"Yi", "Poems", "Books", "Rites", "Music", and "Spring and Autumn" are the six classics, and they have been called this on the occasion of Zhou and Qin" (Huangqing Wenying). Interestingly, when "Music" was regarded as a classic, it was "lost". What is this "Music", and why is it lost?
Throughout the Chinese cultural tradition, the two-week period can be recognized by later generations as a classic style of music, should be the use of music in rituals. "There are five gifts: the auspicious army Binjia is also. There are thirty-six "Zhou Officials and Great Sect Uncles", which is said to be the official of the ceremony. Now Shun wants to ask for the official of the ceremony, but to make the three ceremonies. Kong said that the three rites are the gifts of the gods, the earth, and the ghosts, so the three rites and the five rites are only auspicious rites" (Shangshu detailed explanation). This is to say that the three rites of the fortnight belonged to the auspicious rites in the Han and Wei dynasties, and the auspicious rites were the sacrificial rites and the first of all the rites. Sacrifice is ritual, so in line with the concept of "the major event of the country, in the worship and Rong". There are two major events in a country, one is sacrifice, and the other is war. At that time, those who attached such importance to the sacrifice were the music used in the ritual as the classical music, which was the music used in the sacrifice. The recipients of the highest national ritual during the fortnight period reflect the "holy mentality" of the Zhou people. "A word of etiquette must be happy, and happiness is also based on etiquette. The ancient "Book of Music" is stored in the Dasi Music, with its five tones, six rhythms, and eight tones, and the master has prepared its system in detail, and the song of the six columns and three palaces is "the music of the six generations" (the frontispiece of the Zhou Liquan Sutra Commentary). Under this concept of worshipping saints, the Duke of Zhou honored and enshrined the monarchs of the previous five generations as "saints", which was a full affirmation of the achievements of these saints in governing the "country" and their personality charm. The listing of this dynasty not only has the meaning of "style" (learning, imitation), but also shows the vision of inheriting the sages.
The music of the six generations, also known as the music and dance of the six generations, refers to the Yellow Emperor's "Cloud Gate Scroll"; Tang Yaozhi's "Da Xian"; Yu Shunzhi's "Shao"; Xia Yuzhi's "Great Xia"; Shang Tang's "Da Hui"; King Wu of Zhou's "Great Martial Arts". Six generations of music and dance were used for suburban temple sacrifices. "Cloud Gate" sacrifices to the sky, "Da Xian" sacrifices to the earth, "Da Shao" sacrifices to Siwang, "Da Xia" sacrifices to mountains and rivers, "Da Hui" enjoys the ancestors, and "Dawu" enjoys the ancestors. During the Zhou Dynasty, these iconic music and dances were regulated in the form of a system, and a special institution "Chunguan" was set up to manage them. Teach the country with music language, Xing, Tao, satire, recitation, speech, and language; Teach the country with music and dance, and dance Yunmen Dajuan, Daxian, Dashao, Daxia, Dahui, and Dawu" (Zhou Li Justice). In fact, this is the teaching of the six generations of music and dance divided into three levels: "music virtue", "music language" and "music and dance", and these three levels also constitute the unity of the six generations of music and dance. "Lede" refers to the spiritual connotation of social ethics and morality in music and dance; "Music language" refers to the basic content and chanting methods of various music and dance movements made under the concept of Lede;" "Music and dance" has a figurative form, which refers to the above six types. At that time, this kind of music and dance used for state rituals belonged to the "trinity of song and dance", that is, the music and dance were independent individuals, but within each body, there were both songs, dances and music, which was the unity of form and content. Song, which refers to a movement with a clear sacrificial content; Dance, which refers to the physical performance in sacrificial ceremonies; Music, on the other hand, refers to the music played by the orchestra of "gold and stone to move, silk and bamboo to act" (Chinese and Zhou), carrying song and dance accompaniment and independent performance passages. On the whole, music and dance belong to those who carry music and language, and are integrated into one in the form of music and dance, and are the classic music and dance used in the highest national sacrifice activities at that time. In this way, the national sacrifice - ritual music - six generations of music and dance, this is the content of the Zhou Gong period to make ceremonial music as a classic. Discerning what it refers to in its specific context is the key to understanding why the Book of Music was lost.
The history books say that the "Book of Music" died in Qin. "The Book of Music was lost, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty placed the 'Doctor of the Five Classics', and Emperor Xuan preached the similarities and differences of the Five Classics, so he had the purpose of the Five Classics" (Huangqing Wenying). "Shen Yue said that the "Book of Music" died in Qin" (King James Siku Quanshu General Catalogue of Music). Zhu Zaiyu said: The extinction rate of ancient music is attributed to Qin Huo, otherwise it will not be. Ancient music makes people restrict, vulgar music makes people presumptuous, presumptuous people are good at themselves, and people are self-evil, it is to listen to ancient music but lie down, listen to vulgar music tirelessly, and vulgar music is prosperous and ancient music dies, and it has nothing to do with Qin Huo" (Jingyi Examination). Whether the "Book of Music" was lost due to the Qin fire, or died because of the secular music, what does the "Book of Music" mean, why it was lost, has become two major mysteries for thousands of years.
What is the "Book of Music", later commentators are not clear. We think that the "Book of Music" should specifically refer to the "Six Generations of Music and Dance", which was regarded as a classic in the Zhou Dynasty, as the core of Yale, and was highly respected, and the "Book of Music" here is the meaning of "classic music and dance". In this way, the loss of the "Book of Music" can be relieved. The reason for the loss is mainly that the rulers below the Qin Dynasty no longer regard the six generations of monarchs admired by Zhou as the objects that must be enshrined due to various considerations. This started with the "First Emperor", the one who rules the world is himself, why should he worship others?! Since the "Six Generations of Music and Dance" is a national sacrifice at a specific time and occasion, by a specific carrying group to display the music and dance behavior, if the ruler removes the environment and occasion of this kind of music and dance display, there is no special practice and practical carrying group, it will not take too long, this kind of music and dance with a clear direction, a strong dependence on the place and environment, can only be used in the highest national sacrifice, as a "minority" of music and dance will be lost. In particular, at that time, music scores and dance scores had not yet been invented, and there were no modern scientific and technological means such as audio and video recordings, as far as music and dance were concerned, a form of sound and sound skills with a strong spatio-temporal nature, its inheritance depended on the "living body", and without the management organization, teaching personnel, inheritance objects, use environment, and inheritance objects, would this kind of music and dance still exist in an overall sense? , he eliminated the Zhou Gong from the system, which was fatal to the blow of the six generations of music and dance. We see that there is no record of the music and dance of the six dynasties being used in various national sacrificial occasions in the documents below the Qin and Han dynasties, which is probably the reason why the "music is lost". In view of the special purpose of the objects of the six generations of music and dance; In view of the specific manifestation of people and environment for the six generations of music and dance, once these objective conditions are missing, it is inevitable that the six generations of music and dance will be lost. What is more clear is that out of admiration and respect for the sages, the national sacrificial music and dance formulated by the Zhou Dynasty inherited the representative music and dance of the first five dynasties, and the Zhou Dynasty even retained the "Shang Song", which can be shown in the "Poem". The so-called "ode" is a movement used in the sacrifice, and Zhou can carry the words of praise and business in the national sacrifice, which is unimaginable in later generations. The following ceremonial music in the Qin and Han dynasties basically belonged to those who did not inherit across generations, and it was the first emperor who changed this system and this tradition, and once it changed, it was "logical". Therefore, Qin is a watershed in the sacrificial music and dance that is not passed down from generation to generation. The so-called "Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties have additions and subtractions...... There is an emperor for the rule, and the rites and music are not compatible" (Wei Shu). This concept ran through the entire feudal society. "The prosperity of the three kings, the rites and music are not followed" (History of the Song Dynasty). The first document above clearly points out that the disagreement is a matter of the Qin and Han dynasties; The second one is also good, but it can be further analyzed. That is, the joy of the ritual as a symbol of the monarch of the tribe, clan, and Fang country to distinguish it from others, even in the period of the three kings, it is also their own ritual music to show, and those who do not follow each other refer to their own own, which also becomes the basis for the emperors of later generations to make their own ritual music, but the monarchs of later generations are not as "sage" as the Duke of Zhou, both the ritual music of the current dynasty, and the sages of the previous life, the music is not along, but it can be passed on and used, which shows the open-mindedness of the Duke of Zhou, otherwise the eight hundred years of the Zhou room, people may also know "Dawu" I don't know what the music and dance of the first five generations were, and it was impossible for Confucius to see the scene of "Shao Music" in Qi, and he sighed "perfect". After the Qin and Han dynasties, these six generations of music and dance were no longer regarded as classics by the rulers, and they were no longer used for "use", and in this sense, the "Book of Music" was lost.
Saying that the "Book of Music" is lost, it mainly refers to the "six generations of music and dance", which has a specific object of worship itself, but the concept of ritual music is "not lost". The ritual and music culture of the Chinese nation began in the ancient period of Miaoyuan and matured in the two-week period, and was standardized in the form of a system. Since it is a mature state, that is, to put the concept into practice, in the most important sacrificial ceremonies of the country with music, the so-called "musicians, virtue of the Hua also", such music is used to "and the country, harmonious people, guests, Yueyuan people", with a strong sense of social functionality and practical function, the music used in the ritual is the music of the gods, the earth, the ghosts, this is in the "music for the gods". Music becomes a bridge and link between people and heaven, earth, ghosts and gods in the sacrificial ceremony, and it is also the stimulant and glue of the sacrificial ceremony, and the most beautiful form of sound and sound skills in the world is offered to the altar as a dynamic sacrifice. During the two-week period, the understanding of national ritual music (mostly referring to sacrificial music) was detailed and precise, and the implementation of the ritual music system complemented it. Zhuzi Baijia continued to interpret "music" according to Zhou etiquette, such as "Rites, Music Notes", "Music Theory", etc., which is the condensation of the systematic concept of ritual music, and has a far-reaching impact on later generations. The "Jingyi Examination" says that "when the vulgar music prospers, the ancient is happy and dies", which is actually a confusion of two forms of music with different properties and functions. Although the music and dance of the six dynasties referred to in the "Book of Music" as sacrifices and were regarded as classics in the Zhou Dynasty, although they were lost due to the fire of the first emperor's expansion, the cultural concept of ritual music embodied in the music and dance of the six dynasties was not extinguished by the Qin fire. Later dynasties and generations still have the joy of auspicious rites, the gold and stone are sonorous, and the dry feathers are dancing. Of course, as a human temperament, folk music is also indispensable, and Chinese music culture is precisely in this state of coexistence and interaction between ritual music (for auspicious and evil guests) and folk music. Ritual music did not die because of the rise of secular music, but in the dynamic development of ideas, it turned into a self-respecting style that does not follow the line. To give a simple example, since there is a special ritual for sacrifice, since the first emperor and the emperor, it is more of a person who has made rituals and made sacrifices in this dynasty. Zhao Song will never use Li Tang, if it is used, it means worshipping ancestors for others, so this kind of sacrificial ritual music - auspicious ritual music always falls on the threshold of changing dynasties, and the auspicious ritual music that does not follow will inevitably be lost with the change of dynasties. Ancient music is not because of the death of vulgar music, the concept of ritual music has penetrated into the blood of the Chinese nation, the six generations of music and dance as a two-week period of classic ritual music was abolished in Qin, because the first emperor abandoned the Zhou and manifested himself, what was lost is only the six generations of music and dance this classic music and dance figurative form itself, but "ritual music must be used, ritual is not music, music is not etiquette" (Tongzhi) The concept of "ritual music must be used, ritual is not music, music is not etiquette" (Tongzhi), but as an important part of the whole Chinese traditional culture, throughout the entire traditional society, there is a succession, continuous.
Source: Guangming Daily (2008-06-23 12th edition)