Behind the prosperity of music in the Tang Dynasty: what impact did it have on court music and folk music?

China also celebrated the great Tang dynasty in the Tang dynasty, a period of economic development that also provided impetus for the development of the arts, and the development of music and art in the Tang dynasty also reached its heyday in feudal society during this period.

The Tang Dynasty also had a large number of people engaged in the art of music, because of the large scale, the audience is relatively wide, so in the Tang Dynasty period of music in all aspects of the music has been very mature, with the development of the economy, the music to achieve the achievements of "no one before".

One, the eight sound, all over the world

The Tang Dynasty music development has become the pinnacle of China's feudal society, music as the highest achievement in the art of the Tang Dynasty music achievements are also worldwide.

Countless ancestors in Chinese and foreign history have favored music, music's own unique charm, in the Tang Dynasty has also become the "language" of communication, music prosperity and the efforts of the various ethnic groups are inseparable.

1. Music from all sides, gathered here

The mid-Tang Dynasty and the Silk Road neighboring countries have frequent exchanges, the Tang Dynasty has also become a multinational cultural gatherings, the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty music and culture is also inseparable from them.

Another part of the reason is the efforts between the various ethnic groups in the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty music culture and various foreign music, collision, multi-party fusion, the music to the history of the most.

The music of the Tang Dynasty was a fusion of the foreign music cultures of Tianzhu, Goryeo, and other countries,as well as the music of various ethnic groups within the country, such as Xiliang and Jiangnan.

This kind of fusion is the trend of music itself, and in the Tang Dynasty, it was even more extreme, and the fusion of music from many sides was the inheritance and development of traditional culture of Chinese civilization for the traditional music of the Tang Dynasty.

The folk music of the Tang Dynasty was also introduced to the court, which served as an important gathering place for Tang music, and the folk music of the Tang Dynasty, "The King of Qin's Broken Formation Music," became an important part of the court's repertoire as soon as it was introduced to the court.

The piece depicted the greatness of the emperor's battle achievements. Whenever Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty heard this piece, he was so excited that he improved it while he was drunk, and the "Music of the King of Qin Breaking through the Frontier" became a mandatory piece to be played at banquets.

There are many other pieces similar to the "King of Qin's Broken Battle Music", including the "Nishang Yuyi Song", which has been passed down to this day, when it was introduced into the Great Tang Dynasty from Xiliang.

After this folk piece was introduced to the court, the court musicians also composed and changed it, and since then it has been performed in the court for a long time together with the "King of Qin's Broken Formation Music".

2. The court music fell into the folk

Behind the prosperity of the music of the Tang Dynasty, there are many professionals for the music of the strict examination, "where the study of music, the establishment of the teacher to teach, every year to test the teacher's coursework, for the upper, middle and lower three levels".

See in the music assessment, there is a clear classification, the assessment method is also a specialized teacher to evaluate, in such a harsh situation, many "rough and tumble" have not been able to get on the score of the Tang Dynasty.

Many teachers who couldn't keep up with the music were dissuaded from performing, and these old people were left behind in the folk world, thus creating the idea that court music was introduced into the folk world.

A large number of court musicians were displaced to the folk, and most of the folk music was also influenced by these displaced musicians, so they tended to express a kind of displaced and scattered folk emotions, and the music in the court was also brought to the folk by them.

The Tang Dynasty music boom also let a lot of officials intoxicated by them, they after a long period of inculcation also have a high attainment of the art of music, Tang Dynasty Bai Juyi also one of the inheritors of music.

They often performed music when they served in the court, and later when Bai Juyi was deposed, he also taught his family the repertoire he had acquired, promoting the development of music in the family.

Folk music was influenced by court music, and there were often some amazing repertoire, folk music has also become richer and more diverse.

Systematic elaboration of music was also carried out, and the progress of traditional music of the folk was highly advanced, and the heyday of music in the Tang Dynasty was also a result of the prosperity of both court music and folk music **** together.

Second, the sound of the world, the line of art

The reason why the music of the Tang Dynasty flourished, relying only on the development of the music itself can not reach this height, there must be an external force for the push, in order to have such an achievement, the Tang Dynasty, the greatest impetus to the music of the Tang Dynasty is the ruler of the Tang Dynasty.

The rulers, as the set of feudal society, if they like a thing, that thing becomes the object of national development, and this is the case with music.

1. The Ruler's Promotion of Music

The Tang rulers were very fond of court music, and court music became a way of enjoyment for the Tang rulers, and in order to develop the music they also specialized in the setting up of the Church Halls and the Pearly Gates, which gave a professional area for the development of music.

This is one of the reasons why music education and the development of music in the Tang Dynasty flourished. The rulers were not only the recipients of music, they were also its founders.

Tang Xuanzong, who was honored as the "Emperor of Music" for his contributions to music performance and theory, also excelled in repertoire.

Tang Xuanzong was not only a ruler, but also an outstanding performer and conductor, a ruler with artistic talent, and had a vital role to play in promoting music in many policies.

The Tang rulers, Tang Taizong, Wu Zetian and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, all promoted music and made court music one of the manifestations of musical prosperity.

The court music became a self-contained professional educational institution, which trained and sent a large number of talents with exquisite musical performance art and high level of instrumental performance for the development of music in the Tang Dynasty.

These ensured the inner power of the prosperity of music in the Tang Dynasty, and also popularized music among the people, and music also ushered in a comprehensive development in the Tang Dynasty.

2. The clear politics provided an environment for the development of music

The stability of a society is a prerequisite for the development of music, and only when people were no longer worried about their survival did they have the extra energy and attention for music, and the Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous period in the history of China.

The rulers of the Tang Dynasty began to focus on easing the burden of the people and focusing on the development of the economy, and the stability of a society is a prerequisite for the development of music.

Li Shimin reigned for twenty-three years, and he was dissatisfied with the brutal and dictatorial rule of his predecessors, because they were the bearers of brutality, which made them very hateful to this kind of rule.

After that, Li Shimin made many changes to the political system of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang rulers paid great attention to the cultivation and appointment of musical talents, which effectively promoted the development of musical art in the Tang Dynasty.

A stable social environment is naturally the protection of force, the Tang rulers also continue to enhance the military power, the country under their leadership is also the development of orderly, while the external is also active in communication, in order to achieve the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty heyday.

Many musical talents were selected for court music, and the rulers also cultivated these people individually, breaking the channel of mobility from the bottom to the top of society.

Many people who were proficient in music were able to change their lives through music. The Sheng Tang Dynasty was also very enlightened in terms of its literary and artistic policies, and musical talents gained unprecedented status in the Tang Dynasty.

Three, economic prosperity provides a material foundation

A country wants to develop the arts, there must be a stable social environment and sufficient material foundation, which the Tang Dynasty have done.

The reason why the Tang Dynasty was known as the Sheng Shi was because the rulers paid great attention to the development of the economy, and for this reason many enlightened economic policies were introduced, which provided the material conditions for the development of music.

1. Simple State System

The ruler of the Tang Dynasty formulated the law of rent and mediocrity, agriculture was encouraged by him, and the income of the peasants was increasing, and the wealth of the society was growing, while the ruler also reduced the state's financial revenue.

In order to reduce the revenue in this area, the Tang rulers began to crack down on officials who used public funds for consumption, and also rejected all extravagant fashions,also reduced the consumption of redundant personnel in the palace, in order to reduce the unnecessary expenditure of the state treasury.

The Tang Dynasty, during this period, developed a culture of simplicity of life, and no one went hungry, and the economy of the whole country began to develop in great strides, a measure that continued until the time of Li Longji.

This measure was continued until the economic aspect of not only the commercial prosperity, but also appeared in the "city", "market" and other trading places, in agriculture to encourage farmers to reclaim the wasteland, build water conservancy, improve production tools, etc., greatly improving the level of production of crops and products.

Not only was the domestic trade developed, but also the foreign trade of the Tang Dynasty was very developed, and the neighboring countries of the Tang Dynasty came here, and the Silk Road provided an important credential for the trade of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty as a trade center, neighboring countries and the Tang Dynasty also trade more frequently, good economic and social for the music provides material security.

2. Support of artistic activities by princes and nobles

The Tang Dynasty carried out musical activities in its political leisure time, because the country was strong, and there were strong financial resources and sufficient time to carry out artistic activities among all classes of society.

Artistic activities were also supported by the ministers of the royal court and often paid out of their own pockets to fuel the activities, which not only saved a great deal of financial resources for the development of music, but also maintained the integrity of artistic activities.

Many of the royal court ministers have very high attainments in music, but also advocate the development of the art of music,It is the Tang dynasty has the existence of these voices, music development can always be in the first place.

In this context, princes, nobles and rulers also took pride in organizing musical events, and many of the princes and court ministers also organized events in their own residences and enjoyed them.

The music of the Tang Dynasty has many ancient musical instruments, with the continuous restoration of musical instruments, the music content is constantly enriched, musical works are also in constant pursuit of the beauty of the mood, the music tuning, is divided into three categories, and in the music focus on the overall sense of rhythm.

Many of the music has its own story content, so the music of the Tang Dynasty have their own content, will not be drowned in the river with the passage of time.

Conclusion

Economic development and social stability all provided a greater internal impetus to the musical prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and the Sheng Tang was very stable and enlightened in literature and art.

Successfully pushing music to a higher status, it also allowed more musicians to have a platform to show themselves, and more excellent works could be passed down, making a significant contribution to the development of music in later generations.

References:

The Old Book of Tang