In the west, the Europeans betrayed the Byzantines and attacked their capital, Constantinople. The Byzantines lost their capital in 1204 and they did not take it back until 1261. The Byzantines were then divided into many smaller Greek states that were fighting with each other for the throne of the Empire.
After the Byzantines took back Constantinople, they were too busy fighting the Europeans who had betrayed them and could not find enough soldiers or money to fight the new Ottoman Empire of the Turks. All of Anatolia was lost by 1331. In 1369, the Turks crossed over from Turkey and into Greece, taking over much of Greece between 1354–1450.
The Byzantines lost so much land, money and soldiers that they became very weak and begged for help from the Europeans. Some soldiers and ships came from Italy and the Pope to assist the Byzantines when the Turks attacked Constantinople in April 1453. They were very outnumbered though, and the walls of Constantinople were badly damaged by cannons used by the Turks. At the end of May 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople by entering through one of the gates along the walls and the Empire came to an end. The city was plundered for three days. At the end, the population which had not been able to escape, was deported to Edirne, Bursa and other Ottoman cities, leaving the city deserted except for the Jews of Balat and the Genoese of Pera. After that, Constantinople became Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which it would be until the 1900s, when the capital was moved to Ankara, a city in the Asian part of Turkey.
The Byzantine Empire had many achievements:
Guqin
The (; ; Wade–Giles: ku-ch'in; literally "ancient stringed-instrument") is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by educated people as an instrument of great beauty and refinement. It is uncommonly spelt as Gu Qin (and sometimes GuQin or Gu-qin) in English.
Traditionally the instrument was called simply qin 「琴」, but by the 20th century the term had come to be used on many other musical instruments as well (for example, the "yangqin" 「揚琴」 hammered dulcimer, the "huqin" 「胡琴」 family of bowed string instruments, and the Western piano (; literally "steel stringed-instrument")), so the prefix "gu-" 「古」 (meaning "ancient") was added for clarification. It can also be called qixianqin 「七絃琴」 ("seven-stringed instrument"). The guqin is not to be confused with the "guzheng", another Chinese long zither also without frets, but with moveable bridges under each string. Because Robert Hans van Gulik's famous book about the qin is called "The Lore of the Chinese Lute", the qin is sometimes inaccurately called a lute. Other incorrect classifications (mainly from music CDs) include "harp" or "table-harp". Other Western nicknames for the guqin include "Chinese guitar" and "Chinaman's harp".
The qin is a very quiet instrument, with a range of about four octaves, and its open strings are tuned in the bass register (its lowest pitch is about two octaves below middle C, or the lowest note on the cello). Sounds are produced by plucking open strings, stopped strings, and harmonics. Stopped sounds are special for the variety of slides and ornaments used, and the use of glissando (sliding tones) gives it a sound similar to a pizzicato cello or fretless bass guitar. Extended sections in music scores consisting entirely of harmonics are common, this made possible because the 91 indicated harmonic positions allow great flexibility; early tablature shows that even more harmonic positions were used in the past. By tradition the qin originally had five strings, but ancient qin-like instruments with 10 or more strings have been found. The modern form has been standardized from about two thousand years.
Legend has it that the qin, has a history of about 5,000 years; that the legendary people of China's pre-history; Fuxi, Shennong and Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor), was involved in its creation. It is mentioned in Chinese writings dating back nearly 3,000 years, and related instruments have been found in tombs from about 2,500 years ago. Chinese tradition says the qin originally had five strings, but then two were added about 1,000 BCE, making seven.
Based on the detailed description in the poetic essay "Qin Fu" 【琴賦】 by Xi Kang / Ji Kang (223–262), the form of the qin that is recognizable today was most likely set around the late Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). The earliest surviving qin in this modern form, preserved in both Japan and China, have been dated to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Many are still playable, the most famous perhaps being the one named "Jiuxiao Huanpei" 《九霄環佩》, said to have been made by the famous late Tang dynasty qin maker Lei Wei (雷威). It is kept in the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing.
According to Robert Temple, the qin played an important part in the gaining the first understanding of music timbre for the Chinese. He said that "the Chinese understanding of the nature of sound as vibration was much increased by studying the production of timbre on the strings of the "ch'in"." This understanding of timbre, overtones and higher harmonics eventually led the Chinese to discover equal temperament in music.
In 1977, a recording of "Liu Shui" (Flowing Water, as performed by Guan Pinghu, one of the best qin players of the 20th century) was chosen to be included in the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated LP recording containing music from around the world, which was sent into outer space by NASA on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts. It is the longest music track included on the disc. In 2003, guqin music was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Because of the difference in geography in China, many qin schools known as "qin pai" (琴派) developed over the centuries. Such schools generally formed around areas where qin activity was greatest.
The main schools are:
Most qin schools and groups are based in China. During the 20th century some societies began in other countries. Qin study was initially confined to China in ancient times. Today countries like Japan also have their own qin small traditions. The Tokyo Qin Society was recently founded. Japan has published a "qinpu" (qin tablature collection) in the past, known as "Toukou Kinpu" or "Donggao Qinpu" 【東臯琴譜】.
There have been many players throughout the ages. The instrument was a favourite of the scholars, so many artists played it. Some famous players are also associated with some melodies, like Confucius and Qu Yuan.
Historical:
Classical books such as "Qin Shi", "Qinshi Bu" and "Qinshi Xu" have biographies of hundreds of more players.
The beauty of qin melodies comes not only from the melodies themselves, but from the variation a player can apply to the individual tones and their combinations. The rich tones of the qin can be categorised as three distinctively different "sounds." The first is "san yin" 〔散音〕, which means "scattered sounds." This meant simply pluck the required string to sound an open note. The second is "fan yin" 〔泛音〕, or "floating sounds." These are harmonics, and the player simply lightly touches the string with one or more fingers of the left hand at a position indicated by the white "hui" dots, pluck and then lift, creating a crisp and clear sound ringing sound. The third is "an yin" 〔按音 / 案音 / 實音 / 走音〕, or "stopped sounds." This forms the majority of most qin pieces and requires the player to press on a string with a finger or thumb of the left hand until it touches with the surface board, then pluck. Afterwards, the hand can slide up and down, thereby changing the pitch.