A Study On The Music In Northern Wei Dynasty

The music of Northern Wei Dynasty was one of the key links in the development of Chinese ancient music. This paper not only studies in the highlight the Xianbei ethnic music, it also involves palace music, Buddhist music, noble music and Siyi music(a kind ancient Chinese dance music from different ethnic minorities). These contents of the music mentioned above constituted the style of Northern Wei Dynasty, which was different from the traditional palace music of the Central Plains. In the process of absorbing the Siyi music, music and musical instruments of different regions were brought into the royal palace, laying a good foundation for the appearance of the second musical communication in ancient China. This thesis is divided into three parts: introduction, main text and conclusion. By sequence, the main contents and arguments of this paper are as follows.The first part is Introduction. First,the significance of the study of music in Northern Wei Dynasty is described; Then,the current situation of the study in academics comprehensively is summarized and the breakthrough points are found by searching out the deficiencies of current study; Last,the study and innovation points are analyzed.The second part, the main text is divided into 5 chapters.Chapter 1, the establishment of palace music of Northern Wei Dynasty. Firstly, it summarized the palace music organization’s establishment, the duties of drum music agency, folk song office and imperial music agency as well as the responsibilities of the music officers. Secondly, it made analysis of the source and evolution of palace music of Northern Wei Dynasty. The analysis was carried out in the aspects of Xianbei Nationality ethnic music, the inherited palace music of Northern Wei Dynasty from Central Plains court of Southern Dynasty, Fang music and Siyi dance music etc.Chapter 2, the palace music and dance of Northern Wei Dynasty. By comparison with ancestral temple music and suburban temples ritual music of Han Dynasty, Central Plains music contents and forms of palace suburban temple ritual music was analyzed. The palace ritual dance included “First Emperor Dance” in Tianxing 1st year(398) and “Dacheng Dance” adapted by Xiaowu Emperor in Yongxi 2nd year(533). “The old songs” of Central Plains included in palace music were “Gongmo”, “Baijiu”, “Mingjun” and “Shengzhu”; The popularity of the four works in each dynasty was analyzed. In addition, the banquet music, honor guard music and harem court music were studied. As for the music instruments, referring to the information of “Yueshu” written by Xin Dufang, instruments of palace music from Central Plains, Central Asia, South Asia and Qiuci were classified and analyzed.Chapter 3, Aristocratic music of Northern Wei Dynasty. The drum music of Northern Wei Dynasty was an important part of the ritual and musical system. Drum and Yubao drum reward music forms appeared, which were classified according to the time of reward and reasons for the reward. Based on the concept analysis of Yubao, drum and Yubao drum, it was concluded that Yubao drum became popular in Jin Dynasty, until handy leather instruments widely-spread in the Song Dynasty. At the period of Northern Wei Dynasty, tombs musical instruments could be divided into drum on horse and drum by walking by the playing postures. It also included a variety of musical forms, which are helpful to the study of drum music. Inheriting the habit of folk songs selection and edition of the former dynasty, many of the nobility adapted folk songs. The musical players of the nobility family have played an important role in the spread and maintenance of folk songs.Chapter 4, Folk music of Northern Wei Dynasty. Folk music of the former dynasties being popular in Northern Wei Dynasty was intended to highlight the significance of Xianbei Nationality folk music in the music development of Northern Wei Dynasty. During that period, the acrobatics music affairs focused more on musical instruments, band combination in performance and the musical instrument research in tomb murals. Finally, the folk songs of Northern Wei Dynasty spreading to present were classified and analyzed.Chapter 5, Siyi music and religious music of Northern Wei Dynasty. First of all, the study on Siyi music belonging to Qiuci music, Shule music, Banyue music dance, Xiliang music of Xi Rong music as well as Koryo music of Dongyi music was carried out. The research of Xi Rong music focused more on musical instruments of Northern Wei Dynasty and on the influence of Central Plains music on Koguryo music of Dongyi music; it also analyzes the process of the absorption of Koguryo music twice in the palace music of Northern Wei Dynasty. Secondly, the study on Buddhist music forms, musical instruments and Taoist music reform was carried out.The third part, The conclusion summarizes the characteristics of the Northern Wei Dynasty court music and the classification of folk songs. And,it elaborates the influence of the music of the Northern Wei Dynasty on the later music, so as to analyze the rules of the music of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the cultural exchanges.