CHINA. 



VutJ fart, tnsrkt of the key, time, and expression. Snreral 

 ,-v - O f (bete improvements thry arr laid to HJVC leiroed from 

 "" " ' the Jesuit routxjnjry Pareira ; but tf>ry discover no ac- 

 qoaiataoce whh thoie scientific calculations and geomr- 

 tncal operation* for perfecting the scale of notr;, uhith 

 the miH)nnr writers have atcribcd to the ancient mu 

 ficiint of Ch-na. Thry wander amidst Ball and sharps 

 without any fitcd rule; and, m :'.! trans tions to a 

 fourth or fifth, they run through all thi- intervening 

 tone*, armitonet, and even quarter tone*, in the mot 

 drawling manner pojiiMc. Though their bands occa- 

 iooaUy attempt to play in unison, a. id an instrument 

 ajBOBg them is tomrtiraet heard taking a higher or lower 

 octave ; yet it is affirmed, that they arc wholly unable 

 to play ID parts, or to blend together several distinct me- 

 lodm, to at form one concert of harmony. Their mu- 

 s:c, :) short, i- slid to be altogether inconsistent, ard in 

 capable of bring reduced to any certain rule ; utterly 

 lialili to that of any other existing nation ; destitute 

 alto of any resemblance to the system of the ancient 

 Greeks and Egyptians ; and is either completely origi- 

 nal, or a fragment of some style more ancient than any 

 of thote which are at present known. 



Muic in China it neither learned as an accomplish- 

 ment, nor practised as an amusement, by private indivi- 

 duals ; but it the study only of those persons, who hire 

 thenuelio fur the entertainment of others, especially of 

 those females, who are educated for gale, or addicted to 

 prostitution. 



Mmiealic- The-r musical instruments are sufficiently various, both 

 *** as to their form and materials. They distinguish eight 

 different kinds of sounds ; and believe, that there art- just 

 as many sonorous bodies formed by nature, vie. the sound 

 of skin, of stone, of metal, of '.iked earth, of tiik, of 

 wood, of the bamboo, and of a gourd. 



Of the firt class are drams, formed of boxes or barrels 

 of baked earth cr of wood, covered at b. th inds with the 

 hide of some animal, generally the buffalo. Some of these 

 drums are of a very large size, and when used, are phced 

 on one end upon the ground, or upon stands resting on 

 three or four feet, according to their siz". 'Father Ma- 

 galhens speaks of a drum at Pi kin, which was forty feet 

 in circumference. 



Of the second class are the instruments called King, 

 which consist of a number of son rous stones of a u.- 

 Ceout nature, cut into the shape of a carpenter's squ.i'-e, 

 and suspended by the angle in a wooden frame. Their 

 tone M rendered flatter by diminishing their thickness, 

 and sharper by taking from their length ; and they are 

 played hy striking them with a rounded staff. 



Of the third class are their bolls, which are of various 

 forms ; sometimet round, occasionally flattened, and, in 

 the lower part, resembling a crescent. They are com- 

 peted generally of a mixture of tin and copper, and are 

 somt times of an enormous size. Father Magalhcns dc- 

 scribes one at Pckin, (which is used for announcing the 

 hour, of the night, and the tound of which it eaid to 

 have an awfully solemn effict), at 13$ feet in diameter, 

 48 feet in circumference, 12 feet in height, and 50 tons 

 to weight. Instrument* are formed of 16 bell), proper- 

 ly assorted to correspond with the r.otcs of the 16 so- 

 norous stooet, of which the King are composed. To 

 this clatt belong also the different kinds of cymbals, 

 Ail particularly the Loo or Gong, which it a kind of 

 shallow kettle, with a flat rim raited about three inches, 

 which i< composed of a nixed metal of copper, tin, and 

 .th. which is struck -vith a wooden imllet covered 

 witu leather, and winch yields a shrill and piercing sound* 

 heard at a very great distance. 



Of the fourth clasi ; j the Hiuen, an instrument 

 wh.cli the Chinete regard as of great antiquit\ 

 which is a hollow piece of baked earth, aV>ut the size 

 of a hen't or a goose's egg, and furnished with six holes 

 to produce the notes, and a seventh for trie mouth of the 

 player. 



Of the filth class are the Shee and Kin, which are al- 

 so instruments of great antiquity, and which are a -pe- 

 cies of lyres with strings of silk. The latter ha- 

 tcven strings, and it generally about five feet ii> length ; 

 while the former is about nine feet long, and is fro, 

 ly furnished with strings to the number of '25 U|> >n 

 these instruments they play with the finger or a cmaM 

 ttick. There are also different kinds ot guitars v -il. 

 two, three, or four strings, which arc the Favourite in- 

 ftrumcnts of the men ; and a kind of violin, with two 

 ttrings of different tones, between which the bow h 

 made to past, and the sound of which it described as pe- 

 culiarly grating to an European ear. 



Of the sixth class arc the wooden instruments collet 

 Tchoo, Vu, and Tchoong-too ; the first of wli 

 shaped like a bushel, and is struck with a hamm r on 

 the inside ; the second is the figure of a tygcr in a 

 squatting position, and constructed in such a manner 34 

 to emit a sound, when gently scraped on the bark with 

 a rod ; and the third consists of twelve pieces of w,,od 

 tied together, which are used for beating time' by hold- 

 ing them in the right hand, and striking them against 

 the palm of the left. There are also hollow wooden 

 instruments shaped like a fish, about 2J Kei in length* 

 and six inches in breadth, which are much used by he 

 soldiers in some provinces, and by the boi.zvs at their 

 devotions, and which are struck with a loaded stick 

 winl.' they rest upon a kind of cushion. 



Of the sevi nth class are the various kinds of flute* 

 and pipes, wh'ch are chiefly ustd by the women ; the 

 most common of which has ten holes, and is extremely 

 shrill and piercing. Others may be called trumpets, 

 sometimes without holes, and sometimes with five or 

 eight, and not unlike the French clarionets j the sound 

 of wh:ch is exceedingly monotonous and disagreeable to 

 the ears of an European. 



Of the eighth class is the Shcng or Sing, one of the 

 mi st agreeable of the Chinese instrument, which is a 

 species of organ or rather Pan's-pipe, composed of a 

 number of unequal bamboo reeds fixed into the lower naif 

 of a gourd, and furnished with a pipe on one Side, shaped 

 hl-.e the neck of a goose, to which the mouth ot the 

 player is applied, and which conveys the air to ail the 

 other reeds. The sounds, which it produces, are said 19 

 be sufficiently pleasing, but so wild and irregular as t 

 be incapable of being reduced to any scale. 



All thcs<- musical instruments are exceedingly imper- 

 fect, and are managed witn v.-ry httlr taste or skill. 

 The excellence of a performance seems to consist, in the 

 opinion ot the Chinese, in the greatness of the noise, 

 produced by a confused union of different instruments ; 

 and the chief nv.-rit of the individual performers, in 

 their musical bands, teems to consist in striking their 

 drums, gongs, and cymbals with the utmost rapiduy and 

 vigour. 



Their vocal music is more soft and pleasing ; but the 

 sounds are often forced through the throat and nos , m 

 a very singular and indescribable manm r. Their strain 

 of tinging is rather querulous and plaintive, yet < Id >m 

 expressive of much fevlnig. There is commonly some 

 accompaniment by a guitar; and the Following favou- 

 rite air of the Moo-lee-wha, from Mr Barrow, may be 

 given a a specimen : 



