It is widely accepted that good songs are written with many different notes, which make those pleasant sounds that are called music basically because of the constantly changing pitches.

Yet recent research by a Chinese scholar has discovered that in the Shannan area of the Tibet Autonomous Region, there is one kind of folk music which still exists and is made of more than 20 songs written with a single note.

Mao Jizeng, a music professor working with the Beijing-based Central University of Nationalities, made the discovery while compiling musical materials he collected about 10 years ago in Tibet.

"It is quite unbelievable," Mao told China Daily. "But after careful investigation, I found the songs are really made up of only one note."

Mao, 72, has worked diligently in the field of music for more than 40 years, collecting traditional music from around China.

He has been to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau eight times, spending in total more than three years there.

Before 1993, he had already been to Tibet five times to collect local folk music, said Mao.

One of his friends, Sholkang Dargye, an associate professor in the Arts Department of Tibet University, kept telling Mao he should go to the Shannan area to listen to the ancient soldier songs, which are known as boxie.

People who can perform boxie can now only be found in remote villages.

Although Mao had been to Shannan many times, he had to wait until 1993 to get a chance to listen to it, when he had enough money to rent a car to reach places which were difficult to access, he said.

In November 1993, Mao and his assistant drove a long way through narrow and rugged country roads and finally arrived at a remote village in the Shannan area.

The Tibetan farmers waited for them in the yard of the village administration's office building.

In local language, "bo" means soldier, "xie" means singing and dancing, hence boxie is actually soldiers' singing and dancing.

"I was deeply impressed when the performers, dressed in similar martial suits, thundered out the songs with slow, simple dancing movements," said Mao.

"The unique characteristic of these songs is that their melodies are composed of only one note. The tune sung by the leading singer from the start will last to the end, except for one or two ornamental notes to emphasize the effect," said Mao.

"Most people might think songs composed with only one note would be very monotonous and limited in expressing whatever emotion they want to convey. But in fact boxie is expressive in many ways," Mao said.

The tunes of the songs are strong or weak, long or short, and the chorus singers join the lead singer in various numbers and at different times. "It has quite an imposing effect," he said.

Chinese folk music is usually composed of five, six or seven-note scales. There are very few songs composed with a four-note scale, while three or two-note scales are extremely rare, Mao said.

Tibetan folk music has a very long history.

Local music scholars say the music may date back to the reign of King Songtsan Gambo (AD 617-650), which means it has existed for at least 13 centuries.

"The words, melodies and dancing movements of boxie are not allowed to be changed. The performances we see today are perhaps almost the same as 1,000 years ago," said Mao.

Local elders told Mao the music was played in ancient Tibet as a way to enhance the army's morale before they set out for battle.

Artists performing it could cut down the terms they should serve in the army or the amount of tax they should pay.

The art is passed down from one generation to another in families which perform the tradition.

"In today's Tibet, they perform boxie in ceremonies or festival occasions," said Mao.

Today, more than 20 songs still exist. They can be heard in the six-album CD collections of Tibetan traditional music compiled by Mao and released by Taiwanese sponsors in 1994.

The collections are praised by critics as a comprehensive record of Tibetan music, and have won a few music awards.

Most of the songs are about a soldier's courage and weapons. One song, called "When the knife is drawn one inch from the sheath," goes like this:

From the sheath my knife is drawn,

The blade glares a rainbow glow.

From the sheath my knife is drawn,

The tip gives away its cutting determination.

Mao, a scholar actively calling for the conservation of traditional music, is now most concerned about keeping the art alive for as long as possible.

"Very few local Tibetans could play boxie 10 years ago, and all of them were middle-aged or old. Today performances are rarely seen in Tibet. The big question is how many generations will the tradition continue," said Mao.

(China Daily November 9, 2004)