“古典”三问——对中国古典舞当代建设的思考

Three Questions about “Classical” Reflections on the Contemporary Development of Chinese Classical Dance

中国古典舞的当代建设是时代赋予我们的重大课题,其目标指向"古典真正成其为古典"。何为"古典"?既要满足相对客观的时间条件,又要符合相对主观的后世评价与认同标准,即社会功能在审美、认识、组织三个主要方面的具体体现。依此考量中国古典舞,其当代建设亟待进一步走向历史纵深。为何"古典"?从审美、认识、组织等社会功能而言,中国古典舞当与其他中国古典艺术一起担负起应尽之社会责任。如何"古典"?中国古典舞当代建设需要几代人不懈努力以解决好历史长度和文化厚度的问题,进而达到精神的高度,实现中国古典舞复兴的梦想。

I. What is 'classical'?What is 'classical'? Prof. LIU Qing-yi has offered a good answer to this question in her Exploration and Reflections on the Reconstruction of the Masterpieces of Chinese Classical Dance. She takes into account four dimensions: time, value, historical continuity, and significance for future generations. To illustrate her point, she raises quite a few questions:Is it ancient, traditional, or historical? Is it classic, exemplary, or representative? Does it possess enduring charm and eternal life? Is it worthy of remembrance and repeated review after a long time? Does it maintain the vitality of tradition in a specific historical context? The first question is factual, while the rest are relatively subjective, or more about the personal judgement and perception of the later generations. Then, there comes another question: What is the basis of evaluation and recognition in future generations?In the centuries before the Qin Dynasty(the pre-Qin period), Chinese classical dance had started to perform certain social functions, which is the basis of selective recognition and inheritance of Chinese national dance by future generations. Among its social functions, the most prominent are aesthetic, cognitive, and organizational functions. First, classical art is aesthetically stable, while the aesthetic experience it offers can be added up through the accumulation of knowledge. It is lasting, in short. Second, classical art often has references to major cultural events of the past, making itself part of recognized history. Third, classical art offers the common ground for the development of national culture and psychology, and therefore its recognition lasts much longer. In other words, apart from the dimension of TIME which is a factual standard, the other three dimensions are the main criteria to be followed by future generations in their subjective evaluation of classical works.II. Why do we aim at the classical?The need to develop Chinese classical dance can be considered from the perspective of social function. First, Chinese classical dance has the mandate of shaping contemporary Chinese aesthetics together with other forms of Chinese classical art. Modern dance claims to be anti-traditional but in fact depends on tradition to a large extent, which indicates that tradition is an intangible basis for contemporary aesthetic creation. Therefore, from the perspective of aesthetic regression, classical dance contains a strong traditional aesthetic gene and has the potential to drive the development of all other forms of dance. Second, Chinese classical dance is an important way for people today to understand historical events and continue the tradition and culture. Chinese dance dates back to the ancient times and has gone through innumerable cultural events. It is impossible to recollect every specific event, but focus can be placed on the bigger picture, which would be an effective way to figure out the true meaning of classical dance. Third, Chinese classical dance should play an active role in maintaining ethnic relationship and social stability along with other Chinese classical arts. The social significance of Chinese classical art lies in its ability to inspire the people with beauty, and help them develop the characteristics of tranquility, tolerance, and harmony, which is critical to social stability.III. How can we develop Chinese classical dance?First of all, the development of Chinese classical dance in the contemporary society hinges on its ancientness and its historical resources. Then why does ancientness need to be defined for developing any classical art? It is because every classical art must go through a long period of accumulation or natural growth. This period is also a process of formation of norms and aesthetic tradition as well as historical selection. Another question is how long it takes for any art to become classical. It is difficult to quantify the time needed, but it is certain that the longer the process it has gone through, the more stable and representative the art will be, which is the source of its classical identity. The third question is how it can be extended in time. Since time is linear, it goes either forward or backward. For the development of Chinese classical dance, it is necessary to go backward to locate its ultimate source and go forward to subject the art to the test of time and get it recognized by future generations. To be recognized, classical art still needs to resort to traditional culture for nourishment and inspirations.Second, the contemporary development of Chinese classical dance also depends on cultural heritage. The first question here is why Chinese classical dance should be rooted in traditional culture. The aesthetic, cognitive, and organizational activities of the human society all involve culture, so art is invariably based on a certain culture. Without culture, art will lose its language and, even worse, its survival will be threatened. The second question is what kind of culture is needed for developing Chinese classical dance. As the cultural tradition of China has undergone many transformations, the cultural basis of Chinese classical dance has changed over time. What’s more, the mainstream culture in each historical period is also pluralistic. Therefore, at the present stage, the development of Chinese classical dance should be diversified and inclusive. In conclusion, from the perspective of cultural selection, the development of Chinese classical dance in the contemporary age should move forward in three steps: tracing back to the late antiquity to lay the foundation;digging into its ancient source to feed diversified and inclusive development;and consolidating art itself and getting itself ready for historical selection.The final question is how Chinese classical dance can grow on the basis of culture. To determine the cultural basis for classical dance and develop it in the current settings, it is necessary to do some basic research and the focus should rest on its historical form and aesthetic tradition. There is no shortcut to this goal. The only way to further develop Chinese classical dance as a discipline is to explore history via historical documents, unearthed relics, and inheritors.