<P> Znamenny Chant is a singing tradition used in the Russian Orthodox Church which uses a "hook and banner" notation . Znamenny Chant is unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own specific notation, called the stolp notation . The symbols used in the stolp notation are called kryuki (Russian: крюки,' hooks') or znamena (Russian: знамёна,' signs'). Often the names of the signs are used to refer to the stolp notation . Znamenny melodies are part of a system, consisting of Eight Modes (intonation structures; called glasy); the melodies are characterized by fluency and well - balancedness. (Kholopov 2003, 192) There exist several types of Znamenny Chant: the so - called Stolpovoy, Malyj (Little) and Bolshoy (Great) Znamenny Chant . Ruthenian Chant (Prostopinije) is sometimes considered a sub-division of the Znamenny Chant tradition, with the Muscovite Chant (Znamenny Chant proper) being the second branch of the same musical continuum . </P> <P> Znamenny Chants are not written with notes (the so - called linear notation), but with special signs, called Znamëna (Russian for "marks", "banners") or Kryuki ("hooks"), as some shapes of these signs resemble hooks . Each sign may include the following components: a large black hook or a black stroke, several smaller black' points' and' commas' and lines near the hook or crossing the hook . Some signs may mean only one note, some 2 to 4 notes, and some a whole melody of more than 10 notes with a complicated rhythmic structure . The stolp notation was developed in Kievan Rus' as an East Slavic refinement of the Byzantine neumatic musical notation . </P> <P> The most notable feature of this notation system is that it records transitions of the melody, rather than notes . The signs also represent a mood and a gradation of how this part of melody is to be sung (tempo, strength, devotion, meekness, etc .) Every sign has its own name and also features as a spiritual symbol . For example, there is a specific sign, called "little dove" (Russian: голубчик (golubchik)), which represents two rising sounds, but which is also a symbol of the Holy Ghost . Gradually the system became more and more complicated . This system was also ambiguous, so that almost no one, except the most trained and educated singers, could sing an unknown melody at sight . The signs only helped to reproduce the melody, not coding it in an unambiguous way . (See Byzantine Empire) </P> <P> 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 . 433 B.C.). Sets of 41 chimestones and 65 bells bore lengthy inscriptions concerning pitches, scales, and transposition . The bells still sound the pitches that their inscriptions refer to . Although no notated musical compositions were found, the inscriptions indicate that the system was sufficiently advanced to allow for musical notation . Two systems of pitch nomenclature existed, one for relative pitch and one for absolute pitch . For relative pitch, a solmization system was used . </P>

What element of music was represented by europe's first system of musical notation