Little is known about the sound of ancient Chinese music, but written documents provide information about music theory and music in society. Chinese musical history has been inextricably bound to politics. The bureau of music of each new administration established pitch standards and oversaw ceremonial and court music. Absolute pitch was regarded as an integral part of the system of weights and measures and new measurements were introduced with each new dynasty. Chinese philosophers (including Confucius) were early to recognize the power of music over the mind and emotions and its importance in education. Like the ancient Greeks, they recommended state control in view of its power over the morality of the masses. Although ancient music theory has little bearing on modern Chinese music these fundamental views have persisted and can be witnessed in such movements as the Cultural Revolution.

Music scales

The ancient Chinese defined, by mathematical means, a gamut or series of Shi Er Lü (called the 十二律 12 lü) from which various sets of five frequencies were selected to make the sort of "do re mi" major scale.

Scale and tonality

Most Chinese music uses a pentatonic scale, with the intervals (in terms of lǜ) the same as those of the major pentatonic scale. The notes of this scale are called gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. By starting from a different point of this sequence, a scale (named after its starting note) with a different interval sequence is created, similar to the construction of modes in modern Western music.

Since the Chinese system is not an equal tempered tuning, playing a melody starting from the lǜ nearest to A will not necessarily sound the same as playing the same melody starting from some other lǜ, since the wolf interval will occupy a different point in the scale. The effect of changing the starting point of a song can be rather like the effect of shifting from a major to a minor key in Western music.

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