MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Tang Court Music and Dance

Long sleeves still in the air, the whirl begins

Introduction

Ten ensembles, seated and standing troupes, the Rainbow Raiment and the Sogdian whirl

Tang court music and dance is the song and dance of the Tang court's banquet music: the ten ensembles, the seated and standing troupes, the grand suites and the 'dharma pieces', with dances divided into vigorous 'strong dances' and graceful 'soft dances'. At a court banquet in 642 the ten ensembles were played for the first time, with the Kucha, Kashgar, Samarkand and Gaochang sets bringing in the music and dance of the Western Regions; in the standing troupe's Pozhen yue 120 dancers in armour wielded halberds. In 714 Emperor Xuanzong began teaching dharma pieces himself in the Pear Garden, and the Rainbow Raiment flourished from there; the Sogdian whirl, the Huteng, the Zhezhi and the sword dance were strong dances, the Green Waist and the Liangzhou soft dances. Most were scattered after the An Lushan rebellion, though early Song court troupe dances still kept names such as Zhezhi, Sword Dance and Brushing the Rainbow Raiment.

Timeline

Tang, from 642 to the end of the dynasty (642-907)
642 · OriginIn the eleventh month of 642 Emperor Taizong feasted his officials and the ten ensembles were played for the first time: the Gaochang music taken after the conquest of Gaochang had been handed to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and was joined to the nine ensembles inherited from the Sui. Mogao Cave 220 at Dunhuang, which bears an inscription of the same year, also shows a large music-and-dance scene.714 · EvolutionIn the first month of 714 Xuanzong set up the Left and Right Music Academies for popular music and chose several hundred musicians whom he taught dharma pieces himself in the Pear Garden, calling them the Emperor's Pear Garden Disciples; three hundred young players of the seated troupe also studied there.890 · EvolutionAt the end of the Tang, Duan Anjie's Miscellaneous Records of the Music Bureau divided court dances into strong dances, such as the Alian, Zhezhi, Sword Dance, Sogdian whirl and Huteng, and soft dances, such as the Liangzhou, Green Waist, Suhexiang, Quzhe, Tuanyuanxuan and Ganzhou.970 · ImpactThe early Song court set up a music academy whose troupe dances were divided into a boys' troupe of 72 and a girls' troupe of 153, each with ten sets; among them the Zhezhi, Sword Dance, Drunken Huteng and Brushing the Rainbow Raiment sets kept Tang dance names.
  1. 642OriginIn the eleventh month of 642 Emperor Taizong feasted his officials and the ten ensembles were played for the first time: the Gaochang music taken after the conquest of Gaochang had been handed to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and was joined to the nine ensembles inherited from the Sui. Mogao Cave 220 at Dunhuang, which bears an inscription of the same year, also shows a large music-and-dance scene.
  2. 714EvolutionIn the first month of 714 Xuanzong set up the Left and Right Music Academies for popular music and chose several hundred musicians whom he taught dharma pieces himself in the Pear Garden, calling them the Emperor's Pear Garden Disciples; three hundred young players of the seated troupe also studied there.
  3. 890EvolutionAt the end of the Tang, Duan Anjie's Miscellaneous Records of the Music Bureau divided court dances into strong dances, such as the Alian, Zhezhi, Sword Dance, Sogdian whirl and Huteng, and soft dances, such as the Liangzhou, Green Waist, Suhexiang, Quzhe, Tuanyuanxuan and Ganzhou.
  4. 970ImpactThe early Song court set up a music academy whose troupe dances were divided into a boys' troupe of 72 and a girls' troupe of 153, each with ten sets; among them the Zhezhi, Sword Dance, Drunken Huteng and Brushing the Rainbow Raiment sets kept Tang dance names.