以舞禳灾:商周灾异与舞蹈之关系考

Eliminating Disasters with Dance:Relationship between Disasters and Dance in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties

商周时期,先民朴素的观念认为天行有常,一旦失常就会带来种种灾异。面对灾异带来的恐慌,人们多以祈、乐、舞进行禳解。其中舞蹈由于可以借助鸟、羽等道具及动作,具体形象地表现天神起、降等活动,被皇族和民众所接受,天然地和祭祀、祈禳结合在了一起。这使得舞蹈的地位甚为崇高,舞者的身份也极高贵。另一方面,当舞蹈和禳灾结合在一起后,祭祀主题严格限制了早期舞蹈的素材及表演,出现了舞蹈的僵化。

In the Shang and Zhou dynasties,people simply believed that heaven’s actions were usually normal,and once it went abnormal,it would bring all kinds of disasters.Faced with this panic,people often used prayer,music and dance to eliminate disasters.Among them,dance could use props such as birds and feathers,and movements to vividly express the come and go of gods,which was accepted by the royal family and common people.Therefore,dance was naturally combined with sacrifices and prayers,making its status more noble,and held dancers in extremely high rank.On the other hand,when dance and disasters were combined,the theme of sacrifice strictly limited the material and performance of early dances,resulting in the rigidity of dance.