Shen Kuo (103 1-J095), a famous scientist in the Song Dynasty, recorded a precious piece of information in Meng Qian's Bi Tan Bu Bi Tan. Song Shenzong Xining years (1068- 1077), "Yan Xu, Jiao Fang actor, played the piano and entered the wine. According to "Shilin Guangji":
"Ji Qin, with two strings wrapped in bamboo, has a clear sound." Earlier, there was a poem by Xie Qingzhou in the Tang Dynasty, "Watch Li Zhongcheng and Hong Ermei sing the zither", which vaguely revealed the information about the emergence and spread of bowstring instruments in China. But what are the shapes and shapes of the first batch of stringed instruments for rent today? It is difficult to convey its complete historical "truth" in a few words.
In a sense, nothing is more real than images. He explained the age of the bowstring instrument and showed its concrete image. Yang Chen's "Le Shu" in Song Dynasty is such a large-scale music encyclopedia with pictures and texts. Chen Yun, a native of Fujian in the Northern Song Dynasty, started compiling this book from Xi Ning and Yuan Feng (1068- 1085) and presented it to the Song Dynasty in the middle of its construction (11), which lasted nearly 40 years. Le Shu has a huge volume, reaching 200 volumes. The first part is called Xun Yi (volume 1-95), which is an excerpt from Confucian classics such as The Book of Rites, Zhou Li, Yi Li, The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Chunqiu, Zhouyi, Xiaojing, The Analects of Confucius and Yu Zi. The next part is called "Music Graph Theory" (96-200 volumes), which includes the theory of music rules, ritual music system, musical instruments, vocal music, music and dance, and hundred plays. Among them, musical instruments, vocal music and dance acrobatics are divided into three categories: (temple fair), Hubu (foreign) and Lyu3 bu4 (folk), while Hu, elegant and vulgar musical instruments are classified according to the ancient eight tones of "gold, stone, earth, leather, silk, bamboo and wood" and belong to each family. Thus, what is more valuable is that these discourses on musical instruments not only have literature basis and size specifications, but also have 540 illustrations listed in them, which makes people clear at a glance. It is in this part that the earliest bowstring musical instrument in China is recorded, with pictures and texts. Le Shu describes "Western Qin" in this way. "Western Qin and Yue are also: drums with strings, but their shapes are similar ... There are two strings on them, rolled with bamboo pieces, which have been used by the people ever since." From the picture, we can see a circular Qin bamboo slip with two strings and a bow made of bamboo in the middle, which is very similar to the shape and characteristics of the later Hu Qin! According to the map, we know today's Huqin (including Erhu, Zhonghu and Jinghu). ) It is this descendant of the Western Qin Dynasty that was "used by the people" thousands of years ago.
The publication of Le Shu marks the maturity of the compilation of large-scale ancient music reference books in China, and has not lost its special historical value. In particular, its long-lost music documents of Tang and Song Dynasties and all-encompassing local folk life materials at that time made it one of the most valuable works reflecting the music culture of Song Dynasty!