中国音乐(Chinese music)
中国的传统音乐。中国在历史上总是频频回顾过去的「黄金时代」，特别是周朝（西元前约1050年～西元前255/256年）。当时艺术音乐（雅乐）与民俗音乐（俗乐）已经有所基本区别。在周朝之後的分裂时期所发展出的思想传统－－儒家学说，将周朝的音乐礼仪奉为圭臬。当汉朝（西元前206年～西元220年）肇建，曾试图以少数周代遗留下的作品为范本，重建此一传统。汉朝之後又是一个分裂的时期，道教和佛教对音乐都产生重大的影响。修习道术的士人修习琴艺：一种有七根弦的琴，并专注在发挥该乐器富於表现的特性，而非儒家所强调的自我提昇。佛教的僧侣则从印度音乐引进形态理论。在稍後的年代，僧人开始讲唱「变文」，此种广受欢迎的叙述形式，乃是结合说唱的形式，取材自佛陀生平故事。原先为娱乐而设计的琵琶，也有所发展。隋朝和唐朝（西元581～901年）在重建帝国秩序後，混合了都会风格、包含雅乐在内，以乐器演奏为主的音乐型态（雅乐於此时已局限於典礼上的用途）的文化，也蓬勃发展。民俗音乐则运用在抒发情感的「曲词」中，此一形式常是以写作新词填入旧曲之中，日後并成为中国歌剧的基本作法。宋朝（西元960～1279年）与明朝（1368～1644年）期间，都市化程度提高，戏剧形式也相应而起，从最初只为大众表演，终而扩及菁英阶层。1911年国民党革命成功，所有旧秩序的传统皆被扬弃，而将西方音乐视为理想。在1949年後，共产主义政权鼓励保留旧有的传统，并寻求创造一种兼容并蓄的现代中国音乐（包括兼具中、西乐器的管弦乐团）。「黑键」的五音音阶只是数种中国音乐中所运的五音音阶之一。七音音阶仍然普遍，并有证据显示，十二音阶的音乐早在西元前3世纪就已经出现。
English version：
Chinese music
Traditional music of China. China has historically looked back to its "golden age," especially the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050-256/255 BC), when the basic division between "art" music (yayue) and "folk" music (suyue) was established. A period of disunity followed, and one of the philosophical traditions that arose, Confucianism, idealized Zhou musical practices. With the establishment of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), an attempt was made to recreate the tradition using the few surviving Zhou pieces as models. Another period of division came after the Han, and both Taoism and Buddhism were important influences on music: Taoist gentlemen cultivated the qin, a seven-stringed lute, concentrating on its expressive qualities rather than self-improvement, which Confucians had stressed. Buddhist missionaries introduced modal theories from Indian music; somewhat later, they performed bianwen, a popular narrative form combining words and music that described incidents from the Buddha's life. The pipa, which came to be associated with entertainment, was also developed. The reestablishment of order with the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907) made possible a flowering of culture, including yenyue, a cosmopolitan hybrid instrumental music (yayue now being limited to ceremonial uses). Folk-song forms were adapted for lyrical expression called quzi, which often involved writing new words for old melodies, later a basic practice of Chinese opera. The Song (960-1279) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties saw increased urbanization, and with it the rise of theatrical forms, only for the masses at first but later for the elite as well. With the Nationalist Revolution of 1911, all traces of the old order were discarded, and Western music became the ideal. After 1949 the communist regime encouraged preservation of older traditions and sought to create a hybrid modern Chinese music (including orchestras that include both Western and Chinese instruments). The "black-key" pentatonic scale is only one of several five-tone scales used in Chinese music; seven-tone scales were also common, and there is even evidence that a twelve-tone scale was derived as early as the 3rd century BC.