Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Culture
    Home / Culture / Heritage

    New exhibition sheds light on work of prominent?Ming Dynasty thinker

    By Fang Aiqing | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-06-28 09:02
    Share
    Share - WeChat

    An exhibition about the scientific and artistic achievements of Zhu Zaiyu, a versatile thinker during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is currently underway at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing.

    Zhu devoted his life to the study of musicology, mathematics, astronomy, calendar systems and measurement. He also composed dozens of works of Chinese Sanqu?poetry, which he published in his famous anthology,?Moralizing Poems.

    One of his most distinguished discoveries was his "twelve-tone equal temperament", which established the connection between music and mathematics.

    Zhu divided an octave into 12 semitones of the same interval, so that a work of music could be played in different keys, much in the manner of a modern-day piano.

    Zhu demonstrated that the ratio of the frequency between each of the neighboring semitones was the 12th root of 2, and calculated the value with an 81-spindle abacus that he designed himself, which ran to 24 places after the decimal point.

    His invention was decades ahead of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach's The?Well-Tempered Clavier, a huge work of musical analysis which detailed the relationship and possibilities between musical tones and semitones .

    Although the two inventions show certain similarities, whether Bach borrowed Zhu's idea or whether Zhu’s concept contributed to the invention of piano remains a controversial point.

    That said, the mathematic principles behind the twelve-tone equal temperament were included in a question at this year's Beijing’s College Entrance Examinations in June.

    Zhu, who used grains of millet to establish a uniform method of measurement and learned how to accurately calculate the length of a tropical year, also managed to estimate the geographical latitude of Beijing through his scientific research.

    According to Bai Xin, a professor in the history of science and technology at Capital Normal University, Zhu's achievements are still being applied to this day and are unlikely to be replaced at any time in the near future.

    Zhu also invested much of his time in researching ancient Chinese dances and drew up numerous dancing manuals. One of the manuals that he created has even been recognized as the predecessor of group calisthenics.

    “Zhu deserves to be called one of China's leading encyclopedic figures,” Bai says.

    The exhibition presents in detail Zhu's achievements through dozens of displays, including the pitch pipes of his twelve-tone equal temperament and his 81-spindle abacus.

    The exhibition will run through June 30.

    If you go

    9:30 am-17:00 pm, May 30-June 30, 5 East Beichen Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing, 010-59041000

    Most Popular
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    久久久久亚洲AV无码去区首| 亚洲一级Av无码毛片久久精品| 无码伊人66久久大杳蕉网站谷歌| 中文字幕专区高清在线观看 | 日韩人妻无码一区二区三区99| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦在线视色| 免费a级毛片无码a∨免费软件 | 亚洲AV永久无码精品一百度影院| 亚洲中文字幕在线乱码| 97无码免费人妻超级碰碰夜夜| 中文无码制服丝袜人妻av| 人妻AV中文字幕一区二区三区 | 18禁网站免费无遮挡无码中文| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区系列| 中文无码一区二区不卡αv| 欧美日韩中文字幕久久伊人| 亚洲成a人在线看天堂无码| 成人午夜福利免费无码视频| 人妻无码αv中文字幕久久| 无码专区AAAAAA免费视频| 国产av无码专区亚洲av果冻传媒| 最近免费中文字幕大全免费| 2022中文字字幕久亚洲| 人妻无码中文久久久久专区| 日韩中文字幕精品免费一区| 一级毛片中出无码| 中日精品无码一本二本三本| 亚洲AV无码乱码在线观看性色扶 | 日韩精品无码专区免费播放| 亚洲AV日韩AV永久无码绿巨人| 一本色道无码不卡在线观看| 中文字幕乱偷无码AV先锋| 亚洲国产一二三精品无码| 亚洲熟妇无码AV在线播放| 无码一区二区三区老色鬼| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区系列| 色综合AV综合无码综合网站| 人妻无码第一区二区三区| 久久精品无码一区二区三区日韩 | 国产乱子伦精品无码码专区| 精品无码人妻一区二区三区品 |