Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The Water of the Yellow River Comes Up from the Sky - Seeking Roots
Foreign friends generally refer to Chinese opera as Chinese opera.Indeed, "singing" is the main feature of opera.But in addition to "singing", "dancing" is also a major feature of opera.Chinese opera is a song and dance drama. It uses artistic means such as singing, reciting, acting, and fighting to reenact stories, portray characters, and express the theme. "Singing" and "dancing" are important factors in the art of Chinese opera, as well as its remote source.
Singing (singing) and dancing is an important means for human beings to express their emotions, and it has been regarded as a "maternal art" since ancient times.The word "dance" in oracle bone inscriptions writes "
", as if a person is dancing lightly, holding a yak tail in both hands. There are records of dancing in many ancient books.
"Shangshu" is the earliest large and systematic classic in the history of our country, which is 600-800 years earlier than "Homer's Epic" in ancient Greece, "Ancient Events" in ancient India, and "Ancient Scripture" in Persia.It is extremely rich in content and has preserved many precious historical materials about the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties.Among them, "Yao Dian" describes the hunting dance scene: some people beat stones to master the rhythm, and some people dance lightly in animal skins.This could be a prayer before a hunt, or a celebration after a hunt.In the era of farming, many farming activities were performed as dances. It is recorded in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals Ancient Music" that in the Getian tribe, three people held yak tails, danced to the beat, and sang eight pieces of music, praising heaven and earth, respecting ghosts and gods, offering sacrifices to ancestors, and wishing The population is prosperous, the vegetation is lush, the grain is plentiful, and the livestock are full.In addition, the Nuo (nuo) dance is performed to reward the gods, drive away ghosts and chase epidemics, the Yu (yuyu) dance to pray for rain, and the ten thousand dances for men and women to love each other.Many of the poems in the book are records of singing and dancing scenes.
What is particularly worth mentioning here is Nuo.Some people in the academic circles believe that Nuo is an epic dance of people, grass, and birds, which was written in Shang, passed on in Zhou, and recorded in Confucius.Most people believe that Nuo is a kind of exorcism and epidemic elimination activity, and Nuo was developed from the primitive religion-witch culture.The ancient ancestors lived in a harsh living environment with low production capacity and threats to their lives. It was inevitable that pantheism such as nature worship, totem worship, and ancestor worship would arise in order to reconcile yin and yang, pray for blessings and avoid disasters, and protect themselves, which is conducive to survival and development. .The function of Nuo is to achieve a balance between the satisfaction of real utilitarianism and the psychology of seeking good luck and avoiding evil through sacrifices and exorcising ghosts.
Nuo is widely distributed in our country. Central Plains Nuo, Bachu Wu, Baiyue Wu, Qinghai-Tibet Ben Buddha, Northeast Shaman, and Western Region Nuo all belong to the category of Nuo.Judging from the form of Nuo, it can be divided into several categories: court Nuo, folk Nuo (rural Nuo), military Nuo, and temple Nuo.In ancient times, the typical Nuo was the official Nuo of the Zhou Dynasty. "Zhou Li Xia Guan Fang Xiangshi" recorded the content of the official Nuo of the Zhou Dynasty: "Fang Xiangshi, palm covered with bear skin, golden four eyes, mysterious clothes and Zhusang, rate Baili is difficult in time (Nuo), and the epidemic is driven away by the rope room. The big funeral, the first coffin, and the tomb, enters Khuang, and uses the spear to attack the four corners to drive away Fangliang (monsters). " Zhou Nuo was in Jichun, Zhongqiu and December respectively It is called Shinan (Nuo).As for Nuo opera, Nuo stands out and is a combination of religious culture and drama culture.However, that was after the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the south of our country, especially in Chu (now Hubei and Hunan), believers in ghosts are fond of offering sacrifices, witchcraft is common, and singing and dancing for sacrifices are very prosperous.At that time, there were people who were in charge of sacrificial singing and dancing. The women were called witches, and the men were called xi (xixi). They were all good at singing and dancing.Whenever divination and sacrificial ceremonies are held, he (she) pretends to be gods and ghosts, sings and dances, and entertains gods and people.The "Nine Songs" written by the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan was created on the basis of the lyrics of the witch dance for folk sacrifices. In "Nine Songs", there is the dragon flying through the clouds, the concubine Xiang who is infatuated and lingering [qianquanqiangou], the melancholy and sad chief commander, the silent and melancholy young commander, the romantic and passionate He Bo, and the mysterious and affectionate There are mountain ghosts, and there are national martyrs [Shang Shang] who are brave enough to sacrifice their lives... Mysterious and strange, majestic and magnificent, there are already stories, budding characters, simple costumes and symbolic performances.Therefore, Mr. Wang Guowei, a well-known scholar who studies the history of opera, believes that the germination of drama has already been born in the ritual singing and dancing of ancient witches.
", as if a person is dancing lightly, holding a yak tail in both hands. There are records of dancing in many ancient books.
"Shangshu" is the earliest large and systematic classic in the history of our country, which is 600-800 years earlier than "Homer's Epic" in ancient Greece, "Ancient Events" in ancient India, and "Ancient Scripture" in Persia.It is extremely rich in content and has preserved many precious historical materials about the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties.Among them, "Yao Dian" describes the hunting dance scene: some people beat stones to master the rhythm, and some people dance lightly in animal skins.This could be a prayer before a hunt, or a celebration after a hunt.In the era of farming, many farming activities were performed as dances. It is recorded in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals Ancient Music" that in the Getian tribe, three people held yak tails, danced to the beat, and sang eight pieces of music, praising heaven and earth, respecting ghosts and gods, offering sacrifices to ancestors, and wishing The population is prosperous, the vegetation is lush, the grain is plentiful, and the livestock are full.In addition, the Nuo (nuo) dance is performed to reward the gods, drive away ghosts and chase epidemics, the Yu (yuyu) dance to pray for rain, and the ten thousand dances for men and women to love each other.Many of the poems in the book are records of singing and dancing scenes.
What is particularly worth mentioning here is Nuo.Some people in the academic circles believe that Nuo is an epic dance of people, grass, and birds, which was written in Shang, passed on in Zhou, and recorded in Confucius.Most people believe that Nuo is a kind of exorcism and epidemic elimination activity, and Nuo was developed from the primitive religion-witch culture.The ancient ancestors lived in a harsh living environment with low production capacity and threats to their lives. It was inevitable that pantheism such as nature worship, totem worship, and ancestor worship would arise in order to reconcile yin and yang, pray for blessings and avoid disasters, and protect themselves, which is conducive to survival and development. .The function of Nuo is to achieve a balance between the satisfaction of real utilitarianism and the psychology of seeking good luck and avoiding evil through sacrifices and exorcising ghosts.
Nuo is widely distributed in our country. Central Plains Nuo, Bachu Wu, Baiyue Wu, Qinghai-Tibet Ben Buddha, Northeast Shaman, and Western Region Nuo all belong to the category of Nuo.Judging from the form of Nuo, it can be divided into several categories: court Nuo, folk Nuo (rural Nuo), military Nuo, and temple Nuo.In ancient times, the typical Nuo was the official Nuo of the Zhou Dynasty. "Zhou Li Xia Guan Fang Xiangshi" recorded the content of the official Nuo of the Zhou Dynasty: "Fang Xiangshi, palm covered with bear skin, golden four eyes, mysterious clothes and Zhusang, rate Baili is difficult in time (Nuo), and the epidemic is driven away by the rope room. The big funeral, the first coffin, and the tomb, enters Khuang, and uses the spear to attack the four corners to drive away Fangliang (monsters). " Zhou Nuo was in Jichun, Zhongqiu and December respectively It is called Shinan (Nuo).As for Nuo opera, Nuo stands out and is a combination of religious culture and drama culture.However, that was after the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the south of our country, especially in Chu (now Hubei and Hunan), believers in ghosts are fond of offering sacrifices, witchcraft is common, and singing and dancing for sacrifices are very prosperous.At that time, there were people who were in charge of sacrificial singing and dancing. The women were called witches, and the men were called xi (xixi). They were all good at singing and dancing.Whenever divination and sacrificial ceremonies are held, he (she) pretends to be gods and ghosts, sings and dances, and entertains gods and people.The "Nine Songs" written by the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan was created on the basis of the lyrics of the witch dance for folk sacrifices. In "Nine Songs", there is the dragon flying through the clouds, the concubine Xiang who is infatuated and lingering [qianquanqiangou], the melancholy and sad chief commander, the silent and melancholy young commander, the romantic and passionate He Bo, and the mysterious and affectionate There are mountain ghosts, and there are national martyrs [Shang Shang] who are brave enough to sacrifice their lives... Mysterious and strange, majestic and magnificent, there are already stories, budding characters, simple costumes and symbolic performances.Therefore, Mr. Wang Guowei, a well-known scholar who studies the history of opera, believes that the germination of drama has already been born in the ritual singing and dancing of ancient witches.