Dacheng Hymns for Confucius

Introduction

Six movements for the six stages of the rite, from welcoming to sending off the spirit, named as last revised in 1742

The Dacheng hymns are the ritual music of the shidian sacrifice to Confucius, and the Qufu ceremony as a whole is also known as the Dacheng or Dingji music and dance. The rite usually has six stages, welcoming the spirit, the first, second and final offerings, clearing the offerings and sending off the spirit, and the music falls into six matching movements. The movement names in use today are those of the last revision in 1742, the seventh year of the Qianlong reign, running from the Zhaoping hymn of the welcome to the Deping hymn of the farewell. Dancers begin with the Xuanping hymn of the first offering and continue through the second and final offerings. Bronze bells and stone chimes lead the ensemble, joined by zithers, mouth organs and vertical flutes. Each dynasty named the hymns in its own way: the Northern Song used the word an, the Ming used he and the Qing used ping. The Qufu ceremony was revived in 1986 after half a century of silence and entered the first national heritage list in 2006.

Parts

1. Zhaoping HymnPlayed to welcome the spirit as the rite begins
2. Xuanping HymnPlayed at the first offering, when the dancers begin
3. Zhiping HymnPlayed at the second offering as the dance goes on
4. Xuping HymnPlayed at the final offering, with the dancers still in motion
5. Yiping HymnPlayed as the offerings are cleared and the rite nears its end
6. Deping HymnPlayed to send off the spirit in the last stage of the rite