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Ritual and music system

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This article is about Chinese social system based around dance. For the dance itself, see Yayue.

The Ritual Music System [zh] 礼乐制度 originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Together with the patriarchal system [zh], it constituted the social system of the entire ancient China and had a great influence on the politics, culture, art and thought of later generations.[1]

The Ritual Music System is divided into two parts: ritual and music. The part of ritual mainly divides people's identity and social norms, and finally forms a hierarchy. The music part is mainly based on the hierarchical system of etiquette, using music to alleviate social conflicts.[1]

The Ritual Music System was established by Duke Zhou in the early days of the Zhou Dynasty. One of its purposes was to consolidate the hierarchical society, and secondly, it was to learn from the demise of the Shang Dynasty, to oppose "promiscuous music", and to adopt measures of "festive music". The implementation of the ritual music system consolidated the social status of the slave-owner class and promoted the development of music. But it makes music a vassal of ritual, and makes music a mode music centered on ritual, which gradually becomes rigid. In order to implement "rule", the ruling class formulated a set of very cumbersome etiquette and music to match it.[1]

In short, all these regulations on ritual and music are to strengthen people's concept of hierarchy, and finally achieve the political purpose of consolidating their rule. It is self-evident that in order to successfully implement the Ritual Music System, education on ritual and music must be strengthened. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty set up the first ritual music institution in the history of our country - the Spring Palace.[1]

Early History

A 9,000 year-old bone flute from Henan

Archaeological evidence indicates that music culture developed in China from a very early period. Excavations in Jiahu Village in Wuyang County, Henan found bone flutes dated to 9,000 years ago, and clay music instruments called Xun thought to be 7,000 years old have been found in the Hemudu sites in Zhejiang and Banpo in Xi'an.[2]

Bowl from the Majiayao culture (c.3300 - 2000 BC) decorated with figures of men dancing in line

Pictorial representations of dance have been found in Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period (before 2000 BCE), showing people dancing in a line holding hands.[3] The earliest Chinese character for "dance", , appears in the oracle bones and represents a dancer holding oxtails in each hand.[4] According to the Lüshi Chunqiu (compiled around 239 BCE): "In former times, the people of the Getian clan (葛天氏) would dance in pairs [or threes] with oxtails in hand, stamping their feet and singing eight stanzas."[5][6]

Primitive dance in ancient China was also associated with sorcery and shamanic ritual. An early shape of the Chinese character for sorcerer, wu (巫), represented dancing shamans or their sleeves;[7] wu therefore described someone who danced as a mean of communication between gods and men.[8] There are many ancient records of shamans and sorcerers who danced, for example performing the rain dance at time of drought. The rain dance (舞雩, wǔyú) platform is mentioned in many ancient texts including the Analects of Confucius.[9]

History of Yayue

Main article: Yayue
Further information: History of Chinese dance

According to tradition, yayue was created by the Duke of Zhou under commission from King Wu of Zhou, shortly after the latter's conquest of Shang. Incorporated within yayue were elements of shamanistic or religious traditions, as well as early Chinese folk music. Dance was also closely associated with yayue music, each yayue pieces may have a ceremonial or ritual dance associated with it. The most important yayue piece of the Zhou dynasty were the Six Great Dances, each associated with a legendary or historical figure.[10][11][12][5][13][14]

  • Yunmen Dajuan (雲門大卷), from the Yellow Emperor era, performed for the veneration of the sky.
  • Daxian (大咸, or Dazhang 大章), from the Emperor Yao era, for the veneration of the earth.
  • Daqing (大磬, or Dashao 大韶), from the Emperor Shun era, for the veneration of Gods of the Four Directions, or the sun, moon, stars and seas, the dancers may have dressed up as birds and beasts. One of the earliest documents, Shujing, mentioned the ritual of "beating on the stones as all the wild animals dance".[15][16] The performance of the dance was highly regarded by Confucius.
  • Daxia (大夏), was a dance performed in praise of Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty, famous for his work on flood control. In this dance, 64 performers danced bare-chested wearing fur caps and white skirts. The movements of the dance may imitate the manual labour performed during flood control.[17]
  • Dahu (大濩), from Tang of Shang dating to the end of the Xia Dynasty, for the veneration of female ancestors.
  • Dawu (大武), in praise of King Wu of Zhou, used for ancestral worship. It was military focused in addition

These formal dances were divided into two types, civil and military. In a Civil Dance (文舞), dancers held item such as feather banners in their hand, and Military Dance (武舞) involved brandishing of weapons.[18]

Another six formed what was called the "Small Dances", to be performed by younger members of the aristocracy in minor ceremonies and sacrifice rituals. These are:[19]

  • Five-Colour Silk Dance (帗舞), performed for the worship of the Earth and Grain Gods.
  • Feather Dance (羽舞), as tribute to ancestral temples or the Gods of the Four Directions.
  • Imperial Dance (皇舞), performed as homage to the Gods of the Four Directions or as a rain dance.
  • Yak-tail Banner Dance (旄舞), performed at sacrificial sites in Biyong (辟雍), a seat of learning.
  • Shield Dance (干舞), performed for military purpose or for the veneration of mountains and rivers.
  • Dance of the People (人舞), performed in honour of the stars or ancestral temples.

All the dances involved dancers holding objects such as feather plumes, yak-tails or shield, except the Dance of the People which is focused on sleeve movements.[20]

A set of bronze bells called bianzhong c. 5th century B.C. from Hubei

During the Zhou dynasty, a formal system of court and ceremonial music later termed yayue (meaning "elegant music") was established. Note that the word music (樂, yue) in ancient China can also refer to dance as music and dance were considered integral part of the whole, and its meaning can also be further extended to poetry as well as other art forms and rituals.[21] The word "dance" (舞) similarly also referred to music, and every dance would have had a piece of music associated with it. The most important set of music of the period was the Six-dynasty Music Dance (六代樂舞) performed in rituals in the royal court.[22] Music in the Zhou Dynasty was conceived as a cosmological manifestation of the sound of nature integrated into the binary universal order of yin and yang, and this concept has enduring influence later Chinese thinking on music.[23] "Correct" music according to Zhou concept would involve instruments correlating to the five elements of nature and would bring harmony to nature. Around or before the 7th century BC, a system of pitch generation and pentatonic scale was derived from a cycle-of-fifths theory.[23]


The Book of Rites records a number of situations where yayue might be performed. These included ceremonies in honour of Heaven and Earth, the gods or the ancestors. There were also detailed rules on the way they were to be performed at diplomatic meetings. Yayue was also used in outdoor activities, such as aristocratic archery contests, during hunting expeditions, and after the conclusion of a successful military campaign. Yayue was characterised by its rigidity of form. When performed, it was stately and formal, serving to distinguish the aristocratic classes. It was sometimes also accompanied by lyrics. Some of these are preserved in the Book of Songs.

With the decline of the importance ceremony in the interstate relations of the Spring and Autumn period, so did yayue. Confucius famously lamented the decline of classical music and the rites. Marquess Wen of Wei was said to prefer the popular music of Wey and Zheng to the ancient court music, listening to which he may fall asleep.[24][25] Confucius, faced with the social chaos of the Spring and Autumn period, strongly advocated the restoration of the Ritual Music System of the Western Zhou, and advocated "restoring rituals to oneself". social problems and realize a harmonious society in which the world is "righteous".[26]

Philosophical approaches

Chinese philosophers took varying approaches to music. To Confucius, a correct form of music is important for the cultivation and refinement of the individual, and the Confucian system considers the formal music yayue to be morally uplifting and the symbol of a good ruler and stable government.[27] Some popular forms of music, however, were considered corrupting in the Confucian view.[28] Mozi on the other hand condemned making music, and argued in Against Music (非樂) that music is an extravagance and indulgence that serves no useful purpose and may be harmful.[29] According to Mencius, a powerful ruler once asked him whether it was moral if he preferred popular music to the classics. The answer was that it only mattered that the ruler loved his subjects.

Confucius not only advocated and advocated the restoration of the Ritual Music System, but also practiced it physically. Legend has it that he asked Laozi about rituals and became so obsessed with music that he "did not know the taste of meat for three months".[citation needed]

The Shijing or Classic of Poetry

Confucius heavily promoted the use of music with rituals or the rites order. The scholar Li Zehou argued that Confucianism is based on the idea of rites. Rites serve as the starting point for each individual and that these sacred social functions allow each person's human nature to be harmonious with reality. Given this, Confucius believed that "music is the harmonization of heaven and earth; the rites is the order of heaven and earth". Thus the application of music in rites creates the order that makes it possible for society to prosper.[30]

The Confucian approach to music was heavily inspired by the Shijing and the Classic of Music, which was said to be the sixth Confucian classic until it was lost during the Han Dynasty. The Shijing serves as one of the current Confucian classics and is a book on poetry that contains a diversified variety of poems as well as folk songs. Confucius is traditionally ascribed with compiling these classics within his school.[31] In the Analects, Confucius described the importance of the art in the development of society: [32]

The Master said, "My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry?
"The Odes serve to stimulate the mind.
"They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation.
"They teach the art of sociability.
"They show how to regulate feelings of resentment.
"From them you learn the more immediate duty of serving one’s father, and the remoter one of serving one’s prince.
"From them we become largely acquainted with the names of birds, beasts, and plants."[33]


In ancient China the social status of musicians was much lower than that of painters, though music was seen as central to the harmony and longevity of the state. Almost every emperor took folk songs seriously, sending officers to collect songs to record the popular culture. One of the Confucianist Classics, The Classic of Poetry, contained many folk songs dating from 800 BC to about 400 BC.[citation needed]

See Also

维基文库中的相关文本： 《欽定古今圖書集成·經濟彙編·禮儀典·禮樂總部》，出自蒋廷锡《古今圖書集成》

Category:Ancient institutions in East Asia Category:Ancient Chinese institutions

  1. ^ a b c d "常识必背 | 什么是礼乐制度？_音乐_身份_阶级". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  2. ^ Jin Jie (3 March 2011). Chinese Music. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0521186919.
  3. ^ "Basin with design of dancers: Neolithic, Majiayao Culture". National Museum of China. Pottery from the Majiayao culture (3100–2700 BCE)
  4. ^ Wang Kefen (1985). The History of Chinese Dance. China Books & Periodicals. p. 7. ISBN 978-0835111867.
  5. ^ a b Zehou Li (2009). The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition. translated by Maija Bell Samei. University of Hawaii Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0824833077.
  6. ^ Lü Shi Chun Qiu Original text: 昔葛天氏之樂，三人操牛尾，投足以歌八闋
  7. ^ Yu Huan Zhang, Ken Rose (2001). A Brief History of Qi. Paradigm Pubns. ISBN 978-0912111636.
  8. ^ China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization. City University of Hong Kong Press. 2007. p. 454. ISBN 978-9629371401.
  9. ^ Confucius. (2011). The Analects. Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor. ISBN 978-1-4487-8842-2. OCLC 711040761.
  10. ^ 許之衡 (1968). 中國音樂小史. ISBN 9789570512731. Note some of alternate names given for these dances, such as Xianchi (咸池), Dashao (大韶), and Dazhang (大章)
  11. ^ Wang Kefen (1985). The History of Chinese Dance. China Books & Periodicals. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0835111867.
  12. ^ Zehou Li (2009). The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition. translated by Maija Bell Samei. University of Hawaii Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0824833077.
  13. ^ 許之衡 (1968). 中國音樂小史. ISBN 9789570512731. Note some of alternate names given for these dances, such as Xianchi (咸池), Dashao (大韶), and Dazhang (大章)
  14. ^ 中国文化史速读. 青苹果数据中心. 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Fan Pen Li Che (2007). Chinese Shadow Theatre: History, Popular Religion, and Women Warriors. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0773531970.
  16. ^ Shang Shu - Yu Shu - Yi and Ji. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Wang Kefen (1985). The History of Chinese Dance. China Books & Periodicals. p. 8. ISBN 978-0835111867.
  18. ^ "The Art of Chinese Dance". Cultural Division, Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Houston.
  19. ^ 劉寶才 (2002). 先秦史. 五南圖書出版股份有限公司. pp. 192–193. ISBN 957-11-2888-0.
  20. ^ Wang Kefen (1985). The History of Chinese Dance. China Books & Periodicals. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0835111867.
  21. ^ Faye Chunfang Fei, ed. (2002). Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present. University of Michigan Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0472089239.
  22. ^ Jin Jie (3 March 2011). Chinese Music. Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0521186919.
  23. ^ a b Don Michael Randel, ed. (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music (4th ed.). Harvard University Press. pp. 260–262. ISBN 978-0674011632.
  24. ^ Faye Chunfang Fei, ed. (2002). Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present. University of Michigan Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-0472089239.
  25. ^ 許之衡 (1968). 中國音樂小史. p. 15. ISBN 9789570512731.
  26. ^ "杨富荣：孔子的礼乐教化思想". www.chinakongzi.org. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  27. ^ Bresler, Liora (2007). International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. Springer. p. 85. ISBN 978-1402029981.
  28. ^ Dorothy Ko; JaHyun Kim Haboush; Joan R. Piggott, eds. (2003). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0520231382.
  29. ^ Faye Chunfang Fei, ed. (2002). Chinese Theories of Theater and Performance from Confucius to the Present. University of Michigan Press. pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-0472089239.
  30. ^ Kirkendall, Jensen Armstrong (2017-12-14). "The Well-Ordered Heart: Confucius on Harmony, Music, and Ritual" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  31. ^ Davis, Albert Richard, ed. (1970), The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse, Baltimore: Penguin Books
  32. ^ "Confucius, The Analects - 17". 1901-12-13. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  33. ^ "Confucius, The Analects - 17". 1901-12-13. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
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