Gongche notation

Gongche notation or gongchepu is a traditional musical notation method, once popular in ancient China. It uses Chinese characters to represent musical notes. It was named after two of the Chinese characters that were used to represent musical notes, namely "工" gōng and "尺" chě.

Gongche notation
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	工尺譜
Simplified Chinese	工尺谱
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin gōng chě pǔ Yue: Cantonese Jyutping gung1 ce1 pou2
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	hệ thống Hò Xự Xang
Hán-Nôm	系統合四上

Sheet music written in this notation is still used for traditional Chinese musical instruments and Chinese operas. However usage of the notation has declined, replaced by mostly jianpu (numbered musical notation) and sometimes the standard western notation.

The notation usually uses a movable "do" system. There are variations of the character set used for musical notes. A commonly accepted set is shown below with its relation to jianpu and solfege.

Gongche	上 shàng	尺 chě	工 gōng	凡 fán	六 liù	五 wǔ	乙 yǐ
Scale degree	1	2	3	(4)	5	6	(7)
Solfège	do	re	mi	(between fa and fa♯)	sol	la	between ti♭ and ti)
Simplified Japanese	ル	人	フ	り	久	ゐ	L

Usual variations

The three notes just below the central octave are usually represented by special characters:

Gongche	合 hé	四 sì	一 yī
Jianpu	5̣	6̣	(7̣)
Solfege	sol	la	(between ti♭ and ti)
Simplified Japanese notation	ム	マ	ㄧ

Sometimes "士" shì is used instead of "四" sì. Sometimes "一" yī is not used, or its role is exchanged with "乙" yǐ.

To represent other notes in different octaves, traditions differ among themselves. For Kunqu, the final strokes of "合", "四", "一", "上", "尺", "工" and "凡" are extended by a tiny slash downward for the lower octave; additionally, a left radical "亻" is added to denote one octave higher than the central, or "彳" for two octaves higher. For Cantonese opera, however, "亻" denotes an octave lower, while "彳" denotes only one octave higher.

Some other variations:

• "尺" is replaced by "乂" in the Taiwanese tradition.
• "凡" is replaced by "反" in the Cantonese tradition.
• "𱝫" (⿰彳上), the "do" just above the central octave, is usually replaced by "生" in the Cantonese tradition.

The following are two examples.

Gongche scale for Kunqu

Gongche	𪛗	𪛘	𪛙	𪛚	𪛛	𪛜	𪛝	合	四	一	上	尺	工	凡	六	五	乙	仩	伬	仜	𠆩	𠆾	伍	亿
Jianpu	5̣̣	6̣̣	7̣̣	1̣	2̣	3̣	4̣	5̣	6̣	7̣	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	1̇	2̇	3̇	4̇	5̇	6̇	7̇
Solfege	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti

Gongche scale for Cantonese opera

Gongche	佮	仕	亿	仩	伬	仜	仮	合	士	乙	上	尺	工	反	六	五	𢒼	生	鿈	𢓁	𢓉	𢓌	鿉
Jianpu	5̣̣	6̣̣	7̣̣	1̣	2̣	3̣	4̣	5̣	6̣	7̣	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	1̇	2̇	3̇	4̇	5̇	6̇
Solfege	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la	ti	do	re	mi	fa	sol	la

Pronunciation

When the notes are sung in different opera traditions, they do not sound as the words would be pronounced in the respective regional dialects. Instead, they are pronounced in an approximation of Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation.

The following are two examples:

Pronunciation of Cantonese Gongche characters

Gongche character	合	士	乙	上	尺	工	反	六	五
Cantonese Gongche Jyutping	ho4	si6	ji6	saang3	ce1	gung1	faan1	liu1	wu1
Cantonese Gongche pronunciation	[hɔ̏ː]	[sìː]	[jìː]	[sɑ̄ːŋ]	[tsʰɛ́ː]	[kʊ́ŋ]	[fɑ́ːn]	[líːu]	[wúː]
Usual Cantonese Jyutping	hap6	si6	jyut6	soeng6	cek3	gung1	faan2	luk6	ng5
Usual Cantonese pronunciation	[hɐ̀p]	[sìː]	[jỳːt]	[sœ̀ːŋ]	[tsʰɛ̄ːk]	[kʊ́ŋ]	[fɑ̌ːn]	[lʊ̀k]	[ŋ̬̍]

Pronunciation of Vietnamese Gongche characters

Gongche character	合	四	乙	上	尺	工	凡	六	五
Sino-Vietnamese Gongche pronunciation	hò	xự	y	xang	xê	cống	phạn	líu	ú
Chữ Nôm transliteration	乎	徐		扛	車	貢		了	呴
IPA	hɔ˨˩	sɨ˧˨ʔ	ʔi˧˧	saːŋ˧˧	se˧˧	kəwŋ͡m˧˦	faːn˧˨ʔ	liw˧˦	ʔu˧˦
Usual Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation	hợp	tứ	ất	thượng	xích	công	phàm	lục	ngũ
IPA	həːp̚˧˨ʔ	tɨ˧˦	ʔət̚˧˦	tʰɨəŋ˧˨ʔ	sïk̟̚˧˦	kəwŋ͡m˧˧	faːm˨˩	lʊwk͡p̚˧˨ʔ	ŋu˦ˀ˥

Rhythm

The melody of Old MacDonald Had a Farm in gongche notation

Gongche notation does not mark the relative length of the notes. Instead, marks for the percussion, understood to be played at regular intervals, are written alongside the notes. Gongche is written in the same format as Chinese was traditionally written; from top to bottom and then from right to left. The rhythm marks are written to the right of the note characters.

The diagram at the left illustrates how the tune "Old McDonald Had a Farm" will look like if written in gongche notation. Here, "。" denotes the stronger beat, called "板" bǎn or "拍" pāi, and "、" denotes the weaker beat, called "眼" yǎn or "撩" liáo. In effect, there is one beat in every two notes, i.e. two notes are sung or played to each beat. These notes in solfege with markings will show a similar effect:

do do do sol la la sol   mi mi re re do

Example of gongche use with guqin tablature and beat marks.

Using this method, only the number of notes within a beat can be specified. The actual length of each note is up to tradition and the interpretation of the artist.

Notice that the actual rhythm marks used differ among various traditions.

History and usage

Gongche notation was invented in the Tang dynasty. It became popular in the Song dynasty. It is believed to have begun as a tablature of certain musical instrument, possibly using a fixed "do" system. Later it became a popular pitch notation, typically using a movable "do" system.

The notation is not accurate in modern sense. It provides a musical skeleton, allowing an artist to improvise. The details are usually passed on by oral tradition. However, once a tradition is lost, it is very difficult to reconstruct how the music was supposed to sound. Variations among different traditions increased the difficulty in learning the notation.

A comparative table of Gongche notation and other notations, from a book published in Kyoto in 1909. In Japan, Gongche notation became widespread to a certain extent.

The system was also introduced to Korea (where it is referred to as gong jeok bo) in ancient times and many traditional musicians still learn their music from such scores (although they typically perform from memory).

Kunkunshi, a Ryukyuan musical notation still in use for sanshin, was directly influenced by Gongche.

See also

• Jianpu

External links

• Cantonese Opera (in Chinese) explains how the gongche notation is used in Cantonese opera. This document shows how the same piece of music is written in gongchepu, jianpu, and the standard notation.