Attached Halls of Divine Music Administration

The Attached Halls of Divine Music Administration are the 79 rooms surrounding the entire yard of the Divine Music Administration. The eastern Attached Halls include Tongzan Hall, Kegong Hall, Zhenglun Hall, Hougong Hall and Muyi Hall. In the west, there are Zhangyue Hall, Xielv Hall, Linglun Hall and Zhaoyi Hall. All of these rooms have been turned into exhibition pavilions, demonstrating the history of the Divine Music Administration, including the tone-system, lyrics, zither, drum, ocarina (an ancient egg-shaped, holed wind instrument), sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument) and xiao (a vertical bamboo flute). Visitors can play the instruments in the exhibits on the spot and are provided with corresponding commentaries.

The Pavilion for the History of the Divine Music Administration demonstrates the historical evolution of the Divine Music Administration. In August of 1900, all the collections were ransacked during a war. Thereafter, the Divine Music Administration began to decline. In the years that followed it was occupied at various times by the Arboreal Experimental Area, the Hospital for Infectious Diseases and the Central Epidemic Prevention Institution one after another. In the 1960s, it became a tenement courtyard. In the 1980s, the seriously ruined Divine Music Administration Department eventually caught people's attention. After years’ of renovation, it comes back to its original glory once again.

The Tone-system Pavilion mostly shows ancient musical instruments. Of them, the qing (a kind of Chinese instrument made of stone) and chime bells have proven to be of high artistic value. They are both percussion instruments of Shao music and the expression of the theory of the tone-system in ancient Chinese musical instruments.

The Lyrics Pavilion is famed for the Zhong He Shao Yue, the most important ritual music of the imperial courts. It originated from the elegant music popular before the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368) and got its name during the reign of Emperor Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). It was the only music performed when making sacrifices to Heaven,Eearth and the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

The Flute Pavilion attracts visitors for the musician instruments of Zhong He Shao Yue such as the flute, the xiao (a Chinese vertical end-blown flute), the chi (flute-like instrument) and the pan pipe.

The Zither Pavilion exhibits all kinds of ancient zithers especially the qin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument) and the se (a twenty-five-stringed plucked instrument) for visitors to admire. The main difference between the qin and the se, apart from their different structures, is that they were used on different occasions. The qin was usually plucked in front of honored guests at a formal occasion. The se was used to play background music at social occasions.

The Drum Pavilion presents various drums of artistic and appreciative value. The drum is the musical instrument with the most variety in ancient Chinese elegant music. Having a history of about 4500 years, the drum was not only used for sacrifice, music and dance, but it was also used to drive away enemies and beasts in ancient China. In addition, It was used as a tool for telling time and giving warnings.

The Ocarina and Sheng Pavilion displays ancient Chinese bamboo instruments, with the ocarina and the sheng as the representative. The ocarina is a peculiar musical instrument played with the mouth closed. The sheng is the only traditional Chinese wind instrument that can produce harmony.