User:Wenqis/sandbox
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| Woodwind instrument | |
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| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 421.121.12 (Open side-blown flutes with fingerholes) |
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The dizi (Chinese: 笛子; pinyin: dízi, pronounced [tǐt͡sɨ]), is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the di (笛) or héngdi (橫笛), and has varieties including Qudi (曲笛), Bangdi (梆笛), and Xindi (新笛). It is a major Chinese musical instrument that is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, Chinese opera, as well as the modern Chinese orchestra. The dizi is also a popular instrument among the Chinese people as it is simple to make and easy to carry.[a]
Most dizi are made of bamboo, which explains why dizi are sometimes known by simple names such as Chinese bamboo flute. However, "bamboo" is perhaps more of a Chinese instrument classification like "woodwind" in the West. Northern Chinese dizi are made from purple or violet bamboo, while dizi made in Suzhou and Hangzhou are made from white bamboo. Dizi produced in southern Chinese regions such as Chaozhou are often made of very slender, lightweight, light-colored bamboo and are much quieter in tone.
Although bamboo is the common material for the dizi, it is also possible to find dizi made from other kinds of wood, or even from stone. Jade dizi (or 玉笛; yùdi) are popular among both collectors interested in their beauty, and among professional players who seek an instrument with looks to match the quality of their renditions; however, jade may not be the best material for dizi since, as with metal, jade may not be as tonally responsive as bamboo, which is more resonant.[dubious – discuss][1]
The dizi is not the only bamboo flute of China. Other Chinese bamboo wind instruments include the vertical end-blown xiao and the koudi.
History
[edit]Recently, archaeologists have discovered evidence suggesting that the simple transverse flutes (though without the distinctive mokong of the dizi) have been present in China for over 9,000 years. Fragments of bone flutes from this period are still playable today, and are remarkably similar to modern versions in terms of hole placement, etc. The Jiahu neolithic site in central Henan province of China has yielded flutes dating back to 7,000 BC – 5,000 BC that could represent the earliest playable instruments ever found.[2] These flutes were carved with five to eight holes, and are capable of producing sounds that roughly span an octave.[3] The dizi as we know it today roughly dates to the 5th century BC,[4] and there have been examples of bamboo dizi that date back to 2nd century BC.[5]
These flutes share common features with other simple flutes from cultures all around the world. Multiple examples from different cultures consist of a drilled piece of bone, which is well-suited as a material due to its hollow nature. The earliest known examples of bone flutes date back around 42,000 years ago.[6]
After 1949, the Chinese Communist Revolution led to the promotion of traditional instruments. Following the 1949 revolution, the government drew attention to certain folk styles and commissioned new compositions to build a shared national culture. This state sponsorship elevated the dizi from local folk music to a socialist cultural identity. [7]Many solo works now considered standard repertoire were composed during this period, often with revolutionary themes and connections to populist ideology. This major transformation eventually led to the rise of the dizi as a prominent solo concert instrument and key element to Chinese traditional band.
Dizi by Dynasty
[edit]From the pre-Han to Han Dynasty. The term di originally was refered as both verticle and transverse flutes. Di played a critical role in ceremonial wind-and-percussion ensembles by the Qin and Han eras[8]. Northern Dynasties to Sui Dynasty is when the term hengdi (transverse dizi) started to emerge. And ten-holes dizi was innovated in late Sui. In the Tang Dynasty, vertical flutes became exclusively called as xiao, while transverse flutes retained di. Lu Cai crafted chiba, and it was later transmitted to Japan. In the Song Dynasty, diversified designs emerged, including cross-handled dizi, dragon-neck dizi, 11-hole small transverse dizi, 7-hole jade dizi). Starting from the Yuan Dynasty, dizi designs stabilized, which highly aligns with modern dizi. Dizi then became an essential instrument in Chinese opera, splitting into two categories: Bangdi and Qudi.
Modern modifications
[edit]
Traditionally dizi is made by using a single piece of bamboo. While simple and straightforward, it is also impossible to change the fundamental tuning once the bamboo is cut, which made it a problem when it was played with other instruments in a modern Chinese orchestra. In the 1920s musician Zheng Jinwen (鄭覲文, 1872–1935) resolved this issue by inserting a copper joint to connect two pieces of shorter bamboo. This method allows the length of the bamboo to be modified for minute adjustment to its fundamental pitch.[9][10]
On traditional dizi the finger-holes are spaced approximately equidistant, which produces a temperament of mixed whole-tone and three-quarter-tone intervals. Zheng also repositioned the figure-holes to change the notes produced.[9] During the middle of the 20th century dizi makers further changed the finger hole placements to allow for playing in equal temperament, as demanded by new musical developments and compositions, although the traditional dizi continue to be used for purposes such as kunqu accompaniment.
In the 1930s, an 11-hole, fully chromatic version of the dizi was created called the xindi (新笛), pitched in the same range as the western flute. However, the modified dizi's extra tone holes prevent the effective use of the membrane, so this instrument lacks the inherent timbre of the traditional dizi family.[citation needed]
While the bangdi (pitched in the same range as western piccolo) and qudi (pitched a fourth or fifth lower than the bangdi) are the most prevalent, other dizi include the xiaodi/gaoyindi (pitched a fourth or fifth higher than the bangdi), the dadi/diyindi (pitched a fourth or fifth lower than qudi), and the deidi/diyindadi (pitched an octave lower than qudi.)[citation needed]
Modern Research and Digital Preservation
[edit]In recent decades, the dizi has attracted growing interest from researchers in music technology, computational musicology, and ethnomusicology. One major development is the standardized symbolic encoding: a font-based system enables accurate digitization of numbered music notation (Jianpu), bypassing optical character recognition errors, and then scores are convertible to MusicXML. And there comes the first public dizi symbolic dataset contains 28 songs and 19413 notes that documents both Northern School and Southern School repertories.[11] The style transfer technique has the ability to reconstruct a musical piece in the style of another, this would take both melody transformation and technique transplantation.
Audience Validation
| Transfer Direction | Melody-Only Score | Technique + Melody Score |
|---|---|---|
| Souther -> Northern | 4.79 | 5.41 |
| Northern -> Southern | 6.00 | 6.50 |
Modern Research also reveals the divergence between two major styles. Northern scores emphasize more on tonguing or ornamentation, while Southern scores tend to work favor melodic trills.
Membrane
[edit]
Whereas most simple flutes have only a blowing hole (known as chui kong (吹孔) in Chinese) and finger-holes, the dizi has a very different additional hole, called a mo kong (膜孔), between the embouchure and finger-holes. A special membrane called dimo (笛膜, lit. "di membrane"), made from an almost tissue-like shaving of reed (made from the inner skin of bamboo cells), is made taut and glued over this hole, traditionally with a substance called ejiao, an animal glue. Garlic juice may also be used to adhere the dimo, but it is not recommended as a permanent replacement. This application process, in which fine wrinkles are created in the centre of the dimo to create a penetrating buzzy timbre, is an art form in itself.
The dimo-covered mo kong has a distinctive resonating effect on the sound produced by the dizi, making it brighter and louder, and adding harmonics to give the final tone a buzzing, nasal quality. Dizi have a relatively large range, covering about two-and-a-quarter octaves.
For beginners, tape can be used in place of dimo to cover the mo kong during practice, although most professionals use dimo, especially when performing.
Playing styles and techniques
[edit]
Contemporary 'dizi' styles or schools based on the professional conservatory repertory are divided into two: Northern and Southern, each style having different preferences in dizi and playing techniques, with different methods for embellishment and ornamentation of the melody.[12]
- Northern school (Beipai) – The dizi used for the Northern school, the bangdi, is shorter and higher in pitch, and its sound quality is brighter and more shrill. In Northern China, it is used in kunqu and bangzi opera, and as well as regional musical genres such as errentai. Dizi music of the Northern school is characterized by a fast, rhythmic and virtuosic playing, employing techniques such as glissando, tremolo, flutter tonguing, and fast tonguing.
- Southern school (Nanpai) – In Southern China, the qudi is the lead melodic instrument of kunqu opera and is also used in music such as Jiangnan sizhu. It is longer, and has a more mellow, lyrical tone. The music of the Southern school is usually slower, and the ornamentations are predominantly short melodic turns, trills, and appoggiatura or grace note.
Dizi are often played using various "advanced" techniques, such as circular breathing, slides, popped notes, harmonics, "flying finger" trills, multiphonics, fluttertonguing, and double-tonguing, which are also common in similar instruments, such as the western concert flute and recorder. Most professional players have a set of seven dizi, each in a different key (and size). Additionally, master players and those seeking distinctive sounds such as birdsong may use extremely small or very large dizi.
Advanced Technique and versatility
Professional dizi players are often trained accross multiple styles and possess a full set of dizi with different keys in order to accomodate the piece. These include not only high-pitched piccolo-like dizi (xiaodi) and lower-pitched bass dizi but also chromatic dizi (xindi). Many concert players also use extremely small dizi for imitating bird sounds.
Construction
[edit]To construct a dizi in the traditional way (e.g., Yuping Flutes), it would typically take 4 parts, which involves meticulous craftsmanship across 72 procedures.
The first part is the material selection and treatment. When we are selecting the material, the preference is given to bitter bamboo, purple bamboo, or water bamboo with a growth period of 3-5 years. The harvesting process is optimal between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox in order to achieve the ideal density. And there are some initial processing steps taking place, the bamboo should be dried in natural air for 20-25 days until the surface turns pale white; surface bamboo oil is wiped off using the roasting stabilization technique, which would prevent future decay and improve luster.
The second part is strengthening and shaping. Bamboo is heated for softening purposes, the craftsman would then use specialized tools to correct the bent sections. The bamboo will be immediately placed into cold water to set the shape. Next, bamboo nodes will be removed to form the internal bore.
The third part is tone hole positioning, boring, and tuning. The spacing between tone holes would be calculated based on the tube's inner diameter. For instance, if we have a tube with a 12mm inner diameter, the distance from the first hole to the last hole is approximately 3.92 cm. And there is a progressive formula for the spacing calculation process. For instance, a G-key dizi, the distance from the blow hole to the membrane hole would be calculated by multiplying the total length by 0.618. Please note that exact ratios vary by key and regional tradition. Next, some small holes would be drilled for initial sound testing. The craftsman will then enlarge these holes gradually through repeated toning.
The fourth part would be final decoration and quality control. The head of the dizi would be inlaid with ox bone, jade, or ivory for both protection and aesthetic purposes. Then, we have the membrane (dimo) prepared; it would undergo processes like shaving, twisting, and stretching. The final part is a strict sound testing for pitch accuracy, tone quality, and appearance result, with a rejection rate of 50% - 60%.[13]
Nowadays, the dizi making process (especially the boring part) is much simplified by the power tools and sandpaper. Electronic tuners aid rapid calibration, making these methods suitable for mass-producing models in popular companies.
Sound Expansion Systems
| Component | Tradition | Additional Innovation |
|---|---|---|
| Membrane | Natural reed membrane | Synthetic PET films |
| Tuning | Fixed bamboo joints | Slideable metal tuning barrel |
| Resonance | Single Tube | Double chambered dizi (双孔笛) |
Instrument Maintenance
[edit]1. Inspect the bamboo material quality. We can do so by visual examination. The bamboo quality would require dense, aged grain patterns with high rigidity, and the structure has to be straight and perfectly cylindrical bore. And the interior of the dizi should have uniform medium density with smooth and flawless texture. Due to its wooden nature, also check for insect damage, cracks, or deformities.
2. Verify the pitch accuracy. Usually reference instruments (sheng, accordion, or organ) will be needed in this process. First, performers should match the dizi's fundamental note and tonic to reference D/A notes then confirm the correct octave alignment by ear. After the fundamental note is confirmed, test full chromatic scale intervals. One can also play the overtone series in order to have clean articulation and purity.
3. Assess the volume and resonance. In most cases, higher volume indicates superior resonance efficiency, and one of the benchmarks for quality is that strong vibrations create palpable finger feedback when playing extended notes.
4. Evaluate tone quality. The ideal characteristics for a dizi include warmth, brilliance, rounded resonance, and acoustic flexibility. The bamboo density, bore geometry, the membrane application technique, and players' embouchure control are all influencing factors.
5. Responsive testing. There should be immediate sound initiation upon air flow, and there should be no latency between breath input and tone production. Usually, faster reponse means the higher perfrmance of the instrument.
These are methods and ways for players to determine the quality of dizi, it is recommended to bring the instruments to repairing experts for maintainance once per year.
Performers
[edit]
There have been several major performers of the 20th century who have contributed to dizi playing in the new conservatory professional concert repertory, often based on or adapted from regional folk styles. Following the Chinese Communist Revolution, and according to the Yan'an forum talks, the instrument was appreciated for its popular roots, and used extensively in revolutionary music.[14][15]
Feng Zicun (冯子存, 1904–1987) was born in Yangyuan, Hebei province. Of humble origins, Feng had established himself as a folk musician by the time of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, playing the dizi as well as the four-string fiddle sihu in local song and dance groups, folksongs and stilt dances. He also introduced Errentai, the local opera of Inner Mongolia, to Hebei after spending four years there as a musician in the 1920s.
In 1953, Feng was appointed to the state-supported Central Song and Dance Ensemble in Beijing as dizi soloist, and accepted a teaching post at the China Conservatory of Music (Beijing) in 1964.
Feng adapted traditional folk ensemble pieces into dizi solos, such as Xi xiang feng (Happy Reunion), Wu bangzi (Five Clappers), contributing to the new Chinese conservatory curricula in traditional instrument performance. Feng’s style, virtuosic and lively, has been known as representative of the folk musical traditions of northern China.
Liu Guanyue (刘管乐, 1918–1990) was born in An'guo county, Hebei. Born to a poor peasant family, Liu was a professional folk musician who had earned a meagre living playing the guanzi, suona, and dizi in rural ritual ensembles before becoming a soloist in the Tianjin Song-and-Dance Ensemble (Tianjin gewutuan) in 1952.
Liu together with Feng Zicun are said to be representatives of the Northern dizi style. His pieces, including Yin zhong niao (Birds in the Shade), He ping ge (Doves of Peace) and Gu xiang (Old Home village) have become part of the new conservatory professional concert repertory.
Lu Chunling (陆春龄, 1921–2018) was born in Shanghai. In pre-1949 Shanghai, Lu worked a trishaw driver, but was also an amateur musician, performing the Jiangnan sizhu folk ensemble repertory. In 1952, Lu became dizi soloist with the Shanghai Folk Ensemble (Shanghai minzu yuetuan), and also at the Shanghai Opera Company (Shanghai geju yuan) from 1971 to 1976. In 1957 he taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and became associate professor in 1978.
Lu has performed in many countries as well as throughout China and has made many recordings. His dizi playing style has become representative of the Jiangnan dizi tradition in general. He is well known as a longtime member of the famous Jiangnan sizhu music performance quartet consisting of Lu Chunling, Zhou Hao, Zhou Hui, and Ma Shenglong. His compositions include Jinxi (Today and Yesterday).
Zhao Songting (赵松庭, 1924–2001) was born in Dongyang county, Zhejiang. Zhao trained as a teacher in Zhejiang, and studied law and Chinese and Western music in Shanghai. In the 1940s he worked as a music teacher in Zhejiang, and became the dizi soloist in the Zhejiang Song and Dance Ensemble (Zhejiang Sheng Gewutuan) in 1956. He also taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Zhejiang College of Arts (Zhejiang Sheng Yishu Xuexiao).
Because of his middle-class background, Zhao suffered in the political campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s and was not allowed to perform, instead he taught many students who went on to become leading professional dizi players, and to refine dizi design. He was reinstated in his former positions in 1976.
Zhao's compositions include San Wu Qi (Three-Five-Seven), which is based on a melody from Wuju (Zhejiang traditional opera).
Yu Xunfa (俞逊发, 1946–2006) was a prominent dizi soloist and composer from Shanghai. He performed with the Shanghai National Orchestra and served as Head of the Chinese Dizi Culture Research Centre of Shanghai. The State Council of the People's Republic of China gave him a Life Achievement Award as well as a Lifelong Special Allowance from the State. He is also known for having invented the koudi in 1971.
Ma Di (馬迪) is a current composer and soloist known for his technique on the instrument.
Tang Junqiao (唐俊乔) is a practitioner with international performances alongside Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra, as well as in movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.[16]
Use in other music genres
[edit]Ron Korb (龍笛 (音樂家) or phonetically translated to "雷恩寇伯"), born in Toronto, Canada, is the first renowned western musician playing dizi along with numerous other world woodwinds. He graduated from the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto with an honors degree in performance. On many of his recordings, he uses the dizi as the lead instrument. He has also used dizi in the film soundtracks of The White Countess, Relic Hunter, China Rises, and Long Life, Happiness, & Prosperity.
Master Repertoire Highlights
[edit]| Technique | Signature Piece | Performer |
|---|---|---|
| Overblown harmonics | Yang Guan San Die 《阳关三叠》 | Yu Xunfa |
| Polyphonic flutter | Sai Ma 《赛马》 | Tang Junqiao |
| Quarter-tone glissandi | Mo Li Hua Fantasia 《茉莉花幻想曲》 | Chen Tao |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Malcolm Tattersall (Feb 2007). "Does It Matter What It's Made Of?". Retrieved September 7, 2018.
- ^ Brookhaven National Laboratory (September 22, 1999). "Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute Thought to be Oldest Playable Musical Instrument". Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. (also published at ScienceDaily ("Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute Thought To Be Oldest Playable Musical Instrument")
- ^ Tedesco, Laura Anne (October 2000). "Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ^ "di (musical instrunment)". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Howard L. Goodman (2010). Xun Xu and the politics of precision in third-century AD China. Brill Publishers. p. 226. ISBN 978-90-04-18337-7.
- ^ Chukov (Eds.), T. V. Petkova & V. S. (2018). 2nd International e-Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences: Conference Proceedings. Center for Open Access in Science, Belgrade. doi:10.32591/coas.e-conf.02.01001f. ISBN 978-86-81294-01-7. S2CID 192322971.
- ^ Lau, Frederick (1996-01-01). "Forever red: The invention of solo dizi music in post‐1949 China". British Journal of Ethnomusicology. doi:10.1080/09681229608567250.
- ^ Lau, Frederick (1991). Music and musicians of the traditional Chinese'dizi'in the People's Republic of China.
- ^ a b Frederick Lau (2008). Kai-wing Chow (ed.). Beyond the May Fourth Paradigm: In Search of Chinese Modernity. Lexington Books. pp. 212–215. ISBN 978-0739111222.
- ^ 陳正生 (22 October 2001). 談談民族管樂器聽覺訓練在演奏中的作用 (in Chinese).
- ^ Xie, Yifan; Li, Rongfeng (2021). Shao, Xi; Qian, Kun; Zhou, Li; Wang, Xin; Zhao, Ziping (eds.). "Deconstruct and Reconstruct Dizi Music of the Northern School and the Southern School". Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Sound and Music Technology. Singapore: Springer: 18–28. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-1649-5_2. ISBN 978-981-16-1649-5.
- ^ Frederick Lau (2008). Music in China. Oxford University Press. pp. 43–45. ISBN 978-0-19-530124-3.
- ^ "竹笛制作方法详细教程". wappass.baidu.com. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
- ^ "China's Communist Party has co-opted ancient music". The Economist. 2 September 2023. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
The party has a history of co-opting music for its own causes. Under Mao Zedong ostensibly old folk songs were rewritten with revolutionary lyrics and sometimes composed from scratch, says Kai Tang of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The solo repertory associated with the dizi, a traditional form of flute, was composed almost entirely after 1949 and, in the early days, made up mostly of revolutionary music.
- ^ Lau, Frederick (1995). "Individuality and Political Discourse in Solo "Dizi" Compositions". Asian Music. Vol. 27, no. 1. pp. 133–152. doi:10.2307/834499. ISSN 0044-9202. JSTOR 834499.
- ^ Chen, Nan (6 October 2017). "Worthy envoy for the flute". China Daily. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London, 2001).
External links
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Media related to Wenqis/sandbox at Wikimedia Commons