Gongche notation or gongchepu is a traditional musical notation method, once popular in ancient China. It uses Chinese characters to represent musical notes. It was named after two of the Chinese characters that were used to represent musical notes, namely "Chinese: [[wikt:工|工]]" gōng and "Chinese: [[wikt:尺|尺]]" chě.
Sheet music written in this notation is still used for traditional Chinese musical instruments and Chinese operas. However usage of the notation has declined, replaced by mostly jianpu (numbered musical notation) and sometimes the standard western notation.
The notation usually uses a movable "do" system. There are variations of the character set used for musical notes. A commonly accepted set is shown below with its relation to jianpu and solfege.
| Gongche | Chinese: 上 | Chinese: 尺 | Chinese: 工 | Chinese: 凡 | Chinese: 六 | Chinese: 五 | Chinese: 乙 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale degree | 1 | 2 | 3 | (4) | 5 | 6 | (7) | |
| Solfège | do | re | mi | (between fa and fa♯) | sol | la | between ti♭ and ti) | |
| Simplified Japanese | Japanese: ル | Japanese: 人 | Japanese: フ | Japanese: り | Japanese: 久 | Japanese: ゐ | L |
The three notes just below the central octave are usually represented by special characters:
| Gongche | Chinese: 合 hé | Chinese: 四 sì | Chinese: 一 yī | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jianpu | 5̣ | 6̣ | (7̣) | |
| Solfege | sol | la | (between ti♭ and ti) | |
| Simplified Japanese notation | Japanese: ム | Japanese: マ | Japanese: ㄧ |
To represent other notes in different octaves, traditions differ among themselves. For Kunqu, the final strokes of "Chinese: 合", "Chinese: 四", "Chinese: 一", "Chinese: 上", "Chinese: 尺", "Chinese: 工" and "Chinese: 凡" are extended by a tiny slash downward for the lower octave; additionally, a left radical "Chinese: 亻" is added to denote one octave higher than the central, or "Chinese: 彳" for two octaves higher. For Cantonese opera, however, "Chinese: 亻" denotes an octave lower, while "Chinese: 彳" denotes only one octave higher.
Some other variations:
The following are two examples.
| Gongche | Chinese: 合 | Chinese: 四 | Chinese: 一 | Chinese: 上 | Chinese: 尺 | Chinese: 工 | Chinese: 凡 | Chinese: 六 | Chinese: 五 | Chinese: 乙 | Chinese: 仩 | Chinese: 伬 | Chinese: 仜 | Chinese: 伍 | Chinese: 亿 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jianpu | 5̣̣ | 6̣̣ | 7̣̣ | 1̣ | 2̣ | 3̣ | 4̣ | 5̣ | 6̣ | 7̣ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1̇ | 2̇ | 3̇ | 4̇ | 5̇ | 6̇ | 7̇ | |
| Solfege | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | ti |
| Gongche | Chinese: 佮 | Chinese: 仕 | Chinese: 亿 | Chinese: 仩 | Chinese: 伬 | Chinese: 仜 | Chinese: 仮 | Chinese: 合 | Chinese: 士 | Chinese: 乙 | Chinese: 上 | Chinese: 尺 | Chinese: 工 | Chinese: 反 | Chinese: 六 | Chinese: 五 | Chinese: 生 | Chinese: 鿉 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jianpu | 5̣̣ | 6̣̣ | 7̣̣ | 1̣ | 2̣ | 3̣ | 4̣ | 5̣ | 6̣ | 7̣ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1̇ | 2̇ | 3̇ | 4̇ | 5̇ | 6̇ | |
| Solfege | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | ti | do | re | mi | fa | sol | la |
When the notes are sung in different opera traditions, they do not sound as the words would be pronounced in the respective regional dialects. Instead, they are pronounced in an approximation of Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation.
The following are two examples:
| Gongche character | Chinese: 合 | Chinese: 士 | Chinese: 乙 | Chinese: 上 | Chinese: 尺 | Chinese: 工 | Chinese: 反 | Chinese: 六 | Chinese: 五 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantonese Gongche Jyutping | ho4 | si6 | ji6 | saang3 | ce1 | gung1 | faan1 | liu1 | wu1 | |
| Cantonese Gongche pronunciation | pronounced as /hɔ̏ː/ | pronounced as /sìː/ | pronounced as /jìː/ | pronounced as /sɑ̄ːŋ/ | pronounced as /tsʰɛ́ː/ | pronounced as /kʊ́ŋ/ | pronounced as /fɑ́ːn/ | pronounced as /líːu/ | pronounced as /wúː/ | |
| Usual Cantonese Jyutping | hap6 | si6 | jyut6 | soeng6 | cek3 | gung1 | faan2 | luk6 | ng5 | |
| Usual Cantonese pronunciation | pronounced as /hɐ̀p/ | pronounced as /sìː/ | pronounced as /jỳːt/ | pronounced as /sœ̀ːŋ/ | pronounced as /tsʰɛ̄ːk/ | pronounced as /kʊ́ŋ/ | pronounced as /fɑ̌ːn/ | pronounced as /lʊ̀k/ | pronounced as /ŋ̬̍/ |
| Gongche character | Chinese: 合 | Chinese: 四 | Chinese: 乙 | Chinese: 上 | Chinese: 尺 | Chinese: 工 | Chinese: 凡 | Chinese: 六 | Chinese: 五 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sino-Vietnamese Gongche pronunciation | hò | xự | y | xang | xê | cống | phạn | líu | ú | |
| Chữ Nôm transliteration[1] | ||||||||||
| IPA | hɔ˨˩ | sɨ˧˨ʔ | ʔi˧˧ | saːŋ˧˧ | se˧˧ | kəwŋ͡m˧˦ | faːn˧˨ʔ | liw˧˦ | ʔu˧˦ | |
| Usual Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation | hợp | tứ | ất | thượng | xích | công | phàm | lục | ngũ | |
| IPA | həːp̚˧˨ʔ | tɨ˧˦ | ʔət̚˧˦ | tʰɨəŋ˧˨ʔ | sïk̟̚˧˦ | kəwŋ͡m˧˧ | faːm˨˩ | lʊwk͡p̚˧˨ʔ | ŋu˦ˀ˥ |
Gongche notation does not mark the relative length of the notes. Instead, marks for the percussion, understood to be played at regular intervals, are written alongside the notes. Gongche is written in the same format as Chinese was traditionally written; from top to bottom and then from right to left. The rhythm marks are written to the right of the note characters.
The diagram at the left illustrates how the tune "Old McDonald Had a Farm" will look like if written in gongche notation. Here, "Chinese: 。" denotes the stronger beat, called "Chinese: 板" bǎn or "Chinese: 拍" pāi, and "Chinese: 、" denotes the weaker beat, called "Chinese: 眼" yǎn or "Chinese: 撩" liáo. In effect, there is one beat in every two notes, i.e. two notes are sung or played to each beat. These notes in solfege with markings will show a similar effect:
do do do sol la la sol mi mi re re do
Using this method, only the number of notes within a beat can be specified. The actual length of each note is up to tradition and the interpretation of the artist.
Notice that the actual rhythm marks used differ among various traditions.
Gongche notation was invented in the Tang dynasty. It became popular in the Song dynasty. It is believed to have begun as a tablature of certain musical instrument, possibly using a fixed "do" system. Later it became a popular pitch notation, typically using a movable "do" system.
The notation is not accurate in modern sense. It provides a musical skeleton, allowing an artist to improvise. The details are usually passed on by oral tradition. However, once a tradition is lost, it is very difficult to reconstruct how the music was supposed to sound. Variations among different traditions increased the difficulty in learning the notation.
The system was also introduced to Korea (where it is referred to as gong jeok bo) in ancient times and many traditional musicians still learn their music from such scores (although they typically perform from memory).
Kunkunshi, a Ryukyuan musical notation still in use for sanshin, was directly influenced by Gongche.[2]