In Xiamen, a city in southeastern China, there is a beautiful island called Gulangyu. It is known as the island of pianos because it has the highest proportion of pianos per capita, and because several pianists like Yin Chengzong and Xu Feiping were born there.
The introduction of the piano to China, which is the king of Western musical instruments, can be dated back to the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wanli (1573-1620 BC). It was the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci who brought the piano (not a modern piano but a clavichord) to China. When he came to China to preach the gospel, he emphasized the integration of Christian faith with traditional Chinese culture, and thus won the favor of many scholar-bureaucrats, promoting both evangelism and exchange between Chinese and Western cultures.
Matteo Ricci found that Chinese literati were quite fond of music, just like Europeans. He wrote in his letter: "As long as there was a chance, they would visit each other and arrange feasts, singers and various musical instruments. They listened to the music carefully and were good at playing, and even recorded information on how music was played, the way and time in which it was played, and the accompaniment of dancing and singing."
Learning music was compulsory for church priests because they needed to be able to lead music when they held mass. Matteo Ricci was musically literate and commented on the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western music: "They had a wide variety of musical instruments, but there was no plucked harpsichord or percussion harpsichord. Their strings were made of raw silk. And it seemed that they didn’t know to use strings made from the intestines of animals. Their musical instruments could play the same harmony as ours, but their music did not differentiate between bass or treble. So they were not able to have the same harmony. But they enjoyed themselves and thought that there was no other music in the world. Although they have never seen our instruments before, they still showed surprise."
So Matteo Ricci came up with the idea of introducing Western instruments and music to the Chinese. In 1600, Ricci finally came to Beijing, realizing a dream of many years. In addition to giving a Bible and a bell to the Wanli Emperor, he also gave him a xylophone. A record in the "Xu Weng Xian Tong Kao" of the Qing Dynasty said: "In the 28th year of the Ming Wanli period, the Westerner Matteo Ricci came to share a Western musical instrument. The piano was three feet in length and five feet in width, and it had seventy-two chords. It was made of gold, silver, or iron, and each string had a column whose ends were on the outside. It could make sounds when the ends were struck." According to later studies, this piano was a "clavichord", which originated in the late 15th century in Italy, and later spread to other European countries. The piano was light and elegant and belonged to a real stringed instrument. The clavichord that Matteo Ricci dedicated to Zhu Yijun (Emperor Wanli) was one of the best in the world at that time, and this was also the first time for Chinese to see a piano.
Emperor Wanli was very surprised when he saw the piano, but he didn't know how to play it. So he asked the court musician to find Matteo Ricci. According to Matteo Ricci: "The emperor found the piano strange because the musician asked me: ‘He would like to hear the music from your own country.’ Then I replied: ‘I didn’t learn much of the music in my own country, except some songs that are to be sung at mass. I would translate it into Chinese to show you, but the tune would not the same as what you are familiar with.’”
In response, Matteo Ricci wrote, "The Meaning of Western Piano Music" based on his knowledge of Western music, which was the earliest piano sheet music in China. The songs were basically translated from Catholic mass songs and Italian lyrical poems, and used the language rhythm of Chinese poetry, blended with a melody of Italian songs. It contained not only the content of the Christian faith but also the author's thinking about life. It was a combination of Chinese and Western music work that had a high artistic value.
In modern times Western music has entered China and become an important part of modern Chinese culture. And Matteo Ricci, as the first person to introduce the piano and Western music to China, left behind a charming story about the exchange of Chinese and Western civilization.
- Translated by Elaina Wu
钢琴是如何传入中国的？
在中国东南城市厦门，有一个美丽的小岛鼓浪屿。她以钢琴之岛享誉世界，不仅人均拥有钢琴比例最高，而且还孕育了殷承宗、许斐平等等钢琴大师。
作为西洋乐器之王的钢琴传入中国，可追溯到明万历时期，而把钢琴（并非现代钢琴，而是其前身古钢琴）带入中华的，乃是意大利耶稣会士利玛窦。利玛窦来华传教时，强调将基督信仰与中国传统文化相结合，因而博取了很多士大夫的好感，促进了传福音事业以及中西文化的交流。
利玛窦在于中国文人交往时发现，中国人与欧洲人一样，都非常喜欢音乐，他在书信中记载：“只要一有机会，他们就会互访，安排盛宴、歌女和各种乐器，他们总是认真倾听，并且十分在行，甚至会在书中记录下一年中演奏、跳舞和唱歌的方式和时间”。
学习音乐是教会神父的必修课，因为在举行弥撒时，需要通过优美的歌声，向上主发出赞美。因此，利玛窦具备很高的音乐素养，对中西音乐的异同进行了评论：“他们的乐器种类繁多，但没有拨弦式古钢琴和击弦式古钢琴。琴弦都是生丝制成的。他们似乎不知道可以用动物的肠子做琴弦。他们的乐器也能弹出和我们的乐器一样的和声，但他们的音乐完全没有音律变化，比如低音、高音、抒情等，所以他们之间的音色达不到和谐。但他们自得其乐，认为世界上没有其他音乐的存在。尽管如此，对于我们的乐器，尽管之前从没见过，但他们仍表现出惊奇。”
于是利玛窦有了向国人介绍西洋乐器、音乐的想法。1600年，利玛窦终于来到他朝思暮想的北京，他在给万历皇帝的礼物中，除了《圣经》、自鸣钟外，就有一架西洋琴。清代《续文献通考》上就有记载：“明万历二十八年，西洋人利玛窦来献其音乐。其琴纵三尺，横五尺，藏椟中弦七十二，以金银或链铁为之，弦各有柱，端通于外，鼓其端而自应。”根据后人研究，这架琴就是“击弦古钢琴”，这种古钢琴起源于15世纪末的意大利，后来传播到欧洲各国。意大利制造的钢琴轻便高雅，属于真正的弦乐乐器。因此，利玛窦献给朱翊钧的古钢琴，是当时世界上最好的之一，这也是钢琴首次进入了中国人的视野。
万历皇帝看到钢琴后，感到十分惊奇，但又不知道如何弹奏。于是就让宫廷乐师去找利玛窦。根据利玛窦记载：“皇上奇之，因乐师问曰：‘其奏必有本国之曲，愿闻之。’窦对曰：‘夫他曲，旅人罔知，惟习道语数曲，今译其大意，以大朝文字，敬陈于左。第译其意，而不能随其本韵者，方音异也。’”
于是，利玛窦根据对西洋音乐的了解，创作了《西琴曲意》，这是中国最早的钢琴乐谱。歌曲基本从天主教的弥撒曲与意大利的抒情诗歌翻译而成，并采用了汉语诗歌的语言韵律，糅合了意大利歌曲的旋律。既有包含基督信仰的内容，也有作者的人生感叹，是一部中西结合的音乐作品，具有很高的艺术价值。
到了近代，西洋音乐大量进入中国，成为近当代中华文化的重要组成部分。而利玛窦作为将钢琴、西方乐谱传入中国第一人，留下了一段中西文明交流的佳话。
In Xiamen, a city in southeastern China, there is a beautiful island called Gulangyu. It is known as the island of pianos because it has the highest proportion of pianos per capita, and because several pianists like Yin Chengzong and Xu Feiping were born there.
The introduction of the piano to China, which is the king of Western musical instruments, can be dated back to the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wanli (1573-1620 BC). It was the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci who brought the piano (not a modern piano but a clavichord) to China. When he came to China to preach the gospel, he emphasized the integration of Christian faith with traditional Chinese culture, and thus won the favor of many scholar-bureaucrats, promoting both evangelism and exchange between Chinese and Western cultures.
Matteo Ricci found that Chinese literati were quite fond of music, just like Europeans. He wrote in his letter: "As long as there was a chance, they would visit each other and arrange feasts, singers and various musical instruments. They listened to the music carefully and were good at playing, and even recorded information on how music was played, the way and time in which it was played, and the accompaniment of dancing and singing."
Learning music was compulsory for church priests because they needed to be able to lead music when they held mass. Matteo Ricci was musically literate and commented on the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western music: "They had a wide variety of musical instruments, but there was no plucked harpsichord or percussion harpsichord. Their strings were made of raw silk. And it seemed that they didn’t know to use strings made from the intestines of animals. Their musical instruments could play the same harmony as ours, but their music did not differentiate between bass or treble. So they were not able to have the same harmony. But they enjoyed themselves and thought that there was no other music in the world. Although they have never seen our instruments before, they still showed surprise."
So Matteo Ricci came up with the idea of introducing Western instruments and music to the Chinese. In 1600, Ricci finally came to Beijing, realizing a dream of many years. In addition to giving a Bible and a bell to the Wanli Emperor, he also gave him a xylophone. A record in the "Xu Weng Xian Tong Kao" of the Qing Dynasty said: "In the 28th year of the Ming Wanli period, the Westerner Matteo Ricci came to share a Western musical instrument. The piano was three feet in length and five feet in width, and it had seventy-two chords. It was made of gold, silver, or iron, and each string had a column whose ends were on the outside. It could make sounds when the ends were struck." According to later studies, this piano was a "clavichord", which originated in the late 15th century in Italy, and later spread to other European countries. The piano was light and elegant and belonged to a real stringed instrument. The clavichord that Matteo Ricci dedicated to Zhu Yijun (Emperor Wanli) was one of the best in the world at that time, and this was also the first time for Chinese to see a piano.
Emperor Wanli was very surprised when he saw the piano, but he didn't know how to play it. So he asked the court musician to find Matteo Ricci. According to Matteo Ricci: "The emperor found the piano strange because the musician asked me: ‘He would like to hear the music from your own country.’ Then I replied: ‘I didn’t learn much of the music in my own country, except some songs that are to be sung at mass. I would translate it into Chinese to show you, but the tune would not the same as what you are familiar with.’”
In response, Matteo Ricci wrote, "The Meaning of Western Piano Music" based on his knowledge of Western music, which was the earliest piano sheet music in China. The songs were basically translated from Catholic mass songs and Italian lyrical poems, and used the language rhythm of Chinese poetry, blended with a melody of Italian songs. It contained not only the content of the Christian faith but also the author's thinking about life. It was a combination of Chinese and Western music work that had a high artistic value.
In modern times Western music has entered China and become an important part of modern Chinese culture. And Matteo Ricci, as the first person to introduce the piano and Western music to China, left behind a charming story about the exchange of Chinese and Western civilization.
- Translated by Elaina Wu
How Did the Piano Come to China?
