During the Daye Period of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty became obsessed with Qing Shang Opera. Qing Shang Opera is a new type of song and dance music developed from the Xianhe Daqu of the Han Dynasty. This day happened to be the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. It was a quiet night and a bright moon. Yang Guang played his new Qing Shang music in Shangyang Palace in Chang'an. He was so happy that he forgot to go to bed.
The next night was the Lantern Festival night. Yang Guang put on common people's clothes and went out to watch the lantern show. He walked under a restaurant and suddenly heard the melodious sound of a flute coming from upstairs.
Yang Guang discerned it carefully, and he couldn't help being surprised, thinking: "This song is exactly the new Qing Shang song I played last night. I just wrote it, how come it has already spread to the people the next day. And this flute player is so proficient, where did he know my score?"
Yang Guang secretly sent someone to capture the flute player, and he looked at the music in front of him. A young flutist with delicate features and extraordinary appearance. Yang Guang asked: "Who are you? Where did the Qing Shang tune played just now come from?"
It is said that this young man is Li Xiao, a famous flute player in Chang'an, the capital. Li Xiao once learned the flute from a musician from Qiuci in the Western Regions in his early years. His skills were extraordinary. Whenever he played, there were always hundreds of people listening, and all of them applauded in admiration.
Li Xiao replied to Yang Guang: "I am Li Xiao, and I live in the east city of Chang'an. Last night I was admiring the moon on the bridge outside the palace wall, and heard someone in the palace playing this music. So I played it on the bridge. I put down the stick and secretly wrote down the music score. I practiced playing it again yesterday and I was familiar with it before dawn." Yang Guang said doubtfully: "Then you can play it again in front of me. !”
Li Xiao was calm and played the original piece again. Not only was he familiar with it, but he also had appropriate technique and a pleasant sound.
Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was proficient in music. When he saw that Li Xiao was young but indeed a prodigy, he asked Li Xiao: "Who do you apprentice to?"
Li Xiao replied ; "It was taught to me by a Qiuci musician from the Western Regions."
Yang Guang left Li Xiao in the palace and asked him to serve as the chief fife player of the Qing merchant band in the palace. Li Xiao stayed in the palace and was deeply appreciated by Yang Guang. At that time, there was a singer in the palace band whose singing voice was very beautiful. Yang Guang asked Li Xiao to accompany her alone and perform Qing and Shang operas together. The sound of the flute and the singing are integrated into one, and the timbre is harmonious. From then on, Li Xiao became famous, and he became very proud, thinking that his Qing and Shang opera skills were unrivaled in the world.
One year, Li Xiao went to Jiangnan for business. There were several scholars there who had just passed the Jinshi exam. Because of their reputation, they invited Li Xiao to go boating and play the flute on the local famous Jing Lake.
When the boat reached the middle of the lake, Li Xiao started to play Qing Shang music under the desire of everyone. The melodious and crisp sound of the flute floats on the lake, attracting many tourists. As soon as the song ended, everyone was ecstatic and cheered.
Li Xiao responded to everyone's request and played another famous "Liangzhou Song" among Qing and Shang tunes. At the end of the song, it won another round of applause. But only an old man named Gusheng remained indifferent and said nothing. Li Xiao was displeased and thought that the old man looked down on him, so he stepped forward and said, "Old sir, please give me some advice!"
The old man said, "Please play "Liangzhou Song" again."
Li Xiao thought to himself: "This old man has lived among the people for a long time, maybe he doesn't understand music!" He played again in anger.
The old man smiled and said: "You play pretty well, but the sound of the flute is mixed with the tones of people from the Western Regions. Maybe you have learned the art from the Qiuci people?"
Li Xiao Shocked, he stepped forward and said: "The old gentleman is right. My teacher was from Qiuci in the Western Region."
The old man added: "Also, the thirteenth chapter of "Liangzhou Song" Duan, you played the wrong tune. I wonder if you paid attention?"
Li Xiao stood up and bowed: "The old man is amazing, the younger generation has no self-knowledge. Although I am from Qiuci, I am I don’t think the flute sound has a Qiuci accent, and I’m not sure about the error in the thirteenth paragraph, so I’d like to ask for your advice.”
So Li Xiao played his best one. Clean the purple smoke bamboo flute, please play it alone.
The old man looked at the purple smoke bamboo flute and said, "This flute is not very good. If you use it to play the tune, it may not be able to withstand the vibration and break. Aren't you afraid?"
Li Xiao Said: "Don't be afraid!"
The old man played the flute. Sometimes the sound of the flute was melodious and graceful, and sometimes it resounded for nine days. It was much better than Li Xiaolai. Everyone on the boat was dumbfounded, and Li Xiao even looked ashamed.
When the old gentleman reached the thirteenth paragraph, he pointed out Li Xiao’s mistake and then continued to play. When he reached the intonation, the music moved into a fast and high-pitched area, and there was only a "pop" sound. The flute actually broke, so the music could not end. Li Xiao was so impressed that he fell to the ground and thanked the old man again and again for his advice. It turns out that the old man Gusheng was an artist from the Western Regions who came to the Central Plains from Qiuci in his early years, and later lived in seclusion in the Jiangnan area. The next day, when Li Xiao went to look for the old man, he had disappeared. The old man only left a purple bamboo flute on the table, with four new words "Art has no end" engraved on it. From then on, Li Xiao became modest and prudent, practiced the flute harder and became more sophisticated in his skills. Finally he was known as the "Divine Flutist" and became a famous performer of Qing and Shang operas at that time.
Before the Sui Dynasty, northern folk music was collectively known as Xianghe Daqu. Since then, both northern and southern folk music have been called Qing Shang music. This change is inseparable from the changes in the political and economic environment at that time.
In the early 4th century, Sima Rui, a descendant of the Western Jin Dynasty royal family, went to the south to proclaim himself emperor and established the Eastern Jin Dynasty. As the political center moved south, Xianghe songs with northern music as the main content also spread to the south of the Yangtze River. Later, the music culture in the north gradually declined. On the contrary, with the prosperity of society and economic development in the south of the Yangtze River, local music also improved and developed significantly. Xianghe songs spread from the north to the south were constantly integrated with southern folk music, forming Qing Shang music with southern colors. Although Qing Shang music includes some old northern folk music, the main part is already southern folk music.
Qing Shang music is also called Qing Shang music, and was shortened to Qing music in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Since it and the old songs of the Han Dynasty are both traditional music of the Han nationality, the Daqu in Qing Shang music is also called the Daqu of Qing music. Compared with Xianghe Daqu, it has new developments.
There are significant differences between Qing Shang music and Xianghe songs during the Six Dynasties period. The emergence of this situation is of course directly related to the hedonistic needs of the ancient scholar-bureaucrats and landlords, but as the most common expression of emotion, it also has its own needs of the times.
Qing Shang music is composed of 3 parts. At the beginning there is a prelude of 4 to 8 pieces of instrumental music, called 4-part strings or 8-part strings; in the middle is the main body of the whole song, which is composed of multiple vocal pieces. Each section of singing ends with a final line of sending, which is called sending song string; the ending part is divided into several instrumental sections, called Qi or Qi Zhu Sheng. This part can be an ensemble of multiple instruments, or it can be played solo by a flute. . This musical form structure later developed into the Tang Dynasty Daqu.
In the more than 200 years after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, except for the two great wars at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Qi and Liang Dynasties, the society in the south was stable, the economy developed significantly, and many commercial cities were formed.
In southern cities, nearly half of the old Xianghe songs since the Han Dynasty have been lost, while the southern folk songs Wu Sheng and Xiqu are increasingly popular due to the love of people from all walks of life in the city.
The popularity of Wu Sheng and Western music also aroused the interest of the courts of the Six Dynasties. Especially Emperor Wu of Liang and Emperor Chen, both of them ordered musicians to compose a large number of new songs.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Qing Shang music from the south spread to the north and received great attention as the legitimate voice of China in the court. Since then, Qing Shang music has become an important type of music popular in the north and south of my country.
Wu Sheng and Xiqu were valued by the upper class. On the one hand, the wars in the late Western Jin Dynasty caused most of the old music in the court to be scattered. In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a phenomenon of "torquing music and ignorance." Therefore, they had to turn to the lower classes and adopt new folk music.
On the other hand, it is also because of the novel forms and melodious tunes of Wu Sheng and Western music that they have attracted widespread attention and love. This can be evidenced by what Wang Sengqian of the Liu Song Dynasty said: "Every family is new, and people follow folk customs."
Wu Sheng originated from folk songs in Jiankang area, while Xiqu comes from folk songs in Jing, Ying, Fan and Deng areas. Although the styles of the two are more gentle and lyrical, they have different characteristics due to differences in language, customs and habits.
Most of Wu Sheng's lyrics were composed during the Jin and Song dynasties of the Six Dynasties. They are recorded in historical books such as "Song Shu Le Zhi", including "Midnight Song", "Huashan Ji", "Huan Wen Ge", "Azi Ge", "Qianxi" and more than a dozen songs, mostly use women's tone to describe the joy of past love, the pain of lovesickness and the anguish of unfree marriage.
In addition, there are 11 songs of the folk sacred song "Shenxian Song" and Wu Sheng's "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight Night" and "Yushu Backyard Flowers" written by Empress Chen to reflect court life.
Most of the lyrics of Western music were composed during the Qi and Liang dynasties, and they are also recorded in historical books such as "Song Book Music Records". There are more than 30 songs, including "Song of Three Continents", "Picking Mulberries", "Nahetan", "Stone City Music", "Mochou Music", "Wye Cry", etc. Most of the contents are about Jia Ke's sorrow of separation from his wife. , some also revealed the boat people’s dissatisfaction with the feudal rulers.
Xiqu was formed in the Jiujiang and Jingmen areas in the south of the Yangtze River. Its content mostly expresses the emotional life of working women, which is somewhat different from Wu Sheng. The tunes are mostly high-spirited and straightforward, and the rhythm is relatively fast. Representative works include "Jiangnan Lane" written by Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty and the sacred song "Jiangnan Shangyun Yue". The tunes of Wu Sheng and Xiqu are also quite beautiful.
People wrote poems at that time, and the poem goes:
There are hundreds of kinds of songs, "Midnight" is the most pitiful.
Speak out the voiceless sound generously, and turn it brightly and naturally.
Due to people's love during the Six Dynasties, some Qing and Shang music continued to change and develop, thus forming many variations of the same tune. For example, Wu Sheng's "Midnight Song" has four variations: "Da Zi Ye Song", "Midnight Song of Four O'clock", "Midnight Warning Song" and "Midnight Change Song".
Some Qing Shang operas use the material of a certain song to compose new songs, such as the Western opera "Mochou Music", which is developed using the harmony "Forgetting Worry" of "Shicheng Music". It's done. There is also "Cai Sang Du" which was written using the material of "Sanzhou Song".
Wu Sheng and Western music are generally divided into two categories: songs and dance music. Wu Sheng's songs include "Midnight", "Feng Jiang Chu", etc., and his dance music includes "Qianxi", "Azi", "Tuanfan", "Huanwen" and so on. Both generally consist of one or more arias composed of five-character and four-line short poems.
After each short poem, there is a sending sound, which is referred to as "sending". Sometimes, in addition to the singing voice at the end of the song, the singing voice can also be used at the end of two lines of lyrics in the song. This kind of singing voice may be an early form of ending commonly used in folk music in later generations.
There is a title for changing songs or changing songs in Wu Sheng, such as "Midnight Alarm Song", "Chang Shi Bian", etc. They don't need to send sounds, but use "changes" to change. The so-called change of tune means that the melody of the first sentence of each short poem always changes. It may also be a song with multiple sections, and the first section is musically different from the subsequent sections.
There are also "three nongs" in Wu Sheng, namely Shangsheng Nong, Xiasheng Nong and You Nong. At that time, people believed that the upper and lower sounds referred to the changes in the melody. And this change in height is not limited to changes in high and low octaves, but also involves modulations.
The songs of Western music are called Yige, and their structure is generally relatively short. The lyrics are short poems of five words and four sentences, such as "Climbing the Yang Branch", "Xunyang Le", etc. Occasionally, it is composed of seven words or two sentences, such as "Daughter", etc., so the structure of some Qing Shang dance music is also relatively long.