法曲考源

Study on the Origin of "Fa Qu" (Buddhists’ Ceremonial Music)

法曲是隋、唐时期宫廷燕乐的一个品种,以歌舞为主,有时也以纯乐器的形式出现,风格清新雅致。关于法曲的来源众说纷纭,主要形成了来源于佛教音乐和道教音乐两种不同的观点。笔者在对法曲的来源做出进一步考证的基础上提出:法曲的形成是多源的,它是在吸收了多种前代音乐的基础上形成的,到成熟期时它已经脱离了宗教音乐的范畴,并成为隋、唐时期宫廷音乐中一种极富特色的歌舞音乐。

Fa Qu (Buddhists’ Ceremonial Music) was a branch in the Yan Music (the court music in the Sui and Tang Dynasties). In fresh and elegant style, it contains mainly songs and dances with occasional pure instrumental music. Its origin is highly debatable, and the main opinions have been that of from the Confucianism music or the Daoism music. Based on further research this author offers the theory that Fa Qu’s origin is a multiple one. It was based on several types of music in the previous times and it broke away from religious music as reaching its maturity, becoming a part of the court music with salient features.