Chinese Musical Instruments: An Introduction (review)

Reviews 579 Yang Mu. Chinese Musical Instruments: An Introduction. Canberra: Coralie Rockwell Foundation, Australian National University, 1993. viii, 85 pp. Paperback , isbn 0-646-14573-8. Audio cassette 1, isbn 0-646-14575-6. Audio cassette 2, isbn 0-646-14575-4. Book and cassette set, isbn 0-646-14572-x. Chinese musical instruments are simultaneously one of the most frequendy encountered and one ofthe most confusing facets ofChinese culture. Performances and recordings are readily accessible throughout the world, and the images and names ofmusical instruments often appear in Chinese visual arts and literature. However, dictionary definitions are often either too vague or too technical to be enlightening, most instruments do not have Western equivalents, and translation into—or even simple description in—Western languages is problematic at best. As Yang Mu correcdy observes, while there are many English-language writings on Chinese instrumental musical traditions, there is no comprehensive modern study focusing on the instruments themselves. He further observes that the many Chinese sources are addressed to readers with a "Chinese cultural and social background" (p. vii), so that even iftranslated they would be inappropriate for a Western readership. This book is intended to fill this gap and to serve as "a textbook for Western tertiary students and as a reference handbook for Western scholars" (ibid.). As an ethnomusicologist trained in both China and Australia, Yang certainly has the expertise to attempt this ambitious task. The book is not an unqualified success—given the complexity ofthe subject, no one could do justice to it in eighty-five pages—but it is nonetheless an informative, useful, and well-written collection of information. Forty-four instruments are discussed in entries anywhere from a few sentences to several pages in length. The author describes the construction ofthe instruments and explains die techniques ofbasic performance and idiomatic ornamentation , sometimes in great detail. Most of die descriptions are accompanied by a line drawing and/or photograph. Other than the ranges and scales of some instruments , there are no musical examples. For the major instruments, briefsummaries ofhistorical background and performance genres and contexts are also included. Yang's criteria for selection and emphasis are clearly stated at the outset: "those traditional instruments that currently enjoy nation-wide popularity in China," along with some instruments played by specific ethnic groups and a few important archaic instruments (p. 1). His focus is on the "natural situation pre-© 1996 by University vaiimgwithin thewider community" and "the more conventionalbut currendy popular forms" of instruments (p. 2) rather than new or experimental forms. The inclusion of a selection of the instruments of the "national minorities" is a welcome feature of this book, because few studies of Chinese musical culture 58o China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 have addressed its multiethnic component. But some of the choices made among die more familiar Han instruments are puzzling: the ruan ^t, primarily a reconstructed instrument performed in the modern Chinese orchestra and conservatory environments—which the author purports to avoid (pp. 1-2)—is given one of the longer entries in the book. Other modern instruments such as the zhonghu *¥ tR are included, while some important traditional instruments, including the erxian —¿t (the essential bowed instrument in Fukienese and Chaozhou cultures ), the qinqin $£-^- (used in Jiangnan, Chaozhou, and Cantonese musical ensembles ), and die dan pi gu if-j£.âJt (the drum in Peking opera), are not even given a passing mention. The extensive space devoted to detailed descriptions of techniques is a questionable choice, and many of these passages will probably be intelligible only to a specialist in Western musical performance: neither "acciatura" nor its explanation as "crushed notes" (p. 8) will mean much to the average reader. Many ofthe technical discussions emphasize Western-influenced or modern conservatory traditions . For example, the elaborate bowing techniques described for the erhu —¿JÜ (p. 50) have virtually nothing to do with traditional playing styles, while the subtle types ofvibrato and sliding notes—surely crucial to a Western listener's appreciation of the instrument—are barely touched upon. For many of the instruments, photos and line drawings duplicate each other. This is a pointiess waste of space that would be better filled by detailed...