{"id":6862,"date":"2025-10-15T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=6862"},"modified":"2025-10-09T10:44:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T14:44:05","slug":"arachnophonia-chinese-music-by-jin-jie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2025\/10\/arachnophonia-chinese-music-by-jin-jie\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: Chinese Music by Jin Jie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> (\u201cArachno\u201d = spider \/ \u201c-phonia\u201d = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student manager Sophia (class of 2028) and features an historical overview of the music of China<\/a>. Thanks, Sophia!<\/em><\/p>\n

Chinese Music<\/em> by Jin Jie<\/a><\/strong>
\nTranslated by Wang Li and Li Rong.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/p>\n

As a student minoring in Chinese studies and a fan of Chinese music, I often find myself listening to older songs that were released before I was born.<\/p>\n

The book Chinese Music<\/a><\/em> explores the unique styles of Chinese music, including a variety of musical instruments that played an important role in shaping its culture. Music began with people singing, a form of expression that spread across regions and inspired labor workers to sing while working, offering encouragement.<\/p>\n

Back then, people didn\u2019t have the modern instruments we use today, so they created their own. For example, they made flutes out of bones and used special stones called qing<\/a><\/em> to produce clear, piercing sounds. They crafted drums out of bronze and developed instruments like the xun<\/a><\/em>, which resembles an ocarina<\/a>, sometimes nicknamed a “potato flute.\u201d<\/p>\n

As time passes, the instruments they use also evolve. During the Qing Dynasty<\/a>, performers played instruments like erhus<\/a> and south bangs<\/a>. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument played with a bow and held vertically on the lap, similar to a violin. A South Bangs is a small drum struck with a stick.<\/p>\n

I found it fascinating to read about these historical instruments, especially since I\u2019ve seen some of them in the shows I watch. If you’re interested in learning more about traditional Chinese music, I highly recommend checking out the book Chinese Music<\/em><\/a> at the Parsons Music Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia (\u201cArachno\u201d = spider \/ \u201c-phonia\u201d = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15223,15242],"tags":[61217,232024,38100,10,62,232102,232104,232103,76065,207054,230725,92834,231509,230855],"class_list":["post-6862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collection","category-promotional","tag-arachnophonia","tag-arachnophonia-25-26","tag-book","tag-books","tag-china","tag-chinese-music","tag-historical-instruments","tag-jin-jie","tag-music-criticism","tag-music-history","tag-music-history-and-criticism","tag-musicology","tag-sophia","tag-traditional-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6867,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862\/revisions\/6867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}