This morning on NPR's Morning Edition, I learned that written musical notation in China pre-dates the earliest known written music, Gregorian chants, in the western world.
I was momentarily surprised. Then I thought, of course! Just because I am a product of western society, I'm inclined to think we are the beginning and end of Civilization. This is a massive fallacy of thought. Our historical perspective reminds us mankind has lived through culture after culture, civilization built on civilization. And this yeasty boiling up of civilizations happens throughout human history in all of the world--perhaps in all the universe.
Predating European civilization that produced Gregorian chants came Egyptian and other African civilizations, Mayan, Aztec and other American civilizations, Chinese and other Asian civilizations, not to mention Greek and Roman civilizations in place at the time of Christ. And let's not forget Hebrew civilization from which Christianity derives. Surely all of these civilizations experienced, played, and perhaps wrote music. Just because we don't have written notation of older musical culture, doesn't mean it didn't (or doesn't) exist.
We are not the beginning and end. We are not alpha and omega.
Creation happens!
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