In the Shaanxi History Museum, there is an internationally renowned treasure - a gilt silver pot with dancing horse title cup pattern. This precious treasure from the Tang Dynasty is famous for its gorgeous appearance, outstanding temperament of ethnic blending and unique production technology. Behind it, there are many intriguing historical origins and even stories of the rise and fall of the times.
▲Tang Dynasty painted pottery horse and horse taming figurines collected in Luoyang Museum
Dancing horse pours a cup of music, drunk in the emperor's house
From the appearance, the body of the gilt dancing horse cup-patterned silver pot presents a delicate and smooth oblate shape , this shape is a perfect imitation of the shape of the leather bag pot commonly used by the Khitan people, a nomadic people in northern my country, and is full of magnolia style.
In the early Tang Dynasty, with the unification of political power and the wave of ethnic integration, the ties between various ethnic groups became closer. It was under this historical background that many such pot-like artistic treasures were produced. The ingenuity and ingenuity of the craftsmen are reflected on the pot, and the most eye-catching thing is undoubtedly the image of a horse holding a cup to celebrate birthdays carefully carved on both sides of the pot belly. Their vigorous postures add a vivid artistic atmosphere to the body of the pot. The horse dances like a dragon, and holding a cup in its hand while worshiping is even more auspicious. This is a true portrayal of the luxurious style during the Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty - the dancing horse holding a cup.
Regarding the activity of "horse dancing", it is very likely that it originated from the Western Regions. It was deeply loved by the nobles after it was introduced to the Central Plains with Zhang Qian in the Han Dynasty. It was popular among the noble families during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The volume "Yi Wen Lei Ju" records Cao Zhi's "Horse Presentation Table": "When I was the emperor of Xianwu (Cao Cao), I got a Dawan purple horse. The shape and method should be as shown in the picture. He was good at holding the head and tail, and taught him how to worship. Now he can do it, and he can perform it in harmony with the drum festival." It explains that during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao's son Cao Zhi once presented a Dawan horse to his brother. This horse was specially trained to dance to the beat of the drum, which was very artistic. and ornamental. There are also several records in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. For example, the "History of the Northern Dynasties" records the deeds of King Tuyuhun in the early years of the Western Wei Dynasty when he sent envoys to praise Lu and send envoys to offer dancing horses, sheep, cattle and other livestock. During the Tianjian period of the Liang Dynasty, When the Liang Dynasty granted the title of King of Henan to the ruler Tuyuhun, Tuyuhun also presented a dancing horse to Liang Dynasty. The Liang Dynasty ordered Zhang to compose a poem to commemorate the event. In the Tang Dynasty, due to the Li royal family's love for horses, especially "Hu horses", in addition to military purposes, many Western-style horses became dancing horses.
These carefully selected dancing horses are put into the Feilong Stable, Xianglin Stable and other royal stables for careful training and training so that they can perform at any time. Horse dancing in the Tang Dynasty began in the late Taizong period, and reached a climax during the reigns of Emperor Gaozong, Wu Zetian, and especially Xuanzong. From the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, horse dancing performances were still dominated by solo dances. By the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, horse dancing performances changed from solo dances to group dances. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had 400 dancing horses. Among them, his two most beloved horses were named "Li Jia Chong" and "Li Jia Jiao" respectively. The reason why these two horses were favored was largely because they were horses with strong musical talents. It is extremely sensitive to rhythm, can dance to the rhythm, and holds a cup to toast as naturally as flowing water, so it is regarded as a treasure by its owner. The musical gene of horse dancing must have been developed through generations of horse trainers from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. Horses with strong musical genes were selected and trained in special ways to form such an exquisite art of horse dancing.
In "Long Live Yuefu Ci" written by Zhang Shuo, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, there is such a description: "The Holy Emperor's virtues are equal to those of heaven, and the heavenly horses come from the west of the sea. The arms and legs walk slowly and bow to the knees, and the prosperity is not arrogant." They march forward with thousands of hooves. When they are crouching, their bodies are roaring with anger, and they even end up holding a cup in their hands, bowing their heads and turning their tails as drunk as mud." The poet Wang Jian also wrote a poem in "In front of the building": "Tianbao. During the Qinzheng Building, the Qianqiu Festival was held on three days every year. Feilong Laoma once taught dance, and always raised his head when hearing the sound. "These poems vividly describe the grand banquet held on the birthday of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, where he received officials and officials. While foreign envoys and leaders of various ethnic groups congratulated each other, they also had to perform the star show of the palace birthday dance of dancing horses and cups. Regarding this, there is a clear record in the "Old Book of Tang Dynasty: Liyue Zhi": "The Emperor Ming ordered to teach horses to dance with four hundred hooves, each with left and right divisions. The clothes were embroidered with literature and the waist was decorated with gold beads. Every Qianqiu Festival Dancing under Qinzheng's building, a banquet was given and dozens of pieces of music were played. The horses heard the sound and danced with their heads and tails, moving vertically and horizontally in response to the festival.He also built a three-layer plank bed and rode a horse, turning around like flying. Or order a strong man to raise a couch, and horses dance on it, and it will be normal for the whole year. "It can be seen that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was very fond of dancing horses. Not only were there a large number of them, the decorations were gorgeous and expensive, but the horse dancing performances were also quite difficult and they could perform various tricks. This amazed the envoys and visitors.
"Zi Zhitong" "Jian" also records: "The Tibetan envoys were having a banquet, and a horse play was played in the palace... The music was played, and the horses followed it, meandering to the rhythm, drinking wine at the music player, holding the cup in his mouth, lying down and rising up, and the envoys were all shocked. . "In Zhang Shuo's poem, the dancing horse holding a cup will also drink the wine in the cup. Dancing after being drunk is even more interesting. Dancing while drunk and finally kneeling down to the emperor to celebrate his birthday was a spectacle at the time, but in modern times From a human perspective, this may also be suspected of animal cruelty. However, the musician Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty enjoyed it so much that he even specially composed a song "Qingbei Music" to accompany the performance. It is said that this music can control the movements of the dancing horses. When the sound stopped, the horse immediately toasted, which can be called a strange thing. "Pouring the Cup of Music" was later preserved in the history of Chinese literature and music, and became a Ci Pai and Qu Pai in Zheng Chuhai's "Ming Huang Za" in the Tang Dynasty. It is recorded in "Records": "Xuanzong was ordered to teach horses to dance with four hundred hoofs... At that time, there were also good horses coming to pay tribute outside the fortress, and they were taught and learned, and they all performed to their best. The song is called "The Music of Pouring Cups", and it has dozens of chapters in which the head drum and tail drum are played vigorously and vertically and horizontally to respond to the rhythm. "This is the strong evidence for the composition of "Pour the Cup Music". It can be seen that the art of horse dancing has been closely related to music since its birth, and has been gradually developing along the historical context. This form has been passed down to this day.
▲Tang Dynasty gilt dancing horse title cup pattern silver pot collected by Shaanxi History Museum
Ancient music is popular today, and its sound is always related to emotion.
In "Xian Suo Preparation" compiled by Rong Zhai in the Qing Dynasty in 1814, there is a title of the song. It is called "Dancing the Famous Horse". Rong Zhai clearly pointed out in the preface that the thirteen pieces of music recorded in "Xian Suo Beikao" are "modern ancient music", and specifically noted in the song "Dancing the Famous Horse": "The Emperor Ming" At that time, the emperor taught hundreds of dancing horses to hold cups to celebrate their longevity at every banquet. This song covers the music of that time. "When Rong Zhai compiled the score, these pieces of music were already ancient music at that time. Therefore, "Dancing the Famous Horse" that has been passed down to this day is not only related to the horse dance movement of the Tang Dynasty in terms of title, but its music also follows the old music. The "movement" clearly shows that it is the inheritance and development of ancient music.
"Xian Suo Bei Kao", also known as "Xian Suo Bei Kao", is an instrumental ensemble score preserved in the form of music scores from the early Qing Dynasty. The song has a unique style. On the one hand, it shows the style of the Qing Dynasty literati, especially the Manchu and Mongolian literati in the Qing Dynasty, who were able to express themselves freely in self-entertainment gatherings. On the other hand, it achieves a magical integration of elegance and vulgarity. Mr. Aixinjueluo Yuxi once commented that it is "so elegant and yet so vulgar". Why does it have such a charm? This is probably the combination of various ethnic groups in our country's history. The music materials are related to the fusion of court music, folk music and further processing of literati music. From this aspect, these thirteen national instrumental ensembles not only have distinctive styles, but also are powerful witnesses of the long history and mutual integration of my country's national music. .
"Xiansuo Preparation" has six volumes in total. Volume one is called "Collection Score", which is the total score. Volume two is a set of eleven pipa scores; volume three is a set of erhu scores. There are eleven sets; Volume 5 contains thirteen sets of Zheng music; Volume Six contains six sets of Gongchi music, titled "Hehuan Ling", "General's Ling", "Sixteen Boards", "Qin Sound Board", "Qingyin Chuan" and "Pingyin Chuan". "Yun Chuan", "Yueer Gao", "Qin Music Er Gao", "Pu'an Mantra", "Haiqing", "Yangguan Sandie", "Songqing Night Tour" and "Dancing Famous Horse". These thirteen sets of music have various forms and have their own merits. Among them, "Dance of the Famous Horse" is a large-scale suite with a rigorous structure, which reflects the beauty of Chinese traditional music variations. It is based on rich variation forms and adds new music materials to reproduce the grand and spectacular horse dancing scene. .
"Xiansuo Preparatory Examination" is the most detailed and complete record of Xiansuo music score that can be found in the history of Chinese music so far.However, because the structure of these ancient music was too complex, and the artistic conception and style to be expressed by the music were difficult to indicate on the music score, for a long time, the music scores recorded in "Xian Suo Preparatory Examination" were still not fully performed. Pass.
After more than ten years of in-depth arrangement, research and performance work by scholars, the hard work paid off. Finally, a recording of "Xiansuo Preparation" stored in the Music Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts was discovered by musicians. . The performer of this precious recording is Mr. Aixinjueluo Yulong. Due to his family background, Mr. Yulong has been exposed to "Thirteen Sets of Strings" since childhood and has practiced it himself. Therefore, with the help of Mr. Yulong, the musicians gained confidence and motivation. After two years of hard work, on July 13, 1988, the "Aixinjueluo Yulong Sanxian Concert" was held at the Beijing Music Festival The event was held grandly and received widespread acclaim. Since then, related work has been carried out more in-depth and orderly. On November 14, 2009, Professor Lin Ling, Professor Tan Longjian, Professor Xue Ke, and Professor Zhang Qiang performed the complete set of "Thirteen Sets of Strings" at the Opera Hall of the China Conservatory of Music. , the sound of music is endless. In the music, history vividly travels through time and space, as if precious frames are vividly displayed in front of the audience. "Dancing Horse" has also attracted more attention from music lovers and history buffs.
History is a warning to the world, and the soul of art will be passed down forever
Listen to "Dancing Horses" and look back on history. When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was enjoying the wonderful horse dance performance with great interest in a prosperous and gentle countryside, he did not know that there was a huge crisis hidden under the blazing fire and blooming flowers.
In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), history suddenly turned and the Anshi Rebellion broke out. Tang Xuanzong fled in panic, and the dancing horses fell into the hands of An Lushan's general Tian Chengsi. After a large number of palace dancing horses were transferred to Luoyang, these innocent famous horses suffered a disaster. Where has the dancing horse ever been trained for the battlefield? From then on, no one cared about their pure blood and outstanding talents, and no one appreciated their singing and dancing and musical talents. What's more, during the banquet in the army, the dancing horses who were accustomed to hearing the music reacted reflexively. They danced to the beat. When the uninformed soldiers saw this scene, they believed that they were all monsters, so they were whipped to death. After that, the birthday celebration music dance of dancing horses holding cups disappeared in the flames of war, just like the Song Dynasty poet Xu Ji's "Dance" The description in "Horse Poetry": "The emperor of Kaiyuan was in peace, dancing at night and being fascinated by the song. The embroidered couch was full of horses and horses, and the brocade clothes were covered with mud. Before he beat the drum, he was the first to get up, and he was like a golden whip. . Tomorrow the opera will retell old songs, and Fan Yang will come to the west." At this point, the wonderful horse dance will inevitably disappear in the long river of history. Only the intriguing sounds of ancient music and many puzzles are left: What is the specific music of the horse dance? The silver pot as evidence of cultural relics is modeled after the Khitan style, so does "The Dance of the Famous Horse" still contain elements of Khitan music? Where did the music for "Dancing Horses" come from? ...
Tens of thousands of palaces have been made of dirt. Horses are supposed to be elves galloping freely on the prairie. In fact, they are not only used as transportation tools, but also undergo rigorous training to form conditioned reflexes and dance involuntarily. In the end, they were even mistaken for monsters and were killed. massacre. The sound of the music was like the helpless neighing of a horse.
Let history be history. When music is played on the stage, isn’t it another kind of record and compassion for all living beings? (End)
Author/Dai Yuanyuan
Source: Beijing Evening News
