On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c14.33

v1.c14.33

The musical composition about which our pilgrim here represents the two Indian rulers as enquiring was known in China as the Ch'in-wang-p'o-ch'ên-yao (秦王破陣樂) or the "Music of Ch'in-wang's victory". Its history is briefly as follows.¹ In the year A. D. 619 T'ang Kao Tsu's second son Ch'in-wang, or Prince of Ch'in, by name Shih-min succeeded in suppressing the serious rebellion of Liu wu-chow (劉武周) who ultimately fell into the hands of the Turks and was killed by them. In commemoration of Ch'in-wang's military achievements in suppressing this rebellion his soldiers got up a musical performance with song and dance. This musical composition was entitled "Ch'in-wang-p'o-ch'ên-yao" and also "Shên-kung (神功) -p'o-ch'ên-yao", but it came to be generally known by its short name "P'o-ch'ên-yao". The dancing or posture-making performance was called Ch'i-tê-wu (七德舞) or "Dance of the Seven Virtues", the name containing a classical allusion. The dancing was performed by a company of 128 men in silver hauberks and armed with spears. The emperor Kao Tsu ordered that the "P'o-ch'ên-yao" should be given when a victorious general returning from a successful campaign entered the capital. At the banquet which T'ai-Tsung, formerly Ch'in-wang, gave on his accession to the throne the dance and music were both performed. It is interesting to find that the fame of T'ang T'ai-Tsung's glory and achievements had reached the two Indian rulers if we can rely on our pilgrim's statements. It is also very remarkable that neither of Yuan-chuang's translators had read of Ch'in-wang, and it is pitiful to find Beal telling his readers that the Ch'in-wang of this passage is Ch'in-Shi-Huang-ti of B. C. 221.