Tang dynasty (7th–10th century)

Thriving of foreign styles

The few centuries of Tang dynasty existence (618–907) are supersaturated with brilliant imperial growth and cultural flourishing as well as military and natural disasters. Such a rich loam of good and bad nourished a most fascinating era of music history. The more-formal imperial ceremonies revitalized the ancient orchestras of bells, stone chimes, flutes, drums, and zithers, plus large bands of courtly dancers. In reality, imperial power was based perhaps less on the mandate of heaven (tianming)—the notion that an emperor’s right to rule was divinely conferred—than on the “liberation” of neighbouring countries, the establishment of more-thorough tax systems, and the development of more trade cities and harbours. Into all these power sources flowed foreign goods and foreign ideas. Persians, Arabs, Indians, and people from the Malay Peninsula were found in the foreign quarters of port towns, while every trade caravan brought in masses of new faces and modes of living. Perhaps it is not surprising that an 8th-century poet, Yuan Zhen, should lament about air pollution created by western horsemen, about the ladies who studied western fashions and makeup, and about the entertainers who devoted themselves to only “western” music. (One must remember that the term western in Yuan’s work refers to the land west of the Great Wall.)

There was hardly a tavern in the capital of Chang’an (now Xi’an, Shaanxi province) that could compete without the aid of a female singer or dancer from the western regions with an accompanying set of foreign musicians. Popular tunes of the period included “South India” and “Watching the Moon in Brahman Land,” while beautiful exotic dancing boys or girls were ever the rage. One set of girls from Sogdiana (centred in modern Uzbekistan) won the support of the emperor Xuanzong (712–756) because they were costumed in crimson robes, green pants, and red deerskin boots, and they twirled on top of balls. Other girls from the city today called Tashkent inspired a poet of the 9th century, Bai Juyi, with their dance, which began with their emergence from artificial lotuses and ended with the pulling down of their blouses to show their shoulders, a style not unfamiliar to old Western burlesque connoisseurs. A study of the lithe bodies and flying sleeves on Tang clay dancing figurines is even more compelling proof of the style of the era. In such a context one can understand how eventually an additional character was added sometimes to the word for dance to indicate the movement of the legs as well as of the upper body.

In addition to all the commercial musical enterprises of the Tang dynasty, there was another equally extensive system under government supervision. Emperor Xuanzong seemed particularly keen on music and took full advantage of the various musical “tributes” or “captives” sent to him by all the nations of Asia. This plethora of sounds was further enriched by the special area in Chang’an called the Pear Garden (Liyuan), in which hundreds of additional musicians and dancers were trained and in which the emperor himself was most active. Such trainees were often female. They followed in an earlier tradition of court girls (gongnü) whose basic duties were to entertain distinguished guests.

The mass of different foreign musical styles in the capital was too much for the government musical bureaucracy. A distinction already had been made between court music (yayue) and common music (suyue), but Tang nomenclature added a third kind—foreign music (huyue). Eventually officials organized imperial music into the 10 performing divisions, or shibu ji. Of these divisions, one represented instrumentalists from Samarkand, whereas another group came from farther west in Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan). Kashgar, at the mountain pass between the east and the west, sent yet a different group. Musical ensembles were also presented to the emperor from the eastern Turkistan trade centres of Kucha and Turfan. India and two recently defeated kingdoms of Korea provided still other musicians. Chinese and Kucha music were blended by different musicians. One group was supposed to maintain the old styles of Chinese folk music, and there had to be one special group for the performance of formal Chinese court music. These 10 types by no means completed the picture, for nearly every Asian culture took its chance at musical goodwill in Chang’an. Nothing from farther west appears in Tang China. Nevertheless, one can sense in Tang musical culture an internationalism not matched until the mid-20th century, when radios and phonographs provided their owners with the delights of a similarly diverse and extensive range of choices.

Courtly music

The only music that can be discussed in a survey of a repertoire so large is the more official courtly music. Ritual presentations are generally divided into two types: so-called standing music, performed without strings and apparently in the courtyard; and sitting music, for a full ensemble played inside a palace. There are lists of the names of some pieces in these categories with their authorship usually credited to the emperor or empress of the time. For example, “The Battle Line Smashing Song” was attributed to the Tang emperor Taizong (626–649). The accompanying dance is listed for 120 performers with spears and armour. A similarly grandiose piece is “Music of Grand Victory” credited to the next Tang emperor, Gaozong (649–683). Wuhou (died 705) is said to have written “The Imperial Birthday Music,” in which the dancers moved into a formation representing the characters meaning “Long Live the Emperor” in the best modern marching-band tradition. Music inside the palace includes a concert version of “The Battle Line Smashing Song” with only four dancers, “A Banquet Song,” and a piece supposedly composed by the empress Wuhou in honour of her pet parrot, who frequently called out “Long Live Her Majesty.” Those familiar with European music in the courts of Henry VIII and Louis XIV or with the songs always ending in praise of Queen Elizabeth I may recognize the cultural context of such music.

Later-dynasty copies of Tang paintings show ladies entertaining the emperor with ensembles of strings, winds, and percussion, and many of the choreographic plans of the larger pieces are also available in books. According to some sources, court orchestra pieces began with a prelude in free rhythm that set the mood and mode of the piece and introduced the instruments. This was followed by a slow section in a steady beat, and the piece ended in a faster tempo. Documents also tell much about the instrumentation and the colour and design of each costume of the musicians and dancers. No orchestral scores are to be found, however. One solo piece for qin survives, and 28 ritual melodies for pipa were discovered in the hidden library of the Buddhist caves of Dunhuang (Cave of the Thousand Buddhas), but the grand musical traditions of Tang remain frustratingly elusive. Major clues to their actual sounds are found in survivals of such traditions in Korean and Japanese music. The original traditions waned with the decline of Tang good fortune, and the conflicts of the Five Dynasties (Wudai) and Ten Kingdoms (Shiguo) period (907–960) brought the international period to an end.