Music Bureau

Music Bureau (Traditional Chinese: 樂府; Simplified Chinese: 乐府; Hanyu Pinyin: yuè​fǔ​), also known as the "Imperial Music Bureau", discontinuously and in various incarnations was an organ of the imperial governmental bureaucracy of several Chinese dynasties. The term "Music Bureau", or yuefu (also, yueh-fu) also applies to a certain category of Classical Chinese poems, which were based upon certain standard forms and themes developed by members of the imperial Music Bureau during the Han Dynasty, thus forming an important part of Han poetry as well as the Jian'an poetry of the late Han and early Six Dynasties.

History

The documentary evidence is contradictory and unclear for when and by whom the Music Bureau was founded; however it is known to have existed during the Qin Dynasty (221 - 205 BCE), if not earlier.^[1] Apparently, during the political and social turmoil, during and after the fall of Qin (during the Chu–Han Contention), the Music Bureau seems to have been discontinued, but later revived. The Music Bureau greatly flourished under Emperor Wu of Han (Wudi, reigned 141 BCE - 87 BCE).^[2] The earliest known evidence appears to be an official seal of State Music Bureau of the state of Qi dating from the Warring States Period (480-221 BCE).^[3] Certainly, the history of the Classic of Poetry seems to confirm the existence of some sort of official functionaries responsible for the collection of songs and poetry in the royal courts of the Zhou Dynasty and of Lu and other states of the Spring and Autumn Period.^[4] The historian Ban Gu states in his Book of Han that the Music Bureau was subordinate to the shaofu, or Lesser Treasury, which was responsible for the emperor's personal needs.^[5] Sima Qian in his Records of the Grand Historian states that the early Han emperors retained the Music Bureau the same as it was since ancient times.^[6] The emperor Wu has been widely cited to have created the Music Bureau in 120 BCE,^[7] however it seems most likely that there was a long-standing office of music and that as part of his governmental reorganization Wu enlarged its size, changed its scope and function, as well as possibly renaming it –– thus seeming and being credited with establishing a new institution, the stated tasks of which were apparently to collect popular songs from various areas within the Han Empire, as well as external sources and to adapt and orchestrate these, as well as to develop new material.^[8] In any case, Wudi is widely held to have used the Music Bureau as an important part of his religious innovations and to have specifically commissioned Sima Xiangru to write poetry.^[9] The Music Bureau was officially disbanded by Emperor Ai of Han in the year 7 BCE,^[10] although revived subsequently. In the Tang Dynasty the Music Bureau was responsible for composing the music for the Grand Carnival in Chang'an.

Influence on poetry

Main article: Yuefu

Because of the development and transmission of a particular style of poetry by the Music Bureau, this style of poetry has become known as the "Music Bureau" style, or Yuefu. Several important collections survive of the Han dynasty Yuefu, including some in Xiao Tong and others' work Anthology of Literature and some in Xu Ling's New Songs from a Jade Terrace; however the most important^[11] collection is Guo Maoqian's Anthology of Yuefu Poetry, which includes the poem "Hua Mulan".

See also

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Classical Chinese poetry forms
• Emperor Ai of Han
• Emperor Wu of Han
• Han Dynasty
• Han poetry
• Hua Mulan
• Jian'an poetry
• Qin Dynasty
• State of Qi

Notes

1. ^ Yip, 66
2. ^ Birrell, 5-6
3. ^ Birrell, 6
4. ^ Frankel, 215-216 and Yip, 31
5. ^ Birrell, 6 and note 14 p. 175
6. ^ Birrell, 6 and note 15, p. 175
7. ^ Birrell, 7
8. ^ Birrell, 6-7
9. ^ Birrell, 6
10. ^ Birrell, 6
11. ^ Birrell, 8

References

• Birrell, Anne (1988). Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China. (London: Unwin Hyman). ISBN 0-04-440037-8
• Frankel, Hans H. (1978). The Flowering Plum and the Palace Lady. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press) ISBN 0-300-02242-5
• Yip, Wai-lim (1997). Chinese Poetry: An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres . (Durham and London: Duke University Press). ISBN 0-8223-1946-2