Womans Work in Music | Page 7

their own slaves. Dancing was an
adjunct to music, though often practised as a separate branch of
entertainment, and brought to a high state of perfection in its
pantomimic form.
The position of woman in the far East was inferior even to her station
in Greece and Rome. In China, for example, everything feminine was
held in contempt. This had its influence on the musical system of the
Chinese, according to one of their legends. After the invention of music,
the formation of various instruments, and the composition of many
songs, all due to more or less mythical emperors, Hoang-Ti, who
reigned about the year 2600 B. C., decided to have the art scientifically
investigated and its rules formulated. In his day music was practised,
but not understood in its natural elements. The emperor therefore
ordered Ling-Lun to look into the matter.
This dignitary, about whose work many anecdotes exist, travelled to
Northwestern China, and took up his abode on a high mountain, near a
bamboo grove. On cutting a stalk and excavating the pith between two
of the joints, he found that the tube gave the exact pitch of the normal
human voice, and also the sound given by the waters of the Hoang-Ho,
which had its source near the scene. Thus was discovered the
fundamental tone of the scale.
Meanwhile, the Foang-Hoang, or sacred bird of Chinese mythology,
appeared with its mate and perched upon a neighbouring tree. The male
bird sang a scale of several tones, while the female sang another
composed of different tones. The first note of the male bird coincided
in pitch with Ling-Lun's bamboo tube, and by cutting other tubes the
erudite investigator proceeded to reproduce all the tones of both. By
combining these, he was able to form a complete chromatic scale. But,
owing to the prejudice against the weaker sex, the tones of the female
(called feminine tones even to-day) were discarded in favour of those

of the male bird. The latter, the basis of Chinese music, correspond to
the black keys of our piano, while the former were equivalent to the
white, or diatonic, notes of our scale.
That Chinese music, based on this pentatonic scale, need not be at all
displeasing, is proved by many of the old Scotch tunes, which are built
on the same system. An excellent illustration of its rhythmic structure,
frequent iterations, and melodic character may be found in our own
familiar tune, "There is a happy land, far, far away." The harsh quality
that Europeans often find in Chinese performances is undoubtedly not a
necessary adjunct, as the same criticism may be made upon many of
our own street singers or brass bands.
The Chinese, like many other ancient nations, have a great contempt for
the caste of musicians and actors, although enjoying the drama keenly.
Parents have almost unlimited power over their children, and may sell
them as slaves, or even in some cases kill them; but they are not
allowed to sell them to the troupes of strolling comedians or to
magicians. Any one convicted of doing this, or aiding in the transaction,
is punished by one hundred blows of the bamboo. Any person of free
parentage marrying an actor or actress receives the same punishment.
Yet, while musicians connected with the stage are held under the ban,
those who devote themselves to the religious rites receive the highest
esteem. These, however, cannot be women.
The music of Japan, though built on the chromatic scale, was much the
same as that of China. Actors and musicians command hardly more
respect in the island than on the Continent. Women play a negative part
in both countries, if we except the Geishas, who entertain in the
tea-houses. But Japan has made such rapid strides in civilization
recently that it may not be impossible for woman to develop the
activity that she has already shown in Western lands.
CHAPTER II.
MEDIÆVAL
The position of woman among the northern races that overthrew the

Roman power was wholly different from that which she held in the
more ancient epoch, but even under the newer regime it was no
enviable one. In many of the earlier Germanic systems, wives were
bought by a definite payment of goods or of cattle. That this was a
recognized practice is shown in the laws of Ethelbert, which state that if
a man carry off a freeman's wife, he must at his own expense procure
another for the injured husband. Usually women had no rights of
inheritance, though in some cases they could inherit when there were
no male children, and in others they could transmit the right of
inheritance to their male descendants. Sometimes they were allowed to
inherit movable property of a certain sort, probably largely the result of
their own handiwork.