The Tang manuscript, Jieshidiao Youlan (碣石調 The notation is named 'Wenzi Pu', meaning 'written notation'. The earliest music notation discovered is a piece of guqin music named Jieshi Diao Youlan (Chinese: 碣石調 For relative pitch, a solmization system was used.
Two systems of pitch nomenclature existed, one for relative pitch and one for absolute pitch. Although no notated musical compositions were found, the inscriptions indicate that the system was sufficiently advanced to allow for musical notation. The bells still sound the pitches that their inscriptions refer to. Sets of 41 chime stones and 65 bells bore lengthy inscriptions concerning pitches, scales, and transposition. The earliest known examples of text referring to music in China are inscriptions on musical instruments found in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (d. More recently a system of numbered notes ( Jianpu) has been used, with resemblances to Western notations. Different systems have been used to record music for bells and for the Guqin stringed instrument. Systems of musical notation have been in use in China for over two thousand years.
