Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-01-25
A Strange Music.

sewing, anu improved ner nina ana the
cbildrens' stockings at the same time.
But Maud and Arthur sat on the lounge,
one on each side of Uncle Herbert, devot-
Ing their attention to him.
Il suppose we ought to begin at the
beginning" said he, "since Chinese mu-
sic is said to have been invented by per
son whom you have often read about. He
was Emperor of China about $3.50 B. g.,
or nearly 5000 years ago. The Chinese
called him Fo Hi, but some of our own
people suppose that he really was Noah,
who lived about tnat time. The Chinese
also hold that much of their music was
brought to them from Heaven by a bird
which they named the 'Foang- Hoang.'
This was supposed to be a very fortunate
bird, which never appeared anywhere
else but in China, and, whenever it came,
1t brought good luck with it. 1t appeared
whenever good emperor was born, and
its nest was wrapped in mystery, for no
one knew where it dwelt"
"Why, that's something like the Phe-
nix, that the Greeks used to believe in"
said Maud.
"Yes, there is resemblance; perhaps
the Greeks borrowed their bird from the
Chinese one. This bird appeared with
Its mate, when Ling Lun, by the order Ct
the Emperor Hoang-Ti, was making his
first inventions in mussc. It sang to him
in six tones, while its nate also used six
different tones, making scale contain
ing twelve notes, Just like our chromatic
scale. But the Chinese only use five of
these, and call the others female tones
In China everything female is thought to
be useless"
Haven't they got topsey-turvey ideasp
said Maud.
"Well, in this case they are open TO
that suspicion. The singing of the
'Foang- Hoang' was such beautiful music
that it caused absolute goodness in every
one who heard IL, and its songs had the
beautiful name of 'Tsie-ven,' Temperance
and Mercy He had large drums beat
at various hours OF the light to tell what
O'Clock it was; he composed, also, many
songs. The earliest emperors all studied
music, but it was with view OF teaching
their subjects good manners and morals.
The songs were sometimes only direc-
tions when 10 plant seeds, how to catch
fish, how to behave in company, and so
on. Sometimes. the words are to keep
the eli peror's own duty in mind. Thus,
one begins: THE breeze of midday
brings warmth and dlspels sorrow, may
it be the same with Chun, may he be the
joy and consolation of his people,
Another emperor the great
used musical instruments for very good
purpose. He placed before his palace a
large and small bell, drum, a gong,
and a tambourlne, and any person hav-
ing business with HIM, would be admit
ted on striking one of these. BY various
sounds. he could tell before seeing him,
the nature of his visitors business. The
large bell meant that the person was
coming to complain of an injustice: the
small one was for private visitors; the
drum told that the business was about
the manners or customs of the empire
the gong, public misfortune; the tam
BOURNE asked for the emperor's iudg-
ment in regard to some crime. China
possessed some very patriotic songs at
this ancient date. and when, at later
period Gas B. Co. an usurper won the
throne, he was more afraid of the music
than of anything else. He thought that,
by reminding the people of their good
emperors, they would be encouraged to
resist him. So he had the ancient books
burned, and tried to destroy the works Of
the great philosopher, Confucius. All the
instruments of music were broken up and
new ones made, and in every way he
tried to root out the old songs and tunes
Those who tried to conceal anything
were punished with death. And yet,
many people Iisked their lives in hiding
their instruments and books in the walls
of houses and in the ground"
"What monster he must have been"
said Maud.
"Not in all respects; he built the great
wall of China, which was good thing
for the country" replied Uncle Herbert,
"But did the Chinese have many books
about music?" inquired Arthur.
''They had and have more than any
other nation. They have whole Libraries
of musical books. In the library of Pc
kin, there are four hundred and eighty
two strictly musical books, and hundreds
which are partially musical. I don't
mean books of music, but histories and
essays. Hundreds of years after Tchi-
chi CA. D. 640), The Emperor Tay -tsung
searched vigorously for the books and
musical instruments which had been
buried and concealed, and tried to recsv-
er some of the old style Of music. He
didn't succeed altogether, and the Chi
nese have very little of their ancient
music nowadays. They think that the
old music must have been very beautiful,
and use at their greatest feasts whatever
they have of it."
"But what instruments do they usea"
asked the mother. care they at all like
eurs?"
"That is the most curious part of all.
In their instruments they seem to have
anticipated the invention OF many of our
instruments, by some thousands of years,
but, having once invented them, they
never seem to have tried to perfect them.
1t is characteristic of these people, to