The reader will now accompany us to a musician's shop in our
wanderings through Chinatown. This is located in a basement and is a
room about fifteen feet wide and some twenty feet deep. This son of
Jubal from the Flowery Kingdom was about fifty-five years old and a
very good-natured man. He received us with a smile, and when he was
requested by the guide to play for us he sat down before an instrument
somewhat like the American piano, called _Yong Chum_. The music was of
a plaintive character, and was lacking in the melody of a Broadwood
or a Steinway. Then he played on another instrument which resembled
a bandore or banjo and was named _Sem Yim_. Afterwards he took up a
Chinese flute and played a tune, which was out of the ordinary and
was withal of a cheerful nature. He then showed us something that was
striking and peculiar--a Chinese fiddle with two strings. The bow
strings were moved beneath the fiddle strings. The music was by no
means such as to charm one, and you could not for a moment imagine
that you were listening to a maestro playing on a Cremona. The
Chinese, while they have a reputation for philosophy after the example
of their great men, like Confucius and Mencius, and while there are
poets of merit among them like Su and Lin, yet can not be said to
excel in musical composition and rendering.
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