After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the sword dance disappeared on the court stage, which was completely different from the sword dance in the Tang Dynasty. Hundreds of operas appeared in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and sword dance appeared in traditional operas in China, which laid the foundation for the development of sword dance. At that time, prop sword dance played an important role in China traditional opera dance.
Some people may be familiar with the double sword dance. Farewell My Concubine, directed by Mei Lanfang, a master of Beijing Opera, created a double sword dance with reference to Taiji sword in martial arts, which became a symbol of an era.
1. The significance of sword dance in traditional culture The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty with strong economic and military strength in the ancient history of China. The economic strength of the Tang Dynasty decided the rapid development of sword dance. Sword dance is developed from folk martial arts. This dance is very heroic.
Sword dance is an important form of folk fitness, one of the important entertainment activities and a typical dance of sword dance. The unique chivalrous temperament in Jianghu can only be shown through the special prop of sword. The sword worn with you is not only beautiful, but also regarded by the public as a symbol of wisdom, connotation and status.
It was difficult to cast swords in ancient times. Only people with power and status can carry swords with them. Poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu began to learn swords when they were teenagers, and they also took them with them when they traveled around the world. Li Bai studied Emei sword at the age of fifteen, and Du Fu began to travel around the world with Jian Yun at the age of twelve.
All these can explain the position of sword in the hearts of ancient literati. The predecessor of sword is "fencing", which occupies an important position in Taoist thought. There is a profound Taoist cultural connotation in the traditional culture of China. Taoism used swords to do things in ancient times. Pray for peace in the world and a bumper harvest for the banker.
The sword itself is spiritual. Taoist priests communicate with heaven and earth and gods through swords, which is a tool used in practice. Taoist priests do things, recite spells and dance around swords. This sword fighting dance in Taoism is also a sword dance and a witch dance.
Nowadays, when we arrange sword dance programs, we can use sword dance to express the French style in Taoist culture. China's classical sword dance is not only a technical performance, but also expresses the feelings of the characters.
Second, the costumes, places and tracks of sword dancing in the Tang Dynasty. As can be seen from the unearthed cultural relics, women in military uniforms dance swords. This kind of dress is gorgeous and unique, which led the fashion trend at that time and was deeply loved by women. On the brick of sword dance unearthed in Jintang, a heroic female dancer is depicted.
She is wearing a tight dance dress and a double bun, which is not a wide Tang suit of the Tang Dynasty. Her belt is tied tightly and she is waving double swords, which is an unusual dance image. Among the colorful music and dances in the Tang Dynasty, Le Yan is the most representative.
"Le Yan" is a dance form used for entertaining guests and offering sacrifices to ancestors in the court of the Tang Dynasty. As a lover of this kind of music and dance, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty set up a music and dance institution for himself in the court-Liyuan. The development of court sword dance makes sword dance performance become a fashion in the whole country, and also greatly promotes the development of folk sword dance.
Although the music and dance institutions like Liyuan serve the rulers, they objectively bring together many high-level artists for training, creation and performance. Sword dancing exists in folk performances of many festivals in China.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, whenever the traditional festival Lantern Festival came, various cities would hold large and small celebrations. At this time, men, women and children poured into the streets, people sang and danced, and there were grand performances. According to historical records, the performance can last for dozens of miles and the number of people can reach tens of thousands.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, this activity was extremely grand, and there were music and dance programs for the court in every city, including sword dancing performance. At the same time, there are sword dances in some folk temple fairs. In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, sword dance produced many famous dances, such as Xihe sword, sword and neighborhood songs, which were very popular.
Here, the "Sword" was performed by the famous Gong Sundaniang in the Tang Dynasty. She can sing and dance, especially the sword dance performance, and her performance skills are quite superb. According to the records, she threw the sword into the air while dancing, and the sword shone white in the sunlight, and the scabbard in her hand greeted her, and the sword entered the scabbard accurately.
Du Fu was amazed at the level of Gong Sundaniang's sword dance. Fifty years later, she saw the disciple's sword dance again and was deeply moved. She wrote the famous "Watching Gong Sundaniang's Disciples Dance Sword".
Thirdly, sword dance expresses the subtle dance aesthetics between poets and society in the Tang Dynasty, which is a country of poetry and a peak of literary development. There are many poems and poets who record and describe dance, and it is objective to explore the aesthetic value of dance in Tang Dynasty by observing these dance poems. For traditional literati, the sword is not only an important weapon for self-defense, but also a symbol of a gentleman.
Many literati in the Tang Dynasty not only had high attainments in the field of literature, but also were bold and brave and chivalrous men. Li Bai is not only a Confucian scholar who can recite I Sing. The moon encourages me and I dance. After my shadow tumbled, he was also a swordsman who took off his sword after drinking and slept in the high hall.
Described the form of Gong Sundaniang's sword dance, and his vigorous posture and resolute posture fascinated the audience. The poet used thunder, rivers and seas, mountains and rivers to describe the dancer's dance posture and posture, which was magnificent and shocking.
The most striking feature of sword dance is the use of the "sword", which shows a spirit of striving for progress through the combination of physical movements and the heroic spirit of the sword, so it is highly praised by scholars. In the film and television theme, whenever the host is at a guest banquet, sword dancing is a fixed performance link.
The combination of Tang poetry and dance combines the spirituality of poetry with the enthusiasm of dance. Compared with the simple aesthetic value of dance, the aesthetic description of dance in Tang poetry has a great influence on social life and dance development, especially in the development of entertainment, thought and music and dance.
Poets in the Tang Dynasty are very free and easy, and the poems created by dancing are really charming and beautiful. Poetry is a symbol of the Tang Dynasty, and it also records the rise and fall of this dynasty. The combination of Tang poetry and dance records the charm and aesthetic value of dance. The combination of the development of dance in time and the development of poetry in the vertical direction has had a great influence on the development of dance.
In Cen Can's frontier poems, the war scenes are vivid and the military life is vivid. His "Tian Meiren Dances Like a Lotus Leading Song" describes this dance in detail. The description of dance by poets in the Tang Dynasty has also experienced the evolution from simply paying attention to dance to integrating the audience's emotions. Dance is moving, and the audience's feelings change with the change of dance.
In the process of watching dance, people began to play the role of emotional compensation, and their emotions were stimulated, which strengthened the role of poetry in expressing will and dancing. The economic base determines the superstructure. As a typical superstructure, dance and poetry are greatly influenced by the economic foundation.
Especially after the Anshi Rebellion, the economy of the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline, and the mainstream ideological trend of praising the prosperous and clear times in the literary world changed. The country is in turmoil and political instability, and the way for scholars to learn and be excellent is not guaranteed. Poets seek psychological comfort in their poems.
From paying attention to dancers to politics and people's livelihood, it is the poet's feelings of worrying about the country and the people, and it is also a witness to the prosperity and development of dance in Tang Dynasty. Dance aesthetics in Tang poetry is a broad concept with deeper connotation and wider extension. The combination of the beauty of dance and the lyric function of poetry has a far-reaching impact on the development of literature and dance.
In human society, dance is a symbol of an era and a lateral reflection of the development of an era. The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty with strong economic foundation and prosperous cultural development. There are many kinds of dances, and song and dance artists have reached a certain scale.
The literati's love for dance not only promoted the spread of dance, but also made many outstanding song and dance artists well known to the general public, and their life experiences won the sympathy of the general public. The Tang Dynasty was an inclusive and free society in ancient China. It is politically enlightened and culturally prosperous, and actively accepts the ideas of northwest ethnic minorities. In terms of social ideology, it provided a free and relaxed social environment for the development of various cultures in the Tang Dynasty.
Due to the absorption and integration of minority cultures in Tang society, in addition to social ideology and culture, the aesthetic concept of people in Tang dynasty has also changed greatly compared with the previous generation. This self-evident beauty of sword dance rhythm can help us understand the most real emotional activities that people's spirit and body participate in at the same time.
Sword dance emerged and flourished as a form of prop dance. It is a form embodiment and an important carrier for China classical dance to absorb thousands of years of history and culture of China. Sword dance has been deeply branded with the traditional culture of China. The formation of this culture is not a short-term result. So far, many kinds of dances have been developed.
The unique cultural heritage of China people has formed the deep meaning that China people surpass other nations' aesthetics. We should dance with our hearts, feel life, experience life and express life through sword dance. Create characters in sword dance, express inner feelings and humanistic feelings in characters, and show the ancient people's understanding of life, nature and war in China with a special way of props, so as to carry forward the traditional culture of China.