Eleven Centuries of Traditional Music of China – Music From the T'ang, Sung, Yuan and Ming Dynasties (600- 1600)

Classical music is the notated art-music tradition of Europe and its global descendants, characterized by durable forms, carefully codified harmony and counterpoint, and a literate score-based practice. The term “classical” can refer broadly to the entire Western art-music lineage from the Medieval era to today, not just the Classical period (c. 1750s–1820s). It privileges long-form structures (such as symphonies, sonatas, concertos, masses, and operas), functional or modal harmony, thematic development, and timbral nuance across ensembles ranging from solo instruments to full orchestras and choirs. Across centuries, the style evolved from chant and modal polyphony to tonal harmony, and later to post-tonal idioms, while maintaining a shared emphasis on written notation, performance practice, and craft.

Chinese classical music refers to the courtly, literati, and ritual musical traditions of China that emphasize refinement, poetic symbolism, and ethical cultivation. It privileges timbre, gesture, and modal color over harmonic progression, and is closely tied to classical poetry, calligraphy, and philosophy. Its core idioms include solo and small-ensemble repertoire for guqin, pipa, xiao, dizi, sheng, guzheng, ruan, and erhu, as well as ritual/ceremonial ensembles. Melodies typically draw on pentatonic and heptatonic modal systems (gong–shang–jue–zhi–yu), use nuanced ornamentation, and favor heterophony when played in ensemble. The tradition is historically transmitted through lineage, handbooks, and mnemonic/character notations (e.g., jianzipu and gongchepu), with performance practice emphasizing breath, space, and expressive inflection (slides, harmonics, and vibrato).

Chinese folk music refers to the orally transmitted song, dance, and instrumental traditions of the many peoples living within China. It encompasses the Han majority as well as a vast range of ethnic minorities, resulting in exceptional regional variety in language, timbre, rhythm, and repertoire. Core musical traits include pentatonic (five-note) modal systems (gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu), flexible and speech-like rhythms, and heterophonic textures in which multiple performers ornament the same melody differently at the same time. Typical instruments include plucked zithers and lutes (guzheng, pipa, ruan), bowed fiddles (erhu and regional huqin), flutes and double reeds (dizi, xiao, suona), free-reed mouth organs (sheng), and an array of gongs, drums, and clappers. Vocal styles range from unaccompanied mountain songs (shan'ge) and work songs to narrative ballads and festival pieces. Themes often celebrate nature, courtship, migration, labor, local history, and ritual life, with performance contexts spanning marketplaces, weddings, harvests, temple fairs, and staged folk ensembles.