Tianshan Culture·Old and Modern Music and Dance·Qiuci Music

Qiuci, in today’s Kuqa County, Xinjiang, was given the title of “orchestral music” by Xuanzang’s “The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty” The evaluation of "playing music and playing music is especially good for all countries". Qiuci music is the most prosperous art in the culture of the Western Regions and a great creation in the history of music culture of the motherland. It flourished from the 4th century AD and reached its peak of glory in the 7th century AD. It gradually developed after absorbing the essence of Eastern and Western cultures, and later had a certain impact on the cultures of Central Plains, East Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. Qiuci music consists of three parts: songs, dance music and melody (fast music, often at the end of a song), which shows that it is accompanied by musical instruments, singing and dancing at the same time.

From the ancient books and the murals of the Kucha Grottoes, we know that the upright konghou, pipa, five-stringed pipa, 筚篥, flute, Xiao, zither, sheng, suona, copper horn, There are twenty-four musical instruments including Jie drum, waist drum, Tara drum and Mao Yuan drum. Some of these musical instruments were created by the ancient Qiuchi people themselves, such as the 筚篥, the five-stringed pipa, etc.; some were introduced from the Central Plains or from various parts of South and West Asia. The Northern Qi musician Cao Miaoda and the Kucha musician Su Zhipo who followed Princess Ashina to the Central Plains are both famous Kucha pipa players. Cao Miaoda's Qiuci pipa skills were regarded as national masters, and he was named king by Gao Wei, the later ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty. He was still famous during the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty. Su Zhipo spread Qiuci's "Five Dans and Seven Tones" music theory to the Central Plains and evolved into the "Xuangong Eighty-four Tune".

According to "Sui Shu·Music Chronicle", there are four most popular pieces of Qiuci music, namely "Shanshan Mani", "Xiaotian", "Bojiaer" and "Shule Salt" 》. In fact, its music is much more than these four. Even the "Old Tang Book·Music Records" also said: "Since the Zhou and Sui Dynasties, there have been hundreds of orchestral music, mostly using Xiliang music (note: it was changed to Qiuci music), and drumming music mostly used Qiuci music, among others The curvatures are all known by current customs." It can be seen that there are quite a lot of them. The music that can be tested now includes "Su Mu Zhe", "Taiping Le", "Bei Ting Zi", "Hu Jiu Jiu", etc., all in the form of large tunes. A famous musician from the ancient Kingdom of Kucha visited the "Thousand Tears Spring" in the Kizil Thousand Buddha Cave. The clear and beautiful sound of dripping spring water and the love tragedy between the princess of Kucha and the young man made his heart beat and moved him. A rush of joy arises spontaneously. He picked up the beautiful sound of the mountain spring and combined it with the sound of the spring to create a piece of music that will go down in history, named "Didi Spring", also known as "Ye Po Se Chicken". This Qiuci Jie drum song was later introduced to the Central Plains and became a Western song often played in the court bands of the Tang Dynasty. It is a pity that this song gradually disappeared in the late Tang Dynasty.

Regarding the dance art of Qiuci music, Du You of the Tang Dynasty described it in "Tongdian": "The first sound is quite slow and slow, and the turns are irritable...sometimes jumping or jumping, sometimes moving. Breathe, snap your fingers, shake your head and eyes, you are so emotional that you can't stop yourself." There are specific images of this in the murals of Qiuci Grottoes, and there are many such good lines in Tang poetry. When Xuanzang passed through Kucha on his westward journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he caught up with the Xingxiang Festival, a grand Buddhist festival in Kucha. He was feasted on the music and dance of Qiuci, including the joyful and enthusiastic "Qihan Dance" (also known as "Pohan Hu Opera", "Su Muzhe" and "Huntuo Dance"). Just listen to the drum music playing on the tower, people bring water, barefoot and bare arms, holding hands and dancing around the water, singing the song "Su Muzhe", pouring water on each other, and using rope hooks to catch pedestrians. They sprinkle water into the sky, symbolizing water falling from the sky and heralding a good harvest in the coming year. "Qihan Dance" was later introduced to the Central Plains and became popular in the Tang Dynasty. Nowadays, the Dai people in Yunnan, my country, have the custom of "begging for cold" and the "Water Splashing Festival". In India, Myanmar and Southeast Asian countries, the custom of "splashing water for fun" is still preserved. It has the meaning of washing away dirt and renewing everything, and it also has the purpose of praying for abundant water and wishing for a good harvest in the year.

Among those who have contributed to the development of Kucha music, Di Shi is worth mentioning. She was the daughter of Princess Jieyou of the Han Dynasty and Prince Weng Guimi of Wusun. She was married to King Jiangbin of Kucha. My younger brother Shi once went to Chang'an to study music and guqin. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty sent the best musicians in the court to teach her skills and often listened to her playing the piano in person. When she returned to the Western Regions after completing her studies, she was already a well-known musician. After she became Queen of Kucha, she personally took charge of the country's music and dance institutions. In 65 BC, she and Jiang Bin went to Chang'an with many Qiuci music to express their congratulations. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty named her a princess of the Han family. When she returned from living in Chang'an for a year, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty gave her a song and dance team of dozens of people, and brought the music, dance and musical instruments of the Central Plains to Qiuci. This was the first large-scale exchange of music and dance between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, and it undoubtedly played a certain role in promoting the long-term prosperity of Qiuci music.