| The Chinese Dragon Flute. | Fig. 36. |
Pictures of the Chinese show performers playing upon flutes with an embouchure at the middle of the length, and with holes both to the right and left of the embouchure. This flute is peculiar to the Chinese, and was described by Father Amiot. But, though the appearance of the style is maintained, the integrity of the instrument is seldom adhered to; so that it had come to be a doubt whether such a flute was playable, or even had been actually observed by Father Amiot. For, in modern hands, a plug near the middle converted it into a double ended flute of the ordinary method of playing only requiring a few holes in addition. M. J. A. Van Aalst names this flute Ch-ih; says that the number of holes varies from six to ten, and even more. But M. Victor C. Mahillon, describing more elaborately the ancient instrument, names it Hwang-chông-tché and reproduces a description of it given by Prince Tsai-Yu, in 1596; and to this I am indebted for details, and also for the illustration, which I copy from that by M. Victor Mahillon in his most interesting catalogue of the Brussels Museum of Musical Instruments.
I remember seeing one of these flutes at the Chinese Court at the Fisheries or other of the Kensington exhibitions years ago, and wondered, much perplexed, how the playing was to be accomplished. If my memory serves, there is a specimen now at the South Kensington Museum; though for all practical enquiry, many instruments might as well be absent, there being no sufficient light to enable the visitor to see what he is in quest of in that department either by night or day.
Prince Tsai-Yu states that this flute is very difficult to play; which would account for its neglect, so that now the playing is a lost art. He says that it was constantly in use during the period of the three first dynasties (2205-1122 B.C.). It is fully described in “Tcheu-ly,” an old volume treating of the ceremonial of the Tcheou during the rule of the dynasty occupying the throne of China in those early days. So that this instrument takes us back more than four thousand years. Its scale consists, according to M. Mahillon’s investigation, of six equal tempered semitones:—
This curious flute necessitates a peculiar attitude on the part of the player. The flute is open all through; and, as you see, in order fairly to distribute his energies, the performer should place himself between the two ends, playing a scale by alternating the fingering, producing the notes in order, first from one hand and next from the other hand, according to the figures accompanying the illustration.
| Mouth Hole. Fig. 37. Chinese Flute. Hwang-chong-tche. |
The instrument was constructed by M. Mahillon after the indications of the ancient writers, and found by him to be so exact in accordance with them, that he has no doubt that it was intended to be a standard of measurement for the pitch of the instruments provided by imperial decree for ceremonial use. The circumference of this flute equals that of the coins bearing the imprint Kai-Yuen, and the length is that given by fourteen of these coins placed in line one beyond the other. The diameter of the coins inscribed Kai-Yuen is one thumb’s breadth, ten of these being the length of the ancient Chinese foot measure, and consequently the length of the flute is one foot and four thumbs. The interior diameter of the tube is seven lines, and the embouchure is one half of that, whilst the lateral holes are again one half of diameter of embouchure. The question of dimensions is of great importance in respect of all matters of pitch; since the larger the embouchure the higher will be the degree of power exercised and acting upon the column of air in the interior of the tube, and consequently the sharper the pitch of tone elicited. So that for estimating a standard of pitch great accuracy in dimensions is of paramount necessity. The embouchure is placed precisely at the middle of the length. The holes marked 5 and 6 occupy points corresponding to one third of the length. Those, 3 and 4, are placed at one quarter the length, and 1 and 2 represent exactly one sixth of the length.
This picture is by a native artist. It is quite modern yet the archaic air about it seems at once to take us into an older world. The modernity of the artist is evident, he has represented a degenerated type of the flute “tche,” not the ancient authentic. The white spaces are not intended for holes, they merely show the intervals between the rings of dark silk which are customary as preventing the bamboo from splitting. Correctly, the player should be shown with one hand to the right of the mouth and one to the left, the fingers covering either side three holes. So you will have to imagine the still more curious picture that would have been presented by a Chinese performer in the olden time.
