Primitive Music & Dancing

Primitive music was inseparably connected with dancing. This is probably a phenomenon which has occurred in the histories of all the peoples of the world, and China is no exception. In the Zhou Dynasty which began in the 11th century BC, at the latest, the art form which combined music and dancing was called yue in China. And when music and dancing became separate art forms later, yue could still refer either to dancing or to music, preserving the vague meaning. Nowadays, yue refers specifically to music, so scholars use yuewu to describe primitive yue. Some primitive rock paintings available now depict, in a most life-like manner, scenes of primitive performances of music and dancing in groups. In later documents are found fragments of "recollections" which reveal that primitive singing and dancing were intimately bound up with sacrificial rites and prayers for good harvests, and therefore must have contained features of productive activities.

In primitive times, music and dancing were not objects of division of labor, and there was no specialized class of musicians. Music and dancing were activities involving the whole of tribal society. As a consequence, there were no were no special features or identity for artistic forms, independent of society.

Strictly speaking, it was only after the founding of the Xia Dynasty, in about the 21st century BC, that music and dancing truly participated in the social division of labor, and became independent aspects of society. It is said that the founder of the dynasty, Qi, and the last ruler, Jie, held huge performances of music and dancing for their own enjoyment, which indicates that there had already emerged a large class of specialist musicians and dancers, and marks the emergence of music and dancing as independent arts.

Welcome to China2Go, the talking Chinese phrase book for Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Palm OS. Featuring crystal clear voice recorded by a real person, this product is a great travel companion and an ideal tool to learn Chinese! With our cutting edge voice compression technology, this product includes more than 1000 phrases, their Chinese translation, and the voice in only a few megabytes. Supports all Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. H&H China2Go Talking Phrase Book for Windows Mobile