A New Perspective on “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”Comments on the Significance of the Notation and Living Relics of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance

Liu Qingyi

[Abstract］ “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” was first recorded in Guixin Zashi (Miscellaneous News from Guixin Street, 《癸辛杂识》), a book by scholar and poet Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty.It is a very rare and precious historical document of the ancient Chinese court dance which has long been forgotten but has also created a host of riddles.Based on the research results of Qi Rushan and other scholars, this paper explores China's historical documents and “living relics”, and makes a comparative study of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance in Korean court dance (Jeongjae) that bear a lot of resemblance with “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” In this way, this paper will fill some gaps and clear up some confusions concerning “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” On the basis of the interpretation, this paper also aims to reproduce the “living state” of Deshou Palace Dance, which is an innovative way to reveal the significance and value of the Notation.

[Keywords］ “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” Southern Song Dynasty Court Dance, Korean Jeongjae, Birds Singing in Spring, Bell Dance

“Deshou Palace Dance Notation” was first recorded in Guixin Zashi, a book by scholar and poet Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty.It is a very rare and precious historical document of the ancient Chinese court dance which almost entered into oblivion.The full text of the Notation goes as follows:

I happened to obtain two volumes of dance notation from Deshou Palace in the Old Capital, which included almost all new works contributed by concubines and court dancers.What were known as notations comprise terms as follows:

zuo you chui shou (左右垂手)shuang fu (双拂) bao zhou (抱肘) he chan (合蝉) xiao zhuan (小转) xu ying (虚影) heng ying (横影) cheng guo (称裹)

da xiao zhuan cuan (大小转撺)pan zhuan (盘转) cha yao (叉腰) peng xin (捧心) cha shou (叉手) da chang (打场) chan shou (搀手) gu er (鼓儿)

da yuan yang chang (打鸳鸯场)fen jing (分颈) hui tou (回头) hai yan (海眼) shou wei (收尾) huo tou (豁头) shu shou (舒手) bu guo (布过)

bao lao duo (鲍老掇)dui ke (对窠) fang sheng (方胜) qi shou (齐收) wu tou (舞头) wu wei (舞尾) cheng shou (呈手) guan mai (关卖)

diao xiu er (掉袖儿)fu (拂) zuan (躜) chao (绰) qu (觑) duo (掇) deng (蹬) jun (焌)

wu hua er (五花儿)ti (踢) ke (搕) ci (刺) dian () ji (系) shuo (搠) zuo (捽)

yan chi er (雁翅儿)kao (靠) ai (挨) zhuai (拽) na (捺) shan (闪) chan (缠) ti (提)

gui bei er (龟背儿)ta (踏) zan (攒) mu (木) zhe (折) cu (促) dang (当) qian (前)

qin bu ti (勤步蹄)bai (摆) mo (磨) peng (捧) pao (抛) ben (奔) tai (抬) jue (撅)

All is unheard of, which has the inherited abundance of peacefulness and happiness.①[1］

The 72 terms in nine groups not only reveal the stylization, systematization, and standardization of court dance in the Song Dynasty of China, but also contain many mysteries as we can't find complementary examples in Chinese classical books.Based on the research results of Qi Rushan and other scholars, this paper explores China's historical documents and “living relics” and makes a comparative study of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance in Korean court dance (Jeongjae) that bear a lot of resemblance with the “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” In this way, this paper will fill some gaps and clear up some confusions concerning “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” On the basis of the interpretation, this paper also aims to reproduce the “living state” of Deshou Palace Dance, which has produced innovative ideas as follows.

l.Temporal and Spatial Positioning of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”

Regarding the history of this dance notation, there is no consensus yet in the academic community.Qi Rushan quoted the full text of the dance notation in his Guoju Shenduan Pu (A Register of Choreographies of National Opera 《国剧身段谱》) and asserted that “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” came from the Tang Dynasty.Obviously, he thought “the Old Capital” referred to the capital city of the Tang Dynasty, since Zhou Mi was a Song Dynasty scholar.[2］7However, this paper believes that the dance notation in fact came from the Southern Song Dynasty on the following basis.

First, Deshou Palace was a palace of the Southern Song Dynasty lasting from 1127 to 1279 AD.As Liu Wei, a historian, found through his field survey and study of ancient documents②[3］: Deshou Palace was completed in June 1162 based on the mansion of the former Prime Minister Qin Gui[4］.Emperor Gao Zong lived there after abdication[5］.In August 1188, one year after Emperor Gao Zong's death, Emperor Xiao Zong built a special palace within Deshou Palace for Emperor Gao Zong's wife.In February 1189, Emperor Xiao Zong also abdicated and retreated to Deshou Palace, and the main body of the palace was named Chonghua Palace[6］.In June 1194, after Emperor Xiao Zong passed away, Emperor Gao Zong's wife moved into Chonghua Palace and changed its name to Cifu Palace while Emperor Xiao Zong's wife moved into the old Cifu Palace and renamed it Shouci Palace[7］.In April 1268, Emperor Du Zong rebuilt the northern part of Deshou Palace as a Taoist temple named Zongyang Palace, while the southern part disintegrated and became a residential quarter for the ordinary people[8］.“Deshou Palace” was the name of the court of the Southern Song Dynasty between 1162 and 1188, and thus “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” has a clear historical space-time positioning.

The second clue is the time frame of Zhou Mi and his book.Zhou Mi was a scholar and poet of the late Song and the early Yuan Dynasties.He once served as Yiwu County magistrate of the Southern Song Dynasty and retreated to focus on scholastic studies during the Yuan Dynasty, dedicated to collecting and preserving documents of the previous dynasty.His works, including Guixin Zashi, were mainly accounts of history, including a lot of historical facts related to dance in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.Although they were not serious history studies, they were trusted by the royal family as well as the common folk, as Zhou Mi was wellknown for his academic integrity and knowledge.He was born in the Southern Song Dynasty and died in the early Yuan Dynasty.About 20 years after the Southern Song Dynasty ended, “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” must have been compiled in the early Yuan Dynasty.Therefore, the “Old Capital” must be the capital city of the Southern Song Dynasty.

This paper's argument is also based on Zhou Mi's explanations in his book.As Zhou Mi said, the dance works were almost all new works, which means that the dance notation recorded in the book was completed during the existence of the Deshou Palace, so the dance notation belonged to the Southern Song Dynasty rather than the Tang Dynasty.

The fourth piece of evidence lies in the “living relics” of the Korean court dances Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance.The two court dances appeared in the late Joseon era as reproductions based on court dances of the same titles imported from the Chinese Song Dynasty and retain the same terminology as in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” For example, the Korean jeongjae Birds Singing in Spring uses similar terms like “chui shou”, “shuang fu”, “zuo you xiao zhuan”, “xiao chui shou”, “diao xiu er”, “da yuan yang chang”, and “hui tou”.In Bell Dance, similar terms also appear like “zuo you chui shou”, “shuang fu”, “zuo xiao zhuan”, “you xiao zhuan”, “he chan”, “zuo da chang”, “you da chang”, “zuo cheng shou”, “you cheng shou”, and “he cheng shou”, which indicates the prevalence of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” terms in the Song Dynasty.

ll.Position and Nature of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”

1.“Deshou Palace Dance Notation” is a record of the performance of female court dancers of the Song Dynasty

This paper believes that this dance notation came from the Song Dynasty.Obviously, the terms in this dance notation are very systematic and mature, but it is not clear whether they had been passed down from the Tang Dynasty, as no evidence has been found so far.As Zhou Mi said, “they were mostly new works.” That means some terms might have come from the previous dynasties, or perhaps they were old terms with new meanings.

The paper believes that “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” is a term collection of female court dancers, which is supported by Zhou Mi's statement that the new works were “contributed by concubines and court dancers.” Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance are also good proofs.This finding not only affects the interpretation of the dance notation and terminology definition, but also the choice of dancers, the use of music and costumes for the reproduction of the dance notation as well as the style of dance.For example, performances based on the dance notation, or reproductions, take the form of women's group dance and the costumes are widesleeved long skirts of court women dancers of the Song Dynasty while the sleeves are lengthened by a few inches to reflect the emphasis of the dance notation on sleeves and the sleeves even become props.The costumes prove helpful for the dancers to reproduce the original tempo and reveal the inherent aesthetic value of the dance.

2.“Deshou Palace Dance Notation” is a collection of sentences or paragraphs in dance works of the Song Dynasty

Qi Rushan categorized actions into Wu Pai (dance tunes) and all actions under a certain Wu Pai belong to one category.Dong Xijiu argued that the dance notation was a basic training notation and classified the actions into two broad categories “hand movement” and “group formation.” She believed that the “zuo you chui shou” and “diao xiu er” aimed to train the skills with sleeves and “da xiao zhuan cuan” is about free-hand training[9］.According to Zhou Mi's statement that most were new works and that the notation was a collection of two volumes, and through a dynamic analysis and restoration of the terms, this paper discovers that a group of terms does not correspond exactly to a type of actions and the excerpts were fragments or sentences from Song Dynasty dance works or may be a complete dance.This conjecture is once again proved by the dance notations of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance.There are not many action terms in a dance.One or two groups would be enough.

3.The subtitles in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” are names of the dance sentences, dance fragments or their combinations, or perhaps the beginning actions

The notation has nine groups of terms, each of which begins with a “subtitle” in bold characters, like “zuo you chui shou”, “da xiao zhuan cuan”, “da yuan yang chang”, “bao lao duo”, “diao xiu er”, “wu hua er”, “yan chi er”, “gui bei er”, and “qin bu ti”.Qi Rushan named these subtitles Wu Pai.Obviously, Qi Rushan coined the term based on the opera term “Qu Pai” (opera tune).A Qu Pai is a model or format for lyric composition.It is the product of the ancient tradition of finding words for music.The rule of game is that new lyrics are created and fitted into an old pattern, or under an existing Qu Pai.Each Qu Pai stipulates a certain number of words and a certain rhythm.Therefore, a Qu Pai is both a title and a format of opera music.

However, unfortunately, the concept or term of Wu Pai does not exist in any historical document.From a logical point of view, if a Wu Pai is defined like a Qu Pai, a Wu Pai could be firstly the title of an outstanding dance work and then a format for the creation of new works.The problem is that no title of this kind is found in existing historical documents.“Da chui shou” and “xiao chui shou” are mentioned, but the ideas are vague.The belief that the nine subtitles are names of dance sentences or dance fragments or combinations, or their beginning actions is based mainly on the following considerations:

First, in a piece of dance named by a Wu Pai, the dance movements or postures do not necessarily fall under one category labeled by the Wu Pai (the dance subtitle).For example, “zuo you chui shou” does not mean literally that the dance is all about hand movements.

Second, in the surviving classical dance, these terms indicate specific actions, such as “xiao wu hua.”

Third, in legacy dance documents, some terms conforming to the subtitles are also names of actions.Examples include “zuo you chui shou” and “diao xiu er.”

Fourth, among the nine subtitles and the 63 terms under them, some are not actions or postures.For example, “wu tou” (dancing head) and “wu wei” (dancing tail) refer to the role of the dancer; “hai yan” (sea eye) and “fang sheng” describe the dance formations.

Fifth, each group of action terms in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” has the same number of actions: there are seven terms under one subtitle.It probably has something to do with the musical time value of the dance sentence, dance fragment or combinations: a dance sentence, dance fragment or combination should be completed within a certain time frame.In ancient Chinese Yayue （雅乐）, a Chinese character has a syllable that corresponds to an action.

Sixth, this belief is supported by the practices of contemporary dance choreography, rehearsal, and teaching.In order to remember the content of a piece of dance and teach it accurately, the choreographer or teacher often records the dance movements, dance sentences, dance segments or their combinations in words suggesting the skills and movements of dance.

In the end, the most powerful proof comes from the dance language and dance notations of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance.As in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”, the capitalized initial terms and other lowercase terms represent actions at the same level in Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance.In Birds Singing in Spring, terms like “chui shou”, “shuang fu”, “zuo you xiao zhuan”, “xiao chui shou”, and “diao xiu er” are successive actions.In Bell Dance, the terms “zuo you chui shou”, “shuang fu”, “zuo xiao zhuan”, “you xiao zhuan”, “he chan”, “zuo da chang”, “you da chang”, “zuo cheng shou”, “you cheng shou,” and “he cheng shou” also represent a succession of actions[10］.(See Table 1)

Table 1 Comparison of actions or action combinations in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” and similar terms in Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance”

lll.Ways to Clear up Confusions

1.Using new evidence to confirm or correct the prior research results

Qi Rushan and other scholars have mostly tried to address confusions in the Notation by quoting elements of the “drama posture expressions” or interpreting word-byword meaning of the terms.However, although classical Chinese dance has borrowed a lot from traditional drama and opera, it is hard to pinpoint the origin in any drama or opera after thousands of years of transformation.At the same time, many terms in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” are still doubtful or left unexplained.Therefore, this paper tries to dig out and analyze new historical materials and examines the “living relics” of dance to clear up confusions concerning terms troubling the modern audience due to their professionalism and antiquity.For example, through examining literature and the “living relics,” interpretation of terms such as “wu tou”, “wu wei”, “hai yan”, “bao lao duo”, “xiao zhuan”, “fang sheng”, “guan mai,” and “xiao wu hua” has broken new grounds.Instructions Dr.Kim Young-suk, art director of Korean Jeongjae Society, on Birds Singing in Spring cast new light on action terms like “da cui shou,” “xiao cui shou” (also called “ban cui shou” in Korea, meaning tossing with one hand and then falling), “diao xiu er,” “xiao zhuan,” “hui tou,” “da yuan yang chang,” and “yan chi er,” as well as answering some doubts and confusions.

2.Combining academic research with action experiments to identify dance in the Song Dynasty

Reconstruction is an aspect neglected in previous researches on major works of Chinese dance.It is hard but an extremely important part of the study of dance history.However, reconstruction should go beyond mere description in words or reproduction by imagination like dance choreography; instead, it must combine “paper talk” and real exercise on the stage.Therefore, this paper combines historiography with theoretical research, combines academic research with experiments on the stage, and combines literature research and dance performance research, which is an operational approach of research and a major innovation in the field of dance research.This paper also tries to seize the dynamics of ancient Chinese dance, trying to introduce the Song Dynasty dance notation in a live, three-dimensional, and sensible way, thus deepening the study of ancient Chinese dance notation and history.

This study believes that the terminology in the “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” is a dynamic part of the dance piece or the dance sentence.It is not like the terminology in the teaching of contemporary opera, which is to divide the hands, arms, legs, and feet into categories with stylized action requirements; nor is it a complete dynamic record of dances, some of which are dynamic terms for recording hands; some are dynamic terms for recording legs or feet; some record dance formations; some are terms that record the role of a dance.Therefore, the terminology in the “Dance Notation” stands only for part of the body movement or posture, while other parts are blurred or missing; or the formation and role is clear, but the dance moves are missing.So how do the various parts of the dance body work together? How are dance sentences and actions connected? How long is the duration of an action or posture? How is the “force effect” distributed? Therefore, just like piecing up fragments to restore artifacts in the field of archaeology, filling the gap by drawing links between fragments is also a difficult task in the interpretation and reproduction of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” To complete this task, the living relics of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance, as well as the living relics of ancient Chinese dance and opera dance are important references.

3.Retracing the aesthetic and artistic characteristics of dance in the Song Dynasty

1) The research and reproduction of a dance notation cannot bypass its aesthetic and artistic characteristics.For “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” no one can ignore the historical and cultural background of its existence and the aesthetic preferences of the historical period.The Song Dynasty is now regarded by the academia as a peak period of economic and cultural development in the history of China.It was also a peak era in the history of Chinese aesthetics.The most important feature of aesthetics in this era was an extremely strong preference for poetry which infiltrated into the real life of all people who pursued a lofty poetic vision as well as realistic material abundance.This paper is also informed and inspired by new findings about “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” by contemporary archaeologists.Four archaeological excavations of Deshou Palace in 1984, 2001, 2010, and 2017 have produced a lot more evidence for the study of this dance notation.Archaeologists believe that Deshou Palace was the most important palace in the Southern Song Dynasty except for the Imperial Palace[11］.The ruins contain a lot of historical information as an important royal architecture in the Southern Song Dynasty.The paper believes that this archaeological discovery is also very important for studying China's dance history, especially that of the Song Dynasty.If Desou Palace is the representative of Chinese poetic private gardens, then dance in Deshou Palace may be the representative of poetic Chinese folk dance; if it was even more beautiful than the Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Palace, it could be an epitome of the royal life, and then dance in Deshou Palace was part of the royal life.Therefore, in the process of reproduction, this paper tries to balance “luxury” and “simplicity,” “epicureanism” and “rationality,” and take the balance as the dominant aesthetic characteristic or style pursuit of the Song Dynasty dance.

2) This study believes that as a court dance, it distilled the essence of aesthetic and artistic features of traditional Chinese dance.For example, in the earliest southern Chinese opera, Puxian Opera, female hands never go above their eyebrows or below their umbilicus.In later operas there are also strict rules for the hand movements of different roles: “For the painted role (hua lian，花脸), the hands could be above the head; for the old male role (lao sheng，老生), the hands could be as high as their eyebrows; for the martial role (wu sheng，武 生), the hands could be as high as the forehead; for the young male role (xiao sheng，小生), the hands could be as high as the nose; and for the female role (dan，旦), their hands could be no higher than the breast.”[12］In all operas, the young male role's body movements must be not only delicate, but also conform to the feudal morality.Therefore, in the dynamic reproduction of the dance notation, this paper follows the rules of traditional Chinese body aesthetics.

As “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” was born in Southern China (the Jiangnan Area), the body movements must reflect the characteristics of Jiangnan aesthetics.Therefore, in terms of the body posture, the paper adopts the three-bend posture of Jiangnan dance, which is different from the three-bend posture of other regions and more clearly highlights female softness and exquisiteness.In addition, as a court dance performed by imperial concubines, it must be noble, dignified, elegant, subtle, charming, and graceful.Therefore, the chest is pulled back, the head and neck are upright, the back is defensive, the wrist is high while the elbows are low, the knees are loose, the ankle is closed, and the steps are slow.To some extent, the dancers seem rather lazy, but their calmness and slowness produce the charm of their posture.

3) For this attempt to reproduce dance sentences or dance segments, the key rests with finding a rhythm that matches with the dance of the Southern Song Dynasty, or the special rhythm in that historical settings.Given the new evidence found in historical documents, this paper uses the court music passed down to the Song Dynasty as the accompanying music, namely Cooing and Wooing (Guan Ju，《关雎》), a piece in the Collection of Yayue from the Tang Dynasty compiled by Zhao Yansu and edited by Zhu Xi, both scholars of the Song Dynasty.Using the music appreciated during the same historical period to accompany the dance provides an important historical basis for reproducing the rhythm of court dance in the Southern Song Dynasty.However, Cooing and Wooing is a piece of Yayue which scholars believe would be used only for grand ritual ceremonies, like offering sacrifices to heaven.However, this paper has found evidences to the contrary.In The History of Song: Music Chronicles, Yayue was also used in Luming Banquets to celebrate success in Imperial Examinations.There is also a clear record of Yayue played in ordinary houses.Therefore, the use of Cooing and Wooing as the accompanying music and the basis for reproducing the rhythm of court dance makes the study feasible; the reproduced rhythm of music provides an important clue to grasping and reproducing the style and aesthetics of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” in conformity to the historical setting.

According to the above requirements concerning rhythm, style, and aesthetic characteristics, this paper uses the slow movements and postures of the bluegowned female role (qing yi，青衣) in Chinese operas to represent the dignified, elegant, and noble characteristics of court dance; the delicate three-bend posture of Jiangnan dancers to show the tenderness and sweetness of the female court dancers in the Southern Song Dynasty; and backward and a bit lazy movements to reflect the dignity and elegant taste of concubines in the imperial court.In terms of the formation of dancers, the paper uses the “rolling skirt” footwork in Puxian Opera, with long skirts trailing on the ground, to reproduce the light and fluidity of female dancers like drifting on water; the three-bend trembling-knee steps of Jiangnan folk dancer's to show the flexibility and grace of ladies in south China; the tulle and the wide and long sleeves to show the style and beauty of concubines and court dancers of the Southern Song Dynasty; and simply repeated movements and the symmetrical and fluent changes of formation to indicate the simple and elegant style of the Song Dynasty.

This paper notes that, like “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” the existing Korean court dances and the records of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance use “shuang fu” after “chui shou,” and in Bell Dance, “he chan” is used in conjunction with “xiao zhuan.” It shows that the stylized use of movements follows the law of physical movement, and the connection between the movements is very smooth, fully demonstrating the dignity, elegance, harmony and smoothness of court ritual music.That's why in the reproduction of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” actions are smooth, restrained, slow, and elegant.

lV.Recognizing the Value of Dance Notation Research

1.It has multiple histographic values for studying the paradigm of ancient Chinese dance

As an ancient civilization and a once powerful empire, China has a long history and an advanced tradition of music and dance.As a classical paradigm of national dance, classical dance is an indication of the level of national civilization, and a key basis for contemporary development of dance as an art and scholarly studies.Studying and safeguarding classical dance go a long way towards the prosperity of Chinese contemporary dance.

However, the replacement of dynasties, the development of history, the destruction of wars, and the decline of the court have prevented ancient Chinese court dance from passing on to later generations; and the impact of revolutions, social transformation and ideological evolution has deterred contemporary dancers from excavating, collecting, verifying and reproducing ancient dance and presenting its original outlook as in a history museum.Due to the lack of living remains of ancient dance as a dynamic visual art, especially the lack of masterpieces of classical dance in the real sense which have the authentic cultural basis and wide influence, research on court dance (an important foundation of classical dance) and history study has focused predominantly on the interpretation of fragments of documents and ruins.However, the history of Chinese classical dance is still a speculative concept.In consequence, the study of the history, aesthetics, language system and value orientation of Chinese classical dance is often ineffectual.

Zhou Mi said he had “two volumes” of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” which means he had a lot more dance notations containing a lot more dance terms.As he asserted that it was “a proof of a great time,” it reflets the prosperity of court music and dance in the Song Dynasty.Zhou Mi mentioned that “most are new works,” which indicates that the music and dance included in the dance notation was mostly created at that time rather than inherited from previous generations or dynasties.Zhou Mi also stated that they were “contributed by concubines and court dancers”.This is a proof that concubines in the imperial court were creators and performers of classical dance in ancient China.The dance notations of Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance further prove this point.The feminine terminology in these dances has important historical value for the study of ancient Chinese court music and dance, especially female music and dance.

2.It has also important academic and artistic value for studying the syntax of court dance in the Song Dynasty

“Deshou Palace Dance Notation”, like Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance, is a rare historical document that recorded the ancient dance terminology system.If proof can be found to support this paper's belief that the terms of these notation are dance sentences, dance segments or their combinations, and there are close connections between all the groups of action terms, then it would be a great help for us to get deeper into ancient Chinese court dance, especially its syntax and format.

3.It has important academic value for defining the rhythm of court dance in the Song Dynasty and grasping its artistic and aesthetic characteristics

Obviously, rhythm underlies every art, and is the key to understanding the characteristics of dance in a certain historical era, the temperament of the nation, its style of art, and the attraction of dance.Given that the terms in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” are dance sentences or segments, evidence can be found in the elegant music of the same time, and some historical records of the Tang Dynasty music are still kept in Korea, this paper gradually shows up the true face of history even though the research would never be exhaustive.

4.It has important academic value for revealing the relationships between ancient dance and opera dance

The terminology of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”, as well as Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance, was created while Southern Chinese Opera boomed as the predecessor of Chinese operas.As Zhu Yunming said in his short fiction, Southern Opera first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and travelled south to become known as Wenzhou Plays.Zhou Mi's Guixin Zashi was also the earliest record of Southern Opera.Zhou Mi described how the opera performers reproduced and spread the story of an evil monk called Zu Jie in an opera.That is to say, when Southern Opera (this term was first used in the Yuan Dynasty) mainly told stories and was about to integrate various folk arts of the Song Dynasty (such as Song plays, songs and dance, puppet show and shadow play), court dance was already very mature and systematic.Wang Guowei listed 70 dance formations in another book by Zhou Mi's Wulin Jiushi (《武林旧事》, Vol.2), and clearly stated: “Later, operas took the formation terms as their names, so there must be some connections between dance and operas.”[13］Qi Rushan paid attention to the use of dance movements in Chinese operas in his efforts to verify the terms in “Deshou Palace Dance Notation.” He argued, “Although I dare not say that I am totally right, I believe dance and opera are not far away from each other.There is no doubt that the current body movements in Chinese operas have come from ancient dance.” Therefore, to decipher and reproduce “Deshou Palace Dance Notation” is not only valuable for recapturing ancient Chinese court dance that has already vanished, but also important for recovering ancient Chinese dance by seizing clues of their application in traditional Chinese operas.At the same time, it is of great academic value for understanding how operas have absorbed and integrated the art of dance and thereby grown into an independent performance art and even a symbol of Chinese classical art.

Zhou Mi's “Deshou Palace Dance Notation,” as well as Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance, also introduces the grandeur of the ancient Chinese dance before the rise of operas and the level of court dance development in the Southern Song Dynasty.Meanwhile, the terms in “Deshou Palace Dance Noation” are highly professional, artistic, systematic, mature and standardized, which entails a long history of cultural accumulation and transformation, thus indicating the existence of Chinese classical dance, or the ancient paradigm of Chinese dance.It proves further that ancient Chinese dance is the model of body movements in Chinese operas.Therefore, Chinese opera dance is based on Chinese classical dance and the claim that “Chinese classical dance has borrowed heavily from opera dance” is wrong.Similarly, Chinese classical dance is not a “contemporary creation.” This dance notation and its research will help clear up confusions concerning the relationship between classical dance and opera dance, and it has important significance in academic discourse construction.

5.It has important academic value for boosting comparative studies and exchanges between Chinese and Korean classical dance

“Deshou Palace Dance Notation” and Korean Jeongjae Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance, as well as their music, contain a lot of information worthy of our attention.The comparative research would not only help China retrieve its lost classical dance tradition, but also has important academic value for boosting cultural exchanges between the Korean Peninsula and China in the fields of music and dance and reviewing the localization of Dangak in Korea.

Notes

① For the purpose of this paper, all the professional terms of “Deshou Palace Dance Notation”, Birds Singing in Spring and Bell Dance are transliterated from Chinese, and the original Chinese terms are retained in parenthesis when first quoted.

② In this paragraph, references to Yue Ke, Li Xinchuan, Xu Song, and Qian Shuoyou are cited from Liu Wei, A Study of Deshou Palance of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhejiang Academic Journal, No.3, 2016, pp.42—46.

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