Historic and Cultural Interpretation of Northern Dynasty Dunhuang Music Iconography : Focusing on Ensemble Sound and the Ji-Gu Indian Drum
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Huang, Pei-Ling
Abstract
This thesis focuses on a group of music iconography from the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang painted during the Northern Dynasties (439-581), interpreting the musical culture and change reflected by the depiction of instruments and implied alterations in ensemble sound over three historical periods. The results contribute as a case study in the discourse of foreign music influences on Pre-Tang Chinese music. By regarding images as a type of historical trace, source criticism of the music iconography under study first tries to understand the creation of these grotto paintings, in the context of the interaction between Buddhist, music, and artisan cultures. After evaluation, the diachronic depiction of musical instruments serves as the basis of historic and cultural interpretation.
One of the changes in reflected ensemble sound is due to the significant depiction of double-headed, barrel or conical shaped drums, among which a previously overlooked “belly-button” drum, or Ji-Gu, features prominently only during the second period. Analogy with existing Indian drums show that the protruding “belly-button” could have been tuning paste applied to the drumhead, and comparison with other drum iconography from ancient India to China supports the origin of the above mentioned drums from the north-western regions of the Indian Subcontinent. I suggest that these hand-struck drums were transmitted with the popular practice of musical offerings as devotional worship in Buddhist culture, and subsequently became a defining instrument of the Xi-liang area. The use of tuning paste on the drums flourished briefly due to patronization of Xienbei royal households. However, in the third period of Northern Chou, the Indian drums almost vanish, and the depicted instruments change and more resemble “silk and bamboo” ensembles from southern China, reflecting the politically driven, superficially sinicizing spirit of the dynasty and contacts with Southern Dynasty Han culture.
Subjects
Northern Dynasties
Dunhuang music iconography
Buddhist devotional music worship
ensemble sound
Indian drums
Ji-gu
Xi-liang musicians
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