从西方的视角看中国的胡人舞者

Hu(胡)Dancers in China:a View from the West

胡腾舞是一种源于西方的主要舞蹈,由与古代粟特(今乌兹别克斯坦的沙赫尔–伊萨布兹)的石国有关的男性舞者表演。唐代的史书记载了他们的服装和他们表演的背景——通常是在夜晚。此外,男性“跳”胡腾舞与西域另一种备受推崇的舞蹈“旋舞”胡旋舞之间的区别也有明确规定。图像是一个重要的证据来源,尤其是在6—7世纪。在许多“汉化粟特人”的丧床上有胡腾舞舞者的形象,通常与宴会场景或其他伴随音乐和舞蹈的聚会有关。在金属器皿和宗教建筑(安阳修定寺)的装饰中也发现了胡腾舞舞者的证据。材料描述之后将讨论胡腾舞的起源,丰富的图像记录使我们能够追踪男性(早期也包括女性)人物的轨迹,这些人物以这种特有的姿势和手势演绎舞蹈:从犍陀罗艺术(今天的巴基斯坦北部,公元1—3世纪)到古希腊(公元前6—前5世纪),再到法老时代的埃及(公元前2000年),在空间和时间上都有延伸的曲目。

1.Introduction In a recent research^(①)I have tried to piece together the iconographic record,scattered from ancient Gandhāra(today in North Pakistan)to the Mediterranean Sea,of a specific and consistent repertoire of male dancers,who,due to their costume and general appearance,can be broadly labelled as“Iranian”.The aim of the following notes is to expand the inquiry by bridging my overview of Gandharan,Western Asian and Greek evidence with the iconographic record of Hu(胡)dancers,i.e.dancers of Central Asian provenance,witnessed in China from the 6th to the 9th centuries,that is from the Northern Wei(北魏)to Tang(唐)dynasties.First and foremost,I will consider the evidence provided by the Hu(or“Sino-Sogdian”)funerary monuments,mostly dating from the second half of the 6th century^(②);to this I will add a few examples attesting to the enduring popularity of the iconographic subject throughout the Tang period.