“撥頭”考

Investigation of the Term Botou

"撥頭"是與"蘭陵王""踏謡娘"同類的唐代歌舞戲,但"撥頭"究竟是一種曲目,還是一種表演形式,一直存疑。本文聯繫日本唐樂中的"拔頭(batou)"舞以及日本法隆寺"拔頭"假面實物資料加以考察,確認"撥頭"是以撥頭甩髮爲主要特徵的龜兹樂舞表演形式的類名。並辨析了《通典》和《樂府雜録》二書記載的差異及其原因,認爲此戲能在玄宗千秋節上演,可能與開元年間關注猛獸的對策有關。

Botou 撥頭refers to a type of theatrical performance from the Tang Dynasty,similar to the "Prince of Lanling" or "Stamping and Swaying Woman" (Tayaoniang).There has long been doubted whether botou was the name of a musical tune or of a style of dance performance.This article introduces new evidence from Japan to shed light on this question,in particular the Japanese batō dance and the batō masks preserved at the Hōryūji Temple.This evidence confirms that the Chinese botou was a type of dance originally from Kucha,characterized by the shaking of the head and the swinging of the hair.This article also explains the discrepancy between the descriptions of botou in the Tang sources Tongdian《通典》and Yuefu zalu《樂府雜録》.It seems that the dance was performed at the birthday festivities of Emperor Xuanzong,a fact that may be related to court policies regarding wild animals during the Kaiyuan era (713-741).