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| A Study of the Newly Unearthed Epitaphs of Music and Dance in the Tang Dynasty |
| Hu Qiuyan |
| School of Humanities, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China |
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Abstract The music and dance of the Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the development of music and dance in China. Among the newly unearthed gravestone epitaphs, many are related to music and dance, which provide us with original materials to study the system, the identity of the practitioners, the characteristics of music and dance in the Tang Dynasty, and the social background and artistic atmosphere in which music and dance were produced.The music in the gravestone epitaphs shows that a man named Li Chengxia was five years old when he played “damozhi”, “wuchou” and other songs. He was taught by Wang Changtong at the age of seven to play music and Kucha Buddhist songs, indicating that before the ten yuebu were formulated in the early Tang Dynasty, nine yuebu of the Sui Dynasty were still being followed, among which Kucha music was the most important, and Wang Changtong was an important figure in playing Kucha yuebu. Therefore, the gravestone epitaph mentions twice that Wang Changtong taught Li Chengxia music.Of the gravestone epitaphs of the Imperial Music Office and the Pear Theatre among the Tang Dynasty’s music and dance institutions the most important is the Pear Theatre and the Imperial Music Office. The two are both related and different. “The Gravestone Epitaph of Zhang Jian” written by Zhang Yuansun records his experience of serving in the Pear Theatre. Zhang Jian was good at yuefu and singing. He traveled in the local Fanzhen shogunate. He served in the first department (diyibu) of the Pear Theatre, the highest department, by the order of Emperor Muzong of the Tang Dynasty. It is clear that Zhang Jian was quite valued by the court. “The Gravestone Epitaph of Cao Qianlin” records that Cao was recruited by the inner court, becoming one of the Pear Theatre artisans. After the An Lushan rebellion, Cao left the court, sojourning in the Jiangnan region and serving the Huaixi shogunate. Cao remained emotionally attached to the Pear Theatre throughout his life time.The music registration in the gravestone epitaphs is note worthy. In the Tang Dynasty, from the central government to the prefectures and counties, from military camps to local regions, music institutions were established to manage music and dance. This was the “music registration” system. From the “The Gravestone Epitaph of Dongshi” written by Li Zhi, it can be seen that the musicians in the central music registration system had a high status, as the epitaph was written by the Hanlin scholar. “The Gravestone Epitaph of Lu Chengde”, “The Gravestone Epitaph of Shen Zirou” and “The Gravestone Epitaph of Zhang Sanying” all record the situation of local musicians. Because they had more social experiences, they often made acquaintances with the literati and poets. The poems of the Tang Dynasty reflect their social bonding, which can be compared with epitaph records.Music and dance skills are also recorded in the gravestone epitaphs. The epitaphs, such as “The Gravestone Epitaph of Yan Shi” by Tian Yu, and “The Gravestone Epitaph of Chen Taiyi” by Li Huan record women performers, highlighting their skills and body appearances. Music and dance of the Tang Dynasty were rich and complex in that most of them came from foreign countries and ethnic groups. These music and dances can give the audience a sense of novelty. The practitioners also had professional training and special expertise. For example, “The Gravestone Epitaph of Hao Run” by Cui Zhuo, and “The Gravestone Epitaph of Lu Chengde” by Lu Bianzhi record the “Zhezhi dance” system, which can be compared with the literary works like “Fu on Viewing Shuang Zhezhi Dance in Hunan” by Lu Zhao, and “Zhezhi Courtesan” by Bai Juyi.The identities and fates of women practitioners are also shown in the epitaphs. They all came from poor families, families in decline, families of music artisans, or families of other low social status. Some of them came from brothels. They were either enlisted in the music registration system, or became concubines of rich and powerful people. The epitaphs show that most of them did not live long and had a miserable life because of maltreatment and poor medical conditions.
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Received: 29 November 2021
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2022, Vol. 52 
