Dawu’s ancient dance

Zhou music is one of the six types of music in the Zhou Dynasty mentioned in "Zhou Li Chunguan". Also known as Wu. It is used as a temple to worship ancestors. Among the six music, it is a martial dance that praises the martial arts of King Wu in defeating Zhou. According to "Book of Rites, Music Book, Bin Mou Jia", there are six sections (60%). The first section: showing preparations before the war, including drumming, dancing, modeling, and singing; the second section: war and victory, including team dances and solo dances; the third section: marching to the south after the destruction of the Shang Dynasty; the fourth section: Victory in the south; fifth paragraph: Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao assisted King Zhou in informing; sixth paragraph: respect for the Emperor of Zhou. The lyrics are in the Book of Songs Zhou Song. "Tongdian Yue": "The first emperor of Qin brought peace to the world, and among the temple music of the Six Dynasties, only "Shao" and "Wu" survived. In the twenty-sixth year (221 BC), the Zhou Dynasty's "Dawu" was changed to "Five Elements"." It can be seen that the Qin Dynasty was still in existence. live.

Zhou Le's "Da Wu" was created and compiled by the Duke of Zhou after King Wu's victory in defeating Zhou. The content is to show King Wu's great achievements in defeating Shang. According to what Confucius saw in the Spring and Autumn Period, this music and dance begins with a long drum sound as an introduction, and the dancers (warriors) stand ready with weapons in hand. Then there are six dance sections: the first section of the dance team enters from the north, which describes the situation of sending troops, the second section shows the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, the third section continues to march south, the fourth section shows the pacification of the southern border, and the fifth section The dance teams are divided into separate lines, which represents the divided governance of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong. In the sixth section, the dance teams regroup and line up to pay tribute to King Wu. Although the dance uses symbolic techniques and does not depict characters and contradictory processes like a dance drama, it is undoubtedly a narrative dance work that expresses major events at that time.

The Duke of Zhou concentrated, organized and standardized these six music and dances into a whole, which was used as the national etiquette system for sacrifices, celebrations and other activities. And their performance rituals, sacrificial objects, costumes and props, the identity of the music palace and dancers, and the performance occasions are all clearly defined. The content of "Da Wu" is expressed by 60% (sections) of music and dance. Based on Confucius's comments on "Da Wu" and other relevant records, we can imagine the performance of "Da Wu": Section 1: It starts with a long drum sound, which is probably the prelude to the dance. The dance team has gathered and is ready to go on stage. Then, the dancers hold weapons and come out from the north, standing tall and singing slowly and longly, expressing King Wu's determination to defeat Zhou and waiting for the arrival of the princes. (The general idea is: Ah! The powerful King's Master was originally in a state of obscurity in accordance with King Wen's orders; now the era has become brighter, so he wears armor and fights with guns. I respectfully inherit this achievement, the brave soldiers of King Wen They all serve for their successors, but your achievements are indeed worthy of the law)

The second paragraph: The dance turns into a fiery fighting atmosphere, "exerting great efforts", showing that the Zhou army was led by Jiang Taigong. The vanguard troops he led were directed towards Chaoge in Shangdu. At this time, there were people on both sides of the dance team to convey military orders. The dance team immediately divided into two rows and performed fierce stabbing movements, dancing and advancing at the same time, indicating that Shang had been destroyed. (The general idea is: Ah! The great King Wu, his achievements are unparalleled. King Wen, with outstanding literary virtues, created achievements for future generations, defeated the Yin Shang Dynasty, ended the war, and completed your great cause.)

The third paragraph: indicates the return south after triumph. The dance team may only make a "cut-scene" return move. (The general idea is: King Wen has managed this business, and I have inherited it, carried it forward, and made it last forever. I went to conquer the Yin Shang Dynasty just to seek stability. The destiny of this Zhou country will last forever.)

< p>The fourth paragraph: It means that the small countries in the south have submitted to the Zhou Dynasty and the southern Xinjiang has been stabilized. The dance team may use a grand, symmetrical and stable composition to show the momentum of the coming of all nations. (The general idea is: Ah! The great Zhou Kingdom. When you climb the high mountains and look around, you will see mountains and hills. The streams flowing out of the mountains all merge into the big rivers. All nations from all over the world come to pay homage to the Kingdom of Zhou to repay and bless the Kingdom of Heaven for its destiny. . )

The fifth paragraph: The dance team is divided into two lines, indicating that the Duke of Zhou is on the left and the Duke of Zhao is on the right, assisting the King of Zhou in ruling. Then all kinds of complicated formations were changed in an orderly manner. The dancers all sit in a low posture and still scene. It means that the country has been well governed and the country is peaceful and the people are safe.

Paragraph 6: The dance team regrouped, arranged neatly, and solemnly expressed their respect for the King of Zhou. The whole dance is over. (The general idea is: appeasement of all nations and good harvests many times, God will never be disgusted with the Kingdom of Zhou. The heroic King Wu led the soldiers, conquered all directions, and stabilized the country. Ah! His mighty virtue also shines to the Heaven, the great Zhou Dynasty. country, representing God’s domination of the world)

The corresponding singing and dancing forms of each song and poem in the Dawu Movement

The Dawu Movement is a comprehensive art of poetry and dance, and it must be sung during the performance. Songs and poems are accompanied by dances.

"Book of Rites and Music" describes Dawu's singing and dancing forms. Based on this, we can find their correspondence with each chapter. The first poem in the Dawu movement is "Martial", the full text is as follows: Yu Huang, King Wu! No competition, no competition. King Wenwen was allowed to do so, and later Kekai was defeated. Si Wu accepted it, defeated Yin and restrained Liu, and Qi Ding Er was successful. This poem praises King Wu's achievements and believes that no one can compare with him. Then he praised King Wen, who created a legacy for future generations. King Wu inherited the cause of King Wen, defeated the Yin Shang Dynasty, stopped the brutal killings of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty, and achieved immortal achievements. This is a general ode to the achievements of King Wen and King Wu. "The Book of Rites and the Music Book" has the following description of the Dawu Dance: Binmu Jia was sitting with Confucius, and Confucius talked to him and enjoyed himself. Said: "Husband Wu has been on guard for a long time, why?" He said to him: "The disease can't spread to others." "Singing it, it's sexual fluid, why?" He said to him: "I'm afraid I won't catch anything." This conversation is Confucius asked a question, and Binmojia answered. It can be seen from the dialogue that the drumming and warning are played for a long time at the beginning of the Dawu Dance, and the songs and poems are sung in long and continuous chants. Yinye means that the chanting time is very long and deep. Binmoujia's explanation was based on King Wu's worries before the war. One was that people were afraid of disunity, and the other was that he was afraid of not being able to win. From the above dialogue, we can see that at the beginning of the Dawu Dance, the drums were played as a warning, and the "Wu" poem was chanted for a long time with deep emotion. This state lasted for a long time. The Dawu Dance "starts out and goes north". After a long period of drumming warning and chanting, the scene of the team's departure is shown. There are not many dance moves accompanying the first poem "Martial Arts", and the duration is also very short. The second poem in the Dawu Movement is "Zhuo", which describes the process of King Wu's attack on the Shang Dynasty, which is what the "Book of Rites·Yue Ji" said in the "Book of Rites and Music", "the Shang Dynasty will be destroyed again". "The Book of Rites and the Book of Music" also records the following: The guest, Mou Jia, excused himself from the banquet and asked: "My husband and Wu have been on the alert for a long time, so they have heard the order. I dare to ask, why is it so late?" Said: "Ju, I will speak to you. Those who are happy are those who have perfect images. It is the work of King Wu to work hard and stand on the mountain. It is the ambition of the Taigong to carry forward the work." The "Mountain is standing on the mountain" that appears here, The action of "working hard" shows the scene of the Battle of Makino. "The mountains are strong and the mountains are standing" means that the actor who plays King Wu holds a shield and stands like a mountain for a long time. The actor who plays Jiang Taigong dances with fast rhythm and great strength. The conversation between Confucius and Bin Moujia in the previous paragraph also mentioned that "it is only a matter of time" and "it is timely". At the beginning of the performance of the Battle of Makino, the actor who played Jiang Taigong danced hastily, glowing with high fighting spirit. , it shows the action of seizing the opportunity and attacking in time, which is in sharp contrast with the actor of King Wu of Zhou standing for a long time holding a shield, which is the complementarity of movement and stillness. King Wu of Zhou and Taigong Jiang were the commanders and strategists of the Battle of Muye. The Dawu Dance vividly demonstrated their important roles in the war with different dance postures. The Dawu Dance is a group dance with a large number of participants. When describing the Dawu Dance in the Book of Rites and Music, it is written: "It vibrates with force and attacks with horses, which is very powerful in China." What is shown here is also the scene of the Battle of Makino, and the objects shown are the teams participating in the battle. The two teams performing the performance perform thrusts to the rhythm of the music, four times as one section. Judging from these narratives, Dawuwu's presentation of the Battle of Muye is comprehensive, reproducing the bravery and courage of the Zhou army's soldiers. The third poem of Dawuwu is "Lai". The whole poem is as follows: King Wen has been diligent and diligent, so I deserve it. When I think about it, I seek stability. The fate of the Zhou Dynasty is in Yisi. This poem is sung in the tone of King Wu, which means that King Wen is working hard to govern. I want to inherit his career and carry it forward, so I have to leave Beijing for inspection. This is the destiny that the Zhou Dynasty has inherited, and it will definitely be more glorious. There are six poems in the Dawu movement, and this one is the shortest. Where did King Wu go on his inspection tour? There is no explicit statement in the poem. The current version of "Chronicles of the Bamboo Book" clearly states that he was in charge of the area. "Book of Rites·Legistry of Music" states that the Great Wu Dance "went to the south at three points". The singing of the third song showed that King Wu visited the southern country, and the corresponding dance movements were "divided into three parts". The second section of the Dawu Movement is "Clamping and Vibrating and Attacking". The two teams perform stabbing movements facing each other. In the third section, they advance in separate lines, which means that the King of Zhou inspected the southern kingdom. The war is over. The poems sung in the third section of Dawu Dance are very short, and the dance movements are also very simple. They are the transitional link in the entire dance. The fifth poem in the Dawu movement is "Shi Mai". The explanation of the fifth paragraph of the Dawu Movement in "Book of Rites·Yue Ji" is: "Divided into five parts, Duke Zhou is on the left and Duke Zhao is on the right." The text of "Yue Ji" recorded in "Historical Records·Yue Ji" is: " Five percent is divided into Shaanxi, with Zhou Gong on the left and Zhao Gong on the right." This song and dance shows the achievements of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong in dividing Shaanxi.

"Book of Rites and Music" also writes: "Martial chaos is caused by Zhou Zhao's rule." The fifth section is the last chapter of the main part of the great martial arts dance. The actors kneel down neatly to show the achievements of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong. "The Book of Rites and the Book of Music" also says: "Sitting with force, the right person and the left person." The person sitting on the right is in charge of delivering the message, and the person sitting on the left makes the decree. To, to convey. Constitution refers to laws and regulations. According to the administrative divisions at that time, Zhou Gong lived in the east and was on the left; Zhao Gong lived in the west and was on the right. The Dawu movement expresses the political status of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong at that time through the dance movements of sitting on the left and right. The Duke of Zhou issued orders and the Duke of Zhao conveyed and executed them. This was indeed the case at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. The sixth poem of the Dawu movement is "Huan", the full text is as follows: Sui Wanwang, many good years. The fate of heaven was broken, and King Huan Huan Wu was defeated. Preserve Jue's land, and conquer Jue's family in all directions. Yu Zhao Yu Tian, ​​Huang Yi Jian. This is an ode to King Wu. He inherited the destiny and made the world peaceful and the people prosperous. He kept the middle land and patrolled the four directions to make the king's power more stable. His light shines in the sky, replacing the Yin Shang Dynasty and ruling the world. "Book of Rites and Music" states that "60% of the Dawu Dance was re-embellished to honor the emperor." In the sixth section of the dance, all the actors returned to their original positions to show their respect for the emperor. In the article, it is also said that "it has been established for a long time in order to attract the princes to come". The actors have to stand in place for a long time to show that they are waiting for the princes to come to court. There are actually no dance moves in this period.

The exemplary significance of Dawu poetry and Dawu dance

Dawu poetry consists of a group of works, which are used for sacrifices in the ancestral temple, the emperor's inspection and education, and the etiquette of the meeting between the two kings. Its exemplary significance is mainly reflected in two aspects: first, its documentary and narrative nature, and second, its value orientation of Yanwu Xiuwen. There are ***6 Dawu Ge poems. Its documentary nature and narrative context have two clues. One clue is the echo between the first poem "Wu" and the sixth poem "Huan", and the second clue is the sequential narrative of the four middle poems. Let’s look at the first clue first. "Wu" is the opening chapter of the great martial arts poem, describing the entrepreneurial journey from King Wen to King Wu, and showing the historical achievements of King Wu in suppressing Yin and banning violence. "Huan" is the last chapter of the Great Wu Poetry. This work focuses on King Wu's governance of the world. What appears is the scene of peace and prosperity after the Zhou Dynasty destroyed Shang, and King Wu's travels around the world. The first and last two works of Dawu Ge Poetry form a relatively complete narrative chain, which outlines the historical changes from King Wen to King Wu, the rise of Zhou Dynasty and the collapse of Shang Dynasty in broad strokes, and has historical continuity. Look at the second clue. There are four works in the middle part of Dawu Ge Poetry. Their narratives are consistent and are documentary to a large extent. The basis can be found in documentary records. The second poem "Zhuo" is based on the Battle of Muye and the fall of Shang Dynasty and the rise of Zhou Dynasty. The line "Yu Shuo Wang's Master, obey Shi Hui" tells the strategy of keeping a low profile and keeping a low profile from King Wen to King Wu, which contains many important facts. historical events. "The time is pure and Xi, it is Yong Dajie. I, the dragon, take it, and the king makes it." It reflects the Battle of Muye, the vicissitudes of the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Xing Dynasty, which is consistent with the previous narrative. The third poem of the Great Wu Song is "Lai", which is based on King Wu's inspection of the southern country. The line "I am seeking stability" reveals the information of King Wu's inspection. He is inspecting to stabilize the world. The fourth poem of the Great Wu Song is "Ban", which describes King Wu's management of the Southern Kingdom. The line "Hit the high mountains and fall into the mountains" shows King Wu's deeds in the Southern Kingdom. When he climbed the mountain and looked around, he felt proud of the establishment of the enfeoffment system and thought of the scene of the tributaries flowing into the Yellow River. The fifth chapter of the great martial arts poem is "Shi Mai", which is based on the separation of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong. What appears in it is the peaceful scene of horses being released to Nanshan, swords and guns being stored in the warehouse, and King Wu's sacrifice to the mountains of the Yellow River. From "Zhuo" to "Huan", the events narrated in this poem appear continuously and are historically real. Its narrative is complete and documentary. The documentary nature of the narrative of Dawu poetry inherits the tradition of odes to the ancestors of the Zhou people and has its historical origins. However, since Dawu poetry is used for ancestral temple sacrifices and high-level rituals, each song cannot be sung for too long, which limits its length. The narrative cannot be fully developed and detailed descriptions cannot be seen. Despite this, this group of poems established a tradition, that is, the narrative and documentary nature of sacrificial poems. Looking at the three poems in the Book of Songs, abstract works praising the objects of sacrifice are extremely rare, while documentary narratives are common. Many songs and poems are mainly documentary narratives. The generation of this kind of ode form, Dawu poetry has exemplary significance. The great martial arts poems take the Battle of Muye and the Dinggege of Shang and Zhou Dynasties as their themes, and wars cannot be avoided. However, what runs through this group of songs and poems is Yanwu's philosophy of literary cultivation, with distinct cultural characteristics of rituals and music.

The opening chapter "Wu" states that the Zhou Dynasty's Shang Dynasty "victory Yin and restrained Liu". The Zhou people's victory over the Yin Shang Dynasty was to stop the brutal killings of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty, and to replace the harsh laws with benevolence and righteousness, highlighting its justice. The second song of the Dawu Movement, "Zhuo", is based on the Battle of Makino. The poem emphasizes that King Wen and King Wu "obey the time of obscurity". The implication is that the attack on the merchants and the killing of Zhou was completely passive and was a last resort. The description of the Battle of Makino only uses four short lines of poetry, without mentioning the cruelty of the war and without any bloody scenes. "Daya Mian" writes: "If you do not want to die, you will not die, and you will not die." "Daya Siqi" also has the words "If you want to fight, you will not die". These two poems praise the ancestors of the Zhou people. There are scenes of killing prisoners and displaying their corpses, retaining traces of primitive barbarism. In the great martial arts poems, the description of war is purified and killing is no longer advocated. The climax of the Dawu poetry is in the fifth poem "Shi Mai", which is based on the separation of Zhou Gong and Zhao Gong. King Wu visited the southern kingdom and offered sacrifices to various gods. The ministers of the imperial court were in their respective positions, and the weapons of war were also put away. King Wu wanted to govern the world with virtue and ensure the stability of the country. The poem also mentions the war between Zhou and Yin, but it is briefly mentioned without exaggeration. Because of this, this poem later became a representative work advocating literary virtue and was recited repeatedly. There are 6 Dawu poems, and "Shimai" is the longest. This setting also shows the clear orientation of Yanwu's literary writing. As for the "Analects of Confucius·Bayi", Confucius said that Dawu was "perfectly beautiful, but not perfect." That was the conclusion that Confucius came to when he looked at ancient music from an idealized perspective. He believed that Dawu failed to isolate himself from war and failed to achieve the state of perfection. However, the tendency of Dawu poetry to advocate literary virtue is an objective existence of history and an undeniable fact. The Dawu Song Poems are of exemplary significance to the "Ode" poems, and the Dawu Dances are also of exemplary significance to the songs and dances in pre-Qin temples. This is why it initially established the dance system of four units as a unit. The Dawu Dance is composed of six sections. In fact, its main body is the four sections in the middle. The first part is a long-time drum warning, the singer sings a long chant, and the dancers are in a state of preparation. The performance has not officially started, and there are not many dance moves. Therefore, the first paragraph can be regarded as the prologue, and the dance movements officially appear from the second paragraph. In the sixth section of the Dawu Dance, the dancers "stand for a long time" and stand at the beginning of the stage for a long time. The curtain call in this way signifies the end of the Dawu Dance. Therefore, the sixth section of the Dawu Dance should be regarded as the end, and there are no dance moves. In this way, the main part of the Dawu Dance is composed of four sections, and reaches its climax in the fourth section. "Book of Rites·Yue Ji" discusses the movements and content of each section of the Great Wu Dance: "Everyone in martial arts is sitting down, and Zhou Zhao governs it." "Divide into 50%, Duke Zhou is on the left, Duke Zhao is on the right." This is a great martial dance. The fifth section is called chaos, which is the last part of the movement. Obviously, this is to regard the fifth paragraph as the last paragraph of the Dawu Dance. Otherwise, it would not be called chaos. Some annotators do not understand this truth and think that they are referring to the sixth section of Dawu Dance. This is really a misunderstanding. The main part of Dawu Dance consists of four sections, which became the basic system of song and dance in pre-Qin temples. "Songs of Chu: Soul Calling" shows the music of court singing and dancing, and is described in four sections in chronological order. It is said that Song Yu's "Dance Ode" also describes dance in four sections. "The beginning of his rise" is the first paragraph, "The occasion progresses, and the case is imminent" is the second paragraph, "Turn back and return in due to urgency" is the third paragraph, "Delay the smile, delay the reply" " is the fourth paragraph. Both "Calling the Soul" and "Dance Fu" lay out the dance movements in four sections, which shows that the dance in the Chu State's court also used four sections as a unit. The difference from the Dawu dance is that Chudi's four-part dance no longer has a prologue and an ending, and is purely a unit of four parts. In addition, in the main part of the Dawu Dance, the climax of singing and dancing is in the fourth section, which is called Luan; while the climax of the court dance in Chu is in the third section, which is the focus of description. There are many works in the Book of Songs that are composed of four sentences. Four is the basic unit of combination. The main body of Dawu Dance is also composed of four sections. Both poetry and dance follow a system with four as the basic unit and use the same structural pattern. From the content point of view, "Da Wu" reflects the life of King Wu's conquest of Zhou. From an artistic point of view, this large group dance of men has a relatively rigorous structure, with changes and ups and downs in formation, movements, and emotions. It uses thrusting movements and complex formation changes to express fierce battle scenes, pushing the dance to a climax. . Complete victory was achieved with a neat, standardized and stable formation, and the country was unified and stable. The music has drums as a prelude, and the object sections are accompanied by singing to heighten the majestic momentum.