Yayue

Yayue
Yayue
	Confucian rite performed in 2017 at Qufu Confucian Temple, Shandong province, China.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	雅樂
Simplified Chinese	雅乐
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	yǎyuè
Gwoyeu Romatzyh	yeayueh
Wade–Giles	ya3-yüeh4
IPA	[jà.ɥê]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	ngáah-ngohk
Jyutping	ngaa5-ngok6
Southern Min
Tâi-lô	ngá-ga̍k
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese	ngǽ-ngæ̀wk
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)	*N-ɢˤraʔ [ŋ]ˤrawk
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	nhã nhạc
Hán-Nôm	雅樂
Korean name
Hangul	아악
Hanja	雅樂
McCune–Reischauer
Transcriptions
McCune–Reischauer	a-ak
Japanese name
Kanji	雅楽
Romanization
Transcriptions
Romanization	gagaku

Yayue (Chinese: 雅樂; lit. 'elegant music') was a form of classical music and dance performed at the royal court and temples in ancient China. The basic conventions of yayue were established in the Western Zhou. Together with law and rites, it formed the formal representation of aristocratic political power.

The word ya (雅) was used during the Zhou dynasty to refer to a form of song-texts used in court and collected in Shijing.^[1] The term yayue itself appeared in Confucius's Analects,^[2]^[3] where yayue was considered by Confucius to be the kind of music that is good and beneficial, in contrast to the popular music originated from the state of Zheng which he judged to be decadent and corrupting.^[4]^[5] Yayue is therefore regarded in the Confucian system as the proper form of music that is refined, improving, and essential for self-cultivation, and one that can symbolize good and stable governance.^[6]^[7] It means the kind of solemn ceremonial music used in court, as well as ritual music in temples including those used in Confucian rites. In a broader sense, yayue can also mean a form of Chinese music that is distinguishable from the popular form of music termed suyue (俗樂) or "uncultivated music", and can therefore also include music of the literati such as qin music.^[8]^[9]

Although the court yayue declined after the end of the Qing dynasty and largely disappeared from public eye in China, modern attempts at its reconstruction and revivals had begun during the end of the 20th century. In Taiwan yayue is still performed as part of a Confucian ceremony, and in China a revived form are performed at cultural events and also serves as entertainment for tourists. Other forms of yayue are still found in parts of East Asia, notably the gagaku in Japan, aak in Korea, and nhã nhạc in Vietnam. Although the same word is used in these countries (but pronounced differently), the music does not necessarily correspond to Chinese yayue. The Korean aak, however, preserved elements of Song dynasty yayue.^[4]^[10]

^ Peter Fletcher (2004). World Musics in Context: A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Major Musical Cultures. Oxford University Press. p. 345. ISBN 978-0195175073.
^ Cite error: The named reference musicology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "The Analects - Yang Huo". Chinese Text Project.
^ ^a ^b The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge; 1 edition. 2008. pp. 1201–1202. ISBN 978-0415994040.
^ "The Analects – Wei Ling Gong". Chinese Text Project.
^ Liora Bresler (2007). International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. Springer. p. 85. ISBN 978-1402029981.
^ Dorothy Ko; JaHyun Kim Haboush; Joan R. Piggott, eds. (2003). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0520231382.
^ Alan Robert Thrasher (2008). Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-9004165007.
^ Isabel Wong (1991). Bruno Nettl; Philip Bohlman (eds.). Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music: Essays on the History of Ethnomusicology (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0226574097.
^ Robert C. Provine, Jr. (January 1974). "The Treatise on Ceremonial Music (1430) in the Annals of the Korean King Sejong". Ethnomusicology. 18 (1): 1–29. doi:10.2307/850057. JSTOR 850057.

[fletcher-1] Peter Fletcher (2004). World Musics in Context: A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Major Musical Cultures. Oxford University Press. p. 345. ISBN 978-0195175073.

[musicology-2] Cite error: The named reference musicology was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] "The Analects - Yang Huo". Chinese Text Project.

[garland-4] The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 2. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge; 1 edition. 2008. pp. 1201–1202. ISBN 978-0415994040.

[5] "The Analects – Wei Ling Gong". Chinese Text Project.

[6] Liora Bresler (2007). International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. Springer. p. 85. ISBN 978-1402029981.

[7] Dorothy Ko; JaHyun Kim Haboush; Joan R. Piggott, eds. (2003). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0520231382.

[8] Alan Robert Thrasher (2008). Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-9004165007.

[9] Isabel Wong (1991). Bruno Nettl; Philip Bohlman (eds.). Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music: Essays on the History of Ethnomusicology (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-0226574097.

[10] Robert C. Provine, Jr. (January 1974). "The Treatise on Ceremonial Music (1430) in the Annals of the Korean King Sejong". Ethnomusicology. 18 (1): 1–29. doi:10.2307/850057. JSTOR 850057.

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