Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Dunhuang, Lost Music of the Stone Chamber (7 of 8)

Posted on September 8, 2014October 31, 2019 by Dharma Documentaries
A look at some of the musical notation manuscripts found at Dunhuang and their interpretation in modern times

Lost Music of the Stone Chamber

This is the seventh in an eight-part series by China Central Television (CCTV) on the interplay between the finds in the Mogao Caves and contemporary art in China.

The murals at the Magao Caves are justifiably the most famous artifact of the ancient site, but they were not the only find that originated there.

When a room was opened by the Taoist caretaker Wang Yuanlu in 1900 he found inside more than 50,000 manuscripts which had been hidden away for preservation.

Most of these were removed by European and Japanese explorers in subsequent years, and it is a measure of how diligent they were that in the end only 10,000 remain in China.

Amongst the manuscripts that were taken to France were some with an unknown script, which turned out to be T’ang Dynasty musical notation.

This week the documentary is about the attempts to read the notation and to remake the music they contain.

Although many attempts have been made, scholars agree the code has not been successfully broken yet, but it has inspired many a musician to produce new music based on their understanding of the script.

 

I am unable to embed this video
please follow this link
to watch on my
bittubers channel

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of stills click here

 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Shortlink

http://bit.ly/2hrl05C

QR

Donations

This site has taken 10 years to build, and has 700+ documentaries on it. If you would like to support the expenses involved, you can do so here. Even small amounts help.

choose amount:  

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe by Email Subscribe to our Feed

Top Ten Tags

Theravada

Mahayana

Vajrayana



India

Silk Road

China

Tibet



Arts

Lectures

Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Journey of Xuanzang: An Introduction
  • The Chinese Emperor's Secret Garden

Recent Posts

  • Kharkhorin & Erdene Zuu Hyid (Expoza)
  • The Story of Buddhism 03, The Journey Within
  • The Story of Buddhism 02, Beyond the Illusory World
  • A Monk’s Life
  • The Story of Buddhism 01, Path of Compassion
  • The Legend of Buddha
  • Unity
  • The Anthropocene, the Age of Mankind
  • Yeshi Dolma, Song of Tibet
  • Tibet, What Remains of Us

Related Posts

  • Dunhuang, Soul of the Dances (8 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, The Heavenly Dance (6 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Costumes in the Dunhuang Caves (5 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Reviving the Heavenly Music (4 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Exotic Music and Dance (3 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Playing the Pipa Behind the Back (2 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Flying Apsaras (1 of 8)
  • 26 of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang in Detail
  • Chinese Buddhism
  • Yunnan, China (Expoza)
© 2019 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme