Chapter 7 Music of the Sui and Tang Dynasties

In 581 AD, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty unified China and established the centralized Sui Empire. While developing the economy, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty also vigorously promoted rituals and music, and developed cultural undertakings.The music handed down from the previous generation and the music of ethnic minorities and foreign countries introduced to the Central Plains are sorted out and divided into seven parts, which are: Guoqi, Qingshang, Gaoli (now Korea) Ji, Tianzhu, Anguo, Gui This play, Wenkang play.At the same time, Shule, Funan, Kangguo, Baekje, Turkic, Silla and other tricks and the four dances of Dian, Duo, Jin, and Fu are also used.

Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty (605-618) changed the "seven parts of music" to "nine parts of music", which are: Qingyue, Xiliang, Qiuci, Tianzhu, Kangguo, Shule, Anguo, Goryeo, Libi (See "Sui Shu·Music History" for both). The Tang Dynasty was the most culturally developed period in Chinese history. Poetry, prose, calligraphy, and painting all reached unprecedented heights, and music was no exception. In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan (642), when Emperor Taizong pacified Gaochang, Gaochang music was collected and paid too often, and the "nine parts of music" became "ten parts of music". For ten.

Judging from the "Seven Music", "Nine Music" and "Ten Music" in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the music of the Tang Dynasty was greatly influenced by foreign music and music of ethnic minorities. Among the music departments, except "Qingshang" one is the music of the Central Plains Outside, the others are almost all foreign and ethnic minority music. During the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, according to the performance situation, Yan Yue was divided into eight parts of "Li Bu Ji" and six "Zuo Bu Ji". Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty loved music so much that he set up five teaching workshops inside and outside the palace, and three pear orchards outside the teaching workshops as official institutions for performing music and cultivating musical talents. Li Guinian, He Huaizhi, Huang Fanchuo, Xu Hezi, Dong Tinglan, Yu Chiqing, Li Mo, Duan Shanben, Kang Kunlun and a large number of famous musicians, "Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes Dance", "Sword Weapon", "Hunduo", "Hu Xuan" " Hu Teng, Liuyao, King of Qin Breaking the Array, Zhezhi, Yangguan Trifold and other masterpieces of song and dance music.

The greatest musical works of the Tang Dynasty were poems.Tang poetry is the representative of Tang Dynasty literature and also the representative of Tang Dynasty music.Theoretically speaking, all Tang poems can be sung, and many Tang poems have indeed been sung, such as Wang Wei's "Sending Yuan Er Envoy Anxi" (ie "Yangguan Sandie"), Li Bai's "Qingping Tune ", Wang Zhihuan's "Liangzhou Ci" and so on. When many poets are like stars in the sky and many poems are pouring down like rivers and rivers, the people living at the bottom of society are still singing their own folk songs that are "sense of sorrow and joy, and send out because of events".These folk songs are slang, simple and unpretentious, but they are fresh, lively and full of interest, expressing the people's love, hatred, bitterness and joy. The famous "Bamboo Branch Ci", "Willow Branch Ci" and "Lotus Picking Song" are their representatives.

When Tang poetry was in full swing, another emerging art form had been conceived among the people, that is, the art songs of the Tang Dynasty-quzi, also called "quzici", which used fresher and lively music and sentence patterns of different lengths. In fact, it is already the forerunner of the word.Poets in the Tang Dynasty were already experimenting with this new form of literature and art. Li Bai's "Bodhisattva Man" and "Recalling Qin'e", Wei Yingwu's "Laughing", Bai Juyi's "Jiangnan Good" and "Lang Taosha", Zhang Zhihe's "Fisherman's Song" ", etc., and "Dunhuang Quzici" is the representative of Tang Dynasty Quzici.

The level of instrumental music performance in the Tang Dynasty was quite high, especially some national players, whose understanding of music and mastery of skills have reached an astonishing height. The pipa is the favorite instrument of the Tang people and has produced many famous pipa players.From the competition between Kang Kunlun and Duan Shanben and the description of Bai Juyi's "Pipa Journey", we can see the level of pipa performance and love for pipa by Tang people. There are many types of drums in the Tang Dynasty, a large part of which came from the Western Regions. Among them, the most important Jiegu, which was called "the leader of eight sounds" by Tang Minghuang, was the most popular. Tang Minghuang himself was a master at playing Jiegu.

In addition, flute, 筚篥, 箜篌, zither, five-stringed instrument, square ring, clapper, etc. are also very important musical instruments, which are widely used in court and folk, and many national-level performers have emerged. Qin has always been the most popular musical instrument among literati and scholars. In the Tang Dynasty, not only famous masters came out in large numbers, but also schools of different styles had been formed. The most noteworthy musical instruments in the Tang Dynasty are the appearance of Guzheng and Xiqin.Before the Tang Dynasty, there were only two types of stringed instruments: the stringed strings and the stringed strings, and there were no stringed strings, even among the musical instruments introduced from the Western Regions.In the Tang Dynasty, two stringed instruments, the zither and the qin, appeared. Although the "bow" they used was made of bamboo instead of the horsetail used by later generations, it was already an epoch-making progress.

The singing art of the Tang Dynasty also reached a very high level. Singers such as Xu Hezi, Niannu, Li Guinian, Li Balang, Fang et al., Liu Caichun, Jin Wuyun, and vocal music educators such as Wei Qing appeared. . Sanle (baixi) also developed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.In addition to the same grand scale and equally enthusiastic performances, Sanyue in the Tang Dynasty had new developments, mainly manifested in the so-called "complexes of comedians and dancers", such as the famous "Da Mian", "Bo Tou", "Tao Yao Niang" and "Cave". Son", "Su Muzhe", "Lanling King", "Su Zhonglang", "Botou", "Joining the Army", etc. These are some performances with strong dramatic elements, similar to the art of speaking and singing in later generations, and they are very important to later generations. Quyi and drama had a huge influence.