On the Rites of the Guanju Songs and Dances〔* 〕

Zhang Han，Lan Tianwen

(School of Music Central China Normal University，Wuhan Hubei430079)

Ⅰ.Introduction

Guanju，as the earliest record of collective songs and dances rites，is the first poem in The Book of Songs，which shows its significance.Chinese scholar Zhou Zhenhao published a book about ancient Chinese study in 2012，which interprets the media form of The Book of Songs from the perspective of folk songs and dances.A work of an age should be accepted by the social standard of that age.Zhou Zhenhao has further explored the ancient cultural source of Guanju in his study of The Book of Songs.However，“Jujiu”song and dance in Guanju has brought great obstacle for research-ers in that Jujiu refers to the osprey and dove，so there are no textual records as the reference.

According to the research path of The Book of Songs by Zhou Zhenhao，we can gradually develop a view of dance and song transmission in this regard.The research path is:first，why is it that Guanju is the representative of Zhou Nan folk song?Second，what are the ritual forms of Zhou Nan ritual civilization represented by this poem?Third，what ritual form is it that determines that this poem is the only one in The Book of Songs that gains detailed comment—“being joyous but not indecent，mournful but not distressing”?Besides，from the perspective of later generations，Guanju is the representative of the culture of moderation.Fourth，why is it that Guanju is called as the“beginning of Feng”in Mao Shi Xu?What’s more，Zhu Xi also holds that Guanju is of marriage justice.Zheng Xuan publicly confirms that Guanju has prevalent social function in the regional society in Mao Shi Zhuan Jian.Confucius makes comment that it is“joyous but not indecent，mournful but not distressing”，implying the combination of every local customs.

Let’s summarize the hypothesis:first，tribal culture is still the social foundation of the Zhou Dynasty，which suggests the special status of Guanju in The Book of Songs under the system of collecting folk songs;second，Jujiu is an ancient cultural custom in Zhou Nan area，and at present，The Book of Songs is the record and recreation of these customs;third，politics of the Zhou Dynasty only creates in the part of Song，namely national rites，which is the oldest national cultural product.It is of great significance that the Zhou Dynasty can preserve it.Jujiu dance is also preserved as the totem of the clan.In conclusion，we can discuss the academic status of Guanju based on the above three hypotheses.

In the Zhou Dynasty，China’s political system has transformed from royal system of demise system to the emperor system of tribal autonomy.People，as the social foundation，have not acquired real land or freedom.Therefore，there is some political defect in the system and mechanism of the royal system of the Zhou Dynasty.There is no unified political system in the Zhou Dynasty.Therefore，such dynasty is unlikely to form its own cultural system.

Folk music of the Zhou Dynasty is almost passed down from local places，whose content is closely related to ancient music and dance.It can be deduced that“Jujiu”is supposed to be a song and dance ceremony with strong rituality.“Jujiu”can be a love song in the ritual ceremony or a performance with feathers of osprey and dove.Or，before the Zhou Dynasty，the folk ceremony of Jujiu dance is prevalent in the Zhou Nan area.This ancient cultural activity has evolved into a memorial activity among young men and women in this area which provides them a chance to meet each other.

We need to acknowledge the labor and marriage function in the primitive communal system so as to reach the above conclusion.The universal social function of Jujiu is publicly recognized in Mao Shi Zhuan Jian by Zheng Xuan.Women shoulder household chores in tribal villages，and people get married only in fixed time.Only by recognizing this custom civilization can we reveal the profound system of Guanju.

Ⅱ.Further research

We need to find out the song and dance scene in the part of Feng in The Book of Songs so as to deduce the folk style of Jujiu song and dance.In the part of Feng，there are some poems depicting the scene of song and dance that are performed by singers and dancers with musical instrument and bird features，which prove that the ancient“feature dance”really exists.There are at least three poems in Feng that directly depict the scene of song and dance:Bei Feng·Jian Xi，Chen Feng·Wan Qiu and Wang Feng·Jun Zi Yang Yang.Do these songs and dances belong to the ancient cultural customs of the Xia，Shang and Zhou Dynasties?Before finding out the proof of“Jujiu dance”，we can check the ancient music of other times which depict the grand scene of song and dance.Politically speaking，these practices are almost the same as those of the Zhou Dynasty.Apparently，cultural traditions of every tribe are paid attention to and collected and carried forward in the Zhou Dynasty，which is great improvement and innovation.

Personally，the real song and dance of the Zhou Dynasty or the Han nationality should be part of Ya Yue，which is also approved by the opinion of Zhou Zhenhao in Xu Lun.The so-called song of slaves and labor are likely to be folk music created by the Zhou people.The detailed linguistic structure of Ge Tan，song and dance of tribal women labor，has been interpreted in the ancient prose course program，indicating the change of the Zhou civilization from song and dance to entertainment.The real representative of the Zhou song and dance— “Song”，usually applied in sacrifice，features strong rituality and grand scale.Due to mass people involved and slow pace，Song has no aesthetic value of dance.

By the way，The Book of Songs represents the cultural body of the Yangtze River.It is noteworthy whether it totally abandons the song and dance of the Chu State or transforms the song and dance of the Chu State into the people-oriented form of Feng.

Ⅲ.Guanju songs and dances

Exploring the song and dance system of The Book of Songs is of great value for our lifting the veil of Guanju.It can be confirmed that the study of the Xia，Shang and Zhou Dynasties is empathized in the Zhou Dynasty，and that the indoctrination system is established with the gradual entrance of the Yangtze River basin into the central plains.Therefore，Feng，namely tribal song and dance，is the basic part of The Book of Songs，which collects the song and dance system of every tribal of the Zhou Dynasty.The system mainly comes from the Xia and Shang Dynasty，and may include the song and dance of the posterity of Fu Hsi.As for the research on the first poem of Guanju，first，we should find out what kind of dance the Jujiu dance is;second，we need to deduce the specific performance occasion of Jujiu dance and the content of tribal activities.

First，Jujiu is a kind of tribal song and dance，like Huangniao in The Book of Songs.Huangniao，the bird of tribal gathering，is used to satirize exile.In the Zhou Dynasty，birds have evolved as the symbol of tribal homeland，including Ju.Historical records indicate that the totem value of Ju has transformed into various social function，which can be evidenced by the custom recorded in the Rites of Zhou.Ju has been connected with other birds.Therefore，if we analyze Jujiu song and dance as cultural source，there should be some cultural background of religious sacrifice.

Second，we need to focus on the song and dance form of Jujiu performance.Folk music is prevalent in the folk，and gives rise to the gathering performance.The understanding of Jujiu folk song involved in Guanju should be based on the system of collecting folk songs of The Book of Songs.That is to say，The Book of Songs may not be the real folk music，but record or follow the rite to collect folk songs.Rites in tribal society feature the ritual music with farming customs，which is always the way of the birth of rural arts.Obviously，we can confirm that Guanju is a song and dance folk custom that takes place in tribes.Therefore，Zhou Nan records such a grand folk party，which qualifies Guanju as the first poem of Feng.

Third，what artistic image does Jujiu dance present?How Guannju realizes the artistic myth of its cultural space is a major subject of the research on the artistic survival of The Book of Songs in the public space of the Zhou Dynasty.Jujiu song and dance combines the subjectivity and spatiality.Why can’t we identify the Jujiu song and dance as the act performed by female bird Ju and male bird Jiu?Bird Ju plays musical instrument while bird Jiu plays bell and drum.In this way，we can interpret the Jujiu dances as the wedding-related ones in rural tribes and ones that show tribal spirit.The value of dance lies in the publicity of space which replaces the original tribal space and religious space.Hence，Guanju dance begins to explore the survival mode in the folk.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

We can conclude fromthe above discussion that:

First，Guanju，like the majority works of Feng，does not belong to folk songs of the Zhou Dynasty.Instead，it is folk music of three dynasties collected in the Zhou Dynasty.In ancient times，songs and dances and sacrifices are the same as singing the praises of merit and wisdom.Therefore，“Jujiu dance”in Guanju should be some folk social activities involving the celebration of harvest in tribes.

Second，as tribal culture prevalent in the Zhou Dynasty，“Guanju”assembles the dance of the osprey and dove according to the rites，from which perspective we can see the development and breakthrough of the dance system in the Zhou Dynasty.People of the Zhou Dynasty not only collect folk music forms，but also apply them into indoctrination，thus forming the performance system of Fu，Bi and Xing and the new interpretation of the song and dance system.Therefore，the Zhou Dynasty is referred to as epitomizing China’s song and dance.

Third，ancient music，with the representative of Guanju，has been adapted to the primitive communal system of the Zhou Dynasty.To be more specific，ancient music has adapted to the ritual system of the Zhou Dynasty in terms of labor，marriage，raising livestock，celebration and rites，leading to the renaissance of China’s music poems and songs and dances.According to the records of Shang Shu Da Zhuan，the collection of songs and dances requires stable tribal system.Music and rites are established by ancient music so as to realize the political awareness of tribes.In Guanju，“Jujiu”songs and dances educate the mass with ritual concepts via musical instrument，praising hard-working and virtuous women and unrighteous and polite gentlemen，which is a vivid depiction of the aesthetic val ue of Guanju for later generations.

Notes:

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