In The Ritual. "history Of Qing Dynasty Music"

This essay studies The History Records of Music in Qing Dynasty. It takes court ritual music as the breakthrough point. In combination with historical cultural background, it discusses a variety of subjects concerning the production, content, kind and functionality of court ritual music, in order to reveal the unique characterization of court ritual music in Qing Dynasty.Court ritual music has been an organic part of Chinese traditional culture. On one hand, it is always highly valued by the executives from political objectives. On the other hand, it is also greatly influenced by the emperors with different music accomplishment. Being the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, Qing Dynasty formed its own court ritual music system. It not only meets the needs of political dominance, but also reflects the personal likes of the emperors. In this essay, we will take four dynasties Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong as examples, to explore the production process, characteristics and development history of the court ritual music in Qing Dynasty.Based on previous discussion, this essay also analyzes the content of The History Records of Music in Qing Dynasty. The analysis is conducted in three aspects: movement, temperament and system. It aims at acquiring more understanding of editing stylistic rules, intention and the reason of evolution. From a systematic point of view, court ritual music refers to the institutions present in The History Records of Music in Qing Dynasty. From a musical point of view, it actually refers to the music used in different court ceremonies. Composed of Ya music and Yan music, it is totally different from the sacrifice music in ethnology. Then, the next question will be: What kind of court ritual music is used in different occasions? This essay is dedicated to recover the forms, attributes and functions of court ritual music used in various situations.One critical functionality of court ritual music is to maintain classification of the society. Therefore it is actually a hierarchy system. In Qing Dynasty, besides returning to ancient styles to some extents, the court ritual music also absorbs folk, external, even Western music. This fact, as a result, brings richness in musical type. With reference to Standard Interpretation of Tone-system, the essay conducts functionality analysis on Sacrifice, Open Exercise, Banquet and Procession music respectively.The essay reaches the conclusion that, in Qing Dynasty, the dominators use court ritual music in various situations such as sacrifice, open exercise, banquet and procession, not purely for enjoyment. It is much more an emblem of power and status. Its multiple functions include such things as showing off wealth and power, frightening opponents and solidifying alliance.