Music of China appears to date back to the dawn of Chinese civilization, and documents and artifacts provide evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC - 256 BC).
According to Mencius, a ruler had asked Mencius whether it was moral if he preferred pop songs to the classics. The answer was that the only thing matters being whether or not he loved his subjects.
The Imperial Music Bureau, first established in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), was greatly expanded under the Emperor Han Wu Di (140-87 BC) and charged with supervising court music and military music and determining what folk music would be officially recognized. In subsequent dynasties, the development of Chinese music was strongly influenced by foreign music, especially that of Central Asia.
| Harmony & Serenity
Farming relies on land, sufficient water and sunlight. After a period of time, people see their harvest. Because of the peasants' love for land and expectation for harvest, they learned how to live in harmony with nature.
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| The Beginning of Time -- 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. In the Warring States Period, the great poet Qu Yuan raised over 100 questions about Heaven, Earth and Man in his famous Tianwen (Question the Heaven).
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| Dances of Differet Nationalities
We are boating on the long river of history and impressed by the brilliance of ancient dancers. Time goes by, we can no longer see their dances. However, in the vast land of China-in remote mountainous villages, on broad pasture land, in red valleys, on the blue sea, among dense forests, along the endless silk road-we can still feel their dancing arts.
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| Folk Dance
Among the Chinese dances, the folk dance is the greatest in number, the most extensive and the deepest into life, and the closest to everyone's daily life.
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| The Acme of Perfection
After Chinese dance entered the civilized society from the primitive times, its development accelerated and got matured quickly The "Yayue" (elegant music) system established in the early Western Zhou Dynasty was a milestone marking maturity of the Chinese dance Culture.
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| Legacy of Primeval Dances
For Oroqen people, who engage themselves in hunting in the Daxinganling and Xiaoxinganling mountains in northeast China, there is a folk story about "combination between hunter and female bear". A series of sacrificing ceremonies was carried Out in hunting. The folk dance named "Black Bears Fighting" is just the heritage of primitive totem worship activities.
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| Red Flower with Fragrant Dews
The counterpart of Yayue (Elegant Music) was jiyue (Women Music). The two were like both wings of the Chinese dance art.
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| Review of Ancient Dances
The brilliant culture of Chinese dance found its root in the depths of history. From its fountainhead, the trickles gradually converged into today's profound ocean.
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| Straight for Wardness & Robustnes
"Chilege Song" was composed by nomadic tribes about 1,500 years ago, which depicted vividly the boundless pasture land and free herding life. The herdsmen compared the heaven as an extremely large house, showing their broad mind, unsophisticated feelings and heroic spirit as the son of nature. Dances of the Mongolian, Kazakh, Khalkhas, Oroqen, Ewenki, Manchu and Xibe ethnic groups have all maintained features of the pasture land culture.
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| Yishunbian -- Steps of the Plateau
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", is filled with far-stretching mountains, lofty icy peaks and precipitous deep valleys. The Himalayas, the world's highest peak Everest, the Gangdisi Mountains and the Buddhism sacred "Gangrenboqi" peak are all found here.
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