A sounding stone or ''qing'' (磬) (rarely 鸣石 or 响石) is an ancient Chinese musical instrument, usually L-shaped. The set of ''qing'' is called

bianqing The ''bianqing'' (Chinese: 编磬) is a traditional Chinese percussion instrument consisting of a set of L-shaped flat stone chimes known as ''qing'', played melodically. The chimes were hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. Along wit ...

. The shape of such stones was often quoted as description for the reverent ritual pose.The Development of the Concept of Music in China's Early History F.A Kuttner - Asian Music, 1969 " With regard to the sounding stone, the above remark emphasizes the clear, pure tone of lithophones made of limestone, jade, or nephrite, as opposed to other melody instruments (especially bells) with their vague, unclear, or unreliable pitches. .." Important information on ''qing'' nomenclature is contained in the

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. Bernhard Karlgren (1931:49) concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the first title chara ...

dictionary: the large sounding stone was called ''xiāo'' 毊, and a solo performance on ''qing'', jiǎn 寋. However, the mentioned names do not have much currency in the classical literature. ''Qing'' is mentioned in the

Analects The ''Analects'' (; ; Old Chinese: '' ŋ(r)aʔ''; meaning "Selected Sayings"), also known as the ''Analects of Confucius'', the ''Sayings of Confucius'', or the ''Lun Yu'', is an ancient Chinese book composed of a large collection of sayings a ...

as one of the instruments played by Confucius. In the Han dynasty treatises on music, its sound is referred to as "reminding the monarch about his officers who died while protecting the borders".

References

{{Traditional Chinese musical instruments Chinese musical instruments Lithophones

See also

References