Chapter 4 The Prosperity of Music in the Zhou Dynasty

The rulers at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty learned the lessons of the demise of the Shang Dynasty. On the one hand, they actively developed production so that the people could live a relatively stable life and ease class conflicts.On the other hand, it is "Prosperity Ritual and Music" ("Historical Records Zhou Benji"). Ritual is used to distinguish between superiority and inferiority, and music is used to harmonize people's hearts. The two complement each other and establish a complete set of orderly hierarchy. As one of the foundations of self-cultivation and governing the country, music is as important as etiquette. Therefore, music is widely used in national sacrifices, court appointments, Yanxiang and even entertainment. More than a thousand people.

In the Zhou Dynasty, music became a compulsory course for nobles and scholars.The state established schools to train officials, and the students enrolled were called "Guozi".Here, they will receive strict training in all aspects, including the study of music and dance.They have to learn singing and dancing, and they have to learn six "big dances", namely "Cloud Gate Juan", "Da Xian", "Da Shao", "Da Xia", "Da Sui" and "Da Wu" and six "small dances", namely Pei Wu, Yu Wu, Huang Wu, Yan Wu, Gan Wu, Ren Wu, and other music and dances such as ethnic minority songs and dances, as well as the performance of musical instruments.It is precisely because of the emphasis on music that Zhou Chu's music has been greatly developed.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were the first periods in the history of our country where culture and art were highly developed, and music art was no exception. No matter in terms of music theory, music creation and music performance, there was unprecedented prosperity.Music is widely used in all sacrificial ceremonies, banquets, court appointments and daily life. On the other hand, the so-called "vulgar music", which was once regarded as the lower Riba people's folk music, is generally loved by all walks of life. In informal settings, in folk, the use of music is more widespread.Schools run by the state educate students with music and dance, and Confucius, a private student, also takes music as a compulsory course for students. He educates students with the "six arts" of rites, music, shooting, archery, calligraphy, and counting, and music ranks second.When he was with his students, he often "sounded endlessly".Confucius himself was good at playing the qin, playing the zither, beating the chime, and singing.There are many activities and conversations about music between him and his students, and almost all of his students are good at playing the piano, singing and appreciating music.

In the folk, the popularity of music is quite amazing. "Warring States Policy · Qi Policy" said that "Linzi (the capital of Qi State, the old north of Linzi in the northeast of Zibo City, Shandong Province) is very rich and real, and its people all play the Yu, Drum and Se, build and play the piano", Wang Yi's "Chu Ci Zhangju Nine "Song·Xu" said that "in the past, between the town of Nanying (the capital of Chu State, southeast of Jinan City in Jiangling, Hubei Province) and Yuanxiang, the custom believed in ghosts and good temples, and the temples must be composed of songs and music to encourage the gods." Li Si "Book of Remonstrance and Chasing Guests" says that "the husband who hits the urn, knocks the fou, plays the zither, and beats the belly and sings and sings with quick ears and eyes, and the voice of the real Qin Dynasty", which can be seen from the prosperity of folk music at that time.Compared with court music, these folk songs, which "sing about food for the hungry, and songs about work for the laborer", are very fresh and lively.

The new vocal and popular music from the folk, with its rich and colorful content and fresh and lively form, is generally loved by people including the rulers. For pleasure, they sent people to collect folk songs everywhere. "Collection".Most of the elegant poems and odes in the poem were probably presented by the ministers and nobles, while part of the Xiaoya and the style of the fifteen countries came from the folk songs collected from various places. The rulers collected folk songs in order to obtain new folk voices to enrich their increasingly rigid "grace music". The pre-Qin music songs were collected, sorted, adapted, deleted, and finally synthesized into a collection, a total of 305 songs.

The poems in the book are all lyrics, and they are all to be sung with music and accompanied by dance. "The Book of Songs·Zheng Feng·Zijin" Mao's "Biography" said: "The ancients taught poetry and music, recited it, sang it, played it, and danced it." "Historical Records Confucius Family" said: "Three hundred and five chapters, Confucius all sang and sang." "Mozi Gongmeng Pian" also said that Confucianism "recites "Three Hundred Poems", strings "Three Hundred Poems", sings "Three Hundred Poems", and dances "Three Hundred Poems".

Among them, the most valuable and beautiful ones are the styles of the fifteen countries collected from the folk. The simplicity of the northern people creates the dignified and elegant characteristics of northern music, while the Chu people in the south are immersed in romantic witch songs and dances. Their music also has strong romantic characteristics. At that time, the famous southern songs included "Xiali", "Baren", "Yangchun", "Bai Xue", "Shejiang", "Cailing", "Long Shang", etc. Unfortunately, the lyrics and music of these songs have not been handed down.The immortal masterpieces written by the great poet Qu Yuan on the basis of folk music, such as "Li Sao", "Nine Chapters", "Nine Songs" and "Heavenly Questions", represent the highest level of southern music songs.

Temperament is the foundation of music.Ancient Chinese temperament has a very long and glorious history. It is not only strikingly similar to Western temperament, but also very scientific, and it is always at the forefront of the world. In the Xia and Shang dynasties, my country already had a simple pentatonic scale.In the Zhou Dynasty, there was already a fairly scientific and complete law theory and practice, and there were already twelve rhythms and seven-tone scales. There are more than 70 kinds of musical instruments recorded in the pre-Qin period.There are as many as twenty-nine kinds in the records alone.

Of the gold instruments, the bell is still the most important.During this period, large-scale chime bells have appeared, with beautiful timbre, wide range and complete semitones, which can play almost all palace tunes.The most peculiar thing is that some bells can make two different sounds when they strike different parts. Stone instruments are still dominated by chimes.At this time, the chimes were still made of stone, but a few were made of jade.In addition to the separate special chime, the scale of the chime used for music performance is also relatively large. Earth instruments are mainly xun.

Leather musical instruments refer to various drums. Silk instruments are plucked qin, zither, zither and percussion instruments. Wooden musical instruments include 柷 and 敔. Pao is a gourd, and Pao-like instruments include Sheng and Yu. Bamboo musical instruments include flute, pipe, chi, and zi.The flute mentioned in the pre-Qin period was not the hole flute of later generations, but the braided pan flute called "Scattered Phoenix Wings", so it is also called "Scattered".Chi is a bamboo horizontal wind instrument, similar to a flute, with eight holes.籥, is a wind instrument made of reed, with three holes.

The art of singing in this period also developed greatly. In daily life and work, people sang almost all the time. "Book of Rites and Music" says: "There is a funeral in the neighborhood, but there is no relationship between the pounding; there is a funeral in the house, and there is no song in the lane." When people pound rice, they will sing the song of labor, and only when there is a funeral in the neighborhood; In the alleys where people live, people often sing along with each other, but they don't sing when there are people in the alleys for funerals.