Chapter Fifteen: Major Snow and Musical Pitch — Huangzhong as the Foundation of the Pitches and the Sound of the First Yang

I. Huangzhong: The Pitch-Pipe Assigned to Major Snow

The Monthly Ordinances' statement for midwinter — "its pitch-pipe is Huangzhong" — assigns the foundational pitch-pipe of the twelve to the midwinter of Major Snow. This chapter will explore in depth why Huangzhong is the foundation of the twelve pitches and its profound connection with "a single yang returning."

In the pre-Qin system uniting pitches and the calendar, the twelve pitch-pipes correspond to the twelve months. Note that the first of the twelve — Huangzhong — is paired with the eleventh month, the very zi month of Major Snow.

II. Why Is Huangzhong the Foundation of the Twelve Pitches$11

First, Huangzhong is the standard for determining all pitches. Through the method of "subtracting and adding by thirds" (san fen sun yi), all other eleven pipe-lengths are calculated from Huangzhong as the base. Once Huangzhong is established, all twelve pitches are determined.

Second, Huangzhong is the source of weights and measures. In the pre-Qin conception, the length, volume, and weight of the Huangzhong pitch-pipe served as the standards for length (du), volume (liang), and weight (heng). Thus Huangzhong was not only the foundation of musical pitch but of the entire system of measurement and, indeed, of the entire numerical order of the cosmos.

Third, Huangzhong's tone is the primal sound of all sounds. The sound produced by Huangzhong was regarded as the most centered, most fundamental, most majestic "primal sound" — the source and destination of all five notes and twelve pitches, the sonic incarnation of cosmic harmony.

III. Huangzhong Paired with the Zi Month: The Foundation of Pitch and the Origin of Qi in Resonance

Why must the foundation of all pitches — Huangzhong — be paired with the zi month rather than the first month of the new year$12 The answer lies in the profound cosmology of "pitches and calendar as one" (lv li he yi) and "sound and qi in mutual response" (sheng qi xiang ying). The zi month contains the winter solstice — the inception of "a single yang returning," the origin of a new cycle. Huangzhong, as the foundation of pitch and the primal sound, is paired with this "primal" month to reveal a truth of the deepest order: the origin of sound and the origin of Heaven and Earth's qi share the same source.

An ancient and mysterious tradition holds that at the winter solstice, when the single yang returns, the stirring of yang qi beneath the earth causes the reed-ash placed inside the Huangzhong pitch-pipe to flutter and fly. Though difficult to verify empirically, this tradition vividly expresses the ancients' conviction that Huangzhong's pitch and the zi month's yang qi are in sympathetic resonance: when the single yang stirs, Huangzhong sounds — a magnificent consonance of Heaven and Earth's qi and Heaven and Earth's voice at Major Snow and the winter solstice.

IV. Why Should Musical Pitch Be Related to the Seasons$13

We cannot help but ask: why did the ancients believe that musical pitch and the seasons were connected$14 The answer returns to the pre-Qin cosmology of qi. In the ancients' view, all things in Heaven and Earth — whether tangible matter or intangible sound — were different manifestations of qi. The seasons are the temporal rhythm of qi (yin-yang waxing and waning); the pitch-pipes are the sonic rhythm of qi (the frequencies of air vibration within the pipes). Since both are rhythms of qi, a deep correspondence and resonance must exist between them.

What a grand and profound cosmic musicology! It holds that the entire universe is a magnificent symphony performed by qi — the rotation of the four seasons is its rhythm, the twelve pitches its scale, and Huangzhong its tonic, its fundamental, its primal note.

V. Music as a Medium of Communication Between Heaven and Humanity: Huangzhong and Virtuous Governance

In the pre-Qin era, music — especially pitch-pipe tuning — was not merely an aesthetic object but a medium of communication between Heaven and humanity, a foundation of virtuous governance.

The Record of Rites (Record of Music) says: "Music is the harmony of Heaven and Earth; rites are the order of Heaven and Earth." Huangzhong, as the foundation of all pitches and the primal source of harmony, is the fundamental embodiment of Heaven and Earth's concord.

At a still deeper level, Huangzhong paired with the zi month's single yang return links "the foundation of pitch" with "the inception of virtue." The single yang's return reveals Heaven and Earth's heart (the virtue of ceaseless creation); Huangzhong's first sounding marks the starting point of pitch and scale (the virtue of centered harmony). In the zi month, Heaven and Earth manifest their creative virtue through the single yang's return, while the former kings cultivated the centered harmony of the human world through the refined music of Huangzhong — heavenly virtue and human virtue, through yang qi and Huangzhong's sound, achieved a profound consonance.