摘要
Chinese music dates back to the remote past and reached its heydays during the Tang Dynasty （618 - 907 AD）. But it faded into obscurity due to prolonged wars and social turmoil in ensuing years and had fallen into extinction by the Song Dynasty （960 - 1279 AD）. Later generations have no ways to access ancient Chinese music but through those historical legacies such as unearthed artifacts from tombs, grotto murals, religious rituals practiced in temples or private collections. Nevertheless, those historical sites, objects and documents are silent and cannot offer us a live audio experience. Only from pictures and manuscripts can we learn the knowledge about the pipa and flute of the Qin-Han period, the bamboo wind instruments and clappers of the Jin Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty＇s dances from ancient India and concerts played with instruments from the West Region, That is why scholars on the history of music call the history of Chinese music ＂silent history＂.
