The Tang music in Motomasa no Fue-fu, an early twelfth-century Japanese source
Project Title(Chinese) :
日本十二世紀早期編成的《基政笛譜》中的唐代音樂
Principal Investigator(English) :
Dr Ng, Kwok Wai
Principal Investigator(Chinese) :
Department :
Department of Cultural and Creative Arts
Institution :
The Education University of Hong Kong
E-mail Address :
kwn@eduhk.hk
Tel :
29487452
Co - Investigator(s) :
Panel :
Humanities, Social Sciences
Subject Area :
Humanities and Arts
Exercise Year :
2017 / 18
Fund Approved :
268,309
Project Status :
Completed
Completion Date :
30-6-2019
Project Objectives :
To decipher and transcribe the tōgaku notation in Motomasa no Fue-fu
To study the notational and textual information written in Motomasa no Fue-fu in order to elucidate the development of the new rhythmic system
To comparatively analyze the tōgaku melodies in Motomasa no Fue-fu together with the melodies written in other Heian-period scores in order to trace the development of this repertoire in the Heian period
To ascertain the cultural implications of the changes observed in the rhythmic system of Heian-period tōgaku and examine their relation to Japan’s assimilation of Chinese culture as a whole
Abstract as per original application (English/Chinese):
This project attempts to thoroughly study the melodies of tōgaku (Tang music) in Motomasa no Fue-fu (The Flute Score of Motomasa), an early twelfth-century Japanese source. Tōgaku was a repertory of entertainment music imported from China between the seventh and the ninth centuries, and was widely performed by musicians and aristocrats at the imperial court until its decline in the late fourteenth century. Japanese musicians compiled a large number of musical scores for the purposes of preservation and transmission of this repertory in Japan. Numerous reliable manuscript copies of these historical scores, together with a small number of the originals, have survived in Japan to the present.
Although substantial research has been conducted on the development of tōgaku in the light of the music recorded in historical scores compiled before the end of the fourteenth century, a crucial question remains to be answered. This pertains to the background for the emergence of a new system of rhythmic signs in the notation compiled in the eleventh and the twelfth centuries. This system of rhythmic signs signifies a slightly different rhythmic structure of the melodies when compared with the structure indicated by the standard system.
As historians of Japanese music know only too well, the importation of Chinese entertainment music was in fact part of the large-scale adoption of Chinese culture. This adoption was followed by a long process of assimilation of the imported culture in accordance with the needs of the Japanese. Given that the new system of rhythmic sign emerged in the period when the assimilation of Chinese culture reached its peak, it was likely the product of this assimilation. A thorough study of the tōgaku notation in Motomasa no Fue-fu may, therefore, shed important light on the development of this system of rhythmic signs since the score notates the tōgaku melodies performed during the apogee of adaptation of Chinese culture, namely the tenth and the eleventh centuries.
This project will first elucidate and decipher the tablature signs and notational symbols in Motomasa no Fue-fu, and then followed by a transcription of the tōgaku notation. Through a comprehensive analysis of the transcribed melodies together with the textual information in Motomasa no Fue-fu, the project aims at uncovering the background for the use of a new system of rhythmic signs in the tōgaku notation and its cultural implications for the assimilation of Chinese cultures in Heian-period Japan.
