On The Auspicious Rites And Music In Taichang Xukao In Ming Dynasty

Ritual and music culture is important in antient China with a long history and far-reaching influence.Various rites systems in the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasties were sorted into five kinds of rites in the Wei state of the Three-Kingdoms Period,that is,“Ji,Jia,Jun,Bin and Xiong”.Among the five kinds of rites,Ji was regarded as the most important kind in ancient China,namely the sacrificial rites.In Jitong in the book of Rites: “Among the way of governing people,nothing is more urgent than rites.Among the five kinds of rites,nothing is important than sacrificial rites.In Zuozhuan : “the great events of the country are rites and military matter”.Therefore,sacrificial rites were recorded in Sidian and became a national regulation.Taichang Xukao provides valuable information to the study of “music in Ji rites” in the Ming Dynasty,so it worth studying.This paper first introduces the historical evolution of Ji rites before the Ming Dynasty and including the Ming Dynasty,and then describes the Ji rites from ritual specification and music in ritual,according to the music in Ji rites recorded in Taichang Xukao.According to the sacrificial places in this book,the ritual specifications were mainly divided into three aspects: sacrificial rites in temple,altar and mausoleum.The music in sacrificial rites is divided according to the matters in different sacrificial ranks in this book,and is analyzed from music types,musical instruments,stewards and robes for players and dancers.Finally,it discusses the writing background and historical status of Taichang Xukao,and the music in rites in Sheng fang Town,Ba Zhou County,Lang fang,Hebei Province,to explore the significance and value of this book.