Illuminating Chinese Classics

“High mountains and running waters” (高山流水) is one of the most iconic pieces of classical Chinese music. Its creator played it so beautifully, it was as if he could create this scenery out of thin air. Alas, his story has a tragic end, but before we get to that, in this episode on the Three Character Classic (三字经) we’ll tell you about the natural materials used to make the eight sounds (八普) of ancient Chinese instruments: gourd (匏), clay (土), leather (革), wood (木), stone (石), metal (金), silk (丝), and bamboo (竹). The三字经 was written by the Song Dynasty (宋朝) scholar Wang Yinglin (王应麟). This 1,134 character text was one of the first textbooks used by students, and provided lessons on education, morality and ethics, science, literature, and history.