Fig. 11.—Hsüan.
The shêng ([Fig. 12b]) is one of the oldest instruments of the Chinese still in use, and may be regarded as the most ancient species of organ with which we are exactly acquainted. Formerly it had either thirteen, nineteen, or twenty-four tubes placed in a calabash; and a long curved tube served as a mouth-piece. A similarly-constructed instrument, though different in outward appearance, is the ken of Siam and Burmah. The Siamese call the ken “The Laos organ,” and it is principally used by the inhabitants of the Laos states. Moreover, there deserves to be noticed another Chinese instrument of this kind, simple in construction, which probably represents the shêng in its most primitive condition. It is to be found among the Miao-tsze, or mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of China. They call it sang. This species has no bowl, or air-chest; it rather resembles the Panpipe, but is sounded by means of a common mouthpiece consisting of a tube, which is placed at a right angle across the pipes. The Chinese assert that the shêng was used in olden time in the religious rites performed in honour of Confucius. Tradescant Lay, in his account of the Chinese, calls it “Jubal’s organ,” and remarks, “this seems to be the embryo of our multiform and magnificent organ."
Fig. 12.—a. Ch’in (a species of Lute). Modern Chinese.
No. 9-’70. L. 38½ in., W. 8½ in.
b. Shêng (Mouth Organ). Chinese, 19th century. No. 977-’72.
L. 17 in., W. 4¼ in.
c. Yueh-ch’in (Moon Guitar). Chinese. 19th Century.
No. 256-’82.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
The ancient stringed instruments, the ch’in ([Fig. 12a]) and sê, were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of them are in the Museum.
The yueh-ch’in ([Fig. 12c]) is a favourite instrument of the Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of yueh-ch’in is yuet-kum, and this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have called the instrument gut-komm. The wood of which it is made is called by the Chinese shwan-che. The strings are twanged with a plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown by the Chinese to an extravagant length.
The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who is represented as a rather jovial-looking man with a moustache and an imperial, playing the p’i-p’a, a kind of lute with four silken strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient Chinese musical instruments may be gathered from the famous ruins of the Buddhist temples Angcor-Wat and Angcor-Thom, in Cambodia. These splendid ruins are supposed to be above two thousand years old: and, at any rate, the circumstance of their age not being known to the Cambodians suggests a high antiquity. On
the bas-reliefs with which the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which European travellers describe as “flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums, resembling those of the Chinese.” Faithful sketches of these representations, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the student of musical history.