Thomas Pereira’s 'Lülü Zuanyao' 律呂纂要 (ca. 1685): A Jesuit Music Theory Textbook for the Chinese Emperor

Authors

Qingfan Jiang, Johns Hopkins UniversityFollow

Abstract

Thomas Pereira (1646–1708), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, arrived in Beijing in 1672 and was appointed by the Kangxi Emperor (1654–1722) as his music tutor. For the emperor's music lessons, Pereira authored Lülü Zuanyao 律呂纂要 [Elements of Music] (ca. 1685), the first known Western music theory treatise written in Chinese. My translation includes the first half of Zuanyao that focuses on Western music notation, solmization, and the hexachordal system. As a product of the global circulation of musical knowledge in the early modern period, Zuanyao is significant in three ways. First, it illustrates the direct influence of the music education Pereira received in Portugal on his adaptation of Western musical concepts for a Chinese audience. Zuanyao shares several similarities with Portuguese pedagogical treatises published in the early part of the seventeenth century. Second, Zuanyao exemplifies the Jesuits' unique approach to the China mission. Missionaries implemented strategies to attract the Chinese elite by integrating Christian teachings into Chinese cultural contexts and showcasing their scientific knowledge, including music. Third, Zuanyao reveals the complex interplay between the missionaries and the Chinese imperial court. The emperor's cautious view of Christianity prompted Pereira to eliminate all religious references, thus transforming Zuanyao into a secularized music theory textbook. Ultimately, Zuanyao serves as a valuable case study that deepens our understanding of the musical dialogue between China and Europe in the seventeenth century.

Author Biography

Qingfan Jiang is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on the musical exchange between China and Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She has published "In Search of the ‘Oriental Origin’: Rameau, Rousseau, and Chinese Music in Eighteenth-Century France" in Eighteenth Century Music and a book chapter in the edited volume Navigating Stylistic Boundaries in the Music History Classroom: Crossover, Exchange, Appropriation. Before joining Peabody, Jiang held a postdoctoral fellowship in the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. She earned her Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from Columbia University in 2021.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Jiang, Qingfan (2024) "Thomas Pereira’s 'Lülü Zuanyao' 律呂纂要 (ca. 1685): A Jesuit Music Theory Textbook for the Chinese Emperor," Yale Journal of Music & Religion: Vol. 10: No. 2, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17132/2377-231X.1306