Music in the age of Confucius

"Chinese archaeologists digging in central China in 1977 unexpectedly uncovered two of the earliest and most extensive surviving groups of musical instruments in the entire ancient world, dating from nearly two thousand five hundred years ago. Since these percussion, string, and wind instruments were in near-pristine condition - some still playable, others inscribed with musicological information - they provided hitherto unimagined possibilities for the study of music and the history of musical instruments in ancient China." "Presented here are the insights of six specialists who describe these instruments' sophisticated tuning systems, techniques of manufacture, and inscriptions revealing their musical and nonmusical significance in ancient Chinese society."--Jacket.