MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Han–Wei Music and Dance

Flung sleeves, bent waists, feet on plates and drums

Introduction

Long sleeves, plates and drums, and the Ba-Yu war dance at the banquets of the Han to Six Dynasties courts

Han–Wei music and dance is the dance of court and aristocratic banquets from the Han through the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. It shared the floor with the hundred entertainments: dancers flung long sleeves, waved scarves and whisks, or leapt among plates and drums set out on the ground. In the early Han, Liu Bang had his court musicians learn the war dance of the Cong people, known as the Ba-Yu dance; the Wei renamed it the Zhaowu dance in 222 and the Jin renamed it the Xuanwu dance. Lady Qi was famous for a dance of raised sleeves and bending waist, an Eastern Han relief at Yinan shows the seven-plate dance, and the Jin court also kept the drum (pi), whisk, white-ramie and cup-and-plate dances. These court dances are lost; what survives is the yiwu row dance of Fuqing (III-135), which traces its rows of dancers to Western Zhou ritual music, was later used in sacrifices to Confucius, and is still performed as ritual dance.

Timeline

Early Western Han to present (court dances lost; yiwu still performed)
202 BCE · OriginIn the early Han, Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) admired the war dances of the Cong troops who had fought for him and had his musicians learn them; the result was called the Ba-Yu dance. His consort Lady Qi was known for a dance of raised sleeves and bending waist, which hundreds of her attendants learned.180 · EvolutionIn the music and entertainment relief of the late Eastern Han tomb at Beizhai, Yinan (c. 168–189), a long-sleeved dancer moves over seven plates and a small drum set on the ground, stamping the drum to keep time: the seven-plate dance.222 · EvolutionEarly in the Wei, Wang Can rewrote the lyrics of the Ba-Yu dance, which was renamed the Zhaowu dance in 222; the Jin renamed it the Xuanwu dance and added cups to the Han plate dance to make the cup-and-plate dance.2021 · ImpactIn 2021 the yiwu row dance of Fuqing, Fujian, entered the fifth national ICH list as III-135. It traces its ranked rows of dancers to Western Zhou ritual music and was later used in sacrifices to Confucius; in 1114 Liu Shen of Fuqing, working at the Dasheng music bureau, included its procedures in the music books he compiled.
  1. 202 BCEOriginIn the early Han, Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) admired the war dances of the Cong troops who had fought for him and had his musicians learn them; the result was called the Ba-Yu dance. His consort Lady Qi was known for a dance of raised sleeves and bending waist, which hundreds of her attendants learned.
  2. 180EvolutionIn the music and entertainment relief of the late Eastern Han tomb at Beizhai, Yinan (c. 168–189), a long-sleeved dancer moves over seven plates and a small drum set on the ground, stamping the drum to keep time: the seven-plate dance.
  3. 222EvolutionEarly in the Wei, Wang Can rewrote the lyrics of the Ba-Yu dance, which was renamed the Zhaowu dance in 222; the Jin renamed it the Xuanwu dance and added cups to the Han plate dance to make the cup-and-plate dance.
  4. 2021ImpactIn 2021 the yiwu row dance of Fuqing, Fujian, entered the fifth national ICH list as III-135. It traces its ranked rows of dancers to Western Zhou ritual music and was later used in sacrifices to Confucius; in 1114 Liu Shen of Fuqing, working at the Dasheng music bureau, included its procedures in the music books he compiled.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · III-135 Yiwu row dance · no. 1407 · Fuqing · Fuzhou · Fujian · safeguarding body: Fuqing Lida Confucian Society