Chapter 9 Music in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties

The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties were a period of unprecedented prosperity for Chinese drama, folk art, and folk songs and dances. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty did not pay much attention to the development of culture. What they pursued was the enjoyment of sensuality, including singing, dancing and music. They even used kabuki to accompany them when they marched and fought. After the Yuan people unified China, under the influence of Song and Jin Zaju operas and Zhugong tunes, they absorbed the nourishment of some local literature and folk songs in the north, and formed a new performing art—Yuan Zaju.

Yuan Zaju is already a standard drama, with plots, scenes, division of roles and occupations, and basic performance procedures of singing, reciting, acting, and fighting.Its music actually uses only nine palace tunes, the so-called "five palaces and four tunes". By the end of the Song Dynasty, many of the ci were unsingable. On the one hand, the literati’s creations were too elegant, and they had lost the popularity and life-oriented characteristics of ci.On the one hand, it is the fragmentation of the old spectrum. It is the songs that can be sung, most of them have been sung for hundreds of years, and they are no longer fresh. Therefore, rulers and literati turned their attention to the folks, looking for new forms in folk songs, absorbing fresh nourishment, and creating new art form.As a result, Sanqu, a new form of poetry, came into being.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Sanqu must be sung. Its music comes from the so-called "slang songs" among the people, that is, folk songs.Many tunes in Sanqu, such as "Shopman", "Man Qingcai", "Douye Huang", "Ten Stick Drums", "Village Ruogu", "Bao Laoer", "Mountain Pomegranate", etc., can be seen at a glance to come from the folk.Another source of Sanqu is the highly developed military opera, Tayaoniang, Daqu, Faqu, Yuanben, Taozhen, Changzhuan, Guzici, Zhugongdiao, etc., which have been highly developed since the Tang and Song Dynasties, from which Sanqu has absorbed a lot. The nourishment of it makes it another brilliant form of music after poetry and words.

Some new musical instruments appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, the most important ones are Sanxian, Huobusi, Yunao, Seventy-two String Pipa, Huqin, Xinglong Sheng, Yugu and Jianzi. The Ming and Qing dynasties were the period when civil culture flourished. Although poetry and prose were still regarded as orthodox literature and loved by the upper class, novels and dramas, which had been underdeveloped since the pre-Qin period, flourished unprecedentedly. . In the Ming Dynasty, the "four vocal tunes" of Haiyan Tune, Yuyao Tune, Yiyang Tune and Kunshan Tune emerged in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui, which greatly developed the vocal music of drama.

In addition to the four vocal chambers, some other vocal chambers have emerged one after another.Among the Huabu tunes in the Qing Dynasty, besides Yiyang tune, the most important ones are Qin tune, Hui tune and Pihuang tune.Under the influence of many voices, Peking Opera, known as "National Opera", was finally formed. At the same time, many local operas with their own characteristics were also formed. In addition to drama, rap art was also very prosperous in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ming and Qing dynasties both used Beijing as their capital, forming a northern cultural circle centered on Beijing.At the same time, the southeast is still an important economically prosperous area, forming a southern cultural circle centered on Yangzhou.In addition, Suzhou and Hangzhou in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Bianliang in Henan, Xi'an in Shaanxi, Chengdu in Sichuan, Panyu in southern Fujian, as well as many places in Shandong, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, and Northeast, have prosperous culture and entertainment. There are many rap arts with local characteristics, which can be roughly divided into eight categories, namely:

1. Drum words: Lihua Drum, Cangzhou Wooden Drum, Jingyun Drum, Laoting Drum, Northeast Drum, Henan Zhuizi, etc. 2. Tanci categories: Suzhou Tanci, Kaipan, Yangzhou Tanci, Changsha Tanci, etc. 3. Shici Xiaoqu: Tianjin Shidiao, Shanghai Rap, Hubei Xiaoqu, Sichuan Qingyin, Hunan Silk String, etc. 4. Daoqing: Jiangxi Daoqing, Hubei Yugu, Hengyang Yugu, Sichuan Bamboo Qin, etc. 5. Brand tunes: Shanxian, Nanyin, Guangxi Wenchang, Lanzhou Guzi, Qinghai Pingxian, etc. 6. Qinshu: Beijing Qinshu, Xuzhou Qinshu, Anhui Qinshu, Shandong Qinshu, Sichuan Yangqin, etc. 7. Walking singing: ten not idle, lotus falling, errenzhuan, Fengyang flower drum, car lights, etc.

8. Miscellaneous songs: Shaoxing Lianhualuo, Jinge, Three Stick Drums, Shanshu, Cantonese Opera, Lotus Leaf, etc. Some of these rap music are focused on speaking, some are focused on singing; some are developed from Guzici, Changzhuan, Zhugongdiao, etc. since the Tang and Song Dynasties and absorbed drama music, and some are developed on the basis of folk songs and minor tunes. developed. The instrumental music in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, on the basis of the previous generations, has made great development and progress, mainly in the following aspects: 1. The emergence of new musical instruments.The most important thing is the appearance of suona.

2. Great development of stringed instruments.Due to the needs of the development of opera, a large number of new stringed instruments have appeared, such as Jinghu and Jingerhu used for the accompaniment of Peking Opera, Banhu used for the accompaniment of Bangzi Opera, cover boards used for the accompaniment of Sichuan Opera Tanxi, Hunan Huagu Opera, Changsha Datong for the accompaniment of silk strings and Qiyang ditty, Zhuihu for the accompaniment of Lv Opera and Shandong Qinshu, and Zhuiqin for Henan Zhuizi, etc. 3. Progress in pipa playing. 4. There are many schools of Guqin. 5. The emergence of a large number of instrumental ensembles.Important ones include Jiangnan Sizhu, Xi'an Drum Music, Shifan Drum Music, Guangdong Music, etc.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, western music was gradually introduced into China, which had a great influence on the development of Chinese music.