Whether in the Han, Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties or the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the imperial court had a large and full-time music and dance organization and employees. All celebrations, Christmas, music performances and banquets should be accompanied by large-scale music and dance. In contrast, there was no music at all in the Qing Dynasty, and the court sacrificial music and dance was just a false story. Many emperors and dignitaries in the past dynasties were familiar with each other; But many people in the Qing court didn't know what palace, business, horn, sign and feather were. Only a few large-scale rain dances were held in the late Qing Dynasty. Therefore, even Li Hong, who pretends to care about Wen Zhi, General History Shu and Li Jiele, admits that there is no record of the music system of this dynasty (the imperial edict in June of the seventh year of Qianlong). This is still the case in the prosperous times, not to mention other lives? !
However, after all, the court music and dance in the Qing Dynasty are not blank, and there are two main categories:
1。 Wu Shu
The author, Lieye, is the title of the court music and dance ranks, which began in the Zhou Dynasty. Shu dance in Qing dynasty was mainly used for offering sacrifices to gods, and it was divided into literary dance and martial dance.
Wen Dance is also called "De Dance" and Wu Dance is also called "Wu Dance". Generally, the martial arts dance is performed at the beginning of the sacrifice. The martial arts student holds the stem in his left hand and the gas in his right hand. In the middle and at the end of the sacrifice, there was a dance of virtue. The dancer holds a feather in her right hand and a cricket (yu6, an ancient musical instrument shaped like a flute) in her left hand. There are festival performers on both sides to direct the dance team.
2。 Team dance
The court team dance in Qing dynasty was mainly used for banquets, and its creation and content were different from those in Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.
The court team dance in Qing Dynasty was also called Qinglong Dance, formerly known as Python Dance and Kyle Dance. It was named Qinglong Dance after eight years of Qianlong (1743).
Qinglong dance, a traditional Manchu dance, was used for emperors' banquets and wine tours after entering the palace. According to the draft of Qing history? Music Record: Qinglong Dance consists of Yang Lie Dance and Xi Dance. Before the Yang Lie Dance, 32 artists dressed as wild animals, half black and half yellow, all wore ugly masks, jumping, falling and dancing like wild animals. Another eight artists dressed as hunters, holding bows and arrows, walking on stilts and riding fake horses, symbolizing the Eight Banners. First, the hunter sent an arrow, and when the bowstring rang, one beast fell and the rest were tamed, symbolizing the achievements of martial arts. This is one of the traditional dances that show the life of Manchu riding and shooting. It is divided into five paragraphs: farsightedness, tracking, walking, divine power and hunting. There are mainly more than 20 movements such as whistling arrows and dancing knives.
Followed by dance, which belongs to literary dance, is a group dance with duet as the unit.
The minister of civil and military affairs entered the temple in royal robes, and the two of them kowtowed and danced, then bowed and retired. Generally, 18, 20 or 22 ministers perform in turn, with 13 singers and 66 instrumental accompaniment.
Qinglong dance is very popular in the Qing court. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, ministers rehearse in the ritual department and perform for the emperor on New Year's Eve. Not only the princes and ministers want to dance, but even Kangxi himself dances "python style" to propose a toast on the seventieth birthday of Empress Dowager Xiaohui. According to the "East China Sea Python General Tune" handed down from ancient times, its contents can be divided into starting style, piercing needle, swinging water, auspicious step, single galloping horse, double galloping horse, panlong, python monster coming out of the hole and 10% discount on circus. The Forbidden City now has a "Dragon Dance" of the Qing Dynasty, with a neat queue and a large scale. From the thirty-third year of Tang Youzeng in A Qing (1694), we saw the python songs written by the Ministry of Rites, including almost all music, dance and acrobatics.
3。 Other court dances
Banquet dances in the Qing Palace are not limited to the above-mentioned team dances, but also include eight other brotherly and foreign music dances, namely: Olga Music Dance, Korean Music Dance, Mongolian Music Dance, Hui Music Dance, Fanzi Music Dance, Gurkha Music Dance, Myanmar Music Dance and Annan Music Dance. These music and dances named after nationalities, place names and country names not only have distinct national styles and local characteristics, but also, like the "Nine Songs" and "Ten Songs" in the Tang Dynasty, promoted the prosperity of national strength and objectively played a role in the exchange of various dance arts.
The court dance in the late Qing Dynasty showed a tendency of reform, and its representative figure was Yu Rongling. Yu Rongling, Manchu, loved dancing since childhood. /kloc-at the age of 0/2, her father became a Japanese minister. She went to Japan with her father and learned some folk dances such as Japanese classical crane turtle dance. Later, he went to France with his father to study western ballet and studied under the famous American dance artist isadora? Under the direct guidance of Duncan, he studied dance art and performed the Greek dance "Roses and Butterflies" in Paris. At the age of 20, when her father returned to China, she returned to China with her mother and sister, and soon entered the palace together, becoming a female official of Empress Dowager Cixi. In the palace, I was exposed to traditional Chinese dances, including fan dance, lotus fairy dance, Guanyin dance, Bodhisattva dance and Ruyi dance. And performed ruyi dance, Spanish dance and Greek dance for Empress Dowager Cixi, with bold movements and skillful skills, which sensationalized the whole court. Three years later, because my father was ill, my mother and daughter invited me out of the palace, and my artistic activities stopped. However, she deserves to be the first person in China to learn western ballet and modern dance.