Sanfen Sunyi Tuning

Sanfen sunyi alternates two-thirds and four-thirds of a pipe's length to generate the twelve pitches, the core tuning method of early China.

Related

Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, YuXuangong (Rotating the Gong)Bianzhong — tuning and the two-tone bellMode

Time and place

Sanfen sunyi appears in texts from the pre-Qin to the Han. The Guanzi uses it to derive five tones, while the Lüshi Chunqiu and the Shiji extend it to twelve. It works from the length of pitch pipes and was transmitted through court and music-official circles.

Musical features

Taking the Huangzhong pipe as the base, sanfen sunyi removes one third to obtain the upper fifth, then adds one third to obtain the lower fourth. Alternating the two operations yields Linzhong, Taicu, Nanlü, Guxi, Yingzhong, Ruibin, Dalü, Yize, Jiazhong, Wuyi and Zhonglü. After twelve steps, Zhonglü cannot return exactly to Huangzhong, leaving the central puzzle of ancient tuning theory.

Repertoire

Sanfen sunyi is a method of generating pitches, not a repertoire. The structural notes of traditional pentatonic and heptatonic melodies are often organised by fifth relations, and folk song lets one hear that.

What to listen for

Hear Jasmine Flower, Purple Bamboo Melody and Blue Flower first, finding fourth and fifth leaps and phrase-ending notes, then imagine those notes generated by a chain of fifths. A pentatonic melody does not use only five pitches; passing tones and modulations appear in performance.

Common misunderstandings

Sanfen sunyi is often equated with twelve-tone equal temperament, or the pentatonic scale assumed to have only five notes. Its twelve pitches are unequal, and a gap separates Zhonglü from Huangzhong; five tones are a frame, while real music uses six or seven and changes mode.

Sources

• 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 条目与年代核对，未引用
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.