yaser 8 feet 1 inch, 1 foot 8 inches wide, 23 strings, its commonly used 19 strings, Song Se 7 feet 2 inches, Guangtong, 25 strings are fully used. "Erya Shile" is said to be sprinkled. "Note" is 8 feet 1 inch long, 1 foot 8 inches wide, and has 27 strings. "Book Yiji" beats the piano. "Poetry Zhou Nan" My Fair Lady, Qin Se Friend. and "Collection Rhyme" has many appearances. "Poetry Daya" is written by Sebi. "Biography", the appearance of the public. and "Collection Rhyme" has a dignified appearance. "Poetry and Hygiene" is terrible. "Biography" Se, dignified appearance. "Zhu Note" Se, strict appearance. and "Poetry Daya" Sebi Yuzan. "Notes" Se, clean and fresh. "Zhu Note" Se, meticulous appearance. and "Orthography", beads. When Yuanrenzong, Qijin Prefecture offered Se Se Cave, please pick it, do not follow. Tongya said: Or think it is a gem, and the latitude is a pearl. Cheng Taizhi said: The world has passed on the Se, and the Se is burned with stones. There are three kinds of gemstones, such as pearls, and those who are transparent and blue. The burners are clear, and the Chinese water material burns beads, which is also known as Sese. Hurried, the wind. "Gu Le Fu Mo Shang Sang" is windy, woody, and misses the son in vain. It was bleak again, and the order was urging the wind to be violent. "Chu Ci: Nine Arguments" is bleak and the grass and trees are shaking and decaying. Another name. "Warring States Policy" uncle's attack on Chu is also a few times. "Note" Jise, Han Aizi. "Commentary" is a few times, and the historical records are lice. And with Solton. "Poems of Emperor Wu of Liang" Seju Super Seven Clean. and "Collection Rhyme" sparsely cut, and the sound is driven. Musical instrument. and "Rhyme Supplement" leaf style cut, sound test. "You Heng Parrot Fu" Shao Hao Si Chen, reaping the whole bridle. The frost is falling, and the cool breeze is bleak. [5]