Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.66

v2.c11.66

**Theory of Qiuci (an ancient state)** Musical modes contained Indian musical elements, and had a significant impact on the development of ancient Chinese music. Indian music was introduced into Former Liang (a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during Jin dynasty) in 4th century CE, and then into the east. In the Northern and Southern Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan brought Buddhist music into the court. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou – Yu Wenyong (561 - 578 CE), Sujiva introduced seven musical scales of Qiuci music to the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Because Qiuci was close to India geographically, it was greatly influenced by Indian culture, so the theory of seven musical scales undoubtedly originated from Indian music. Seven musical scales exerted a great impact on Chinese music in medieval times. In the Sui Dynasty, heptachord was introduced into China. Indian song *Shashijiang* and dance music *Tianqu* were very popular. Indian musical instruments such as Konghou, Bili (wind instrument), and Jiegu (drum) were also used by Chinese musicians. In Sui and Tang Dynasties, Indian music was the court music.