What was the role of state sacrifices and music in Ming China?
score:2
Ceremony, even today, often integrates music into the process. Think of the
customary playing of 'Pomp and Circumstance' during a graduation ceremony
the National Anthem to begin a sporting event
'Hail to the Chief' announcing the entry of the President of the United States
various national anthems to salute the medal winners at the Olympic games
the Wedding March during a marriage
- or 'Amazing Grace' played on bagpipes during some funeral processions
. This music is all integrated into our understanding of these events, and has become part of many of our current(american) ceremonies.
The Ming Dynasty was no different. Several rituals were performed on a regular basis, and they had accompanying ritual music and dance performances. From AsianArt.org:
Many of the rituals were seasonal, and by the Ming dynasty there was at least one every month; these rituals took on prescribed forms with carefully determined and properly performed dance, movement, and sacrifices.
Two of the larger rituals, were the Sacrifice to Heaven, and the Sacrifices to Imperial Ancestors. These were ritual type events, with very specific forms and procedures to be followed.
from wiki on the Temple of Heaven:
In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.
Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden City through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.
Ritual music forms in China are discussed in more detail, including intruements used and a sample audio file, under the heading Yayue.
Yayue (Chinese: 雅樂; literally: "elegant music") was originally a form of classical music and dance performed at the royal court 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.
Upvote:0
The music of the Ming Dynasty was a "throwback" to ancient Kun Qu music that went back roughly two millennia, to before the Birth of Christ. It was a deeper, sadder kind of music that the lively music favored by the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty. It harkened to a time when people lived barely on the edge of subsistence (most of China had advanced beyond that by the mid first Millennium, or what the Europeans call the Dark Ages), except that the Ming Dynasty was one of the more tragic dynasties in relatively modern Chinese histories. The idea of needing sacrifices to appease the gods was an element of Ming music, and notably absent from culture of other modern Chinese dynasties, while being a "staple" of the ancient ones, as well as many other non-Chinese cultures from before the birth of Christ.
More post
- 📝 When was the festival of the See of Peter in the 6th Century?
- 📝 What was the role of Egypt in Soviet-Afghan war?
- 📝 What was the first confirmed use of black powder to blow stuff up in war (in China and in Europe)?
- 📝 Was the Iraqi Mukhabarat modelled on the German Reichssicherheitshauptamt, and in what ways?
- 📝 How Did the Mongol Empire Get So Big?
- 📝 How was iron obtained in ancient times?
- 📝 How important were social justice issues in dissident circles in the late USSR?
- 📝 What factors enabled Europe to conquer almost the whole world?
- 📝 Why did any slaves or former slaves choose to fight against Britain in the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Why was the FSSF (Devil's Brigade) multinational?
- 📝 Who said that Saddam Hussein had WMDs?
- 📝 When did worship of Baal cease to exist?
- 📝 Did the Germans try to "Pearl Harbor" Russia's Black Sea fleet?
- 📝 Why was cricket's popularity in USA a casualty of Civil War?
- 📝 What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?
- 📝 Why did the expelled Sudeten Germans and Danube Germans go to Germany, as opposed to Austria?
- 📝 What was the price of basic foodstuff in 1930 Poland?
- 📝 When, and where, was the word 'Anglican' first used in the context of the Protestant Church of England?
- 📝 Did King Porus's men use snake poison against Alexander's troops?
- 📝 Was the Flakpanzer IV used against infantry? If not, what was?
- 📝 Democratically elected leaders of different culture
- 📝 How were blacks excluded from juries in the US southern states in the 1930s?
- 📝 Abraham Lincoln Quote Background
- 📝 Regarding Khomeini's speech against USA in Qom-1964?
- 📝 Did any plantation/hacienda/fazenda owner free all his slaves?
- 📝 Why didn't Thailand have to pay more for its involvement in WW2?
- 📝 What kind of labor was used to build the Egyptian pyramids?
- 📝 Why did marriage and multiple children make Hurrem Sultan special?
- 📝 What was the name of the father of Mesha, king of Moab?
- 📝 What did ex-Gladiators do after being freed?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was the role of state sacrifices and music in Ming China?
- 📝 What was the role of Indian princes and aristocratic landowners under British colonial rule?
- 📝 What was the role of a 'Tidy Man' and what might their duties have been?
- 📝 What was the social and cultural role of a "country squire" in Victorian/Edwardian England?
- 📝 What was the first confirmed use of black powder to blow stuff up in war (in China and in Europe)?
- 📝 How was Pre-Samurai Japan structured ? What part did solders and warriors play in the yayoi culture and how did the Yamato state wage war ?
- 📝 What was the state of relations between Baathist Iraq and Taliban Afghanistan?
- 📝 What was regicide conspiracy and what was the role of Djordje Gencic in it?
- 📝 What was the role of the Soviet Navy during WWII?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the average height of Roman men and women?
- 📝 What was the shortest time between a historical event occuring and a museum opening dedicated to said event?
- 📝 What was the state of the German rail system in 1944?
- 📝 What was the most recent country to be conquered and disappear?
- 📝 What was the Mantineian form of government and what praise did it receive?
- 📝 What was used instead of toilet paper in the US and the UK prior to 1900?
- 📝 What was this small state in the south of France in 1789?
- 📝 How was security on the Silk Road between China and the West maintained?
- 📝 What was the life expectancy of an ancient Roman child and adult?
- 📝 What did European people of the 5th century AD eat during spring and what was the availability?
- 📝 What was the Soviet role in Syria during the Cold-War?
- 📝 Why did Japan not withdraw from China as its pacific front was crumbling and the threat of US invasion imminent?
- 📝 What was the role of the Russian Orthodox church in Soviet Russia?
- 📝 What Was the State of German Tank Design In Between the World Wars?
- 📝 Was the Iraqi Mukhabarat modelled on the German Reichssicherheitshauptamt, and in what ways?
- 📝 What was President Jimmy Carter's role in the Iranian Revolution?
- 📝 In the British empire, what was the difference between a Governor General and a Viceroy?
- 📝 What did the Baltic Fleet do in Reval in 1904 and when was it there?
- 📝 What was the social status of a man who failed the civil service exams in Imperial China ( 1200 - 1800 AD )?
- 📝 When and what was the maximum extent of Nationalist China?