The ''fangxiang'' (also ''fang xiang'', ''fang hsiang''; 方响 or 方響 in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: fāngxiǎng; also known in the West as the Chinese chang) is an organized-suspended (bianxuan)

metallophone A metallophone is any musical instrument in which the sound-producing body is a piece of metal (other than a metal string), consisting of tuned metal bars, tubes, rods, bowls, or plates. Most frequently the metal body is struck to produce sound, ...

that has been used for over 1,000 years. It was first used in the

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

(502—557 CE), and then standardized in the Sui and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

dynasties mostly for court music.

Construction and design

A ''fangxiang'' consists of 16 tuned rectangular iron, bronze, or jade tuned slabs with 16 different chromatic pitches, laid in a frame in two rows. The slabs are struck with a hammer and played melodically. Unlike the metallophone today, Chinese changed the thickness of the metal plates to obtain different pitches. Each of the slabs is of the same length and width but they are of graduated thickness, with the thinner slabs producing lower tones and the thicker slabs producing higher tones."Fangxiang (方响)." - China Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. <>. The method of playing is to beat with a '' gakteo'' (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 각퇴,

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 角槌) in both hands.

History

In ancient times, the ''fangxiang'' was a popular instrument in Chinese court music. It was introduced to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, where it is called '' banghyang'' (hangul: 방향; hanja: 方響) and is still used in the court music of Korea. A similar instrument used in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

is called ''hōkyō'' (kanji: 方響). The '' fangxiang'' first appeared in China in the

, one of the

Northern and Southern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

(502-557). During the Sui and

dynasties (581-840), the instrument became a popular court instrument. There were many famous ''fangxiang'' performers at that time, including Xianqi Ma and Bing Wu. Also at that time, many poets created sets of lyrics intended to be accompanied by ''fangxiang''. Here are two Tang-era poems about the ''fangxiang'': :《方响歌》 :Fangxiang Song (Fangxiang Ge) :作者：李沇（唐） :by Li Yan (Tang Dynasty) :敲金扣石声相凌，遥空冷静天正澄。 :宝瓶下井辘轳急，小娃弄索伤清冰。 :穿丝透管音未歇，回风绕指惊泉咽。 :季伦怒击珊瑚摧，灵芸整鬓步摇折。 :十六叶中侵素光，寒玲震月杂珮珰。 :云和不觉罢余怨，莲峰一夜啼琴姜。 :急节写商商恨促，秦愁越调逡巡足。 :梦入仙楼戛残曲，飞霜棱棱上秋玉。 :《方响》 :Fangxiang :作者：陆龟蒙（唐） :by Lu Guimeng (Tang Dynasty, ?-881) :击霜寒玉乱丁丁，花底秋风拂坐生。 :王母闲看汉天子，满猗兰殿佩环声。

Music contribution

In the 1980s, the ''fangxiang'' was expanded to include 51 keys. The keys were arranged based on 12-tone equal temperament and double scale arrangement. On the top lane, it is the C# scale, and on the bottom lane it is the C major scale ranging from f to C₄. The shelf used for holding those keys can rise up and fall down for the convenience of performing. The new design of the ''fangxiang'' sounds clear and melodious, and it is really good for accompaniments in the Chinese traditional orchestra music. For example, in the music "The Great Wall Capriccio", it is used to sound like a bell.

International development

The ''fangxiang'' was used by the American composer

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...

in his
Music for Violin with Various Instruments: European, Asian and African
' (1967, revised 1969). Harrison had taken research trips to Japan and South Korea (1961) and Taiwan (1962).

References

External links

{{Traditional Chinese musical instruments Chinese musical instruments Plaque percussion idiophones Keyboard percussion instruments