Chinese Music of the Qin and Han Dynasties
The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), as a centralized empire, was the first to establish an official organization a music institute for music management for both political and cultural unification.The official organization, inheriting the collection system in the Zhou Dynasty,was mainly responsible for collecting,organizing and adapting folk music,and arranging a group of musician to perform in such occasions as feasts, sacrifices and congratulation ceremonies.
The music institute was further developed in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). The Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty paid particular attention to folk music and, as a result,expanded the organization and functions of the music institute,and ordered it to collect folk songs of ethnic groups in various areas, including Beidi and in remote areas like the western regions. Therefore, music like Shen Lai Yan Yi (Entertaining the gods when they came) and Cheng Xuan Si Long(Riding on dragons) from Anshi Fangzhong Yue(The Boudoir Poetry of the Peaceful Age), and Jiaosi Yue (Rural Sacrificial Music) accompanied by a magnificently-dressed witch who was singing while dancing gracefully in the moonlight, and could be heard everywhere from the suburbs of Chang'an to the front hall and living hall of the imperial court. Most of the music conveyed a romantic and splendid world of immortals as was reflected in The Nine Songs of Qu Yuan. In addition, there were improvisational songs and dances used to directly express feelings towards real life, such as Song of the Great Wind and other folk songs from around the country. With a strong sense of reality, this type of music mostly took root in feelings and matters in everyday life.
The most famous form of music in the music institute was Xianghe Ge (The Song of Harmony), which evolved from the Tu Ge (a capella) featuring "one singing and three other echoing,"to the "Xianghe Great Suite" accompanied by such musical instruments as si and zhu. In Xianghe Ge, several different pitches were identified and had their respective names. The Ode to Shanglin, written by Sima Xiangru, described the grand scene in the music institute of the Western Han Dynasty: When returning from hunting, the emperor was entertained on the towering platform. Huge chime bells consisting of thousands of stones below the platform were struck, and huge divine drums—tuo drums-decorated with dancing feathers were beaten. The music was created by the singing and echoing of a great number of people. The grandness was powerful enough to shake both the mountains and rivers. The singers and dancers, like the beautiful and attractive legendary fairies Qing Qin and Mi Fei, were dancing music dances from ancient times like Shao, Huo, Wu and Xiang, as well as those of different styles from various parts of the country. Also, many magic performances by paiyou (ancient clowns), homunculi and xiangren (performers wearing animal masks) coming from the western regions were arranged as well, which brought great joy and entertainment to the people.
The Han Dynasty also saw the popularity of guchui music (drum and wind music) that consisted of multiple forms like hengchui, qichui and huangmen guichui. This type of music was either performed on horses or in a parade, used in such occasions as military ceremonies and court banquets. Guchui music was closely associated with folk songs, with themes of love and anti-war, as the subjects even appeared in the military music of the Han Dynasty, including Shansye (a piece of nao music) that san.
