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Translated Excerpts of Chinese Dance Notation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Gloria B. Strauss ,
Camella Wing  and
Leung Yuen-wah
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Extract

In a society which judged the culture of its members less by the building of cities than by the transforming influence of writing, it is not unexpected to find that written dance notation is of a high quality. And, when it is further understood that the writing of this society is, itself, a form of line drawing, one is not surprised to find that excellent and accurate line drawings accompany the written text.

This is as true for dance description in present-day revolutionary China as it was in traditional China where the accuracy and complete documentation of Ming dynasty (1378–1644) ritual dance anticipated and exceeded Western efforts in this area. Although historical records suggest that dance notations in China may have existed as early as in the first millenium B.C., they appear to have been destroyed by the book-burning Emperor Shih Huang-ti at the end of the third century B.C. In other instances like those of the T'ang dynasty dance tablatures found in the caves of Tun-huang, the notations have not yet been adequately deciphered; thus, fully-documented rituals in China are best known to us from a period of time (circa. 1600), not far in years from the notes made regarding the famed Ballet Comique de la Reine or Arbeau's Orchésographie

One observes in the Ming dynasty records that movements were illustrated as well as described, the descriptions tending to be terse while the illustrations were more complete. In fact, the dance is better understood by studying the complete picture sequence than by following the characters. (Figures 1 and 2 are examples of two movements in sequence as shown in notation of Ming dynasty ritual dance). Regarding the translation of the characters that are found on the illustrations, Figs. 1 and 2: the vertical characters are essentially numerical, roughly equivalant to saying in English, “index number 5 and index number 6.” The larger characters, which are read horizontally from right to left, are descriptive in general terms only, and require a study of the drawings in sequence to be fully understood.

Type
Articles
Information
Dance Research Journal , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Spring/Summer 1977 , pp. 5 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Congress on Research in Dance 1977

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References

Notes

1. Tsai-yü, Chu. Yüeh-lü ch'üan-shu. 9 vols., vols. 4, 6, 7. s.l. (1607).Google Scholar

2. Gimm, Martin. Das Yüeh-fu Tsa-lu des Tuan An-chieh. Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte und Terminologie vom Musik, Schauspiel und Tanz in der T'ang-dynastie. 1. Weisbaden: Harrasowitz, 1966 (Asiatische Forschungen, 19) p. 252.Google Scholar

3. de Belgiojoso, Baltazarini. Balet Comique de la Royne. Paris: Adrian le Roy, Robert Ballard and Mamert Patisson, 1582.Google Scholar

4. Tabouret, Jehan, Orchesography, trans. Beaumont, Cyril, London, 1925. Rpt. Dance Horizons, 1968.Google Scholar

5. Dombois–Bartenieff, Irma and Otte-Betz, Irma. Elementary Studies in Laban's Dance Script. New York? 1937.Google Scholar

6. Feuillet, Raoul Auger. Recueil de Contredances. New York: Broude Brothers, 1968. Facsimile of 1706 ed.Google Scholar

7. China Ballet Troupe. Hong Se Niang Zi Jung. (The Red Detachment of Women) Production and story edition of the modern revolutionary ballet. Peking: People's Publishing House, 1970, pp. 119–538.Google Scholar

8. Zung (Ch'eng Hsiu-ling), Cecilia S. L.. Secrets of the Chinese Drama. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1937.Google Scholar Rpt. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1964, p. xi.

9. Compare with the section termed “Acting,” pages 74–114 in Research on the Art of Chinese Opera by Ch'i Ju-shan, Tapei: Ch'ung kuang wen i ch'u pan she, 1962. In Chinese.

10. Zung, . Secrets of the Chinese Drama, pp. 59, 60, 62.Google Scholar

11. Anonymous. Basic Training for Amateurs, Shanghai: Shanghai Art Publishers, 1961, pp. 61, 62.

12. “Step On” is an exact rendition of the characters, but this is understood to be a body-revolving turn involving a waist bend.

13. Leung Yuen-wah believes that term, “sole,” as it is used here, signifies the front part of the foot exclusive of the heel, not the entire underside of the foot. “Ball,” rather then “sole,” might have been the better terminology for dancers.

14. Chin Hwa can also be transliterated as Ch'ing-hua which is the name of the heroine. The soldier is a voluntary one, a militia man.

15. This is ambiguous and can also mean kicking the front part of her leg.