The Evolution Of The Ruan Music In The Tang Dynasty

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) which marks the golden age of China's economic and cultural development, the art of music also created its own brilliant achievements. In such a flourishing environment, the development of the ruanxian (a Chinese plucked string instrument) reached an unprecedented peak and occupied an indispensable position in the music of the Tang Dynasty. The ruanxian was even brought to Japan from China, and now is still stored in Shosoin in Japan——one is made of red sandalwood and the other is made of mulberry. Some records of the ruanxian were documented in the history books and poetry of the Tang Dynasty. The paper aims to sort out, organize and study the existing historical documents, so as to lay the foundation for research and analysis in the future.Based on the research methods of music literature, music history and ethnomusicology, the paper studies the background of the music culture of the Tang Dynasty, and focuses on "the ruanxian made of red sandalwood" stored in Shosoin in Japan; through the collection and study of the historical documents, the paper tries to reveal the significance of the inheritance of ruanxian. The conclusions are listed as follows:First, through collecting, organizing and studying of relevant historical literature and data, the author finds that the score of qingshang music mentioned in the documents was indeed lost, including the ruanxian music.Second, the performing form of "playing both the qin and the ruan" revealed in Zhou Wenju's Palace Scene of the Tang Dynasty indicates that ruanxian is one of the accompaniment musical instruments of qingshang music, which belongs to the traditional music of the Han nationality.Third, based on the study of "the ruanxian made of red sandalwood" stored in Shosoin in Japan and the existing documents, the author thinks that the ruanxian was brought to Japan from China in the Tang Dynasty, which provides important reference frame for the study of the history, shape, making, sound and use of the ruanxian of the Tang Dynasty.Fourth, through the imitation and replication of Tang Dynasty ruanxian, it has been found that today's ruanxian has increased its capo and widened its range, leading to bigger performing difficulty and better musical expression.In sum, so far, no score of the ruanxian has been found. Yet, the author has collected the names of some pieces of the ruanxian music scattered in the poems and songs, which lays the foundation for the study of the score of the ruanxian music in the future.