“In the description I give here I will endeavour to point out the contrasts or similarity between Western and Chinese Music, to present abstruse theories in the least tiresome way, to add details never before published, and to give a short yet concise account of Chinese Music” (Introduction). This work became known as a source of musical material for Puccini’s opera Turandot. It was reprinted several times and remained the primary source in a Western language for detailed information on Chinese music until the mid-twentieth century. Van Aalst, born in Belgium in 1858, worked with the Imperial Maritime Customs Service before being appointed Postal Secretary in 1899.
