504 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the tones of a regular stringed instrument. Such was, in short,, 

 the origin of our first musical instruments, the kin and the die,. 

 which were both invented by the same person and at the same 

 time, and both give the peculiar sound of silk.* 



The construction of the instrument kin affords matter for an 

 interesting study. It is made of toung-wood. The upper part is 

 rounded, to represent the sky ; the lower part is flat, and repre- 

 sents the earth. The abode of the dragon that is, the upper part,, 

 from the bridge, eight inches down represents the eight areas of 

 the wind; and the nest of Foung-Hoang, or the same part at 

 four inches in its height, represents the four seasons of the year. 

 It is furnished with five cords, representing the five planets and 

 the five elements. Its total length is seven feet and two inches,, 

 representing the universality of things. The inventor, by means 

 of this instrument, first regulated his own heart and restrained his 

 passions within just limits. He then labored to civilize men. He 

 made them capable of obeying the laws ; of doing acts worthy of 

 reward ; and of engaging in peaceful industry, by which they 

 acquired the arts. Besides these five cords which give the five 

 full tones, there are two others that give the half-tones and repre- 

 sent the sun and moon. 



Concerning the construction of the che*, I will only mention 

 that it had fifty and still has twenty-five cords ; for I perceive 

 that I am saying too much about the music of silk. It was, how- 

 ever, proper to give a full account of the kin, for it represents the 

 first application of this music, f 



* The engravings accompanying this article are from photographs from an edition of 

 the poem of the Emperor Kang-Hi, published at Shanghai. They show most evidently that 

 the artist has depicted customs of a very remote antiquity. Men are employed only for 

 operations that require strength, like the cultivation of the mulberry-tree, the collection of 

 leaves, etc. The legends beneath the designs are free translations of the Chinese verses 

 above them. 



f The inventor of the kin and the che was no other than the Emperor Fo-Hi, who 

 reigned about two hundred years before Hoang-Ti. The invention of thread and of fire is 

 attributed to him ; and he taught men, who had previously eaten their meat raw, to cook 

 it. The che kept its fifty cords till the time of Hoang-Ti, when a young maiden played it 

 before the emperor with such effect that he concluded that it was a dangerous instrument 

 to hear, and too liable to excite the passions of the people. Instead of throwing himself at 

 the feet of the siren, as a European monarch would have done, he in his wisdom decreed 

 that the che should in future have only twenty-five cords. Notwithstanding IIoang-Ti's 

 edict, the number of cords has been varied several times. There have been sometimes 

 twenty-seven, sometimes twenty-three, and sometimes only nineteen, but no one has vent- 

 ured to go back to fifty ; the changes having been instigated by considerations of the sig- 

 nificance of numbers, to which the Chinese are much addicted. The che has now twenty- 

 five strings. Each string is held by a colored bridge. The first five are always blue ; the 

 next five red ; the next yellow ; the next white ; and the last series black. The bridges are 

 movable, and each one is adjusted according to considerations that we shall not enter into. 

 There are four kinds of che's, which are of different length, but of identical construction. 

 They are played at court and in the Confucian temple. In the latter case four instrumente- 



