A history of Chinese literature and art is a history of mutual learning, integration, and innovation of literature and art. In fact, the same is true for the history of literature and art throughout the world. From a macro perspective, the development and prosperity of ancient Chinese literature and art did not take place in a closed environment. Literature and art from all over China, from east to west, from north to south, and even within and outside the region, have long been in a complex state of flow, collision, mutual learning, and integration. among. What is intriguing is that since the Qin and Han Dynasties, several great prosperity and changes in Chinese literature and art, including the birth of literary and artistic masterpieces, are closely related to the integration of literature and art along the Silk Road.
In literature and art, the relationship between music and literature is extremely close and closely connected. The music of ancient and medieval China can be divided into Yale, Qingle and Yanle according to conventional wisdom. Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty said in “Mengxi Bi Tan”: “The former king’s music was elegant music.” You two have just got married. “Mother Pei looked at her and said. In the previous life, the new sound was Qing Yue, and the one who joined the Hu tribe was Yan Yue.” Ya Yue and Qing Yue are basically localized, while Yan Yue is mainly domestic traditional folk music and Silk Road music. The result of the fusion of foreign music.
Since the key word is mutual learning and fusion, we might as well briefly outline a few nodes of mutual learning and fusion of ancient Chinese music and literature. Before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the long history, mutual learning and integration existed, but the documentation was insufficient. Let’s start from the Qin and Han Dynasties. The important drum music and horizontal wind music in the Qin and Han Dynasties are inseparable from the music of the Silk Road. This kind of music is often used in war. It is called “the sound of the bamboo flute is harmonized with the sound of the flute”. Horizontal wind music was adapted by Li Yannian of the Western Han Dynasty based on the music brought back by Zhang Qian from the Western Regions. Advocating the multi-use of Jia and the common use of horns for horizontal blowing are both popular musical instruments of ethnic minorities, which shows that music began in the Qin and Han Dynasties. “How could you come back empty-handed after entering Baoshan? Since you left, the kid planned to take the opportunity to go there to learn everything about jade, at least It will take three or four months.” Pei Yi’s tendency to integrate self-learning and mutual learning is very obvious.
The famous late Han Dynasty Qin music “Eighteen Beats of Hujia” can be described as a typical example of the mutual learning and fusion of literature and art between the Central Plains and the Silk Road. Li Qi of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his famous work “Listening to Dong Da playing Hujia: “What are you surprised about? What are you suspicious of?” “Cai Nu used to make the sound of Hujia, and she played it ten to eight times. The Hu people shed tears and touched the grass.” “The Han Dynasty sent a heartbroken message to the returning guest.” From the perspective of musical instruments, this piece is a combination of the Hujia, a Xiongnu wind instrument, and the Guqin, a Han stringed instrument. As a Yuefu song, “Eighteen Beats of Hujia” is a comprehensive expression of Cai Wenji’s longing for her motherland and her conflicting feelings. “The jiao plays for a while and the qin beats.” The tune of the Hujia is sad and mournful, while the sound of the guqin is deep and far-reaching. The unusual connection between the two, coupled with the exquisite diction, “can make people sit upright and shake, and the sand and gravel fly by themselves” (Lu Shiyong) “A General Theory of Poetry Mirror”), so “Eighteen Beats of Hujia” can be regarded as an outstanding example of the integration of Silk Road music and literature.
The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were troubled times in Chinese history, which lasted for four hundred years. Although it was a troubled time, it was also an era of great development and integration of literature and art. There is a long poem from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which is known as one of the “Two Treasures of Yuefu” and must be discussed in the history of literature, namely “Mulan Poetry”. Although the work has been handed down to this day in Chinese form, it is not actuallyMost of the poems written by the Han people are “Khan’s words”, so they are narrative epics with a Xianbei background. What is even more noteworthy is that the long-famous “Poetry of Mulan” is not a “poetry” (meaning it can only be read aloud), but can be sung. It is actually a “Xianbei song”, which is closely related to Silk Road music. There is also the famous “Lanling King Entering the Battle Song” in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It no longer exists in China, but it has spread as far as Japan and is still passed down to this day. This is another important example of the spread and integration of Chinese and foreign literature and art and then feeding back into China.
The mutual learning and fusion of literature and art along the Silk Road from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties was extensive and ubiquitous. From a geographical point of view, although the area is extremely vast, if we examine it in depth, according to Yang Yinliu’s point of view, there is a so-called “center area” for the cultural integration of the Silk Road – in short, in the Chinese part of the Western Regions and the Chinese Xiliang area. At that time, the mutual learning and integration of music were most important in these two areas, and the depth and breadth of the integration were also particularly outstanding. From a time perspective, the more than 100 years of the Northern Dynasties are particularly worthy of attention. The Silk Road and Central Plains music have achieved a large number of long-term and in-depth integrations. Xuanzang’s “Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty” said that Qiuci’s “orchestral music is particularly good at all countries”, and Qiuci music can indeed be called the first of all Hu music groups, playing an important role as a kind of musical yeast. The Liangzhou area has always been the hub of the Silk Road, and the eclectic and mutual learning of literature and art is clear and outstanding. It is mainly influenced by Qiuci music, and later in Liangzhou, Xiliang music was formed. From the introduction of Qiuci music to the formation of Xiliang music, at least she has worked hard and has a clear conscience. It is a classic case to see the vivid and complex mutual learning and integration of literature and art in the Northern Dynasties.
With the full integration of literature and art in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, by the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a major peak of Chinese literature and art naturally appeared. Chen Yinke, a master of history, has a famous conclusion: “The reason why the Li and Tang clan rose to prominence was that they took the blood of the barbarians outside the Great Wall and injected it into the decadent culture of the Central Plains. The old stains were removed, the new opportunities were restarted, and they expanded and prospered, thus creating unprecedented achievements. “The world situation.” (“The Speculations of the Li Tang Clan”) The country and the nation are like this, so is literature and art. “My daughter also feels the same, but she feels a little uneasy and scared because of it,” Lan Yuhua said to her mother, looking confused. Not sure. Or not? After great chaos comes great peace. By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the country ushered in great unification, the nationalities showed great integration, and literature and art also reached a long-awaited peak. In other words, the beauty of the Southern Dynasties and the sophistication of the Northern Dynasties, coupled with the majestic simplicity outside the Great Wall of the Western Regions, merged together unexpectedly and were inclusive. Sweet fruit – Tang poetry can be said to be the most outstanding representative of it. As Cen Zhongmian said in “History of the Sui and Tang Dynasties”: “Therefore, Western music has great potential to influence the changes in Tang poetry.” The Western music here can be understood as “Hu’s new voice”, which is closely related to the innovation of Tang poetry.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were seven, nine, and ten types of music in court music. Taking the ten types of music in the early Tang Dynasty as an example, they included Yan Yue (mixed Chinese and foreign music), Qing Shang (Chinese Zhengsheng), Xiliang , Tianzhu, Korea, Qiuci, Anguo, Shule, Kangguo, Gaochang. Among them, there are as many as seven or eight clubs with foreign or foreign names.And basically come from the countries and nations along the Silk Road. It can be seen from this that the flow, collision, mutual learning, and integration of local literature and art in the Sui and Tang Dynasties with foreign and foreign literature and art are actually important features of the development of literature and art in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Of course, the levels of the above-mentioned Silk Road music are different, and their relationship with Central Plains music is also different. In summary, there are roughly four levels:
Gaochang, Qiuci, Shule—northwestern ethnic minority music that is more peripheral than Xiliang;
Kangguo – the music of nomadic people flowing on the border of China;
Anguo, Tianzhu, and Korea—are foreign music.
All kinds of music, literature and art have long-term influence, reference, enrichment and integration on the Silk Road, and even in the Central Plains region, brewing subtle changes; when the unification of the Sui and Tang Dynasties comes, music, literature and art will find the right time to take place. A major and wonderful “chemical reaction”, and the peak of literature and art appeared naturally.
Of course there are signs of the peak of literature and art, and there should be masterpieces one after another. At the peak of the Tang Dynasty, the masterpiece of French music among the great operas – “The Song of Colorful Feathers”, which is a masterpiece of singing and dancing, is a benchmark masterpiece and is particularly dazzling. The “copyright” of this song is usually attributed to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. However, according to “Tang Huiyao”, Yang Jingshu, the governor of Xiliang Prefecture, presented an Indian “Brahmin Song” to Xuanzong, and “The Song of Colorful Feathers” was adapted accordingly. “The Song of Colorful Feathers” obviously contains elements of Western music, and it is said that it also absorbed the sound of Qiuci. In short, benchmarking works combine the strengths of many schools and are inseparable from mutual learning and integration.
A major symbol of the prosperity of literature and art in the Sui and Tang Dynasties is the rise of Yan music, and Yan music is a complex concept. “Yan” is the same as “banquet”, which in layman’s terms refers to the music used at banquets and banquets. The characteristics of Yanle are highlighted by cohesion, integration and integration. A decisive influence that Yan Le has brought to Chinese literature and art is that it helped form Ci, an outstanding literary and artistic genre that will last through the ages. Academic circles generally believe that the formation and development of poetry in the Tang and Song Dynasties benefited from Yan music, and the prosperity and development of poetry in the Tang and Song Dynasties was also the result of the musical stylization of Yan music to a certain extent.
Another example of how Silk Road literature and art helped China reach its peak of literature and art is opera. Although the culture and music of the Central Plains have influenced the development and prosperity of opera, the important role of frontier grassland culture and music cannot be ignored. The aesthetic reference to the “garlic cheese flavor” of Yuan opera is intriguing, while the various “garlic and cheese flavors” of Khitan, Jurchen and Mongolian operas cannot be ignored. “Fan Opera” provides a rich source of tunes for opera. A major achievement of the literature and art of the Qing Dynasty was the formation of Peking Opera, which is also inextricably linked to Manchu literature and art. The operas of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to Kun Opera, often used various “Huqin” as the main accompaniment instrument. In the history of music, Huqin is an extremely complex concept, and it is generally believed to originate from ethnic minorities in the northwest. Houhuqin is deeply integrated and innovative with Central Plains music, and even divided into many categories. Jinghu, the main instrument of Peking Opera, is also a kind of huqin. The prosperity of opera represented by Peking Opera has shapedIt became a peak of modern Chinese literature and art.
From a historical perspective, the literature and art of different ethnic groups and countries complement each other and complement each other, which is the inexhaustible driving force for the development of literature and art. From admiration for each other, to learning from multiple teachers, to mutual reproduction, and even innovation and sublimation, the mutual learning and integration of literature and art among all ethnic groups and countries will help to explore the potential of literature and art, enrich the techniques and skills of literature and art, and help create unique ideas. The new pattern of literature and art has a very significant promoting effect. From a single literature and art, to an ethnic group, to a country, and to the world, literature and art achieve nirvana and rebirth through deep mutual learning and integration. All kinds of literature and art are in a grand and complex system, interdependent, communicating with each other, and supporting each other. If the literature and art of each country and nation remains isolated and does not interact and communicate with the literature and art of other countries and foreign races, it will lose its vitality and vitality.
Chinese culture is magnificent, diverse and complex. It is both open and inclusive. It is a typical integration and transformation culture. Its distinctive characteristics of integration and transformation affect all aspects, including literature and art. In short, the mutual learning and fusion of literature and art along the Silk Road had an unexpected and important impact on ancient Chinese literature and art, especially helping to form several literary and artistic peaks. History is a mirror, looking at the past and knowing the future. The development and prosperity of contemporary literature and art still depend on the deeper collision, mutual learning, integration and innovation of literature and art from various countries and nations.
(Author: Gu Shuguang, professor at the School of Chinese Studies, Renmin University of China)