略论西汉后期的伎艺——《两汉伎艺传承史论》之七

On the Art Performances in the LateWest Han Dynasty (202 B.C.—8 A.D.)

西汉后期,朝廷的雅乐逐步完善,民间的俗乐也更加繁盛。民间伎艺逐渐渗透进上层社会,影响了宫廷伎乐的发展。那时人们喜欢用歌来表达自己对社会政治、现实人生的态度。汉代学人将现实物象与阴阳五行强相比附,自属无稽。但歌谣所反映的,却是现实存在的实际内容。西汉后期的民间歌唱,与上流社会歌唱伎艺相比较,大致有这么几方面的特征:一是语言比较浅俗、活泼,善于运用比喻、双关语反映社会现实,且针对性强,具有很强的批判意识,很好地体现了乐府诗"感于哀乐,缘事而发"的传统。二是大多篇幅较短,语句简洁,节奏鲜明而短促,朗朗上口,适于歌唱。三是善于抓住事物(事件)的基本特征予以描述,形象生动逼真,语言有较强的动作性,便于歌唱者表演时动作、神态的运用,为后世歌舞艺术的发展拓展了道路。西汉后期各类伎艺迅速发展,是由汉王朝与西域各国以及其他民族的频繁文化交流促成的,与中外交流的两条大通道(海上丝绸之路、陆上丝绸之路)密不可分。忽视了这一文化背景,就很难对当时百戏竞胜的局面作出合理的解释。西汉后期的舞蹈,既从民间歌舞中汲取了不少营养,也吸收了外来歌舞的艺术因子,还注意借助动物的动作情态来编制舞蹈,将歌舞巧妙地融为一体,创造出饶有气势的繁盛局面。

The royal elegant music Ya-yue(gagaki)was gradually improved while the folk music Su-yue was more popular in the late West Han Dynasty(202 B.C.-8 A.D.).The folk art performance permeated into the highbrow community and influenced the development of the royal art performance.People used to voice their attitudes toward social politics and life with rhymed songs at that time by associating their realities with Ying-yang and the Five Elements.What those rhymed songs reflected were the actual reality.Compared with the singing performances of the upper class,the folk songs in the late West Han Dynasty have the following features.Firstly,the language is simple,vivid and rich for the employment of similes and puns to reflect the social realities with a strong critical awareness to display the tradition of“powering out emotions based on the reality”of Yue-fu Poetry.Secondly,most of the folk songs are concise with distinct rhymes suitable for singing.Thirdly,they capture the features of the events to render them lifelike with strong dynamic qualities that are convenient for the singers to employ actions in their performances which broadened the ways of singing and dancing for the later generations.The rapid development of various art performances in the late West Han Dynasty resulted from the frequent cultural exchanges with other nations between Han and the countries of Xi-yu(western regions)that are interwoven with two highways of cultural exchanges between China and other countries,that is,the Marine Silk Road and the Land Silk Road.The dancing performance in that period absorbed some elements from the folk music and the foreign ones as well which choreographed dance by modeling some animal’s actions and integrating dancing and singing to produce a vigorous prosperity.