Music is an indispensable language for human beings, and it is also the sublimation of the human soul. From the earliest music extracted by primitive people through constant resistance to the threats of nature and long and hard labor, to the rich and colorful music systems in various countries around the world today, it cannot but be said to be a miracle of civilization.
In the long historical process of five thousand years, the history of Chinese civilization has shown an extremely brilliant page. Our country is one of the earliest ancient civilizations in the world, and its music also has a long history. Long before the invention of writing, when our ancestors evolved from apes into humans, in order for individual life to exist and the race to continue, the two most basic production activities that humans must engage in: labor and reproduction, along with the use of tools and language The emergence of music gave birth to music. In fact, the walking of a person's left and right feet, the beating of the heart and pulse, are the simplest rhythm; and the monotonous language of primitive people also contains the element of melody as long as there are high and low intonation changes. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the waves of contending schools of thought in China collided with bright sparks. At the same time, Europe was in a state of barbarism. While Chinese music was welcoming the dawn, European music was still lingering in the long night.
During the Zhou Dynasty, government departments established music institutions headed by "Da Si Yue". The main courses taught include music and morality, music and language, and music and dance. The so-called music virtue refers to the ethical and moral concepts such as "neutrality, modesty, and filial piety"; music language refers to the ethical behavioral norms such as "promoting Taoism, satirical chanting, and speech"; music dance includes music theories such as big dance and small dance, and music poetry. Singing, dancing and performances of music and dance of the Six Dynasties.
The Six Dynasties Music and Dance is said to be six epic music and dances handed down from past dynasties, including "Yunmen Dajuan" by the Yellow Emperor, "Xianchi" by the Yao Dynasty, "Da Shao" by the Shun Dynasty, Yu "Da Xia" at the time, "Da Wei" at the time of Shang and Tang Dynasties, and "Da Wu" narrating the whole process of King Wu of Zhou's war against Zhou. In the Zhou Dynasty, they were used in major ceremonial activities such as palace sacrifices to heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, and ancestors. Among them, "Dawu" and "Dayun", which are considered to have the theme of praising virtue and virtue, are often performed in ceremonies such as emperor's sacrifice, etiquette, and elderly care. Like "Feather Dance", "Emperor Dance", "Jing Dance", etc., they are small entertainment dances in the court.
In addition to music and dance in the Zhou Dynasty court, there were also other dances used in the court for the emperor to worship his ancestors and for the grand ceremony. The grand ceremony songs, such as odes and ya, for important ceremonies such as archery, inspection, and the meeting between the two monarchs, as well as the music in the room sung by the concubines during the banquet in the inner palace, do not use bells and chimes, but only use harp and harp accompaniment. It reflects that music has differentiated from primitive music and dance. There were also performances of Siyi music from Qin, Chu, Wu, Yue and other places in the court of the Zhou Dynasty, which shows that there was a certain exchange of customary songs and dances of various ethnic groups at that time. .
It can be known from the above documents that the music culture of Zhou and Qin Dynasties is an important coordinate for the high development of Chinese music. This series of achievements also laid the theoretical foundation for ancient Chinese music.
The Qin Dynasty, which unified my country in 221 BC, was a centralized state. In order to meet the needs of political unification and cultural management integration, there was an official office dedicated to the management of music - Yuefu established by Liu Bang. The Western Han Dynasty also expanded the Yuefu's institutions and functions. At that time, the government attached great importance to folk music, and ordered the Yuefu to collect music from Zhao, Dai, Qin, Chu, and other remote ethnic groups. On the basis of folk songs from various places, the musician Li Yannian, the captain of Xielu, and dozens of others including Sima Xiangru, compiled, processed, and adapted the lyrics for the purpose of sacrifices and banquets in the palace. According to the "Book of Han". "Yiwenzhi" records that there were 134 folk songs collected at that time, and there were 75 pieces each of "Zhou Yao Songs and Poems with Zigzag Sounds" and "Henan Zhou Songs with Zigzag Sounds" that may have music scores.
In Han Dynasty. During the Wei Dynasty, the court introduced many folk songs, dances and operas, including the "Bayu Dance", which was famous for its "violence" and was learned by the Han Emperor Gaozu from the Han Dynasty. The first performance was the "Xiangzhuang Sword Dance" at the Hongmen Banquet. , the story of Xiang Bo using his sleeves to protect Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty later evolved into the "Turban Dance" in which a scarf was used to symbolize Xiang Bo's sleeves during dance; the "White? "Pan dance"; and "Pan dance" in which people hold drums and sing and dance; "Pan dance" in which dancers sing and dance on or beside drums, etc. Baixi is a general term for various acrobatic skills, including such as Nowadays, there are "fish and dragon dances" such as dragon lanterns, and various acrobatic magic.
During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, wars were frequent and dynasties changed. Along with the turmoil and mutation of society and the expansion of ethnic migration, the music of foreign races and foreign lands. The culture has had extensive exchanges with the music culture of the Central Plains, and it has become an important period in the history of music that connects the past and the future. Among them, Qing Shang music is the remnant of the traditional music of the Qin and Han Dynasties. The Qing Shang Dynasty was first established in the Cao Wei regime, which was actually a variant of the Yuefu Dynasty's eastward migration. Later, these "old songs from the Central Plains" were exchanged with southern music, making Qing Shang music a general term that included Xianghe songs and drum music passed down from the previous dynasty, as well as Jiangnan Wu songs and Jingchu Xisheng. It was the representative of southern Yuefu folk songs at that time. Representative. Most of the lyrics of Northern Dynasty folk songs are preserved in the "Lianggujiao Hengfeng Song" in the Yuefu Poetry Collection. The themes are much wider than those of southern folk songs. Most of them reflect the war and the suffering of the people. They were composed for the Wu, Xianbei and Han people in the north. It is the most outstanding work among northern folk songs. It passionately sings about the heroine Hua Mulan who joins the army in place of her father. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the rulers of the Xianbei ethnic group often ordered the maids to sing "Zhenren Daige" in the palace, also known as "Northern Song". "The reasons for the opening of the tomb of the ancestors mentioned above, as well as the traces of the decline and prosperity of the officials, are all one hundred and fifty chapters, and they are composed of songs in the morning and dusk" ("Wei Shu Le Zhi").
This kind of folk song, which is similar to a national epic, is accompanied by silk and bamboo, as well as flutes and drums. It is a kind of percussion music. It was popular in the south during the Liang and Chen Dynasties and was called "Daibei".
The reunification of the north and the south during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, social stability and economic prosperity created favorable conditions for the development of music and art. The rulers of the Tang Dynasty were less culturally conservative, and they extensively absorbed foreign music culture and were inclusive, which brought music to a peak of development. During this historical period, poetry was incorporated into famous songs sung by musicians, and the integration of literature and music became a feature of the development of Chinese classical music. Li Bai's "Guanshan Moon", Du Fu's "Qingming", Liu Yuxi's "Bamboo Branch Song", Wang Zhihuan's "Liangzhou Ci", Wang Wei's "Yangguan Song", "Longtou Yin", Liu Zongyuan's "The Fisherman", etc. . Some have been circulated among the people for a long time as folk songs, while others have been absorbed by qin players and preserved in the form of qin songs. Among them, "Yangguan Song", a seven-character quatrain composed by Wang Wei to send off a friend who was sent to Yangguan to serve in the west, was especially popular at that time and in the future because it expressed the sadness of farewell with a blend of scenes. of a song.
In the Song Dynasty, the urban economy gradually prospered and the citizen class expanded. The focus of social music activities shifted from the court to the secular world. In the Northern Song Dynasty, "goulan" and "youpeng", places for citizens' music activities, appeared. Music that is suitable for citizens and literati, such as lyric music, rap music, and opera music, has developed particularly rapidly.
The Song Dynasty was also an important historical stage for the integration of music and literature in my country. The Song Dynasty was the golden age of lyrics and song creation. There were more than 800 commonly used lyrics and tunes. Some of the tunes came from traditional and contemporary popular folk songs and ditties, such as "Recalling Jiangnan", "Liu Qingniang", etc.; the other part came from the Tang Dynasty. Some passages of song and dance songs, such as "Yang Guan Yin", "Preface to Pour the Cup", "Shui Tiao Ge Tou", "Slow Voice", "Tiao Xiao Ling", etc.; as well as ethnic minority and foreign music, such as "Bodhisattva Man" , "Su Muzhe" and so on. Song Dynasty literati created not only a large number of lyrics and music, but also can be roughly divided into two categories according to their subject matter and style: the graceful school and the bold school. The content of the lyrics of the graceful school is mostly the expression of the love and separation between men and women. The style is delicate and gentle, and pays attention to the coordination of music and melody. They are represented by lyricists Liu Yong and Zhou Bangyan who are closely related to music. The bold style of lyrics and music opened up the expressive content of lyrics, broke the overly strict melody constraints, and had a vigorous and rough style. It originated from Su Shi in the Northern Song Dynasty, and was followed by a group of patriotic poets in the Southern Song Dynasty after the Jingkang Disaster, such as Xin Qiji, Chen Liang, Zhang Shouxiang, Yue Fei et al. Yu Zhibao of the Song Dynasty once made an image comparison between the two schools of poetry in "The Record of Blowing Swords": "Liu Langzhong (Liu Yong)'s poetry is only suitable for girls of seventeen or eighteen, holding a red tooth plate, singing 'Willow bank, dawn wind waning moon' ';The bachelor's (Su Shi's) poems required the Han Dynasty in Guanxi, bronze pipa, and iron pipa, to sing "The Great Jiangdong Goes East""
Some poets who knew music in the Song Dynasty also often created new lyrics by themselves. Melody, this kind of newly created song is called "self-made song". Jiang Kui of the Southern Song Dynasty is the most representative author of Zidu Qu. He composed fourteen self-titled songs, including "Yangzhou Slowness" and "Apricot Blossom Sky Shadow", which are recorded in "Baishi Taoist Songs" and annotated with "Vulgar Character Pu" (ancient gongchipu), which is a precious collection of lyrics and music in the Song Dynasty. heritage. Jiang Kui's self-produced music, lyrics and music are integrated into one, with a style that is euphemistic and lyrical, fresh and elegant; he is exquisite in the processing of spin, structure, mode, modulation and other techniques; his works mostly use the seven-note scale, with fourths and sevenths playing an important role. Status, and often use the rising consonants of Shang, Zheng or Gong. This gives the tune a unique and profound meaning.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the outstanding development of handicraft industry and commodity economy, citizen music gradually became the main component of musical art. Self-entertaining folk songs, folk songs and dances, as well as commercial rap and opera music all achieved unprecedented artistic achievements in history during this period.
Zhuo Keyue of the Ming Dynasty even compared the folk songs at that time with Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan operas, saying that they "give me a unique ear" (Chen Hongzhu's "Cold Night Record"). Just as literati have improved their understanding of folk literature and art, the trend of collecting folk songs has gradually formed. For example, Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty compiled and published two folk song collections, "Guizhi'er" and "Folk Songs", collecting more than 800 lyrics; There are more than 10,000 folk song collections published in successive generations. Among them, "Cantonese Style" collected by Li Tiaoyuan also includes folk songs of southern ethnic minorities.
Folk songs and dances in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are also very rich. The more common folk songs and dances of the Han people include Yangko, flower drums, tea picking, lanterns, continuous bangs, land boats, bamboo lanterns, etc.; the folk songs and dances of ethnic minorities are also very rich. Among them, there are many types such as Mukam of the Uighur people; Guozhuang and Nangma of the Tibetan people; Moon Jumping of the Miao people; Wanshan of the Dong people.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development of Peking Opera also presented a glorious historical stage.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, Yi and Kun operas have been competing for a long time in the legendary theater circle. The Yiyang accent, which originated in Yiyang, Jiangxi Province, is high-pitched and straight, and is called Gaoqiang. It does not use orchestral music, only accompanies gongs and drums, and adopts common folk singing forms. It has a unique dramatic effect in describing and rendering the stage environment and atmosphere, and assisting in portraying the inner activities of the characters. Moreover, the lyrics are easy to understand and the singing style is free. Flexible and durable.
Kunshan tune originated in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. It was not widely spread before the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. It was later improved by Wei Liangfu, Zhang Yetang and others. On the basis of the original Kunshan tune, the strengths of Northern Opera and Southern Opera tunes were widely absorbed, forming a "delicate water-milled, one-character number" style. "Turn, soft and graceful, mellow and smooth" new tune, the new Kunshan tune is delicate and slow in singing, and the tone is silky; it uses "gifting board" in rhythm to slow down the tune of one board and three eyes twice, which has the characteristics of The characteristics of "many sound and slow speed"; melody creation requires "according to the words" and pays attention to the harmony between the tune and the words; in terms of accompaniment, the flute-based sheng, Xiao, pipa, sanxian, yueqin, drum board, etc. have been formed A multi-instrumental band. After the reform, the Kunshan opera has become a national opera that "songs from all directions must be from the Wu sect". It has produced many famous works such as "The Peony Pavilion" by Tang Xianzu, "The Palace of Eternal Life" by Hong Sheng in the Qing Dynasty, and "The Peach Blossom Fan" by Kong Shangren. Xu Dachun's "Yuefu Chuansheng" in the Qing Dynasty summarized the achievements of Kunqiang singing and was an important opera vocal music treatise at that time. After the early Qing Dynasty, Kunshan tune gradually declined due to its overly elaborate lyrics and elegant and bland music, which gradually alienated the masses. After Jiaqing, it was gradually replaced by random tunes.
Luantan has been widely popular in Qin since the late Ming Dynasty. The Qinqiang tune in Shaanxi and Gansu is the earliest. Because bangzi is used to beat the music, it is also called "Bangzi tune". Bangzi music creates a combination system of banqiang; the tunes are high and exciting, strong and urgent, and have "joyful sounds" and "bitter sounds" that express different emotions. The singing is plain and popular, and is especially good at depicting characters and expressing dramatic conflicts; and it quotes from the past The accompaniment band consists mainly of Erxian and Huhura string instruments, and is composed of bangdi, Yueqin, gongs and drums and other percussion instruments. The repertoire is mostly historical stories, so it spread quickly. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, Bangzi operas with roughly the same singing system had been produced in various places, such as Shanxi Bangzi (now Jin Opera), Henan Bangzi (now Henan Opera), Hebei Bangzi, Shandong Bangzi, Sichuan Bangzi (i.e. Tanxi), Shaoxing Daban (or Luantan) )wait.
The Pihuang tune that follows is another important tune for Luantan. Pihuang tune includes two tunes: Xipi and Erhuang. The former originated in Hubei and is a product of the combination of Qin Opera and local Han tunes, with an agitated and desolate tone; the latter originated in Anhui and was developed from local blowing tunes with a gentle and gentle tone. After the four major Anhui troupes came to Beijing in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, they cooperated with Han opera artists from Hubei, widely absorbed the repertoire, tunes, and performance methods of Kun Opera, Qin Opera and other tunes, and accommodated folk tunes, creating a style mainly composed of Xipi and Erhuang. The new tune, Pihuang tune, initially established the pattern of Peking Opera. The repertoire of Peking Opera is mainly based on historical themes. Later, it successively compiled and performed new plays such as "Fishing and Killing the Family" and "Li Ling's Monument" with anti-feudal, democratic and patriotic tendencies, closer to the lives of the masses, and suitable for the needs of the times; Pihuang's music The tune is high-pitched and simple, which not only further develops and improves the structure of banqiang, but also solves the problem of male and female tunes, so that each profession can get better dramatic performance in singing; at the same time, a relatively complete accompaniment is formed. The system includes both the "writing field" composed of harps, strings, etc., the "martial field" composed of drums, boards, gongs, cymbals, etc., and the "scene" in which the two complement each other, closely matching the actors' singing, chanting, and beating. Because of this, Peking Opera has become the largest opera genre in the country by the end of the Qing Dynasty. Pihuang tune is also ranked alongside Bangzi tune, Gao tune and Kun tune, and has become a representative tune of emerging opera music in modern my country.
Peking Opera, which had entered its heyday during the Guangxu period, faced the crisis of being seized and monopolized by feudal rulers by the end of the Qing Dynasty, and gradually became separated from the people and real life. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the innovative "Shanghai Style" Peking Opera emerged in Shanghai. Its earliest representative, Wang Xiaonong, was dissatisfied with the Qing government's fatuousness, corruption, humiliation and favoring foreign forces. He wrote and performed new plays such as "The Party Member's Monument", "Crying in the Temple of the Ancestor", and "Criticizing Yama" to criticize current affairs and promote patriotism. , embodies a deep concern for the country and the people, and based on his own voice, he draws on the strengths of Wang Guifen and Sun Juxian to create a new tune that is vigorous, tragic and powerful in articulation. After the Revolution of 1911, he also chaired the Second Drama Reform Society and launched the opera reform movement. Inspired by the opera reform movement and "civilized drama", Shanghai's Xia Yueshan, Xia Yuerun and Pan Yueqiao also choreographed and performed new plays that were patriotic, anti-imperialist and advocating revolution, such as "Pan Martyr Drowning into the Sea" and "The Record of a Black Slave", which made the Shanghai-style Peking Opera further took shape. The opera reform activities in the early years of the Republic of China played a role in promoting the connection between opera art and social reality and people's lives; many new plays exposed the darkness of society to varying degrees and expressed the people's desire to get rid of the shackles of feudalism; in singing, Some useful innovations have been made in performances, stage installations, costumes, etc. Zhou Xinfang, who followed, carried forward the reform-minded spirit of "Shanghai-style Peking Opera" and choreographed and performed new fashion plays such as "Song Jiaoren" around the time of the May 4th Movement.
Before and after the May 4th Movement, Mei Lanfang and others also made outstanding achievements in the innovation and reform of Peking Opera. Mei Lanfang, together with Wang Yaoqing and others, integrated the talents of Tsing Yi, Hua Dan, and Dao Ma Dan into one, integrating singing, acting, reciting, and playing, creating a unique "huashan" business and perfecting the art of Peking Opera Dan roles.
During the Revolution of 1911, he choreographed and performed fashion Peking operas with democratic tendencies such as "A Line of Ma" and "Deng Xiagu", as well as new costume dramas such as "The Goddess Scattered Flowers" and "Luo Shen"; in the 1930s, he also choreographed and performed "Mulan Joins the Army" ", "Hate of Life and Death", "Anti-Golden Soldiers" and other new plays that praise national integrity and are full of patriotic enthusiasm; he also made new developments and creations in singing. His singing is dignified and smooth, crisp, bright and sweet, with both broad and round, He has a graceful and luxurious style and is known as the "Mei School" in the world. In addition, he also made useful reforms in the physical performance and accompaniment band of Peking Opera. He went to the United States and the Soviet Union to perform in 1928 and 1935 respectively, which made Peking Opera win international recognition. The first person in reputation. Mei Lanfang is worthy of being the master who pushed the art of Peking Opera to a higher level after Tan Xinpei. His representative works include "Universal Frontier", "The Drunken Concubine", "Farewell My Concubine" and so on. On the basis of the traditional pentatonic scale, the heptatonic scale system is also gradually forming and developing
The ancient Chinese heptatonic scale: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Bianwei, Hui, Yu, Biangong, That is, C, D, E, F, G, A, B in modern music. In the Zhou Dynasty, there were heptatonic scales and twelve rhythms. In the 6th century BC, King Jing of Zhou (544-52O BC) asked the music official Lingzhoujiu what the heptatonic scale was and what the twelve rhythms were. In answering the question, Lingzhoujiu listed the names of the steps of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Bianwei, Wei, Yu and Biangong, and explained the relationship between each scale and the twelve temperaments; he also deduced the emergence of the heptatonic scale. Until the time when King Wu of Zhou replaced Zhou (1O66 BC).
The seven-tone scale in my country is mainly based on Yale and Yanle.
Gale music generally refers to the music used in palace sacrificial activities and court ceremonies. Ritual music originated from the Zhou Dynasty and was used in Jiaoshe [sacrifice to heaven and earth], ancestral temple [sacrifice to ancestors], palace etiquette [court meetings, feasts, guests, etc.], Shexiang [rulers feasting on representatives of the common people], and military affairs. On the grand ceremony and so on. Later generations' activities to worship sages (such as offering sacrifices to Taibo and Confucius) also imitated and applied the joy of suburban societies and ancestral temples. The ritual and music system of the Zhou Dynasty had strict hierarchical regulations on the rituals and repertoire for the above-mentioned different occasions. According to legend, the Six Music were created by the Yellow Emperor to King Wu of Zhou Dynasty, and were used in sacrificial ceremonies and major banquets personally hosted by the emperor and a few princes. Later Confucians regarded it as the highest model of elegant music.
The musical scale of elegant music: (also known as the ancient musical scale, the old musical scale or the traditional musical scale)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Gong Shangjiao Change Sign Zhengyu transforms into a palace