List of ensemble formations in traditional Chinese music
Encyclopedia
Luogu and drum ensembles
LuoguLuogu
Luogu is a Chinese percussion ensemble. It typically comprises several types of drum and several types of metal idiophone and wooden idiophone...
(锣鼓; pinyin: luógǔ; literally "gongs and drums") are Chinese percussion ensembles, which are typically made up of several different types of drums (鼓; pinyin: gǔ) and several different types of metal idiophones, usually including gongs (鑼/锣; pinyin: luó) and cymbals (鈸; pinyin: bó). Such ensembles sometimes play in juxtaposition with melodic ensembles. There are also ensembles that consist solely of drums.
- Chaozhou luogu (潮州锣鼓) - gong and drum music of ChaozhouChaozhouChaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
(in GuangdongGuangdongGuangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province)- Chaozhou da luogu (潮州小锣鼓) - big gong and drum music of Chaozhou
- Chaozhou xiao luogu (潮州小锣鼓) - small gong and drum music of Chaozhou
- Shifan luogu (十番锣鼓) - ten sound variations of gongs and drums (from southern JiangsuJiangsu' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
Province) - Sichuan naonian luogu (四川闹年锣鼓) - gong and drum music performed for the celebration of the Chinese New YearChinese New YearChinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
in SichuanSichuan' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
Province - Sunan shifan luogu (苏南十番锣鼓, see shifan luogu
- Tonggu ensemble (铜鼓) - bronze drum ensemble (cf. Dong Son drumsDong Son drumsĐông Sơn drums are bronze drums fabricated by the Dong Son culture, in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam...
) - Zhedong luogu (浙东锣鼓) - gong and drum music of eastern ZhejiangZhejiangZhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
Province
Loud wind and percussion ensembles
Ensembles comprising loud wind instruments (including suonaSuona
The suona ; also called laba or haidi is a Han Chinese shawm . It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors...
, guanzi
Guan (instrument)
The guan is a Chinese double reed wind instrument. The northern Chinese version is called guanzi or bili and the Cantonese version is called houguan . It is classified as a bamboo instrument in the Ba Yin system...
, sheng
Sheng
Sheng can refer to:* Sheng * Beijing opera#Sheng, the main role in Beijing opera* Sheng , a slang dialect of the Swahili language* Province , an administrative division of China, called sheng in Mandarin...
, and sometimes also dizi, long straight brass trumpets, or string instruments) and the percussion instruments of the luogu ensemble are usually referred to as either guchui (literally "drumming [and] blowing") or chuida (literally "blowing [and] hitting") ensembles. Such ensembles traditionally perform outdoors, often while marching, for weddings, funerals, or (originally) military purposes. They include the following:
- Guchui ensemble (鼓吹) - drum and wind music
- Liaonan guchui (辽南鼓吹) - drum and wind music of southern LiaoningLiaoning' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
Province - Longchui (笼吹) - casket winds; performed by suonaSuonaThe suona ; also called laba or haidi is a Han Chinese shawm . It has a distinctively loud and high-pitched sound, and is used frequently in Chinese traditional music ensembles, particularly those that perform outdoors...
, dongxiao, erxianErxianThe erxian is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It has two strings and is used primarily in Cantonese music, most often in "hard string" chamber ensembles...
, sanxianSanxianThe sanxian is a Chinese lute — a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snakeskin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a...
, large and small drums, gong, cymbals, and sometimes other instruments - Shandong guchui (山东鼓吹) - drum and wind music of ShandongShandong' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
Province - Shanxi badatao (山西八大套) - eight big pieces of ShanxiShanxi' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
Province - Sunan chuida (苏南吹打) - wind and percussion music of southern Jiangsu Province; also called Sunan shifangu (苏南十番鼓) or Shifangu (十番鼓)
- Xi'an guyue (西安鼓乐) - wind and percussion ensemble music of Xi'anXi'anXi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
(ShaanxiShaanxi' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
Province); also called Shaanxi guyue (陕西鼓乐)
Silk and bamboo ensembles
Ensembles made up primarily of strings, flutes, and small percussion instruments are usually referred to as sizhu (丝竹; pinyin: sīzhú; literally "silk [and] bamboo") ensembles. They include:- Chaozhou xianyue (潮州弦乐; literally "Chaozhou string music") - Chaozhou silk and bamboo ensemble
- Fuzhou shifan (福州十番) - ten sound variations of FuzhouFuzhouFuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
(in FujianFujian' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
Province) - Hakka sixian (客家丝弦; literally "HakkaHakka peopleThe Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
silk string [music]") - Hakka silk and bamboo ensemble - Hebei chuige (河北吹歌) - Hebei wind songs, see Jizhong guanyue
- Hengchui ensemble (横吹) - wind music
- Jiangnan sizhuJiangnan sizhuJiangnan sizhu is a style of traditional Chinese instrumental music from the Jiangnan region of China.-Name:The name Jiangnan sizhu is made up of two parts. Jiangnan is the traditional name for the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze river in southern Jiangsu, Shanghai, and northern...
(江南丝竹) - string and wind music from the region directly south of the Yangtze RiverYangtze RiverThe Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, near ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... - Jizhong chuige (冀中吹歌) - wind songs of central HebeiHebei' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
- Jizhong guanyue (冀中管乐) - wind music of central Hebei
- NanguanNanguanNanguan is a style of Chinese classical music originating in the southern Chinese province of Fujian , and is also now highly popular in Taiwan, particularly Lukang.Fujian is a mountainous coastal province of China...
(南管; pinyin: nánguǎn; literally "southern pipe") - an instrumental genre originating in Fujian; also performed in TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
; also called nanyin (南音), nanyue (南樂), or nanqu (南曲)
Buddhist and Daoist ritual music
Once performed regularly at BuddhistBuddhism in China
Chinese Buddhism refers collectively to the various schools of Buddhism that have flourished in China since ancient times. Buddhism has played an enormous role in shaping the mindset of the Chinese people, affecting their aesthetics, politics, literature, philosophy and medicine.At the peak of the...
and Daoist temples throughout China, since 1949 such music has experienced a significant decline, and may now be found at only a few temples in China and Taiwan.
- Jing yinyue (京音乐) - literally "capital music"; performed at the Zhihua Si TempleZhihua Si TempleThe Zhihua Temple is a Ming Dynasty-era Buddhist temple in Beijing, China. It is located in the Lumicang hutong, in the Chaoyangmen area of the Dongcheng District, within the Second Ring Road to the north of Jinbaojie Street, west of the Yabaolu area...
, a Ming DynastyMing DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
-era Buddhist temple in Beijinghttp://www.chinesemusic.net/books/ritual-preface.pdfhttp://baike.baidu.com/view/813072.htm. Instruments include guanziGuan (instrument)The guan is a Chinese double reed wind instrument. The northern Chinese version is called guanzi or bili and the Cantonese version is called houguan . It is classified as a bamboo instrument in the Ba Yin system...
, dizi, shengShengSheng can refer to:* Sheng * Beijing opera#Sheng, the main role in Beijing opera* Sheng , a slang dialect of the Swahili language* Province , an administrative division of China, called sheng in Mandarin...
, yunluoYunluoThe yunluo is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It was also called yún'áo in ancient times....
, cymbals, and drum, and (formerly) voice(s)
Ancient Chinese orchestra
The ancient Chinese orchestra, which comprised up to several hundred or more traditional Chinese musical instruments of many types, existed from at least the Shang DynastyShang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...
and performed yayue (雅樂) music for court rituals and sacrifices, as well as for entertainment of the court.
- Ancient Chinese orchestra
Modern Chinese orchestra
The modern Chinese orchestra, comprising up to 100 or more traditional (or modernized traditional) Chinese musical instruments, as well as often celloCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
s and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es, was developed in the early 20th century.
- Modern Chinese orchestra
Non-Han ensembles
Many ensembles are found only among China's 55 ethnic minoritiesEthnic minorities in China
Ethnic minorities in China are the non-Han Chinese population in the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China officially recognizes 55 ethnic minority groups within China in addition to the Han majority. As of 2010, the combined population of officially recognised minority...
. These include:
- Bayin (八音) - literally "eight sounds"; instrumental ensemble of the Zhuang people of GuangxiGuangxiGuangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, which includes such instruments as the maguhuMaguhuThe maguhu is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of musical instruments. It has two strings and its sound box is made from the femur bone of a horse...
, tuhuTuhuThe tuhu is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily by non-Han ethnic groups of southern China, particularly the Zhuang, who live in the Guangxi province and use it in their bayin ensemble...
, huluhuHuluhuThe huluhu is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It has two strings, and its sound box is made from a gourd, with a face made of thin wood...
, sanxianSanxianThe sanxian is a Chinese lute — a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snakeskin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a...
, drums, and cymbals, as well as other instruments - LushengLushengThe lusheng is a Chinese musical instrument with multiple bamboo pipes, each fitted with a free reed, which are fitted into a long blowing tube made of hardwood. It most often has five or six pipes of different pitches, and is thus a polyphonic instrument...
ensemble (芦笙) - ensemble of lusheng mouth organs of various sizes (and sometimes also mangtongMangtongThe mangtong is a Chinese end-blown free reed wind instrument. It is used primarily by the Miao and Dong ethnic groups of the southern Chinese provinces of Guizhou and Guangxi, although it is sometimes used in contemporary Chinese compositions for the traditional instrument orchestra.The...
) performed by the MiaoMiao peopleThe Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
and DongDongDong may refer to:Asian languages* Vietnamese đồng , the currency unit of Vietnam* Dong people , an ethnic minority group in China* Dong language* Dong Lake, a lake in the Hunan Province of China* Dong quai, a medicinal herb...
peoples of southern China