The fang-hsiang was a kind of wood-harmonicon. It contained sixteen wooden slabs of an oblong square shape, suspended in a wooden frame elegantly decorated. The slabs were arranged in two tiers, one above the other, and were all of equal length and breadth but differed in thickness. The ch’un-tu consisted of twelve slips of bamboo, and was used for beating time and for rhythmical purposes. The slips being banded together at one end could be expanded somewhat like a fan. The Chinese state that they used the ch’un-tu for writing upon before they invented paper.
The yü, likewise an ancient Chinese instrument of percussion and still in use, is made of wood in the shape of a crouching tiger. It is hollow, and along its back are about twenty small pieces of metal, pointed, and in appearance not unlike the teeth of a saw. The performer strikes them with a sort of plectrum resembling a brush, or with a small stick called chên. Occasionally the yü is made with pieces of metal shaped like reeds.
The ancient yü was constructed with only six tones which were attuned thus—f, g, a, c, d, f. The instrument appears to have deteriorated in the course of time; for, although it has gradually acquired as many as twenty-seven pieces
of metal, it evidently serves at the present day more for the production of rhythmical noise than for the execution of any melody. The modern yü is made of a species of wood called k’iu or ch’iu; and the tiger rests generally on a hollow wooden pedestal about three feet six inches long, which serves as a sound-board.
The chu, likewise an instrument of percussion, was made of the wood of a tree called ch’iu-mu, the stem of which resembles that of the pine and whose foliage is much like that of the cypress. It was constructed of boards about three-quarters of an inch in thickness. In the middle of one of the sides was an aperture into which the hand was passed for the purpose of holding the handle of a wooden hammer, the end of which entered into a hole situated in the bottom of the chu. The handle was kept in its place by means of a wooden pin, on which it moved right and left when the instrument was struck with a hammer. The Chinese ascribe to the chu a very high antiquity, as they almost invariably do with any of their inventions when the date of its origin is unknown to them.
The po-fu was a drum, about one foot four inches in length, and seven inches in diameter. It had a parchment at each end, which was prepared in a peculiar way by being boiled in water. The po-fu used to be partly filled with a preparation made from the husk of rice, in order to mellow the sound. The Chinese name for the drum is ku.
The chin-ku, a large drum fixed on a pedestal which raises it above six feet from the ground, is embellished with symbolical designs. A similar drum on which natural phenomena are depicted is called lei-ku; and another of the kind, with figures of certain birds and beasts which are regarded as symbols of long life, is called ying-ku, and also tsu-ku.
The flutes, ti, yüeh, and ch’ih were generally made of bamboo. The kuan-tzŭ was a Pandean pipe containing twelve tubes of bamboo. The hsiao, likewise a Pandean pipe, contained sixteen tubes. The p’ai-hsiao differed from the hsiao inasmuch as the tubes were inserted into an oddly-shaped case highly ornamented with grotesque designs and silken appendages.
The Chinese are known to have constructed at an early period a curious wind-instrument, called hsüan (the “Chinese ocarina") ([Fig. 11]). It was made of baked clay and had five finger-holes, three of which were placed on one side and two on the opposite side, as in the cut. Its tones were in conformity with the pentatonic scale. The reader unacquainted with the pentatonic scale may ascertain its character by playing on the pianoforte the scale of C major with the omission of f and b (the fourth and seventh); or by striking the black keys in regular succession from f-sharp to the next f-sharp above or below.