Chapter 3 Music and Dance in the Xia and Shang Dynasties

During the Xia and Shang dynasties, productivity was greatly improved, and the rulers also began to pursue the enjoyment of sensuality, which greatly developed the art of music. In addition to music as a tool for rulers to enjoy themselves, Xia and merchants also used music as a tool for worshiping ancestors and entertaining gods and praying for blessings. Xia Qijiao was extravagant and licentious, content with pleasure, often having banquets in the wild, and let people play the sheng, pipe, bell, and chime beside him, and the sound of singing and dancing was heard in the sky. "Guanzi Light and Heavy Jia" records the corruption of Xia Jie, the last king of the Xia Dynasty. There are as many as 30,000 female slaves, and entertainment starts early in the morning every day, and the sound of music and singing resounds through several streets.

"Historical Records Yin Benji" records that Zhou, the last king of the Shang Dynasty, "made Shi Juan make new obscene sounds, dances in Beili, and extravagant music". The development of music in the Xia and Shang dynasties is also reflected in the progress of musical instruments.From the records of unearthed cultural relics and inscriptions on oracle bones, we can see that the musical instruments in the primitive society have been improved and new musical instruments are constantly appearing. Bells, drums and chimes are among the oldest musical instruments.The bells in the Xia and Shang dynasties were already cast in bronze, and their timbre is of course unmatched by pottery bells.

The earthen drums of the primitive society have also developed into wooden chambers and come in various shapes.The chime is more exquisitely made. The most important progress of percussion music in this period was the appearance of chime bells and chimes, which shows that the melody of music at that time was already very strong. Whether stringed instruments arose during this period is unknown.Among the wind instruments, besides the xun and bone whistle mentioned above, there may have been 籥, sheng, yu and so on. Only from these known musical instruments, we can also see that the music of the Xia and Shang dynasties has developed to a relatively high level.