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Confucian Temple Music

Three offerings, music in order, the rite complete

Introduction

The ritual music played through the welcoming, three offerings and farewell of the sacrifice to Confucius

Confucian temple music is the ritual music played at the sacrifice to Confucius in the temples dedicated to him. Following the rite's sequence of welcoming the spirit, the first, second and final offerings and the farewell, the orchestra of bells, chimes, qin, se and the other eight timbres plays the hymns while dancers hold flutes and pheasant plumes. In 85 CE Emperor Zhang of Han sacrificed to Confucius at Queli and had the music of the Six Dynasties performed; in the Zhenghe reign of Northern Song the Dasheng instruments were sent to Queli, the Ming named its hymns with the character he, and the Qing called the music Zhonghe shaoyue. In 1829 Qiu Zhilu arranged the music for the Confucian temple of Liuyang (II-168), which is still handed down; the great sacrifice at Qufu was revived in 1986, and temples in Taipei, Tainan and elsewhere still hold the rite on schedule. The yiwu row dance (III-135) belongs with Chinese dance.

Timeline

85 CE (Eastern Han) to present
85 · OriginIn spring 85 CE Emperor Zhang of Han, returning from a tour of the east, stopped at Queli in Lu, sacrificed to Confucius and his seventy-two disciples with the full offering, and had the music of the Six Dynasties performed: the earliest clear record of music at a sacrifice to Confucius.1116 · EvolutionIn 1114 Kong Duanyou, Duke Yansheng, asked for the new Dasheng music, and in 1116 the instruments reached Queli, the first time an emperor issued instruments to the Confucian temple; Yuan hymns kept titles in an, and the Ming retitled them with he.1829 · EvolutionIn 1829 Qiu Zhilu, first teacher of the Liuyang Bureau of Rites and Music, arranged the Confucian temple music of Liuyang from the Southern Song Twelve Songs of the Odes by Zhao Yansu, turning one-note-per-syllable settings into measured rhythm and adding the gourd xun to complete the eight timbres; the Confucian temple at Qufu also adopted this score.2014 · ImpactIn 1986 the great sacrifice at Qufu was revived after half a century of silence; in 2014 the Confucian temple music of Liuyang entered the fourth national ICH list as II-168.
  1. 85OriginIn spring 85 CE Emperor Zhang of Han, returning from a tour of the east, stopped at Queli in Lu, sacrificed to Confucius and his seventy-two disciples with the full offering, and had the music of the Six Dynasties performed: the earliest clear record of music at a sacrifice to Confucius.
  2. 1116EvolutionIn 1114 Kong Duanyou, Duke Yansheng, asked for the new Dasheng music, and in 1116 the instruments reached Queli, the first time an emperor issued instruments to the Confucian temple; Yuan hymns kept titles in an, and the Ming retitled them with he.
  3. 1829EvolutionIn 1829 Qiu Zhilu, first teacher of the Liuyang Bureau of Rites and Music, arranged the Confucian temple music of Liuyang from the Southern Song Twelve Songs of the Odes by Zhao Yansu, turning one-note-per-syllable settings into measured rhythm and adding the gourd xun to complete the eight timbres; the Confucian temple at Qufu also adopted this score.
  4. 2014ImpactIn 1986 the great sacrifice at Qufu was revived after half a century of silence; in 2014 the Confucian temple music of Liuyang entered the fourth national ICH list as II-168.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2014National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage4th batch · II-168 Confucian temple music of Liuyang · no. 1262 · Liuyang · Hunan