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America Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat-Part23_TingFang Wu(1842-1922)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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from the music of grand opera. Chinese music could not be represented



on Western instruments, the intervals between the notes being different.

Chinese singing is generally "recitative" accompanied by long notes, broken,



or sudden chords from the orchestra. It differs widely from Western music,

but its effects are wonderful. One of our writers has thus described



music he once heard: "Softly, as the murmur of whispered words;

now loud and soft together, like the patter of pearls and pearlets



dropping upon a marble dish. Or liquid, like the warbling of the mango-bird

in the bush; trickling like the streamlet on its downward course.



And then like the torrent, stilled by the grip of frost,

so for a moment was the music lulled, in a passion too deep for words."



That this famous description of the effects of music which I have borrowed

from Mr. Dyer Ball's "Things Chinese" is not exaggerated,



anyone who knows China may confirm by personal observation

of the keen enjoyment an unlearned, common day laborer will find



in playing a single lute all by himself for hours beneath the moon

on a warm summer evening, with no one listening but the trees



and the flitting insects; but it requires a practised ear

to appreciate singing and a good voice. On one occasion



I went to an opera house in London to hear the world-renowned Madame Patti.

The place was so crowded, and the atmosphere so close,



that I felt very uncomfortable and I am ashamed to acknowledge

that I had to leave before she had finished. If I had been educated



to appreciate that sort of music no doubt I would have comprehended

her singing better, and, however uncomfortable, I should no doubt



have remained to the end of the entertainment.

While writing this chapter it happened that the following news from New York



was published in the local papers in Shanghai. It should be interesting

to my readers, especially to those who are lovers of music.



"`Yellow music' will be the next novelty to startle and lure

this blase town; amusement forecasters already see in the offing



a Fall invasion of the mysterious Chinese airs which are now having

such a vogue in London under the general term of `yellow music'.



"The time was when Americans and occidentals in general

laughed at Chinese music, but this was due to their own ignorance



of its full import and to the fact that they heard only

the dirges of a Chinese funeralprocession or the brassy noises



that feature a celestialfestival. They did not have opportunity

to be enthralled by the throaty, vibrant melodies --



at once so lovingly seductive and harshly compelling --

by which Chinese poets and lovers have revealed their thoughts



and won their quest for centuries. The stirring tom-tom,

if not the ragtime which sets the occidental capering to-day,



was common to the Chinese three or four hundred years ago.

They heard it from the wild Tartars and Mongols -- heard it and rejected it,



because it was primitive, untamed, and not to be compared

with their own carefully controlled melodies. Mr. Emerson Whithorne,



the famous British composer, who is an authority on oriental music,

made this statement to the London music lovers last week:



"`The popularity of Chinese music is still in its childhood.

From now on it will grow rapidly. Chinese music has no literature,



as we understand that term, but none can say that it has not

most captivating melodies. To the artistictemperament, in particular,



it appeals enormously, and well-known artists -- musicians, painters,

and so on -- say that it affects them in quite an extraordinary way.'"



Chinese music from an occidental standpoint has been unjustly described

as "clashing cymbals, twanging guitars, harsh flageolets, and shrill flutes,






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