The widely agreed 10 classics in Chinese music, representative of the Chinese music in the early days (from 2000+ years ago to 100’s years ago) . Most of the music were composed for and played with the traditional Chinese musical instruments (see another article in this blog).
- Gao Shan Liu Shui (”high mountain, flowing water”). Legend says that this work was by BoYa, a musician during the early Qin dynasty (around 333 BCE). The music was known for its sophistication so not many people could truly understand or appreciate it at his time. A woodsman named Zhong ZiQi heard BoYa playing this work and recognized that the music was describing high mountains, flowing waters. Subsequently BoYa took ZiQi as close friend who truly understands music. After ZiQi’s death, BoYa felt that he lost a true understanding friend and never played the music again.
- Guang Ling San (”A Tune from GuangLin”). This work was believed to be from the Han and Wei era.
- Ping Sha Luo Yan (”Wild Geese landing on sandy ground”). It is believed that the music was composed between the Tang and Ming dynasty. It was first recorded in a music book in 1634.
- Mei Hua San Nong(”Plum Blossom”).
- Shi Mian Mai Fu (”Ambushes from ten sides”). This work was the story of XiangYu, a legendary hero, ambushed by his enemy Liu Bang. XiangYu’s army fought to the last and could not break out. Refusing to surrender, XiangYu killed himself after killing his concubine. As a widely known tragedy story, director Zhang Yimou even borrowed this story as the title for his 1993 awarding-winning movie: farewell to my concubine.
- Xi Yang Xiao Gu (”Flute and drum with sunset”). A piece of music describing the beautiful scenery in Southeast China (JiangSu, ShangHai area)
- Yu Qiao Wen Da (Dialog between a fisherman and a woodsman). A romantic piece of work that paints the beautiful picture of mountains and rivers, through dialogs between a fisherman and a woodsman.
- Hu Jia Shi Ba Pai (”Episods with HuJia”). HuJia is a rare type of musical instrument. This work was allegedly from Cai Wenji, daughter of a famous linguist and musician. During a war between XiongNu and the Han empire, Cai WenJi was captured by XiongNu (Ancesters of the Hungarian) and abducted to the remote Northwest region (present day Mongol region), where she spent many unhappy years. When she was finally brought back home, she wrote a long poetry to describe all the suffering she went through, which was composed to music. The music is very sad and touching.
- Han Gong Qiu Yue (Autumn moon in the Han palace). This work, with author unknown, describes the sad, depressing, prison-like life of the many concubines of the emperor that lived in the Han Palace.
- Yang Chun Bai Xue (White Snow in Bright Spring). A PiPa music describes the lively scenery of early spring.
Download all the above from HERE.
Enjoy!
