Ancestor of All Dances: Primitive Dance
The embryo and childhood of dance can be traced back to the first days of human beings, far exceeding human memory.
Legends on the origin of dance are abundant in ancient literature. There are several stories in Lushi-Chunqiu (Annals of Lu Buwei): Zhongxiaji (Mid-Summer Records): Guyue (Ancient Music).
A. When the ancient Emperor Zhuanxu was enthroned, he heard the winds howling from all directions and was pleased. So he ordered his official "Feilong" (flying dragon) to imitate the sound of the winds and compose "Yue" (music); and then he ordered "Dan" (or "Tuo") to be the first musician, lying on the ground and flapping its tail on its stomach to make sound. Zhuanxu named this music and dance "Chengyun" and offered it to the God in Heaven.
B. The ancient Emperor Ku ordered an official "Xianhei" to compose the songs called "jiuzhao", "Liulie" and "Liuying". He then ordered "Chui" to invent instruments: pi (a small drum), drum, bell, qing (chime stone), sheng(reed-pipe wind instrument), guan (Wind instrument), and chi(flute-like instrument). The pleasant music made from the instruments enticed the phoenix and pheasants to dance. Pleased, Emperor Ku used this music and dance to praise the God.
C. When Yao became the emperor, he ordered Zhi to compose music and dance. Zhi imitated the natural sounds of wood and streams to make music. He put deer skin on the fou (an earthen pot with a big body and a small mouth) to make a drum, and imitated the God's jade qing by beating stone knives and axes heavily or lightly. At this music, all the animals started to dance.
All these myths were passed down through the centuries, and it is impossible to keep them unaltered. They reflected the close relation between primitive dance and nature, animals and birds, clan ancestors and sacrificial ceremonies. Some ancient scholars said, "The grand Yue is in harmony with Heaven and Earth." This is an aesthetic distillation of the innermost meaning embedded in these myths, and reflected the primitive people's wish to be in harmony with the nature world.
The ancient dance passed its embryo and childhood stages in the primitive society, which was a long period featuring dramatic changes in both dance and its Surrounding natural and cultural environment. With the appearance of primitive belief came the dances of totem, sorcery, and sacrificial ceremony. These dances had ripened by the end of the primitive society. In the Chinese ruins of the Neolithic Age over 6,000 years ago, musical instruments like pottery xun, pottery whistle, bone flute, stone qing and tuo drum were excavated. The most noteworthy discovery was made in the autumn of 1973, when a pottery basin with dancers’ pattern on it was excavated at the Shangsunjiazhai Village of the Datong County in Qinghai Province. This basin shows us directly the dance art about 5,000 years ago.
The forefathers of various nationalities painted or carved one after another exquisite dance scenes. It seems that they invite us to join the clan dance parties of various primitive tribes, to hear the deafening drums and shouts, to see their wild and free movements, and to feel their passionate feelings, and their deep faith and belief in Heaven and Earth, Nature, and ancestors.
The large amount of dance figures found in cultural relics above or under-ground provide us with ample information on primitive dances. They are no longer myths, but real history. They truthfully reflect the dance culture of different regions and tribes, and indicate the position and function of dance in society at that time.
Dance walked a long road in primitive society, but by the Neolithic Age, especially in the paternal society, Chinese dance art had formed its basic structure. Therefore, the elements of later dances were ready in the system of primitive dance.
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