Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms, Volume 73

Diagram of the Pitch PipesLülü: The system of twelve standard pitch pipes used in ancient Chinese musicology to establish tuning and correlate music with the movements of the heavens. Corresponding to the Twenty-Four Periods, the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang, and the Comparison of the Tones Gong, Jue, Zhi, and YuFour of the five primary tones of the Chinese pentatonic scale. Gong (the root), Jue (the third), Zhi (the fifth), and Yu (the sixth).

Diagram of Music Performed Above and Below the Hall

This refers to the ritual arrangement of the "Hall Ensemble" (tangshang) on the terrace and the "Courtyard Ensemble" (tangxia) below, a standard setup for Ming dynasty state ceremonies.

Diagram of the Six Yang and Six Yin Pitch Pipes Generating One Another via the Eight-Step IntervalGeba xiang sheng: A method similar to the Western "circle of fifths," where a new pitch is generated by moving eight steps along the sequence of twelve pipes.

Diagram of the Five Tones, Eight Musical Materials, and Eight Winds

The "Eight Winds" correlate musical harmony with the seasonal winds from the eight directions.

Diagram of the Sequence of Generation for the Five Tones

Diagram of the Three-Part Addition and Subtraction MethodSanfen sunyi: The mathematical formula used to determine the length of pitch pipes. One either subtracts one-third of the length or adds one-third to find the next note in the sequence.

Diagram of the Twelve Pitch Pipes "Taking Wives" of the Same Kind and "Siring Sons" via the Eight-Step Interval

Ancient musicologists used the metaphor of marriage and procreation to explain how the twelve pitches (categorized into male "yang" pipes and female "yin" pipes) were mathematically derived from one another.

Diagram of the Twelve Pitch Pipes Generating, Corresponding, and Unifying as One

Musical Diagrams