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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s1: A. Music • Dance • Drama

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s1

Language
English

Contents

A. Music • Dance • Drama

Kucha Music

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Music of ancient Kucha during the period of Northern and Southern Dynasties, and Sui and Tang Dynasties. Kucha was a large country in the Western Regions and also called Qiuci, Kizil, Koutcha, Kutsi or Kucina, located in today’s Kuqa, Shaya, Sinwa, Baicheng and Luntai of the Sinkiang area. Ancient Kucha people were good at singing and dancing, and had a long history of colourful musical culture. According to *Buddhist Records of the Western World*, “Kucha characters derived from India and changed slightly, its kangen and gigaku were especially great among other countries.

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According to *Sui Book · Music Collections*, in the 18ᵗʰ year of Jianyuan Period (382 CE) of Former Qin, “Lü Guang and Juqu Mengxun occupied Liangzhou, changed the Kucha music and called it Qin and Han Music; Taiwu of Wei occupied Hexi and called it Xiliang Music; and up to Wei and Zhou, it was called national music”. Therefore, even though in original Chinese music such as “National Music” and “Xiliang Music”, Kucha music elements were also integrated. With regard to the music of Boukhara, Sulaq, Samarkand and Chotscho, they were apparently derived from Kucha music or “adapted from Kucha music”. There were two possibilities why music works were named by state names, one was because those musicians came from those countries, the other was because the music styles of those countries were retained in the related music works to some extent.

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Kucha music had extensive impacts on China palace music in Sui and Tang Dynasties. The *Seven Music Works* was enacted in the early Kaihuang (581 CE) of Emperor Wen of Sui, the *Nine Music Works* was established in Daye seven years (611 CE) of Emperor Yang of Sui followed in early Tang. *Ten Music Works* was established in the 16th year of Zhenguan Period (642 CE) during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang. They all had music departments for “Kucha Musician” or “Kucha Music”. Those historical facts indicated that Kucha music played an important role in Sui and Tang palace music. After “Hu Department” was set up in the Tang court, Kucha music was actually listed as

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*Mural painting on music preserved in the grottoes of the Kezil caves of a thousand Buddhas, of the Xinjiang Province of China. It is the scene of a musical performance by a music team at Kucha.*

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the first over other types of music. Due to the Tang music system was inherited in the early Northern Song (960 CE), the Kucha music was one of the four great works in Royal Academy which still retained its specific musical instruments and chapters.

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In Sui Dynasty, Kucha music was divided into three parts of Western country Kucha, Qi Dynasty Kucha and Tu Kucha according to the elements integrated in the local folk music. Up to Tang Dynasty, musicians from various countries of the Western Regions had settled down in China for several generations. Therefore, they were gradually chinesised and their music was also integrated into Chinese native music little by little. The *Ten Music works* was changed to “Standing Play” and “Sitting Play” in the era of Emperor Xuangzong of Tang. However, *Longevity*, *Devadatta*, *Song of Longevity* and *Small Triumphal Music* belonging to “Sitting Play” had apparently mixed with Kucha music elements, while *Peace*, *Peaceful*, *Triumphant March*, *Great Tranquility*, *Holy life* and *Shining Holy Music* belonging to “Playing Instruments in Standing Positions” had also mixed with tones and styles of Kucha music.

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*Wooden figures of female musicians, dating from the 15ᵗʰ year of the founder of the Sui Dynasty (595 CE), excavated from the Zhangsheng grave at Anyang, Henan Province.*

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Ancient Kucha had various kinds of instruments such as kugo, pipa, five strings, flute, Sheng, Xiao, Hichirki, Maoyuan drum, Duyun drum, Dala drum, waist drum, Kakko, Jilou drum, bronze drum, cowry, Tan zither, Houti drum, Qi drum, Yan drum etc, among which Kakko was a special traditional percussion instrument in Kucha music. In the 10th year of Kaihuang Period (591 CE) of Emperor Wen of Sui, Kucha music was popular in the palace and folk and even people from emperors to common people in Tang Dynasty were all fond of playing the Kakko. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang often composed Kakko music and played by himself. He could perfectly play 92 Kakko songs of Kucha music including *Yeposeji* and *Kucha Dawu*.

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There were 20 instrumentalists and four dancers in various kinds of special costumes when performing the Kucha music. Instrumentalists were wearing the black silk headscarves, dark red silk gowns, brocade sleeves and dark red pants while the dancers were wearing the red forehead ribbons, dark red jackets, white silk pants and black leather boots. From some of today's Kucha grotto murals in the areas of Kuqa and Baicheng City, we can still see the performance reality of Kucha music and the various kinds of instruments they used.

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The chapters of Kucha music preserved up to now include *Longevity*, *Hiding Hooks*, *Qixi Meeting*, *Touhu*, *Dancing Mat*, *Truelove Knot*, *Teenage Girl Toasting*, *Stay with Immortal*, *Throw a brick for Long life*, *Play with a Stork*, *Play with all Kinds of Flora*, *Row the Dragon Boat*, *Back to the Old Palace*, *Changle Flower*, *Twelve Hours*, *Good Mani*, *Bhagavat Son*, *Small Heaven*, *Sulaq Salt* etc.

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(*Zhao Jiazi*)

Buddhist Music

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Buddhist songs are the anthems that use in the Buddhist chant form to praise Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or the music that is used to advocate Buddhism. One of the important forms of Buddhist music is to add music in the Buddhist texts and chants. During the Three Kingdoms Period, Buddha Dharma was brought into the East and the Indian Buddhist music was introduced to China Central Plains by eminent monks from the Western Regions or India. In volume XIII of *Eminent Monk Biography*, it is described that, "chanting Buddha Dharma was called zhuandu and anthem was called Sanskrit, all having music rhymes." Using cadence tones to read the Buddhist texts is called zhuandu, while using Buddhist chant form to praise the Buddhas and Bodhisattva is called fanbai which can be accompanied by instruments. Fanbai is also called zanbai, Brahma music, Sanskrit or Buddhist music. These are generally called Buddhist songs. During the Three Kingdoms Period, there were many popular fanbai, such as *Yu Mountain Fanbai*, *Nirvana Fanbai* and *Lianju Fanbai*. The name Buddhist

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A classical musical performance at Zhihua monastery, Beijing, China

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songs were first seen in the *Sui Book•Music Records*. According to records of Xiliang in this book, there were the songs *Everlasting Happiness*, *Jiequ Forever Harvest* and dancing music *Buddhist Song of Khotan*.

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As early as in the period of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (who reigned during 502-549 CE), the royal music was already integrated into many contents of Buddhist music. In Sui Dynasty, the Western Regions' dance was not only brought into the court but also played a leading role. Up to the Tang Dynasty, the impact of the Western Regions' dance and even Indian dance on Chinese Buddhist songs became more obvious. In 7^th^ century CE, even King Yongqiang of the Kingdom of Pyu (now in Burma) was influenced by Indian culture deeply and he believed in Buddhism and also sent Buddhist songs and musicians to China several times. It was altogether 10 kinds of Buddhist songs and 32 musicians. According to volume DLXIX of *Ce Fu Yuan Gui*, in 13^th^ year of Tianbao Period (754 CE), the name of Buddhist music which was originally popular in Kucha area was changed, for example, *Kucha Buddhist Songs* was changed to *Jinhua Dongzhen* and *Fast Kucha Buddhist Songs* was changed to *Fast Jinhua Dongzhen*. According to the Northern Song Chen Yang's *Music Book*, Tang music included over 20 kinds of music, such as *Puguang Buddhist Songs*, *Maitreya Buddhist Songs*, *Riguangming Buddhist Songs*, *Yamantaka Buddhist Songs*, *Apothecary Liuliguang Buddhist Songs*, *Sakyamuni Buddhist Songs* and *Avalokiteshvvara Buddhist Songs*. This indicated that Buddhist Songs were already very popular in Tang Dynasty. Some Buddhist songs were still retained in the Dunhuang potpourri.

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Mao Qiling wrote the *West River Poems* in the Qing Dynasty and said that “Buddhist songs already appeared in the Sui and Tang Dynasty and did not start in Jin and Yuan Dynasty.” For example, Yueh-Fu of Tang Dynasty had eight songs in Potuo tone, including Puguang Buddhist Songs and Riguangming Buddhist Songs. Yueh-Fu had nine Buddhist Songs in Qishi tone, including Shijiawen Buddhist Songs and Miaohua Buddhist Songs and two Buddhist songs in Yue tone, which were Da Miao Zhi Ji Buddhist Songs and Jie Buddhist Songs. Moni Buddhist Songs is in double tone. Sumi Qiju Buddhist Songs and Ritengguang Buddhist Songs are in Shang tone. Xiele Buddhist Songs are in Zhi tone. Four songs, including Poluoshu Buddhist Songs are in Yu tone. Qianxing Buddhist Songs is in Banshe tone. Tifan is in Yifeng tone. In current Wumen temple, people can still chant Buddhist songs. Every time when Buddhist songs were chanted, the Sheng and flute were accompanying Qing music that inherited the meanings of Buddhism. Various Buddhist songs were listed in *Kakko Records written by Nan Zhuo* in Tang Dynasty such as Vairocana Buddha Songs, The Four Kings, Atuomi Master Music, Forever Life, A Deer of Nine Colours, Sands of the Ganges, Mahayana, Pi Shramana, Avalokitesvara and Sakya-muni etc. Buddhist Songs in Tang Dynasty had the songs either introduced from India via the Western Regions, or created and recomposed by Tang people.

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Zhihua Temple of Beijing, which was built in the 11th year of Zhengtong Period of the Ming Dynasty (1444), inherited Buddhist songs through generations . In early 1950s, it passed on through 27 generations. The music works were most of the transcripts of Gongchi notations, among which there were 48 notations of wind music copied by monk Yonggan of Zhihua Temple, 66 incomplete notations of wind music copied by Zhihua Temple, 56 notations of wind music and 30 dharma-vessels music copied by nun Langkun of Shuiyue Nunnery and 137 notations of wind music copied by Chengshou Temple. Some melodies could be traced to the Tang and Song poems, and north & south music from Yuan and Ming as well as long-term popular folk instrumental music. These Buddhist songs can be played either along or together as a set. The instruments are mainly pipes and the rest of them are Sheng, flutes, Tunlo, drum, Chengzi, Nao and Bo etc. Zhihua Temple’s Buddhist songs were classic and elegant, and it preserved massive music information from Tang and Song, and became a representative of north China Buddhist songs. Nowadays, monks in this temple still play various kinds of Buddhist music works.

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(Zhao Jiazi)

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‘*Book of Songs*’ (*Leshu*), Fuming revised edition

Indian Music

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Music of India, which originated from India and spread with the profound influence on the South Asian Subcontinent and even South Eastern Asia, Central Asia, Western Asia and Eastern Asia, is one of the global important music systems. It consists of classical music and folk music with the unique theoretical system and performing form and is a miracle in the big family of world music.

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The Origin and Development of Indian Classical Music

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India, a country with ancient civilisations, has a long history and splendid culture as well as a variety of religions. In addition to the indigenous Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, Islam and Christianity are also influential. Over thousands of years, because of the unceasingly foreign invasions, the population has never stopped migration which made the ethnic ingredients complicated and emerges cultural diversity. This is why Indian music shows unique characteristics.

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The Vedas are not only the oldest Indian masterpiece on religion, literature and philosophy but also the most important source of Indian music. *Samaveda*, one of four Vedas, is a collection of songs in the ancient era includes 1,875 odes. “Sama” means a tune, so *Samaveda* is a tune collection produced for the needs of the flamen chanters, therefore, the contents of those poems is in the subsidiary position. Different factions have different singing methods that are inherited up to now. Hence, *Samaveda* is very important for studying the ancient Indian music history.

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Indian painting in silk, ‘*Herdswomen and Krishna engaged in dance*’ (18th century CE), now preserved in the National Museum in New Delhi, India.

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Lord Krishna playing the flute, 'Mahabharata'

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Vedas chant only has three pitches. Before singing, a tone of “Om” is firstly pronounced by putting three tones of “a, u and m” together to express the respect to the God who creates the universe. Ancient Brahmans believed that the God who created the universe was Prajapati, namely “Indra” in the Vedas and “Brahma” in the *Manu Corpus Juris*. The six-word mantra beginning by “Om” has the sanctity in the Buddhist believers in China and other Asian countries as yet.

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Between 4^th century BCE and 4^th century CE, two major epics of *Ramayana* and *Mahabharata* came out. 2,000 years passed, and they have been around through the stories, dramas and dances as well as spread to many Asian countries. Today, those two epics are still major eternal themes of Indian music and dance. The record related to the music, musical instruments and musical life in the epics is extremely precious historical material to understand the ancient Indian music. Xue Keqiao, a Chinese scholar, has written an article about this.

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Indian classical music has gradually developed into seven tones and 12 melodies based on three pitches of Vedas chant, thereby forming distinct “Raga” and “Tala” system. As early as hundreds of years ago, when the Europeans used Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La and Si as the musical scales, Indian people had already introduced the “Shadja”, “Rishabha”, “Gandhara”, “Madhyama”, “Panchama”, “Dhaivada” and “Nishada” as the names of seven tones and called them Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni, respectively, for short.

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Bharata’s *Natya-sastra* is the most ancient Indian musical theoretical works born in 2^nd-5^th centuries CE. This book has fully discussed the ancient Indian music, dances and dramas in theory in which the music is mainly discussed in the 28^th-36^th chapters, especially with respect to the specific tones “Swara”, differential interval “Shruti” and ancient scale “Granma” in the Indian music. These special theories of Indian music have become the foundation of ancient Indian music that has come down to us.

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At the beginning of the 20^th century CE, a stele with a size of 13 ft x 14 ft was discovered in the adjacent piedmont of Kudumiyanmalai village, Pudukkottai area, Southern India. According to the textual research, this is a stele of Kudumiyanmalai Inscription on Music made in 7^th century CE carved in the “Palava-grantha-lipi”. Its completion time is a little later than that of Bharata’s *Natya-sastra*, the records of both on music score are almost the same.

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Since the 8^th century CE, Islam began to be introduced to India from its western and northwestern parts. Until the 13^th century CE, the Muslim established the Sultanate in Delhi and the Mughal Dynasty was built in the 16^th century CE. Indian music is influenced by Persian and Arabian music and culture. The classical music is gradually divided into two major genres: the north and south, namely the “Hindustani” developed under the Islamic regime in north India and “Karnatak” that retains the domestic traditions in south India.

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Indian classical music performance

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Indian fine silk painting depicting classical Indian music.

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In the early period of 13th century CE, Sarangadeva’s *Sangita-ratnakara* further developed into the theory of Bharata and became a significant literature with collections of Indian music theory at that time.

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After Indian classical music was divided into two major genres, the north and south, many musicians appeared successively. Prandara Dasa （1481～1561）lived from the late 15th century CE to the early 16th century CE was respected as the “Father of Indian Music”. The songs he created have been listed in the functional textbooks for beginners.

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Indian fine silk painting depicting performance of Raag Megh,dating between 1650-1660 CE.

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Since the establishment of the Mughal Dynasty in 1526, Islamisation of Indian society and culture was quickly formed, and the same was to the music. Islamic culture and ancient Indian culture were integrated, resulting in the forming of a new style of Indian music and emerging of many kinds of musical forms and genres, which enriched the treasury of Indian musical culture. Up to the end of the 16th century CE, a well-known musician, Tansen, who used to service in the Akbar’s palace, finally completed the north Indian classical music system that was inherited to nowadays.

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In the middle 19th century CE, due to India’s being completely colonised by the British, the Indian music culture was impacted and the classical music started fading gradually. Then Tanjore worked with many musicians for the efforts of revival of classical music, among whom a composer, Diyakaraja, who was honoured as the Music Saint and worked very actively.

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Rabindranath Tagore was a famous Indian poet and also an outstanding composer who made a huge contribution to the revitalisation of Indian musical culture. In 2,000 songs he created, elements of Indian classical music, Bangladesh folk music and western music were integrated which initiated a new era of Indian music.

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The Indian classical music has a lofty status in people’s heart in the Indian music life. Its basic theories have different degrees of influence on various kinds of musical forms. It has a close tie with religious and culture. The themes of the classical music and classical dance were mostly about myth stories and generally performed in the temple during early stage. The vocal lyrics mostly were praises to the God in order to express people’s devotion to religion; musicians’ creation and performance are considered as on the inspiration of the God to reflect the will of the God. All in all, Indians believe that the music is the language of the God. Therefore, the classical music and all kind of related instruments as well as appreciation of classical music and dance are all sacred.

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The Theoretical System of Indian Classical Music

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(1) The musical tone is called *Swara* in India and basic tones have seven levels that are *Shadaja*, *Rishabha*, *Gandhara*, *Madhyama*, *Panchama*, *Dhaivata* and *Nishada*. The names of seven *Swara* are not the same as the western musical alphabets C, D, E, F, G, A and B or syllable names *Do*, *Re*, *Mi*, *Fa*, *So*, *La* and *Si*, and also not the same as Chinese ancient 12 melodies that are based on the musical names, namely, *Huangzhong*, *Dalv*, *Taicu*, *Jiazhong*, *Guxi*, *Zhonglv*, *Ruibin*, *Linzhong*, *Yize*, *Nanlv*, *Wuyi* and *Yingzhong* as well as the *Gongche*

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Traditional Indian musical instruments

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notation that is based on words of “Gong and Che” to express pitches and syllable names in Chinese folk traditions. Seven Swaras can be written as Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni for short and adopt the fixed-do system. The musical tone names of Indian north and south system are the same but obviously different in performance style.

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The Indian classical music has unique and integrated theoretical system. Bharata’s *Natya-sastra* has subdivided an octave into 22 *Shruti*. Indians believe Shruti is the least interval unit distinguished by human hearing. In all nationalities worldwide, there are a variety of tone systems. Currently, 12 tone equal temperament is mostly used that is divided an octave into 12 equal semitones, two semitones are equal to one whole tone. The size of interval in the Indian music is based on the numbers of Shruti, for example, a big interval consists of four pieces of Shruti, a small interval consists of three pieces of Shruti, and a semitone consists of 2 pieces of Shruti. These three kinds of intervals are totally different from the semitone in Western music in which two semitones are equal to one whole tone.

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Mural painting depicting the craft of music in the Temple of Heaven, the 58th number cave at Kumutuci, Kucha in the Xinjiang Province, China.

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Because the rhyming is different, the interval is also different between two scale tones, thereby resulting in distinct differences in style with other ethnic music worldwide. The pitch of Sa is generally in accordance with C tone of piano, but not absolutely. It can be adaptable to any range of singing and musical instruments. Similarly, this range is also divided into three kinds of saptak that are madhya saptak, mandra saptak and tara saptak. Musical tone may have certain pitches and syllable names, which can run free within three ranges.

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(2) *Raga*, which has the melody frame of musical mode in the Indian classical music, consists of 5-7 tones specified in one group for improvisation or singing. Therefore, it has formed a unique system in the world during the long-term development. *Raga* is male tune and it traditionally has six types of basic *Raga*. Each *Raga* also has five types of Gilani that is a female tune with total 36 tunes. Particular *Raga* and Gilani have to be sung in specific seasons and time in order to express a sort of particular emotion or feelings and nine types of Indian traditional aesthetics. For example, Sindhi Bhairavi is better to be played in the morning while Durga is better to be sung in the dusk. The Indian north and south classical music system have various kinds of *Raga*. Musicians usually interpret these features of *Raga* via improvisation. There are tens of common *Ragas*, which are the basic melody of improvisation, for Indian music. Each *Raga* has its specific name. They are a little similar to the music cards of Chinese local opera music but also entirely different from the latter.

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The Indian music has also used pentatonic scale (five-tone scale) such as Bhup Kalyan that is equivalent to pentatonic Gong melody (modes of ancient Chinese music). The scale of Bhup Kalyan is just the same as the Chinese pentatonic Zhi tone. Indian musicians also believed that it was originated from China but its name was derived from Durga, a fully-adored Indian Goddess. The historical truth of music and culture exchanges between India and China is subject to further study.

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As each kind of *Raga* is related to the certain feelings, some kinds of emotions can be expressed not only by the voice, but also by painting. For instance, in a *Raga* water colour painting called “Melk”, the god Krishna (Heitian) was dancing convivially holding a musical instrument accompanied by two female musicians, with beautiful peacocks were perching in the trees on both sides, the rain dispersing the stuffiness of hot summer and moistening the dry earth. The *Raga* melody is well explained by this *Raga* painting to express people’s enjoyment in their heart when the rainy season approaching.

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(3) *Tala* is an Indian music rhythm system formed by beat cycles. Indian music measurement unit is called the matra and the most common one is called Tintal that is made up by four sections divided by 16-unit beats, namely 4 + 4 + 4 + 4. Furthermore, there are other types of Tala including 7 matras, 10 matras and 12 matras. Each *Tala* consists of two important beats, one for the strongest voice and the other for the empty beat.

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(4) Grace notes and improvisation: Indian music will add some grace notes-Gamaka ahead of the basic music. Gamaka is an embellish cavity technique indispensable in the Indian music styles, which is also different in application between the north and south.

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(5) Several important vocal music modes: The representative vocal music works are “Dhrupad” and “Khyal” in the north Indian classical music. “Dhrupad” was a vocal music developed in the court during 15ᵗʰ and 16ᵗʰ centuries CE. Lyrics are mostly sung for Gods, emperors or heroes with a respectful style and less Gamaka used. Today, “Khyal” is one of the most common vocal music in the north Indian music and is also more gorgeous and lyric than “Dhrupad”. It is developed by absorbing some characteristics of Persia music based on the Indian folk songs.

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**Indian Folk Music:** The Indian people are good at singing and dancing and the folk music is widely spread. The classical music is mainly for satisfaction of aesthetic needs while the folk music has many social functions. People cannot live without music in the productive labour and daily life. After harvest, when getting married or having children, people usually tend to gather together singing and dancing to celebrate. In India, from Kashmir to Cape Comorin, from Assam hills to Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, we can hear the melody from different nationalities with the graceful singing and rich in regional style and vitality. For example, Kashmirian songs are exquisite with strong Persia style while Tamilians living in the south have kept the ancient Indian Dravidian culture. The range of Indian folk music is also very extensive and many folk songs can even reach three octaves. A large number of Indian singing and dancing movies have also promoted the development of Indian folk music. Since the late 20ᵗʰ century CE, western pop music started to be introduced into India, which was welcomed by some urban youths.

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**Indian Instruments:** Various kinds of Indian instruments mainly include four types such as string instruments, leather instruments, body instruments and air instruments, among which the seven-string Veena, Sitar and double-sided tom-tom all have distinguished features and abundant expression.

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(*Zhao Jiazi*)

Saptaswaras

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Seven melodies, the terminology of Chinese ancient temperament, are the seven basic musical tones from low to high in a range of octave pitch for turning up the Gong tone, make up the “seven sounds” that are Gong, Shang, Jue, Bianzhi, Zhi, Yu and Biangong, namely “seven tones” or “seven melodies”.

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The concept of melody is not completely the same between India and China. Indian music has seven melodies, originally named as Saptaka, which means the pitch. The seven basic tones from low to high are “shadja”, “risabha, “gandhara”, “madhyama”, “panchama”, “dhaivada” and “nishada” and also called Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha and Ni for short. The seven melodies of Indian music mainly use three octaves and are divided into three parts of mandra, madhya and tara according to ups and downs of voice range.

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Chinese “melody” means not only the pitch, but also the musical mode, known as “Gong melody”. According to *Wei Book ⋅ Music Collections*, “Cui Jiulong said to Taichangqing Mr. Zuying: the voice has seven tones and the melody has seven tunes. Those seven tunes were combined into seven modes from Huangzhong to Zhonglv,” which meant that starting with Huangzhong, 12 modes were generated by tri-section loss & gains and ended at Zhonglv, namely Linzhong generated by Huangzhong, Taicu by Linzhong, Nanlv by Taicu, Guxian by Nanlv, Yingzhong by Guxian, Ruibin by Yingzhong, Dalv by Ruibin, Yize by Dalv, Jiazhong by Yize, Wushe by Jiazhong and Zhonglv by Wuyi.

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“Seven tones” means five tones plus two changes (Bianzhi and Biangong). “Seven melodies” means forming based on each tone of seven tones as Gong. However, “Seven melodies” have to fully use the 12 modes, “starting from Huangzhong and ending at Zhonglv.” A complete melody name consists of a mode name (representing the pitch is the Gong) and a tone name (representing the mode is the

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*Saptaswara monument in Tamil Nadu, India*

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tonic), which shows the mode relationship of the same pitch and same tone, but a different tonic such as Huangzhong’s Gong, Huangzhong’s Shang, Huangzhong’s Jiao etc. Meanwhile, it also shows the same tonic system mode of different pitches, different tone rows, different modes, but the same tonic pitch such as Huangzhong for Gong, Huangzhong for Shang, Huangzhong for Jiao etc.

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The specific melody name of ancient Chinese seven melodies was usually changed by time and musical types. The names of seven melodies recorded in *Sui Book ⋅ Music Collections* were the transliteration of Indian Sanskrit and that “Potuoli” and “Banchan”, which were undoubtedly the transliteration of "shadja" and "panchama" in the Indian heptachord.

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Bharata’s *Natya-sastra* has fully discussed the theories of Indian ancient music, dance and drama. Please refer to chapters XXVIII to XXXVI for discussions of music; in the book, the “Swara” named with regard to special tones of Sa, Re, Ga and Ma in Indian music, has become the foundation of Indian classical music so far.

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In the early 20ᵗʰ century CE, a stele with the size of 13 ft x 14 ft was found in the piedmont nearby Kudumiyanmalai village, Pudukkottai area. According to textual research, it was a stele of Kudumiyanmalai Inscription on music in 7ᵗʰ century CE. It is called as “Seven Melodies Stele” by Chinese music academia. The epigraphy was sculptured by using a Palava-grantha-lipi handwriting. Seven melodies recorded on the stele are almost the same to those in the Bharata's *Natya-sastra*.

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Seven melodies passed on by Sujiva in the middle of 6^th century CE might be the Chinese translation names of musical scale done by the musicians based on the Kucha language.

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(*Zhao Jiazi*)

Tianzhu Music

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Tianzhu Yue (Hindustan Music) was one of the earliest foreign music introduced to China. It was brought into Pre Liang during 346-353 CE, and then turned to the Central Plains and became the court music at Sui and Tang Dynasties. According to *Sui Book · Music Collections*, "Hindustan was established when Zhang Zhonghua was occupying Liangzhou, and Hindustan music was introduced after translation took place four times and recording of tributary male dancers and singers," and according to *Old Tang Book·Music Collections*, "Hindustan Music was truly brought into China when the prince of Hindustan travelled in China as a monk." This indicated that Indian music and dance were introduced in China as early as in the middle of 4^th century CE and the *Music of Hindustan* with a strong Indian style, was truly brought into China when the prince of Hindustan travelled in China as a monk. Afterwards, Hindustan music became one of the seven music works and nine music works of Sui Dynasty, and one of nine music works and ten music works of Tang Dynasty. Hindustan is India. Hindustan music introduced to Sui Dynasty was supposed to be north Indian music and was associated with Buddhist music from clothing.

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In Sui Dynasty, songs of Hindustan music include *Shashijiang* and the dances of Hindustan music include *The Song of Heaven*. The instruments include the phoenix head Kugo, pipa, five strings, flute, cowry, bronze drum, Maoyuan drum, Dutan drum and brass cymbals. Some changes happened in Tang Dynasty such as the musical instruments including five strings, Maoyuan drum, Dutan drum and fife, Hichiriki and Kakko were added in but there were no changes in the music list. When the performance was taking place, there were 12 instrumentalists and two dancers in special costumes. Instrumentalists were in black silk scarves, white silk jackets, purple damask silk pants and dark red capes. With braided hair, the dancers were in sunglow Kasaya (cloister cloth), leggings and green hemp shoes. It vanished after court music department disbanded.

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(*Zhao Jiazi*)

Indian Dance

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Indian Dance is one of the most important types of dance in the world. Originated and popular in India and surrounding areas, Indian dance has a long history and various styles, including classical dance and folk dance. It has its own unique theoretical system and forms of performance.

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Indian dance can be traced to the historical period of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The bronze dancing girl of Mohenjo-Daro and the plaster male dancer of Harappa clearly indicated that ancient Indians loved to dance in life. According to Indian mythology, Siva the cosmic dancer is the Lord of Dance (Nataraja) being able to perform 108 types of divine dance. The universe evolves from destruction to recreation again and again in his dance. His image of Nataraja is well-known throughout the world. In fact, Indian dance is very likely to come into being through religious sacrificial rituals. The earliest professional dancers needed to show their dancing skill to please their gods during the process of sacrificial services. As an art form, dance in India has a history of at least 3,000 years. Dance is considered as a basic part of theater. The *Visnu Purana* created in the 2^nd century CE mentioned the title of a dance drama. Obviously, Indian dance had become much flourishing and mature before Bharatamuni wrote his *Natyasastra*. According to his work, dance was already an indispensable part then on all occasions of important celebrations. *Natyasastra* laid down rules and regulations for Indian classical dance, and is still the theoretical source of all types of classical dance in India now.

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The Sangeet Natak Academi (Music and Dance Academy), Indian national academy for performing arts, recognises eight distinctive traditional dances as Indian classical dance forms. Each form of Indian dance has developed its own unique skill along with social evolution in the past centuries. Although they originated from different parts of India and imbibed elements from other parts of the country, they still share some aesthetic principles, skill features, and subjects from Indian mythology. The eight major Indian classical dances include Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Odissi, Sattriya and Mohiniyattam.

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Six gandharvas depicted in the Amitābha Sūtra. They are seen playing guzheng, the long zither, konghou, the ancient Chinese harp, zhigong pipa, the straight-necked pipa, paixiao, a free reed mouth organ, and sheng, another free reed mouth organ, respectively.

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A carving of Shiva dancing

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Odissi dance form

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Kathak dance form

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**Bharatanatyam** is a classical dance originating from the state of Tamil Nadu in south India. Initially a dance performed by dancing girls in temples for worshiping gods, it was introduced into courts in the 16ᵗʰ century. In modern times, it developed in late 18ᵗʰ century or early 19ᵗʰ century. Following a short period of low ebb in 1910-1930, it revived rapidly and mounted the stage as a charming performing art. As a solo-dance, it is generally performed by a single female dancer who draws inspirations for her posture and movements from ancient Indian sculptures.

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**Kathak** is a type of Indian classical dance that originated from temples in north Indian states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In ancient Indian temples, Brahmin priests used to narrate the stories of gods and goddesses from various *Puranas* with the assistance of songs and dances, they were known as *kathakar* or story-tellers, hence the term of kathak for the dance. After Muslims invaded India, Kathak disappeared temporarily from the scene. Later in the 17ᵗʰ century, it was restored by Mughal emperors, and the performance site was shifted from temples to courts accordingly. Meanwhile, it absorbed some features of Persian and Central Asian dances. Consequently, the influence of the Mughal music and dance brought about great change to the form of Kathak. The current form of the dance still contains elements of both Hindu and Islamic cultures.

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**Kathakali** is a classical dance originating from the state of Kerala in south India. The term Kathakali means story performance. It is virtually a highly stylised classical dance-drama which has followed the form and tradition of ancient Sanskrit plays. Its roots go back to 1,500 years ago and it has been prevalent for about 300 years in the southwest coast area of India. Subjects for the dance are mainly taken from *Mahabharata*, *Ramayana* and other Hindu mythology. It is often performed at open-air stages by temples in rural areas all through the night, on occasions of festivals, in particular. Dancers are all male wearing various coloured makeup on the face, more or less similar to that of the Beijing opera in China. High-ranking and gallant characters wear green facial makeup, queens and princess wear orange facial makeup, etc. Female characters are also played by men in disguise. The dancer’s costume and headgear are extremely elaborate. The recent developments in Kathakali include improved looks, refined gestures and added themes in addition to more ornate singing and precise drumming.

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Kathakali dance form

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Bharatnatyam dance form

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*Mohiniyattam dance form*

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*Manipuri dance form*

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*Odissi dance form*

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**Kuchipudi** is also a type of classical dance, originating from today’s Andhra Pradesh in south India in the 2^nd century BCE. It is named after a village in Krishna district by the Bay of Bengal. It is generally performed by local Brahmins who love this traditional dance form. Some stage rites are usually the prelude to the formal performance. Then characters come on to the stage one-by-one and make self-introductions with song and dance. The dancer’s ornaments are very rich.

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**Manipuri** is also a major type of classical dance originating from the state of Manipur at the foot of the Himalayas in north-eastern India. Initially, it was a kind of collective dance of the mountain people while they were holding religious rituals. It has developed its own specific aesthetic values and styles deeply rooted in local culture. Later on, it was much influenced by Vaisnavism and underwent some changes, and the themes of the dance began to center on the legendary love story of Krishna and Radha. As a purely religious dance, it has a reputation of one of the most chaste, softest and mildest dances in the world. Different from other Indian dance forms, Manipuri dancers never strike the ground hard with their feet. Movements of the body and feet and facial expressions in Manipuri dance are generally smooth, subtle and graceful.

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**Odissi** is one of the eight classical dance forms. It originated from the state of Orissa (present-day Odisha) in east India. According to archaeological evidences such as bas-reliefs found in hills near Bhubaneshwar, the capital of the state. It is most likely the oldest surviving dance form of India, and finds its mention in *Natyasastra*. Although it gradually declined under the colonial rule of the British, it has revived freshly since India gained independence. It is well-known for the dancer’s pose of the Tribhangi (three parts break), a skill learned from the Indian sculptures and other unique skills quite different from other classical Indian dance forms.

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**Sattriya** is also one type of principal classical dance form originating from the state of Assam in northeastern India. It was created by Srimanta Sankardeva, the founder of Vaisnavism in Assam in 15th century, and has remained a living tradition. It is usually performed as a significant part of one-act plays staged in monasteries. Although it has gradually become popular and won recognition in recent years, the dance now still continues to be performed for ritualistic and other purposes.

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**Mohiniyattam** is also a classical dance form originating in 16^th century from the state of Kerala in south India. It has become one of the eight Indian classical dance forms officially recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The dance is very graceful and sensuous as well, and it is usually performed as solo recitals by women. The theme of the dance is religious love and devotion to God, namely Visnu or his incarnation Krishna. The female dancer adorns herself with white jasmine flowers and makes Mohiniyattam artists distinct from artists of other Indian dance forms.

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**Folk dance** is rich and full in India as a result of the existence of diversified religions, races, ethnic groups and tribes. On occasions such as harvest, weddings, people living in villages like to perform folk dances in groups for celebrations. These dances are rooted in religious and seasonal festivals. Since time immemorial, dance has become an inseparable part of their life. The styles of various folk dances vary greatly, but are generally related with people's work, changes of seasons, religions and rituals. Some dance movements are in imitation of nature and labour. Some are also very romantic. In a word, Indian folk dance is a great treasure-house with boundless dance resources. Every state in India has its own folk dance forms. Actually, most Indian classical dance forms with superb skill originated from folk dance.

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*Dunhuang mural painting of a dance performance from ‘Jile Jingbian’. It is located in cave number 112 of the Dunhuang grottoes in Gansu, China. The dancer in the painting has coloured ribbon draped around his shoulder, the abdomen is bare, he is barefoot, and is wearing an anklet with a bell.*

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Vajra dance performance by Tibetan ethnic group on the occasion of Buddhist religious assembly at Sichuan province, China.

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Holy deer dance at Kumbum (T'aer) monastery, Huangzhong county, Xining in Qinghai, China.ethnic group on the occasion of Buddhist religious assembly at Sichuan province, China.

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Indian Dance in China

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Since the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was gradually introduced into the east, and Indian dance began to spread to China. Within 2,000 years, Indian dance has influenced the Chinese palace and folk dance art directly or indirectly.

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**Sinicisation of Ancient Indian Buddhist dance** From the beginning of Northern and Southern Dynasties, then from Sui and Tang Dynasties to Qing Dynasty, with more than 1,000 years, all regions and nationalities in China have been keeping imitation, absorption, transformation and integration of Indian Buddhism dance, and creating different shapes and different styles of Chinese Buddhism dance, especially Dunhuang dance, folk Buddhism dance of Han nationality, Tibetan Buddhism dance and southern Buddhism dance. The popularity of Dunhuang dance can be seen in Dunhuang frescoes. Numerous dance styles on the frescoes provide important materials for contemporary artists to study the history and development of dance, and also give them the unlimited inspiration and enlightenment, enabling them to revive and create Dunhuang dance. Original shapes of *Apsara* and *Gandharva* on the frescoes are the dancer (*Apsara*) and musician (*Gandharva*) in the Hindu mythology. S-shape “small three musical form” in the dancing posture has the origin relation with S-shape “big three musical form” in Odissi. In early paintings, costumes of characters in the frescoes completely followed Indian costume, such as barefoot, topless, wearing jewellery, armlets, bracelets and anklets, coloured ribbon around the body, short skirt or knee-length pants, updo or long hair and so on. In the frescoes of the Middle Tang Dynasty, costumes of musicians changed to loose robe with top sleeve and musical instruments also began to cover local instruments like the flute and Sheng.

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After Buddhism was introduced into China, besides the temple, folk people also often performed Buddhism dance. During festivals or temple fair, there would be rich and colourful Buddhism dance performances. Like in Nantong and Hai'an in Jiangsu, the dance would be performed in Buddhism festivals such as lantern show on the lunar January 13, Guandi Temple Fair on July 13, Yaowang Fair, Ksitigarbha Fair and Avalokitesvara Fair. Floating River Lanterns was very popular for Han nationality. For example, Boluo Temple in Xixiang, Shaanxi would hold the Floating River Lanterns Buddhism sacrifice ceremony by dancing on the lunar July 15 every year.

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Peacock dance performance by Yang Liping

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Indian Bharatanatyam dancer Leela Samson

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Kamala Laxman with her sister during their performance in China.

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A group photo of Mrinalini Sarabhai's troupe visiting China.

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Tibetan Buddhism dances were commonly known as “Fawang dance”, “Tiaoqian”, “Tiaobuzha”, “Tiaogui” “Jingang dance”, etc. Tibetan dance involved multiple nationalities, with Tibetan and Mongolian dominating. Performers of this dance were lama who had become monks since childhood. They accepted the training of Buddhism dance according to the requirements, with “Chama”, “Lushen dance”, “Hayagriva dance” and “Qujiafawang” dance as the representatives.

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Southern Buddhism was commonly known as Hinayana, also called Theravada Buddhism, with Pali Buddhist scriptures as the basis. They were prevalent in Yunnan of China, Thailand and Burma, with Peacock dance, Eight-treasure flower dance, Garuda dance and Bai nationality Buddhism dance as the master works. Peacock dance named “Jialuoyong” or “Jialangluo” in Dai language, and spread in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province. This dance would be performed in the grand Buddhism festivals and rally. Dance movement often imitated the peacock’s flying, spreading its tail, shaking its wings, spreading its wings, drinking water and play, etc. Contemporary dancers Dao Meilan and Yang Liping changed the dance and made it known at home and abroad.

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**Indian dancers’ visit to China** After China and India established diplomatic relations in the early 1950s, cultural exchanges between two countries were becoming more and more prosperous. In June 1955, 51 people of a cultural delegation led by A K Chandra, the vice-minister of Ministry of External Affairs of India brought rich music and dance performances to Chinese audiences. They performed Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Naga. Eight Chinese dancers performed Kathakali under the guidance of the artists.

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In March and April, 1957, Kamala Lakshman sisters, the famous dancers of Bharatanatyam, visited China. Their performance received high praise from Chinese audience, and the famous writer Bingxin wrote the article *Impressions of Watching the Dance* to present to Lakshman sisters. In July and August, 1957, Uday Shankar, the founder of Indian modern dance, visited China, during the performance, he taught the "Dance of Bouncing the Ball" to Chinese dancer Zhang Jun.

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In October and November, 1978, after long-term interruption of India-China cultural exchange, an Indian dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai led the delegation to visit China. During the visit to China, she advised that China shall send students to study in her school. Later, Zhang Jun and Liu Youlan were sent by the government for studying abroad.

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In 1984, Rukmini Devi, the pioneer of revival movement of Indian Bharatanatyam led actors of Kalakshetra Dance Academy to China for performance, with Leela Samson accompanying. This is Rukmini Devi’s last visit to China, and then she died in February 1986. In the same year, Mamata Shankar, daughter of Uday Shankar came to China for performance, which received warm welcome by the audiences. In June 1990, Indian Manipuri dance troupe made performance in Beijing, making Chinese audiences see different Indian dance.

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In August 1991, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Embassy of India in Beijing held the 50th anniversary commemoration of Rabindranath Tagore’s death. Indian dance troupe from Calcutta performed Tagore’s dance drama *The Kingdom of Cards* in Beijing, Fuzhou, Xiamen and other places. In 1992, Sunil Kothari, the critique of Indian dance visited China, and made a lecture on Indian dance in Embassy of India, Beijing. In May 1994, the first Indian Cultural Festival was held in Beijing. Indian dancer Singhajit Singh and his wife Charu performed Ras leela with special elegant style belonging to Manipuri in the opening ceremony. In October 1997, 20 people from Indian art troupe came to China for attending the Fifth Festival of Asian Arts.

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In January 2000, Birju Maharaj who was the master of Indian Kathak led the delegation to Beijing for participating in the Festival of Asian Arts. On May 1 of the same year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations sent art troupe to China for performance.

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In October 2002, Leela Samson who was an Indian famous dancer of Bharatanatyam led Spanda dance troupe to Beijing for attending the Festival of Asian Arts, and made the performance in Hohhot, Baotou, Shanghai and Hangzhou etc. Meanwhile, at the invitation of professor Chen Ziming, she made performance in Central Conservatory of Music and made a lecture on Indian dance for the oriental class of Beijing Dance Academy. In the same year, Mallika Sarabhai led the delegation to China, and listened to the Bharatanatyam courses of oriental class in the Beijing Dance Academy.

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In 2004, Jayarama Rao, a famous dancer of Khuchipudi and his wife Vanashree Rao visited China together. Their performance in Beijing made Chinese audience feel refreshed. In 2007, Shovana Narayan who was honoured as the queen of Kathak performed Kathak in CPPCC auditorium in Beijing, intoxicating many audiences in Beijing.

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In 2008, Geeta Radhakrishna, the dancer of Mohiniattam made performance in Beijing at the invitation of Nirupama Rao, the Indian ambassador in China, with Indian Kathakali dance troupe accompanying. In the same year, Leela Samson visited China again, and made performance for the opening ceremony of Indian Tourism Culture Year. As the chief director, she brought a wonderful party composed of six schools of classical dance in India. These different styles of dance had distinctive characteristics, complementing each other. Such a grand Indian dance scene was first seen in China.

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In 2011, Ranjana Gauhar, the dancer of Odissi came to Beijing and made performance in the National Center for the Performing Arts and the Central Conservatory of Music. She also made a lecture on dance and her lecture was fascinating and very popular among the audiences. In the same year, at the invitation of the Central Conservatory of Music, two sons of Birju Maharaj, the king of Kathak, Jaikishan and Deepak made performances in Beijing.

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On January 15, 2012, Kiran Segal, an Odissi exponent, made performance of Odissi in Guangzhou, making the audience appreciate the beautiful exotic dancing art. In March, Rama Vaidyanathan, a famous contemporary dancer of Bharatanatyam in India, came to China from New

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