Music

Abstract

A manuscript, surviving in Japan, contains a composition purportedly written during the Six Dynasties period by Qiu Ming (493-590), who lived in southern China at the end of the Liang dynasty (502-557). The piece, You Lan (Secluded Orchid), was written for the qin (modern name guqin)-a type of zither. Although it is the only extant piece from the time of the Six Dynasties, we know a fair amount about the circumstances of music through the archaeology and literature of the period.