Ling Lun Explained
Ling Lun is the legendary founder of music in ancient China.
Mythology
In Chinese mythology, Ling Lun is said to have created bamboo flutes which made the sounds of many birds, including the mythical phoenix. "In this way, Ling Lun invented the five notes of the ancient Chinese five-tone scale (gong, shang, jiao, zhi, and yu, which is equivalent to 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in numbered musical notation or do, re, mi, sol, and la in western solfeggio) and the eight sounds made by eight musical instruments. The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) is said to have ordered the casting of bells in tune with those flutes.
An alternative text, the Lushi Chunqiu (;), from the third century BCE credits another culture hero, Kui—who is often confused with a one-legged mythical monster bearing the same name—with the invention of music. In one version of the story, Kui makes a drum by stretching animal skin over an earthen jar that defeats another monster. In another version, Yellow Emperor fashions a drum from the skin of a kui monster.
Cultural legacy
In the computer games Civilization IV and Civilization V, Ling Lun appears as a great artist. The 2020 film Bill & Ted Face the Music features Ling Lun as one of the musicians in the titular characters' band, portrayed by Sharon Gee.
References
Sources
- News: Rottenberg . Josh . 29 August 2020 . How the team behind 'Bill & Ted Face the Music' assembled a band that could save the universe . . 29 August 2020 .
- Book: von Glahn, Richard . 2004 . [{{google books|plainurl=y|id=iyvBvYoIZmsC}} The Sinister Way: The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture ]. . Berkeley . 978-0-520-92877-0 .
- Book: Yang . Lihui . An . Deming . Turner . Jessica Anderson . 2005 . [{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Wf40ofEMGzIC}} Handbook of Chinese Mythology ]. . Santa Barbara . 978-1-57607-806-8 .
Further reading
- Book: Dewoskin, Kenneth J. . 1982 . A Song for One or Two: Music and the Concept of Art in Early China . Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan . Ann Arbor . 978-0-89264-042-3 . 59–60 .
- Kárpáti . János . 1980 . Myth and Reality in the Theory of Chinese Tonal System . Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae . . T. 22 . Facsimile 1/4 . 5–14 . 10.2307/901989 . 901989 .
- Encyclopedia: Malm . William P. . William P. Malm . 19 November 2019 . Chinese music | Characeristics, History, Instruments, Genres & Facts | Britannica . . . Chicago . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602074015if_/https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-music . 2 June 2021 . live .
- Book: Mingyue, Liang . 1985 . Music of the Billion: An Introduction to Chinese Musical Culture . Heinrichshofen . New York . 978-3-7959-0474-6 . 37–38 .
