Hi everyone, I’m Ally
If you watch Chinese historical films and dramas
you might have noticed that ancient Chinese entertainment performers are usually depicted as low class people
and the female performers are even regarded as prostitutes
But was this actually the case in ancient China?
Were these music institutes, such as Jiaofang, Liyuan, and Yuefu just glorified government-run brothels?
To answer these questions, we first need to have an understanding of
how Chinese music institutes have evolved throughout history
This history of Chinese music goes as far back as the beginning of Chinese civilization
During the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period
it was recorded that these ancient sage kings invented different instruments
And then the Yellow Emperor appointed Ling Lun to compose music
So Ling Lun is considered the first minister of music in ancient China
According to the Book of Han
“The meaning of creating music, and harmonizing the eight tunes
is to cleanse the evil thoughts in people’s minds, and flourish their righteous minds.”
And according to Liji or the Book of Rites
“The reason the great kings created the Ritual Music System is not to feed human desires
but to guide people to discern right from wrong and go back to the proper way of mankind.”
So what is the Ritual Music System or 禮樂制度?
It’s a comprehensive social and etiquette system
created by the Duke of Zhou during the Western Zhou dynasty
It had a great influence on all of the following dynasties later on
But by the Spring and Autumn period, China was divided and all rules were broken
Confucius pointed out that the chaos in society was a direct result of the decline of the Ritual Music System
So throughout his life, Confucius advocated for the restoration of the Ritual Music System
because he believed formal music is morally uplifting and the foundation of a stable government
Thanks to Confucius and his ideology
every dynasty after him have set up a dedicated department
in charge of maintaining the Ritual Music System
This department was called Taichang, or Taichang Temple in later dynasties
But other than Taichang, each dynasty also had other music institutes for different purposes
During the Qin and Han dynasties, a new department called Yuefu was founded
It was in charge of collecting lyrics to compose folk songs
The famous poem, known as the Ballad of Mulan, which is about
you guessed it-Mulan
was an example of a song collected by Yuefu
By the Tang dynasty, the need for managing more varieties of
music, drama, acrobatics, and other forms of entertainment was increasing
Emperor Gaozu of Tang founded Jiaofang
and it was later greatly expanded by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
The purpose of Jiaofang was to separate popular music for imperial entertainment
from classical music used in formal rituals
According to the New Book of Tang
there were a total of more than 11,000 singers, dancers, and music performers during Xuanzong’s reign
which is considered Tang dynasty’s peak time
Emperor Xuanzong also set up Liyuan or Pear Garden inside the palace
where it was full of pear trees, hence the name Pear Garden
Xuanzong was one of the most talented emperors in Chinese history
According to Tang dynasty records
Xuanzong hand picked 300 instrument players from Taichang
and taught them music himself after he was done with his governmental duties
He had a super sharp ear and was able to catch if anyone performed a single note off key
These music performers were taught directly by the emperor
so they were called the emperor’s disciples, or the pear garden disciples
You might still hear people using the term Liyuan today
referring to Chinese opera or other music performers
The Song dynasty followed the Tang dynasty’s custom and also set up Jiaofang
If you watched the 2022 drama “A Dream of Splendor”
that’s where the main characters worked at
However, this drama depicted Jiaofang as a place of punishment
for family members of Chinese officials who committed crimes
But according to history, this couldn’t have happened during the Northern Song dynasty
I’ll explain that in just a little bit
During the Yuan dynasty, Jiaofang became Jiaofang Si
Ming and Qing dynasties both carried on with the name Jiaofang Si
but they also had additional music departments for other music needs
such as a band for marching, a department for playing drums and bells, etc. etc.
As you can see, every dynasty put a great emphasis on managing ceremonial dance and music
as well as entertainment related musical events
But since it was such an important craft, how could the performers be considered low class?
According to the Rites of Zhou
the music and dance performers during the Zhou dynasty
were children of the distant relatives of the King of Zhou
who all belonged to a noble social class
Students back then were required to master six arts, and music was one of them
It was a rather exclusive and dignified art form
By the Han dynasty, things were changed
There was a musician named Li Yannian
According to records, his entire family worked as musical performers
There were many families like Li’s family, who practiced music and passed down the skill to their family
However these families didn’t necessarily have higher or lower social class than ordinary people
For example, Li’s sister became Emperor Wu of Han’s concubine
Emperor Wu’s wife , the empress, was also a singer
Another example was Emperor Cheng of Han, whose empress was a dancer too
But by the Wei dynasty, a law stated that the family members of robbers
would be punished by changing their social status to Yuehu or Music Class
which is now considered a lower class with many restrictions
And since then, it became a standard practice
to punish criminals and their families by lowering them into the music class
People with a music class identity cannot marry people with higher social class
And once you were in this class, it was very hard to get out
And it passed down in the family
These families made up a large portion of performers
In the beginning of the Tang dynasty
Emperor Gaozu of Tang spared all of the families that were passed down from previous dynasties
But people with special musical skills were asked to stay
because it wasn’t easy to pass the skill to someone else
So at this point, the music class was a lower class than commoners
but still higher than house servants or slaves
They had musical skills and were allowed to make a living freely using their talent
The music class in the Song dynasty stayed largely the same
But what confused most people is that there were also female street performers working in brothels
that practiced singing, dance, and instruments to attract customers
On the other hand, female performers working in the imperial and official music institutes
such as Jiaofang, were different
They had stable income from the government
Their audiences were usually the imperial family and government officials
And they were protected by the laws
The officials were forbidden from abusing their power and forcing regular musicians to be prostitutes
However, things took a nasty turn in the Ming dynasty
After the Yongle Emperor overthrew the previous emperor
he purged all the officials who supported the last emperor
After killing the officials
their families and children were sent to service institutes such as Jiaofang Si
This was probably the reason why people thought
Jiaofang or Jiaofang Si is a place for family members of political prisoners
But before this happened, only actual criminals were sent to the music class
and this was an unusual act ordered directly by the emperor with no laws to back his action
It’s definitely not as common as what the fictional films and dramas have depicted
By the Qing dynasty, Yongzheng Emperor ordered to remove the social class differences
and finally, performers were no longer considered inferior to other professions
The social status of ancient Chinese musicians gradually declined by the dynasty
but music itself was always regarded highly by the government
In recent years though, after Communist Party took over, it banned all forms of entertainment
including music, dance and singing for 10 years during the Cultural Revolution
Instead, they were replaced with so called model operas and revolutionary songs
filled with communist propaganda
The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to
systematically and completely wipe out traditional Chinese culture
But fortunately there’s a performing arts group reviving the once lost culture
through dance, music, and singing
It’s called Shen Yun Performing Arts
I can’t praise this show enough
It’s what inspired me to start my channel as well
And as an added benefit, if you purchase tickets through Shen Yun’s website
using my code “Ally” you can get the processing fees waived
This code works for shows in the US
I’ll put the link down in the description below
Ancient Chinese performers suffered a lot of prejudice in the last two dynasties
and female performers were often associated with prostitution
But we can’t ignore the fact that the music class system in ancient China and these music families
were the main reason these art forms were preserved and passed down through the generations
despite whatever happened in society
On another note, many of Chinese traditional trades were also passed down in the family in a similar fashion
This is a unique aspect of Chinese culture
Alright, I hope you learned something new in this episode
And don’t forget to check out Shen Yun if you want to experience real Chinese culture
while immersing in heavenly music and dance
Let me know in the comments if you are interested in any other topic
Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next time!