In the Ming Dynasty, the palace music management system followed the previous dynasty and underwent new changes of the times. The palace music institutions were divided into Shenguangshi, Jiaofangsi and Bell and Drums Division, which compiled, performed and managed the palace respectively. Sacrificial music, daily music inside and outside the palace, and inner court dramas.
Shen Optimism is a Taoist temple in the Ming Dynasty that specializes in offering sacrifices to music. The establishment of Shen Optimism should be said to be the emperors of the Ming Dynasty who believed in Taoism. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was very interested in the fasting activities of praying to gods for blessings and exorcising evil spirits. It is appreciation. He believes that Zhengyi can benefit human ethics, enrich customs, and play a role in deifying the Ming Dynasty.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty actively advocated Taoism, which standardized Taoist music. In the Ming Dynasty, a series of large-scale sacrificial activities were held every year for the gods of heaven and earth and the ancestral temples and gods. Providing music, dance and praise at this time was the original intention of setting up gods in the Ming Dynasty.
Also, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty believed in Taoism and used Taoist temples to manage palace music. They closely integrated palace music with religious music and showed a strong Taoist tendency in their rituals of elegant music.
The Ming Dynasty Jiaofangsi was founded during the Ming Taizu period. Its organizational structure was more complicated and strict than that of the previous generation. Among them, the cooperating officer, the haiku chief, the cooperating hai chief, the service chief, and the copying and copying officer. The elders and so on were not available in the previous dynasties. The number of musicians employed by the Jiaofang Division in the Ming Dynasty was very large. According to the historical record "History of the Ming Dynasty":
In the 10th year of Xuande, when Yingzong came to the throne, the Ministry of Rites said: There are many musicians in the Jiaofang, and those who can be used will be retained. Yu Xifa served the people. There are more than 3,800 musicians in the Buddhist temple. Xuanzong's efforts to govern were inevitable, and it was inevitable that he would be worshiped in this way. In the early days of Ying Zong's reign, he was benevolent and influenced by Hua Yi.
It can be seen that during the Xuanzong period, the number of musicians in Jiaofang was about 3,800, but during the Yingzong period, the number of musicians decreased. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty":
Gong Yu We offer sacrifices to the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers, and guide and guide usher in the Winter Solstice Festival. We employ more than 2,000 musicians. Today, our company only has 800 people in Lehu. The rest are begging in Nanjing and along with the envoys from Tianfu and Shaanxi, they are in Lehu. Those who are skilled in music and art will be selected and sent to Beijing for future use.
It can be seen that during the Yingzong period, the quota of music people in the Jiaofang Division was around 2,000, which was roughly the same size as Shenwang. In addition, another important function of the Jiaofang Division is to manage folk goulan music and registered music households. Musicians of the Jiaofang Division were required to provide music for the imperial banquets and some of the music for sacrifices.
In the Ming Dynasty, from the capital to the local level, music institutions and affiliated music books at all levels formed a strict up-down circulation system. In the Ming Dynasty, with the Jiaofangsi as the core, the management of music records was very strict from top to bottom, ranging from rituals, music, and dance to daily life, and the management functions were relatively complete and regular.
The Bell and Drum Division of the Ming Dynasty was established in 1395. It was one of the "Twenty-Four Yamen" of Zhongguan. It was an independent eunuch institution and fully served the inner court. The Bell and Drum Department has one person who is responsible for the seal, and there are no fixed members such as Qian Shu, Si Fang, and Xueyi Guan. It is in charge of the bells and drums of the dynasty, as well as internal music, legends, brocade, rice harvesting, etc. On the whole, the Bell and Drum Department is only the organization responsible for the music of the inner court, and it hardly assumes any management functions. Its scale is also much smaller than the former two.
Due to the low status of the Jiaofang Department in the Ming Dynasty, another Bell and Drum Department and Shen Guangtan were established. This introduced a unique management model in the field of music and culture and broke the exclusive control of palace music. status, and establish a new pattern of music management in which the central and local governments, the palace and the people are interrelated and complementary to each other.
Therefore, the innovative measures in the establishment and operation of court music institutions in the Ming Dynasty also played a certain guiding role in the development of music culture during this period.
However, the commodity economy in the Ming Dynasty became more mature and developed, the social and economic level improved significantly, citizen culture became more prosperous, and the emergence of capitalist production relations in the middle and late Ming Dynasty promoted the establishment of palace music institutions to a certain extent. Profound changes in management functions.
The Ming Dynasty was optimistic about using Taoist priests to manage palace sacrifices and elegant music. The underlying reason was firstly due to the secularization and popularization trend of music culture.
The unique ritual music of Taoism in the Ming Dynasty can maintain the Ming Dynasty's sacrificial rituals. More importantly, the use of religious figures for music management in the Ming Dynasty could streamline the organization, save human resources, and reduce many unnecessary expenses.