Yayue

Yayue
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese雅樂
Simplified Chinese雅乐
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinyǎyuè
Gwoyeu Romatzyhyeayueh
Wade–Gilesya3-yüeh4
IPA[jà.ɥê]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationngáah-ngohk
Jyutpingngaa5-ngok6
Southern Min
Tâi-lôngá-ga̍k
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinesengǽ-ngæ̀wk
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*N-ɢˤraʔ [ŋ]ˤrawk
Vietnamese name
Vietnamesenhã nhạc
Hán-Nôm雅樂
Korean name
Hangul아악
Hanja雅樂
Transcriptions
McCune–Reischauera-ak
Japanese name
Kanji雅楽
Transcriptions
Romanizationgagaku
Music of China
General topics
Genres
Specific forms
Media and performance
Music festivals
Midi Modern Music Festival
Music media
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem
Regional music

Yayue (Chinese: 雅樂; lit. 'elegant music') was a form of classical music and dance performed at the royal court and temples in ancient China. The basic conventions of yayue were established in the Western Zhou. Together with law and rites, it formed the formal representation of aristocratic political power.

The word ya (雅) was used during the Zhou dynasty to refer to a form of song-texts used in court and collected in Shijing.[1] The term yayue itself appeared in Confucius's Analects,[2][3] where yayue was considered by Confucius to be the kind of music that is good and beneficial, in contrast to the popular music originated from the state of Zheng which he judged to be decadent and corrupting.[4][5] Yayue is therefore regarded in the Confucian system as the proper form of music that is refined, improving, and essential for self-cultivation, and one that can symbolize good and stable governance.[6][7] It means the kind of solemn ceremonial music used in court, as well as ritual music in temples including those used in Confucian rites. In a broader sense, yayue can also mean a form of Chinese music that is distinguishable from the popular form of music termed suyue (俗樂) or "uncultivated music", and can therefore also include music of the literati such as qin music.[8][9]

The court yayue has largely disappeared from China, although there are modern attempts at its reconstruction.[10] In Taiwan yayue is still performed as part of a Confucian ceremony, and in China a revived form also serves as entertainment for tourists. Other forms of yayue are still found in parts of East Asia, notably the gagaku in Japan, aak in Korea, and nhã nhạc in Vietnam. Although the same word is used in these countries (but pronounced differently), the music does not necessarily correspond to Chinese yayue. The Korean aak, however, preserved elements of Song dynasty yayue long lost in China.[4][11]

  1. ^ Peter Fletcher (2004). World Musics in Context: A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Major Musical Cultures. Oxford University Press. p. 345. ISBN 978-0195175073.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference musicology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Analects - Yang Huo". Chinese Text Project.
  4. ^ a b The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge; 1 edition. 2008. pp. 1201–1202. ISBN 978-0415994040.
  5. ^ "The Analects – Wei Ling Gong". Chinese Text Project.
  6. ^ Liora Bresler (2007). International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. Springer. p. 85. ISBN 978-1402029981.
  7. ^ Dorothy Ko; JaHyun Kim Haboush; Joan R. Piggott, eds. (2003). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0520231382.
  8. ^ Alan Robert Thrasher (2008). Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-9004165007.
  9. ^ Isabel Wong (1991). Bruno Nettl; Philip Bohlman (eds.). Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music: Essays on the History of Ethnomusicology (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0226574097.
  10. ^ Cindy Sui (April 20, 2010). "Music Bridges the Political Divide Between China and Taiwan". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Robert C. Provine, Jr. (January 1974). "The Treatise on Ceremonial Music (1430) in the Annals of the Korean King Sejong". Ethnomusicology. 18 (1): 1–29. doi:10.2307/850057. JSTOR 850057.