Silk Road

The Study of Drama Culture

Qiang Li, Fen Gao

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9789813202979
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Cultural & Social Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

Silk Road: The Study of Drama Culture is the translated edition of the Chinese academic book of the same title written by Professor LI Qiang from Shaanxi Normal University, China. The book breaks through the concept of regarding Han Drama as the center, yet elaborates the Silk Road drama as an inclusive culture and a prevailing literary art form in human civilization. Relying on his extensive experience and broad vision, the author conducts the thorough study by means of literature, artifacts and academic fieldwork. The book studies the drama culture of all ethnic groups from Asia, Europe and Africa and touches upon the cultural exchanges between China and its neighboring countries, between the East and the West. The carefully presented details in this book are aimed to explore all the related fields such as dramaturgy, philology, phonology, religion, history, geography, archeology, ethnology, and folklore between the East and the West from the perspective of cultural anthropology. The explanations in the book contribute to an in-depth study on the origins of the Silk Road and the drama culture along the Silk Road.

Contents:

• Origin of the Silk Road Drama Culture
• Grand Music of the Tang and Song Dynasties and Zhezhi Group Plays
• Mount Wutai and Buddhist Opera in the Western Regions
• Dunhuang Secular Music–dance and Buddhist Opera
• Maudgalyayana Culture in Dunhuang Studies
• Religious Culture in Tibet and Tibetan Play
• Expedition to the Western Regions and Buddhist Music–dance Plays
• Exploring Rare Manuscripts of Buddhist Dramatic Pieces in the Western Regions
• Exchange of Music–dance Plays Between Central Asia and Western Asia
• Study of Drama Between the East and West
• Indian Religious Culture and Sanskrit Drama Arts
• Persian Religious Culture and Eastern Drama
• Eastward Spread of Ancient Greek and Roman Drama Culture
• Exchanges and Enhancements of Eastern and Western Drama Culture

Readership: Academics, professionals, undergraduates and graduate students interested in China's silk road, drama culture and history, and cultural anthropology. Drama Culture;Silk Road;Han Drama;Silk Drama;Dramaturgy;Philology;Phonology;Religion;History;Geography;Archeology;Ethnology;Folklore;Cultural Anthropology0 Key Features:

• This book has conducted the most comprehensive study on the drama culture along the Silk Road, including the traditional Chinese drama, drama abroad, and the contrastive study of drama in China and the west
• This book explores all the related fields such as dramaturgy, philology, phonology, religion, history, geography, archeology, ethnology, and folklore between the East and the West from the perspective of cultural anthropology
• This book is of high academic value in the application of the Wild-vision drama and Pan-drama, the cross-use of drama artifacts, text and fieldwork, as well as the interwoven structure of geography and history

Chapter 1

Origin of the Silk Road Drama Culture

1.1Natural Geography and Primitive Drama Culture

In tracing the history of drama culture in China and the western countries, the greatest pride of the Chinese people rests in the resplendent blending of the literature of various ethnicities during the Han and Tang dynasties, particularly the flourishing of the creation of different forms of verses, ditties, odes and songs, as well as music-dance plays. Such unprecedented burgeoning of ancient Chinese literature and art cannot but be ascribed to the exploitation of the Silk Road at that time, and the dynamics brought about by a great integration between the poetry and theatre of Hu and Han.

The Silk Road, a symbol of communication and economic and cultural exchange between China and Western countries that is now commanding the marked attention of the world, has also been known as the Jade Road, the Ceramic Road, the Tea Horse Road and the Spice Road in ancient history. In modern and contemporary times, the term “Silk Road” has become the standard name used by European scholars of the natural sciences and humanities, then enriched by scholars around the world, and has been acknowledged by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and accepted and used by oriental and occidental countries and ethnicities around the world.

According to the findings of famous German geographer F. von Richthofen, the so-called Silk Road (Seidenstrassen) was an ancient network of routes in the Western Regions connecting the silk trade of China to that of Transoxiana and India from 114 BC to 127 AD.¹

The classic argument stated that the Silk Road was created between the 2nd year in the era of Yuanshuo and the 6th year in the era of Yuanding, under the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty. During this period, one of the most remarkable historical events was Zhang Qian’s three expeditions to the Western Regions under the imperial edict from the 4th year in the era of Yuanshou (119 BC), thus officially opening the important overland Silk Road. This international avenue started from Chang’an, capital of the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties, extended all the way to Hezhong (namely the upper stream of the Yellow River in China) and then to the Hexi Corridor outside China, wound through the Western Regions, India, Persia and Mesopotamia in Central and Western Asia (namely the Amu Darya and Syr Darya of the hinterland of Central Asia; and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers of the Middle East), and rejoined Byzantine, Athens, Egypt and Rome along the coast of the Mediterranean.

The Japanese scholar Nagasawa Kazutoshi spoke highly of the Silk Road in his masterpiece Study on the History of Silk Road: “Meandering from Eastern Asia to Europe and Northern Africa via Syria, the Silk Road connects the three continents, which covers extremely expansive and complex regions and is closely related to numerous ethnicities.” With regard to the academic value of the Silk Road, the scholar commented, “Firstly, as the artery connecting the Asian and African continents, the Silk Road is the center for the development of world history…. Secondly, the Silk Road is the birthplace of the major cultures of the world…. Thirdly, the Silk Road is a bridge between the civilization of the East and West.”²

In consideration of the tremendous academic value and significance of the Silk Road Studies, many countries and regions have organized experts and scholars to conduct comprehensive investigations, ^­consolidations and studies since the mid-20th century.

Marquis Zhang Qian’s historical achievement of traveling to the Western Regions and opening up the Silk Road cannot be overstated. Leaving aside the contribution to natural sciences, this pioneer played a vital role in the spread of Indian Buddhism to the East and the introduction of the literary arts of the nomad regions. The Japanese scholar Kuwabara Jistuzo acclaimed in A Study on Zhang Qian’s Expedition to the Western Regions, “Zhang Qian’s expedition to the Western Regions is an absolutely epoch-making event in Chinese history.” Wang Zhonghan also expressed his high praises:

Zhang Qian’s expedition to the Western Regions is of great historical significance. It opened the road connecting China and Asia to spread the advanced production techniques and culture of the Han dynasty to the Western Regions and far off to Europe. The culture of the various ethnicities of the Western Regions also exerted great impacts on the Central Plains. Many new species, such as grapes, cucumbers, shallots and clover were brought back to the hinterland. The expedition to the Western Regions not only promoted the economic and cultural development of the various ethnicities of the Western Regions but also greatly enriched the economic and cultural life of the Han ethnic people.³

According to “Records of Buddhism and Taoism” in the Book of the Wei Dynasty, “to open up to China and the Western Regions, Zhang Qian was dispatched as an envoy to Daxia, and he heard that ‘adjacent to Daxia was Sindhu, also named India, so it was at that time Buddha’s religion was heard for the first time.’” There is no doubt that the “Buddha’s religion” of “Sindhu state” is the ancient Indian Buddhism which had tremendous impact on the later religious culture of China. Closely connected with the exotic Buddhist literary arts were the Hujiao Hengchui (nomad horn transverse flute) plus music-dance and poetry of Maha Tuhara, popular in nomad regions, which were brought back by Zhang Qian to the capital Chang’an from the Western Regions. After being imported into China, these have influenced the music, music-dance and poetry of the Han, Tang, and the Five dynasties, Variety Play (Zaju) of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the legends of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It was due to its exotic and vast natural geography and abundant cultural history that the Silk Road spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe was extended. On the expansive hinterland of the Western Regions, at the middle segment of the Silk Road, numerous ethnicities have thrived and flourished, such as the Qiang, Sai, Zhi, Xiongnu, Xianbei, Tujue, Qidan, Tangut, Tibetan, Uyghur, Kirgiz and Mongols, who undertook frequent, large-scale economic and cultural exchanges with the Bactrian countries of Daxia, Yancai, Anxi (Arsacid territories), Tiaozhi (Seleucid Empire in Mesopotamia), Alexandria Prophthasia, Kophen, Sindhu, Qin, Persia, Byzantine, Greece, Rome and Arab countries. The resulting ancient culture of the Western Regions also bred the theatrical art and the Silk Road, encapsulating the quintessence of both the oriental and occidental literary arts, forging a profound cultural tradition of long-standing.

The Western Regions are vast in territory, rich in ethnicity, and time-honored in history, and might also be named as “Western Regions cultural zone”, owing to the diverse and splendid composite regional culture cultivated there. The Western Regions cultural zone refers to the geographical space, based on the primitive cultural patterns, generally characterized by similar culture and living modes where the racial communities share common and relatively stable cultural traits.

Regional culture or cultural zone is generally divided in the light of unique ecological environment, economic structure, cultural history and religious beliefs, and different geographic locations and environment will spawn different geographic cultures. Located at the middle segment of the Silk Road connecting Asia to Europe, the Western Regions cultural zone was the site of interwoven oriental and occidental cultural exchanges.

Owing to its unique geographic location and social landscape, the Western Regions contributed greatly to the social communication, promotion and catalysis of the drama culture exchanges between Eastern and Western countries, so the drama of the Western Regions constituted a significant part of the history regarding the Silk Road drama culture exchanges.

Records of the Western Regions in the Book of Han noted, “The Western Regions were opened up by Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, and originally had 36 countries, which were divided further into over 50 countries, all located west of Xiongnu and south of the Wusun.” The famous archeologist Huang Wenbi classified 36 countries of the Western Regions during the Han dynasty into the Tarim Basin group, Kunlun Mountains Valley group, Congling Valley group, Mount Tianshan Valley group and west of Congling group, based on the mountains, rivers and terrain in The Distribution of Countries and Races in the Han Western Regions.

Of the preceding grouping of the Western Regions, the first four groups were located within the territory of current Xinjiang and the last group was beyond the territory: Kophen was situated at the current downstream of the Kabul river and Kashmir; Alexandria Prophthasia was at the western part of current Afghanistan; Anxi was at the northern part of current Iran; Great Yuezhi referred to current Bactria; Kangju covered the area between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers; Dayuan was located in the current Fergana Basin; and Yeda lay in the northern part of current Afghanistan.

Kophen, directly related to the countries in the Western Regions, called Kashmir or Kasperia in the Tang dynasty, was the birthplace of Mahāyāna school of Indian Buddhism and also the cradle of Indian classical Sanskrit drama. Alexandria Prophthasia and Great Yuezhi were the sites of Greek and Roman drama culture, which were important conduits of the Silk Road cultural exchanges in history.

Since the Han dynasty, the overland Silk Road, as a carrier of the oriental and occidental drama culture, has split into four routes: one route through the Hexi Corridor or north of the Tarim river within the territory of Xinjiang, traveling through Kuci and Shule, passing west of the summit of Congling, and winding west through Dayuan and Kangju; a second route along the south of the Tarim river traveling west of Kustana and Shache, passing the Hindu Kush mountains and running westward along the upper- and middle stream of Amu Darya; these two routes converged in Mulu (now Mali of Central Asia) and reached the eastern bank of the Mediterranean, then meandered through Asia, Africa and Europe. The other two routes were the so-called “grassland Silk Road” and “plateau Silk Road”, or the well-known “Tang-Bo Ancient Road”.

Historically, it was these four international routes that aided the cultural and artistic infiltration and fusion in such areas as traditional music, dance, art, literature, acrobatics and drama between Eastern and Western countries, and between the Western Regions and the Central Plains of China. Due to the special geographical and natural environment, the well-developed Indian Buddhist culture and drama exerted direct impacts on the Western Regions of China, thus promoting the formation and development of its drama that epitomized the essence of literary arts and its booming in the oriental world.

Within the territory of the ancient Western Regions, the Silk Road, as a conduit for oriental and occidental drama culture, could be further divided into four routes: one route passed through the Hexi Corridor or north of the Tarim river within the territory of Xinjiang, traveled through Kuci (current Kuqa) and Shule (current Kashgar), passed west of the summit of Congling, and wound west through Dayuan and Kangju; one route along the south of Tarim river traveled to the west of Kustana (current Khotan) and Shache, passed Mount Snow (current Hindukush range) and ran westward along the upper- and middle stream of Amu Darya; these two routes converged in Mulu (now Mali of Central Asia) and reached the eastern bank of the Mediterranean, then meandered through Asia, Africa and Europe; one route started from Dunhuang and traveled north to Yiwu (the south of Kumul) within the territory of Xinjiang, then crossed over Tianshan Tongpu (namely Barkol) in front of Jushi (namely Jimusar), passed westward through the Tekes River to Wusun (Yili), which was called the “prairie Silk Road”; one route wound westward through Tubo (Tibet) and Noboluo (Nepal) and led to Tianzhu (India), which was labeled as the Tang-Bo Ancient Road or the “plateau Silk Road.”

In addition, there has been a little-known non-governmental route within the Western Regions for cultural exchanges between China and the West since ancient times, which started from Khotan, Mount Pi in Xinjiang, meandered southwest to Kophen (current Peshawar of Pakistan) and reached Alexandria Prophthasia via the Khyber Pass, named the Alexandria Prophthasia Route of Kophen in ancient times. It is through such international channels that the Western Regions culture connected closely with the ancient civilizations of China, India, Persia, Babylon, and even Greece, Rome and Egypt, and prompted exchanges of the music-dance and drama culture between the East and West.

Similar to other cultures in the world, the Western Regions culture primarily depended on the natural geography and social landscape, and drew, in particular, on direct inspiration and stimulus from nature, thus gradually creating vigorous primitive art, music, dance and literature, and fostering a greatly expressive drama culture.

In primitive society, the ancestors of ancient China and the Western Regions sought artistic inspiration and creative material from the natural landscape. Nature reverberates with vibrant sounds and rhythms, the rumbling of rivers and seas, the howling of storms and thunder, the dancing of fowl and beast, the clamoring and chiming of livestock, the singing of birds and melodious chanting of insects, which interweave into the living artistic space of multidimensional cultures.

Some experts hold that human music, language and drama art originated from the imitation of nature as humans usually praised themselves as singers by comparisons with larks, nightingales, parrots and thrushes and deemed lifelike imitations of the sounds of nature and fowl and beast a great pleasure. The ancients frequently created and composed songs by gathering melodious sounds of the mountains, forests, lakes and valleys. The chapter of “Ancient Music of Midsummer Records” in Lv’s Commentaries of History stated, “After Emperor Rao ascended to the throne, his majesty ordered Zhi to compose music. Zhi created songs by mimicking the sounds of mountains, forests, rivers and valleys.” According to Volume 19 of Shuoyuan (Garden of Stories) by Liu Xiang, “Emperor Huang ordered Ling Lun to compose musical notes. Traveling from the west of Daxia to the north of Kunlun, Ling Lun settled on the bamboos in the Xie Valley of Mount Kunlun, and took a bamboo of even diameters and cut it at the sections. Measuring 9 cun (1 cun equals to 0.33 decimeter), the pipe gave out a sound, named as Huangzhong of Gong (equivalent to one or numbered musical notation “do” in western solfeggio). Then, Ling Lun made 12 pipes and discriminated 12 tones of equal temperaments by listening to the twittering of mythical phoenix at the foot of Mount Kunlun.” Such records offered historical foundation that the standards of musical notes in the ancient music of China were formulated based on the chirping of birds in Mount Kunlun.

Inspired by the colorful biological world, the ancestors of China drew on local materials to create onomatopoeic tools for the entrapment of fowls, and rhythms with wood, stones, bamboo, animal bones and ox horns, which then evolved into musical instruments. Some people even reproduced the shapes and behaviors of animals and plants in nature by mimicking them on stage in various primitive music-dances an...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Series Editors
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Author
• About the Translator
• Acknowledgments
• Preface One
• Preface Two
• Epilogue
• Chapter 1 Origin of the Silk Road Drama Culture1
• Chapter 2 Grand Music of the Tang and Song Dynasties and Zhezhi Group Plays
• Chapter 3 Mount Wutai and Buddhist Opera in the Western Regions
• Chapter 4 Dunhuang Secular Music–dance and Buddhist Opera
• Chapter 5 Maudgalyayana Culture in Dunhuang Studies
• Chapter 6 Religious Culture in Tibet and Tibetan Play
• Chapter 7 Expedition to the Western Regions and Buddhist Music–dance Plays
• Chapter 8 Exploring Rare Manuscripts of Buddhist Dramatic Pieces in the Western Regions
• Chapter 9 Exchange of Music–dance Plays Between Central Asia and Western Asia
• Chapter 10 Study of Drama Between the East and West
• Chapter 11 Indian Religious Culture and Sanskrit Drama Arts
• Chapter 12 Persian Religious Culture and Eastern Drama
• Chapter 13 Eastward Spread of Ancient Greek and Roman Drama Culture
• Chapter 14 Exchanges and Enhancements of Eastern and Western Drama Culture
• References
• Index