On The Composition Of Rites And Music Culture In Zhou Dynasty From "Three Rites"

Ritual music-a trait of Chinese culture-has its influence for over three thousand years.In early Western Zhou period, to maintain and consolidate state power, Duke Zhou revisedsocial etiquette from previous dynasties, combining with the political system of the WesternZhou Dynasty; he proposed the establishment of a ritual and music system adequate for thenew regime. Sanli (The Rites of Zhou, The Book of Etiquette and Rites, The Book of Rites)concentrates on depicting the ritual music system of the Zhou Dynasty. It is the text form andtheoretical outcome of the evolved and matured ritual system.Studying the historical records of ritual music from Sanli, this paper tries to anatomizethe constitution of the ritual music culture of the Zhou Dynasty from its external forms ofexpression as well as its internal ideology. Exploring the external forms of expression focuseson three aspects: musical instruments and dancing equipment, music officials and musicians,and choreography and poetic lyrics. The internal ideology is evaluated through its educationaluse and music selection principle. This paper aims to give a coherent and systematicunderstanding about the ritual music culture of the Zhou Dynasty.This paper has five main parts.Firstly, the introduction explains the author’s interest on this topic, summarizes keypoints from prior researches across disciplines on the topic, and outlined the subject, researchmethod, the objectives and significance of the study in this paper.Secondly, chapter one introduces Sanli and the establishment of the ritual music system,elaborates on Sanli and its ritual music contents to illustrate the close connection betweenSanli and ritual music of the Zhou Dynasty.Then in chapter two, the form of expressions is investigated through musical instrumentsand dancing equipment, music officials and musicians, and choreography and poetic lyrics.The study on those helps to build a clear understanding of the matured form and detailedimplementation of the ritual music.Chapter three analyzes the ideological materials in Sanli about ritual music to gain a deeper understanding of the ideology of the ritual music culture.Lastly, the conclusion comments on the constitution of the ritual music culture of theZhou Dynasty from its form and ideology. Through understanding its ideology, an in depthknowledge of the art form and its value and significance in the contemporary society ispresented.