Tang Dynasty Crossing Guide: Chang'an and People's Life Manual

Chapter 20
The sound of drum music came from outside again, and the next music and dance was performed in the open space under the steps outside the main hall.

120 Eight handsome men in armor and holding halberds, holding a 纛① walking vigorously, staggered flexion and extension, head and tail back and forth, stabbing back and forth, like a battle formation.The accompaniment band on one side played the 筚篥② and beat the big drum, the sound shook hundreds of miles, and moved awe-inspiringly.The tricksters sang loudly while dancing, and the rhyme was generous: "The imperial style of the four seas has been... a thousand years of virtue and water... let alone military uniforms... today's success..."

Under the agitation of the majestic momentum, the guests in the hall stood up one after another, and you couldn't sit still any longer. You stood up and muttered: "Why is it like raising the national flag and playing the national anthem..."

"Mr. Lang forgot again. This is Emperor Taizong Wen's "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Battle"." The famous prostitute sighed, "Mr. Lang, please don't speak nonsense, be careful to commit the crime of 'disrespect'."

"..."

"Ahaha, I finally know this dance, it's a lion dance, five lions dance together!"

"Lang Jun, this is "Tai Ping Le" from Libuji..."

"The one who is circling and circling on the blanket is Xinjiang Dance, right?"

"That's Hu Xuan... What is Xinjiang?"

"This is a sword dance, isn't it right? Zhou Yu danced it back then, ha ha!"

"This is Gongsun Da Niang's sword weapon..."

……

Well, actually, it’s not a big trouble if you don’t recognize these most famous and well-known music and dances in the Tang Dynasty. At most, the guests at the table next to you will look sideways and laugh at you as a "Tian She Han" or something of.After all, this is a dance performed by professional and semi-professional tricksters, and you are only responsible for onlookers, comments, and replies.

The real embarrassment for you, and possibly even worse consequences, is yet to come.

Singing and dancing added to the fun, the guests and hosts talked and laughed, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more and more lively.The master with a big white beard stood up tremblingly, and took an eight-petal silver cup with a gold-plated lady hunting pattern. The maid at the desk immediately filled the cup with wine, and the master rushed over to you holding the cup.

①纛 (dào), the banner of the ancient army, later evolved into a dance set made of feathers and an ornament on the imperial chariot.

②筚篥 (bìlì), also written as "秱篥", is a wind instrument introduced to the Central Plains from the northern nomads.The tube is made of bamboo or wood, with a reed made of reed or wheat straw at the top, with holes in the tube body and blown vertically.The voice is high-pitched and shrill, with strong expressive force. "Lang Jun, it's the third day for you and me to have a feast, can you drink up the cup and sing a song for me again?"

You also hurriedly stood up and raised your wine glass. Just as you didn't know what to say, the famous prostitute behind you said: "The master persuades the gentleman to drink, and the gentleman will not refuse, but the master please sing first?"

The master stroked his beard and smiled, raised his glass and sang, without any hesitation: "Drink at the Jun's house the day before yesterday, and have a banquet at the Wang's house yesterday. Today I will pass by my hut, and we will meet three times in three days. Let's sing and talk, and persuade each other to drink. Do your best for me." One cup, three wishes with you—"①
At this point, the master raises a glass to invite you. You are quick to drink up your glass of wine, and then you hear the master continue to sing: "...First, I wish the world a peaceful life. Second, I wish you a healthy body. Three. May I come to the old man and meet you in a few numbers!" ②
After a song, the whole house applauds.The host is smiling and standing in front of you with a cup in his hand. It seems that he has no intention of returning to the table. Obviously, the persuasion procedure has not been completed yet.You are in a daze, cursing in your heart: You are done drinking, old man, what are you waiting for if you don’t go back...

The reason why a courtesan is a courtesan is because she responds quickly in such an occasion, and can reconcile the atmosphere so as not to embarrass the guests and hosts.Seeing her flicking her scarf, she asked with a charming smile, "Why doesn't your lord return your respect to the master? Could it be that the fine wine offered by the master is so new that your lord gets drunk after drinking it?"

It turned out that I wanted to pay him back—you suddenly realized amidst the laughter in the room, and quickly toasted to the host, who responded with a toast: "Persuade me to drink, I will not refuse; please do not hesitate to sing!"

That's right, when people persuade you to drink, they always sing songs, so why don't you just say "eat and drink" dryly and finish?Sing you!The problem is this kind of occasion, this kind of atmosphere, and the owner’s pearls and jades in front of you, are you ashamed to say "the chrysanthemum is broken, the ground is hurt", or sing "I shouldn't smell her beauty, wipe everything to sleep with you" or "Love is just a common thing, not unusual at all"?
①From Bai Juyi's "Giving Dreams".

②From Bai Juyi's "Giving a Dream".

If I had to say you might as well sing "How Happy We Live"...

Cough, just to give you an idea, how about you, take off the more expensive things on your body, such as gold, silver and jade pendants, and secretly stuff them to the courtesan behind you, begging her to come forward and rescue you again.She will probably let you drink another big glass of wine, and then sing you a song in return for the host.

"A spring feast, a cup of green wine and singing again. Let Chen make three wishes again: first, I wish my husband a thousand years;
Huh, wipe off your sweat, this scene is over-don't think it's over, there are more tricky things to do next.

The host sang and toasted one by one, and the guests also responded one after another. The singing came one after another, blending with the music and dancing in the hall, and the atmosphere was extremely joyful and warm.Suddenly, I saw the host seat...

Oh, hello, the old master with a white beard, this old rascal, really drank too much, he actually pushed the banquet, stood up and started dancing with his teeth and claws!
What kind of atmosphere?what attitude?What morals?Where is the dignified demeanor of nobles and high officials?Where is the dignified demeanor of the noble family?You think you are those Lehu pariahs, and you end up dancing!Would you like me to throw you a few bounties!Do you have?Do you have?

You, who represent truth and justice, roared past a hundred thousand beasts in your heart, turned your head left and right with righteous indignation, hoping to find the same ridicule and contempt on the faces of many guests, but saw that others were admiring the master's dancing posture with relish, Cheering and applauding from time to time, it seems that everyone seems to think that this is a natural and reasonable behavior.

That's right, until the Tang Dynasty, it was a very normal, elegant, and tasteful activity for high-ranking noble officials to sing and dance in public at banquets, and no one would laugh at them for it.In fact, let alone high-ranking officials, when Li Jing destroyed the Eastern Turks, Li Yuan and Li Shimin and his son held a party to celebrate. Li Shimin, who had been the emperor for several years, danced wildly in front of the crowd. Toast and dance one after another.The same scene was repeated more than ten years later when the new prince Li Zhigang had his eldest son. The grandfather Li Shimin ran to his son's East Palace to take the lead in dancing.

①From Feng Yansi's "Longevity Girl".

Well, jump if you like, anyway, it's not brother who is ashamed.You watch the master twisting his body and raising his arms, swinging his robe sleeves, twirling and stepping, waving his hands away... Hey, what does this mean?Why did he get closer and closer to brother?Come straight here.Is this dizziness or what?What does he want to do again?Help, brother wants to escape.

It's late, stand up and accept the call honestly, the master is "warring" you.

Well, as for the well, you don't have to cry.What is "Darling" you ask?This, in fact, is a popular name of the Tang people. Before the Tang Dynasty, it was elegantly called "the dance belongs to each other", and it existed for a long time.

The host dances first at the banquet, and dances to the guests, signaling to invite the guests to dance.The guest gets up, turns left and right with the host, dances, and then invites the next guest to stand up and dance.If the host is enthusiastic, he will not give up until he invites all the guests at the banquet.

You said you can't, you don't want to dance with the master, or let the famous prostitute dance for you?I solemnly advise you not to take this shelf, it will be regarded as a serious insult to the owner, and the consequences may be very tragic.If you don’t believe me, go back and search for how Tian Ping felt when he refused Guan Fu’s invitation to dance, what happened to Cai Yong’s refusal to dance with Wang Zhi, the tragedy of Tao Qian’s poor coordination with Zhang Pan’s dance steps... In short, you It’s impossible not to dance, so let’s bite the bullet.

Follow the master's gestures, one step, two steps, turn around... turn again... continue to turn... the master backed away, now you can dance solo.

Alas, don't just stand there.Well, really not, follow my password, I will teach you one of the simplest dance positions.

He took off his obstructive coat, went bare-chested, tied a red ribbon on his head to fasten his hair, and yelled after me:

"One-two-three, shoulder; one-two-three, chest; one-two-three, arm; one-two-three, back; one-two-three, thigh; one-two-three, back."

What are you doing?Said I was playing with you?I'm going to be angry!This is the "Pai Zhang Dance" that has been popular among the people since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. A master who is good at this dance can throw knives into the air while patting his body. It's on!For a fledgling novice like you, safety is the first priority. Practice barehanded first, and don't use the blade.

Hey, while you are listening, you are taking pictures of each part in order. Why are you so busy taking pictures of the chest?One, two, three, chest slap, bang bang bang, bang bang, bang bang bang, bang bang, bang bang... Brother, do you know what you call this dance?This is called "atavism phenomenon".

In fact, you are unlucky today, and you are very happy to catch up with the host. There is a banquet where you can enjoy singing and dancing, and invite singing and dancing.In the Tang Dynasty, not every banquet required the host and guests to sing and dance in person. Some only allowed singing and some only danced. For some banquets, guests could sit still and enjoy professional Kabuki performances.When the host who is very poor treats guests, each person has a bowl of plain water and vegetable soup, and nothing else.

In the Tang Dynasty (and before the Tang Dynasty), it was very common for noble men to dance ballroom dances in public places, and noble women generally did not dance in front of the public (except for some semi-professional concubines with singing and dancing skills), and I have never seen noble men and women Records of mixed backup dancers.

So in non-public places, such as the ladies' own parties, without the presence of outside men, will these women sing and dance?I think [-]% will, because at that time it was quite common for noble families to educate children (both men and women) in singing and dancing.There is a source ("The Inscription of the Princess of the Great Tang Dynasty") records that when Empress Wu celebrated her birthday, a bunch of her grandchildren who were a few years old danced in the court hall to celebrate her birthday.

The above is about the performance of the reserved nobles in terms of dancing skills.As for the common people, they are less restrained and dance more in public.In the Tang Dynasty, there was a kind of "Tage" popular among the people. Yes, it was "Tage" of "Li Bai was about to go on a boat when he suddenly heard the sound of singing on the shore".Generally, a group of men and women hold arms together, stepping on the ground in a rhythmic order, and singing while stepping. The atmosphere is very enthusiastic, and they can sing from evening to the next morning when they are happy.

As for the professional tricksters who make a living by singing and dancing, I won’t say much. They can be seen in any kind of activity ceremony.

①From Li Bai's "Gift to Wang Lun".

References & in-depth understanding recommendations for this article:
Edited by Lu Jianwen. Ancient Chinese Banquet Etiquette. Beijing: Beijing Institute of Technology Press, 2007
The Tibetan polo team said: We don’t have Tangphobia, black 3 minutes does not exist①
① This article imitates the famous slips of the tongue and jokes of Han Qiaosheng and Huang Jianxiang.

polo
Datang Royal TV Station!Datang Royal TV Station!Today is the first day of December in the third year of Jinglong in the Tang Dynasty (709), and the Double Ninth Festival has just passed. I would like to wish you all a happy new year.Here is the live broadcast of the "Golden City Cup" Datang Tubo Polo Tournament for you by the sports channel of Datang Royal TV Station.I am Lu Qiaoxiang, the commentator, and I will perform for you in this game. Welcome to watch.

Some viewers may have just opened the elevator, and I will broadcast the current score situation to you again.

In order to celebrate the marriage of Princess Jincheng of the Tang Dynasty to Tubo Zanpu, the boys from the Tubo polo team followed the wedding team, starting from Luoxie City on the plateau, and after a arduous journey, they were transported to Chang'an.They overcame the test of altitude sickness, adapted to the hot winter climate in Chang'an, and maintained an unbeaten record with three wins, one draw and one loss in the warm-up match.

The boys in Tubo are very dedicated. For example, their absolute main force, Matt Bais, returned to the game just three months after his son was born.Another main player, Gal Dongzan, just held a special wedding birthday ceremony in Chang'an last week. Chang'an Taiji Palace Polo Club wanted to buy him with a price of 3000 million Kaiyuan Tongbao, but Tubo's The Potala Palace Club bid even higher, as high as 2800 million Tongbao, so the transfer was attempted.There is also a main player named Lun Qinling, who still had a high fever yesterday, with a high fever of 36.8 ℃, and played again today.

Today's official match between the two teams will be held at the Daming Palace Liyuan Polo Field.Let's take a look at this polo field that has just been completed and put into use. It is generally rectangular, with a circumference of [-] steps. The east, south, west, and north sides are surrounded by low walls, and only a row of high platforms is built on the north side. as an auditorium.Above the VIP seats on the stage, there is a roof to shelter from wind and rain, which is made into a pavilion shape.We are happy to see the musicians from Jiaofang also came to the stadium today to cheer for the Datang Royal Team.

(End of this chapter)