THOMAS PEREIRA AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF WESTERN MUSIC IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES IN CHINA

摘要

Along with the introduction in China of European scientific and technical knowledge, the arrival of the Catholic missionaries at that country led also to the spreading of Western musical ideas among the Chinese. These ideas were widely different from the traditional Chinese ones. Three main aspects of such ideas were dealt with by the missionaries: the manufacture of musical instruments, musical composition and musical theory. Thomas Pereira (1646-1708),~1 the Portuguese Jesuit who arrived at Macao in 1671, entered mainland China in 1672 and lived there until his death. He had an outstanding role in the spreading of Western musical ideas in China in the 17~(th) and 18~(th) centuries. This paper intends to discuss the contributions made by him in each of the aspects mentioned above and to raise some questions that deserve further research.