The Ancient Period of Chinese Traditional Dance

The figures in the dance pattern pottery pots with tail ornaments are both a reflection of hunting and labor life and carry vestiges of totem worship. The totem was the mark and protector of the clan, so people worshipped it.

The huge Hutubi rock painting of fertility worship in Xinjiang has shocked the world of archaeology. It unmistakably demonstrates the strong desire of human beings to pray for the reproduction of their offspring and the prosperity of their clans. Under the image of male and female copulation, there are two groups of children who move neatly and dance wildly, who are the hope and future of mankind. Legendary ancient music, full of mystery, because it is characterized by song, dance, music three into one form of expression, so later collectively referred to as "primitive music and dance".

Primitive music and dance is basically divided into two categories: one is to reflect the tribal production and way of life as a representative of the characteristics of the music, such as "Zhu Xiang's music" is said to be due to the drought of rain; "Yin Kang's music" is the fitness to drive away the wet music and dance; "The music of the Ijian clan reflects the wish of the ancestors to pray for a good harvest with the "Lunar Sacrifice"; and the music of the Gertian clan outlines the life of the ancestors when they entered the stage of agricultural production, etc. Another type of music is related to the legend. Another category is closely related to the music of the legendary ancient emperors, such as the music and dance that glorifies the achievements of Huangdi, Zhuanxu, ?i?u, Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun and Xia Yu.

The content of the music and dance of this period centrally reflects the survival behavior of human beings and the mentality of searching for nature. For example, in the music and dance of "The Music of the Ge Tian Clan," "Three men manipulate the tail of an ox and throw themselves into the air to sing eight songs." Among the eight songs mentioned in the song, "Jaemin" praises the land that carries the people to heaven; "Xuanbird" worships the clan's totem, a small black bird that symbolizes good fortune; "Suigao" wishes for lush grass and trees; "Fenwu Gu" prays for a good harvest of the five grains; "Jingtian Chang" praises the gifts of the heavens; "Dajigong" praises the grace of the heavens; "Yidiede" praises the nurturing of the earth; and "Zuigi zhongji (The Best for the Best Birds and Beasts)" prays for more gifts of birds and beasts from heaven so that people will have more peace and happiness. The "Extremity of the Total Birds and Beasts" prays for heaven to bestow more birds and beasts so that the people can live in peace and contentment. In many of the documents that recount the primitive period, not only do they record the general form of music at that time, but they also involve some musical instruments. For example, the Lu Shi Chun Qiu. Ancient Music" mentions that in the ancient Zhu Xiang's period, not only was there a lot of sand and wind, but also the climate was very dry, vegetation was scattered, and seeds had no fruits; at this time, there was a sage called Shida who made a five-stringed seer to beg for rain, so as to help the people live a stable life. The "five-stringed serpent" can be inferred to be a representative musical instrument of the primitive period.

Of course, there are many musical artifacts that have been passed down through the ages and unearthed, which can prove that China has a long history of musical culture. For example, in 1985, archaeologists unearthed 25 vertically blown bone flutes at the Neolithic site east of Jiahu Village in Maoyang, Henan Province, and experts measured one of the ancient flutes and proved that the tone it emitted was a complete seven-tone series. According to carbon 14 dating, these bone flutes are about 8,000 years old, and it shows that our ancestors had the concept of pitch at a very early stage. In addition, more musical artifacts unearthed are ocarinas, which usually tend to have an ovoid shape with a flat bottom, a blowhole, and one or several tone holes. Ocarinas of the primitive period also provide ample examples for the study of the formation of ancient scales. The Chinese people often refer to themselves as "the descendants of the dragon".

The dragon is an imaginary animal created by our ancestors, a symbol of divine power and auspiciousness. Its shape is a collection of totem shapes from many nations. It shows that in ancient times, the different clans of the Chinese land, in the process of continuous union, annexation and integration, created the image of the dragon. Therefore, the dragon is called the symbol of the Chinese nation.

Clam-plasticized dragons were found in tombs at the Hongshan culture site in western Liaoning province more than 5,000 years ago. Because of its large shape and realistic image, it is regarded as the "first dragon of China". As early as 3,000 years ago, there was the word "dragon" in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang dynasties, and the character for dragon was written in a variety of ways, with one piece of the oracle bone reading, "Ten people and five people saw the dragon in the field, and it rained."

From the Han through the Tang to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, records about the dragon, history is endless, and to this day there is a folk custom of dancing dragons for rain. Every festival, the Chinese land, as well as the world's Chinese settlements, there are tumbling and flying with different styles of dragon dance. Such as the gorgeous painted dragon, with a lotus flower composed of "hundred leaves dragon", full of incense, mouth fire "fire dragon", to the human body composed of "meat dragon", "human dragon", "board dragon" which is connected by boards and boards, as well as small "paper dragon", "segment dragon", "bench dragon", "bench dragon" and "paper dragon". The Dragon Dance has become a symbol of the spirit of the Chinese nation. The dragon dance has become a symbol of the spirit of the Chinese nation.