Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:23:28.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Yin and Yang of Chinese Music Historiography: The Case of Confucian Ceremonial Music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Joseph S. C. Lam
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On 28 September 1990, the city of Qufu, Confucius' home town in northeastern China, celebrated the philosopher's 2541st birthday with the performance of a reconstructed ceremony of ritual offerings, music, and dance. Presented on the terrace of the Hall of Great Achievements (Dacheng dian) of the Confucian Temple in Qufu, the performance was propitious but controversial. While most of the participants and audience appeared to have approved the ceremony as efficacious, some critics contested that it was inappropriately ‘touristy’ and included many inauthentic details. A few even condemned the performance as a misrepresentation of historical sacrifices to Confucius. As a music scholar invited to attend the performance, I found the contrasting reactions and criticisms enlightening because they represent a characteristically vigorous Chinese tradition of pursuing historical truth with its proliferation of written documents about the Chinese past. Above all, the reactions and criticisms highlighted, for me, the roles music performances played in historical understanding of the musical past.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 27 , 1995 , pp. 34 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by the International Council for Traditional Music

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1.

This is a revised version of the paper I read at the 33rd ICTM World Conference, 5-11 January 1995, Canberra, Australia. To compensate for the absence of video illustrations which I showed in my presentation, I have expanded my description of the two performances.

References

References Cited

Carr, David 1986 Time, Narrative, and History. Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Chan, Wing-tsit 1963 A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sa-hun, Chang 1976 Han'guk umaksa [History of Korean Music]. Seoul: Chongumsa.Google Scholar
Chen, Fu-Yen 1976 “Confucian Ceremonial Music in Taiwan with Comparative References to Its Sources.” Ph.D. diss., Wesleyan University, Middletown.Google Scholar
Collingwood, Robin George [1946]1956 The Idea of History. Reprint, London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dennerline, Jerry 1988 Qian Mu and the World of Seven Mansions. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Feuchtwang, Stephen 1986 “Religious Revival, or How to Succeed in Business?” China Now 118: 17–20.Google Scholar
Xiangpeng, Huang 1990 Chuantong shiyitiao heliu [Tradition Flows Like a River]. Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zuo, Huang 1544 Nanyongzhi [An Account of the National University in Nanjing]. Harvard-Yenching Library.Google Scholar
Iser, Wolfgang 1987 “Representation: A Performative Act.” In The Aims of Representation: Subject/Text/History, edited by Krieger, Murray, 217–32. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Zhizhi, Jin & Hong, Song [1691] 1989 Wenmiao liyuekao [A Study of the Sacrificial Music and Rites in Confucian Temple]. Photographic reprint, Jinan: Shandong Friendship Press.Google Scholar
Eishi, Kikkawa 1965 Nihon ongaku no rekishi [A History of Japanese Music]. Tokyo: Sogansha. Kishibe Shigeo 1960-61 Todai ongaku no rekishiteki kenkyu [Historical Studies of Tang Dynasty Music]. Tokyo: Tokyo daigaku suppankai.Google Scholar
Demao, Kong and Lan, Ke 1988 The House of Confucius. London: Corgi Books.Google Scholar
Jifen, Kong [1716] 1989 Shengmenyuezhi [Records of Sacrificial Music Offered to Confucius]. Photographic reprint, Jinan: Shandong Friendship Press.Google Scholar
Lam, Joseph S.C. 1994 “'There is No Music in Chinese Music History': Five Court Tunes from the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368).” Journal of the Royal Musical Association 119:165–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fai, Lam Kin 1991 “The Confucius Cultural Festival, and A Study Tour to Qufu.” China Tourism 129:10–17.Google Scholar
Hye-gu, Lee 1967 Han'guk umak sosol [Topics in Korean Music]. Seoul: Seoul National University Press.Google Scholar
Zhizao, Li [1618] 1970 Panguan liyueshu [An Assistant Magistrate's Proposals on Ritual and Music]. Photographic reprint, Taipei: Guoli zhongyang tushuguan.Google Scholar
Liang, Mingyue 1985 Music of the Billion: An Introduction to Chinese Musical Culture. New York: Heinrichshofen Edition.Google Scholar
Moule, G.E. 1900-01 “Notes on the Ting-chi, or Half-Yearly Sacrifice to Confucius.” Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 33: 130–56.Google Scholar
Huitian, Qin 1985 Wuli tongkao [Comprehensive Study of the Five Categories of Rites]. Photographic reprint, Taipei: Shuangwu chubanshe.Google Scholar
Swart, Paula and Till, Barry 1989 “A Revival of Confucian Ceremonies in China.” In The Turning of the Tide: Religion in China Today, ed. Pas, Julian F., 210–21. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Branch Royal Asiatic Society.Google Scholar
Seeger, Anthony 1991 “When Music Makes History.” In Ethnomusicology and Modern Music History, ed. Blum, Stephen, Bohlman, Philip V., and Neuman, Daniel M., 23–34. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Manni, Tan 1989 “Special Tour Programs for Confucius’ Birthday.” China Reconstructs 38/9: 8–11.Google Scholar
Taruskin, Richard 1988 “The Pastness of the Present and the Presence of the Past.” In Authenticity and Early Music, ed. Kenyon, Nicholas, 115–36. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, Gary 1988 “The Historian, the Performer, and Authentic Meaning in Music.” In Authenticity and Early Music, ed. Kenyon, Nicholas, 115–36. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Treitler, Leo 1989 Music and the Historical Imagination. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Van Aalst, J.A. [1884] 1964 Chinese Music. Reprint, New York: Paragon Book.Google Scholar
Mingxing, Wang 1989 “JiKong yuewu yanjiu” [A Study on the Confucian Ceremonial Music and Dance]. Wudao yishu [The Art of Dance] 29: 17–36.Google Scholar
Yang, Yinliu 1981 Zhongguo gudaiyinyue shigao [A Draft History of Ancient Chinese Music]. Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe.Google Scholar
zhiliaoshi, Yinyue yanjiusuo 1984 Zhongguo yinyue shupuzhi [Bibliography of Chinese Music Books and Scores]. Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Lu, Yun, ed. [1746] 1930 Lülü zhengyi [An Imperial Encyclopedia of Music Theory, Notation, and Dance Pictograms]. Reprint, Chansha: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Yung, Bell 1987 “Historical Interdependency: A Case Study of the Chinese Seven-String Zither.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 40:82–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
jijinhui, Zhongguo Kongzi 1992 Kongzi danchen 2540 nian zhounian jinian yu xueshu taolunhui lunwenji [Proceedings of the Scholarly Discussions in the Commemorationof Confucius’ 2540th Birthday]. Shanghai: Sanlian.Google Scholar