The etiquette of imperial court banquet (EICB)was the grand ceremony of courtesy and music in Song Dynasty.However,due to the confusion of the date compilation in the Annals of Song Dynasty,it was inevitable that vari...The etiquette of imperial court banquet (EICB)was the grand ceremony of courtesy and music in Song Dynasty.However,due to the confusion of the date compilation in the Annals of Song Dynasty,it was inevitable that varies of mistakes were made when the information was cited about EICB to explain the important literary and cultural phenomena.For example,Xue Li ruo,the author of the Complete Explanation of Ci poetry,and Liu Yu pan, the author of the History of Ci poetry, considered erroneously EICB noted in the Annals of Song Dynasty, Notes of Musical System seventeenth(A.S.D.N.M.S.17th ) as the ceremony of Ren Zong reign and cited it to elaborate the system of Da qu and the source of the prosperity of Ci poetry. They believed that music and dance was so prosperous as a result of political stability and economic development that every detail of A.S.D.N.M.S.17th had been worked out under the reign of Ren Zong. But Xue Li ruo and Liu Yu pan ignored several important facts:firstly, their viewpoints based on the trustless statement of A.S.D.N.M.S.17th, which dated EICB under the reign of Tai Zong ;secondly, they neglected the fact that Shumishi and vice Shumishi (the minister and vice minister of defense in Song dynasty) and Royal Relatives were not allowed to attend the imperial court banquet before the ninth year of Xi ning(1076) of Shen Zong reign ; thirdly, the ceremony under the reign of Ren Zong still employed the Geisha’s Dance performed by girls subordinated to two Imperial Armies and Imperial Musical Organ.Actually, all the systems of music and dance as well as the sequence of the ceremony impossibly existed till the great reform of Shen Zong reign.According to the authentic record of Li Tao’s Xuzizhitongjianchangbian ,a chronicle on the Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127),Chen Yang’s Yueshu , a Complete Explanation about Chinese Musical System and other important historical events, EICB noted in A.S.D.N.M.S.17th was, in fact, practiced on the Tianning festival (the holy festival of Hui Zong reign ) of Jian zhong jing guo(1101) under the reign of Hui Zong, not under the reign of Ren Zong(1022-1063). So this ceremony was advanced at least forty years in Xue Li ruo and Liu Yu pan’s books because of their negligence . However, Hui Zong, an Emperor craving for luxury and grandeur, was never satisfied with the size of the imperial court banquet .So the ceremony under his reign was much more luxurious than that of any other Emperors. Through careful researches this paper concludes that the above mentioned ceremony was not established under the reign of Hui Zong .Originally speaking,it was drawn up during Xi-ning and Yuan-feng period(1076-1085) of Shen Zong reign because of the great reform including acceptance of Children’s Dance instead of Geisha’s Dance , permission of Shumishi and vice Shumishi and Royal Relatives to attend imperial court banquet, and so on. Moreover, it was continuously used under the three reigns of Shen Zong, Zhe Zong and Hui Zong till the third year of Da guan(1109) of Hui Zong reign when the new etiquette was worked out. Therefore, the period when EICB noted in A.S.D.N.M.S.17th.was practiced during the ninth year of Xi ning(1076) and the first year of Yuan feng(1078) of Shen Zong reign and the third year of Da guan(1109) of Hui Zong reign.展开更多
文摘The etiquette of imperial court banquet (EICB)was the grand ceremony of courtesy and music in Song Dynasty.However,due to the confusion of the date compilation in the Annals of Song Dynasty,it was inevitable that varies of mistakes were made when the information was cited about EICB to explain the important literary and cultural phenomena.For example,Xue Li ruo,the author of the Complete Explanation of Ci poetry,and Liu Yu pan, the author of the History of Ci poetry, considered erroneously EICB noted in the Annals of Song Dynasty, Notes of Musical System seventeenth(A.S.D.N.M.S.17th ) as the ceremony of Ren Zong reign and cited it to elaborate the system of Da qu and the source of the prosperity of Ci poetry. They believed that music and dance was so prosperous as a result of political stability and economic development that every detail of A.S.D.N.M.S.17th had been worked out under the reign of Ren Zong. But Xue Li ruo and Liu Yu pan ignored several important facts:firstly, their viewpoints based on the trustless statement of A.S.D.N.M.S.17th, which dated EICB under the reign of Tai Zong ;secondly, they neglected the fact that Shumishi and vice Shumishi (the minister and vice minister of defense in Song dynasty) and Royal Relatives were not allowed to attend the imperial court banquet before the ninth year of Xi ning(1076) of Shen Zong reign ; thirdly, the ceremony under the reign of Ren Zong still employed the Geisha’s Dance performed by girls subordinated to two Imperial Armies and Imperial Musical Organ.Actually, all the systems of music and dance as well as the sequence of the ceremony impossibly existed till the great reform of Shen Zong reign.According to the authentic record of Li Tao’s Xuzizhitongjianchangbian ,a chronicle on the Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127),Chen Yang’s Yueshu , a Complete Explanation about Chinese Musical System and other important historical events, EICB noted in A.S.D.N.M.S.17th was, in fact, practiced on the Tianning festival (the holy festival of Hui Zong reign ) of Jian zhong jing guo(1101) under the reign of Hui Zong, not under the reign of Ren Zong(1022-1063). So this ceremony was advanced at least forty years in Xue Li ruo and Liu Yu pan’s books because of their negligence . However, Hui Zong, an Emperor craving for luxury and grandeur, was never satisfied with the size of the imperial court banquet .So the ceremony under his reign was much more luxurious than that of any other Emperors. Through careful researches this paper concludes that the above mentioned ceremony was not established under the reign of Hui Zong .Originally speaking,it was drawn up during Xi-ning and Yuan-feng period(1076-1085) of Shen Zong reign because of the great reform including acceptance of Children’s Dance instead of Geisha’s Dance , permission of Shumishi and vice Shumishi and Royal Relatives to attend imperial court banquet, and so on. Moreover, it was continuously used under the three reigns of Shen Zong, Zhe Zong and Hui Zong till the third year of Da guan(1109) of Hui Zong reign when the new etiquette was worked out. Therefore, the period when EICB noted in A.S.D.N.M.S.17th.was practiced during the ninth year of Xi ning(1076) and the first year of Yuan feng(1078) of Shen Zong reign and the third year of Da guan(1109) of Hui Zong reign.
