——中国民族报编写组

——Written and Edited by China Ethnic News

展开历史长卷，从赵武灵王胡服骑射，到北魏孝文帝汉化改革；从“洛阳家家学胡乐”到“万里羌人尽汉歌”；从边疆民族习用“上衣下裳”、“雅歌儒服”，到中原盛行“上衣下裤”、胡衣胡帽，以及今天随处可见的舞狮、胡琴、旗袍等，展现了各民族文化的互鉴融通。各族文化交相辉映，中华文化历久弥新，这是今天我们强大文化自信的根源。

In China, there have been plenty of examples on exchanges and integration between different ethnic groups throughout history. King Wuling of Zhao (340-295 BC) ordered that the court and the military adopt the dress of the Hu, a nomadic group, and learn their horse riding and archery. Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei (386-534) pushed reform to adopt the lifestyles of Han people. While “every household in Luoyang learned to play Hu music”,“the Qiang people from around 10,000 miles all sang the songs of the Han”. While the ethnic minorities in border areas changed into Han-style robes and followed more elegant ways of life, the Han people in the Central Plains adopted the fashion of nomadic attire, wearing Hu clothing from head to toe. The lion dance, the Huqin (a two-stringed musical instrument), and the Qipao (a dress of Manchu origin) are all evidence of the exchanges and integration between different ethnic groups. Interaction and mutual learning between ethnic cultures has kept the Chinese culture alive and thriving – the root of our cultural confidence today.

——习近平总书记在2019年全国民族团结进步表彰大会上的讲话

—— An excerpt from President Xi Jinping’s speech at the National Conference Commending Model Units and Individuals for Contributing to Ethnic Unity and Progress, 2019

  当你走进音乐厅欣赏一场具有“中国风”的民乐表演，深沉幽婉的二胡、清脆如潺潺流水的扬琴，还有“大弦嘈嘈如急雨，小弦切切如私语”的琵琶……你可知道，这些具有典型中华民族气派的乐器，其实最早都是“胡乐”吗？

When you are enjoying an ancient Chinese folk music performance, played by such traditional musical instruments as the deep-toned idyllic erhu (a two-stringed musical instrument), the clear and melodious yangqin (a stringed instrument played by hitting the metal strings with two hammers), and the pipa (the four-stringed Chinese lute) with “the thick strings loudly thrummed like the pattering rain; the fine strings softly tinkled in a murmuring strain”. Do you know that these typical Chinese instruments are, in fact, originated from the instruments of the ethnic minorities collectively known as the Hu, who lived at northern border areas in ancient times?

 “城头山鸡鸣角角，洛阳家家学胡乐。”在中唐诗人王建的《凉州行》里，描写了当时“胡汉交融”的景象：凉州一带，过去不识稼穑的胡人“相学如今种禾黍”；而东都洛阳的人家，研习胡乐成为一种风尚。

“Here and there, even on the city wall where pheasants crow, all families inside the city of Luoyang are learning to play the Hu music.” This is a verse of the poem, A Visit to Liangzhou, written by Wang Jian, a poet from Tang dynasty (618-907). It depicts the interaction between the Hu and the Han. While the Hu people in the area of Liangzhou learned to grew crops from the Han Chinese, the Han families in Luoyang, capital city of Eastern Han (25-220), considered it a fashion to learn music of the Hu.

胡乐，是我国古代中原对北方、东北、西北民族音乐舞蹈的称呼，尤其是指来自西域一带的乐舞。自汉代张骞凿空西域后，来自西域的胡乐就源源不断地进入中原，悠扬婉转的横笛，以及汉代乐府诗《孔雀东南飞》中女主人公刘兰芝 “十五弹箜篌”的箜篌，都成为中原常见的乐器。

Hu music was a term used to refer to music and dance of ethnic minorities in the north, northeast and northwest of the Central Plains. After Zhang Qian of the Han dynasty (206 BC- 220AD) blazed the way to the Western Regions, Hu music found its way to the Central Plains. The melodious bamboo flute, and the clear and penetrating konghou (Chinese harp), became common instruments in the Central Plains. The Han-dynasty poem, Peacock Flies Southeast, collated by Yuefu (a government office in the Han dynasty for collecting folk Songs and ballads) related of the heroin, Ms. Liu Lanzhi who “played konghou at fifteen years old”.

琵琶的流行，离不开西域龟兹（今新疆库车一带）乐工苏祗婆的功劳。苏祗婆不仅琵琶技艺超群，而且精通音律。他将西域“五旦”“七调”等音乐理论带到中原，奠定了唐代著名的燕乐二十八调的理论基础，成为我国古代音乐发展史上的一个重要转折点。很多中原人师从苏祗婆学习琵琶技法，从此琵琶大盛，至今仍是我国主要的民族乐器之一。“葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催。”在唐人的诗歌里，处处可见琵琶的身影。

The popularity of pipa owed to a musician from Qiuci State (present-day Kucha in Xinjiang) named Suzhipo. He was a virtuoso pipa performer who was also versed in temperament, who introduced the wudan (five modes), qidiao (seven tones) and other musical theories of the Western Regions to the Central Plains, laying a theoretical foundation for the famous 28-mode of festive music in the Tang dynasty and marking a major milestone in Chinese history of music. As many people in the Central Plains learned pipa skills from Suzhipo, the instrument became very popular, and it remains one of the major national traditional musical instruments of China. Pipa is often mentioned in Tang poems, as in the famous poem Starting for the Front written by Wang Han, where it goes: “with wines of grapes, the cups of Jade would glow at night; drinking to pipa songs, we are summoned to fight.”

经过魏晋南北朝时期的民族大融合，到了隋唐时期，从宫廷到民间俨然掀起了一股崇尚西域乐舞的浪潮。在隋炀帝所定“九部乐”中，“西凉乐”“龟兹乐”“康国乐”“疏勒乐”“安国乐”等均来自西域，《新唐书》记载唐代宫廷乐工分四部，其中就有“龟兹部”“胡部”。可见，西域音乐在隋唐音乐文化中占据着举足轻重的地位。

After great ethnic integration during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties (220-598), the Sui (581-618) and Tang dynasties saw a surge in popularity of music and dance of the Western Regions. Of the “nine categories of music” that Emperor Yang of Sui dynasty set, “music of Xiliang State”, “music of Qiuci State”, “music of Kangju State”, “music of Shule State” and “music of Anguo State” were all from the Western Regions. The New Book of Tang records that court musicians of the Tang were divided into four sections, among them were a “Qiuci section” and a “Hu section”. This illustrates the important position of music from Western Regions in the music culture of the Sui and Tang dynasties.

众所周知，唐朝是一个流光溢彩、绚丽多姿的王朝，其多姿多彩正在于对各民族文化海纳百川的气度。从“谁家玉笛暗飞声，散入春风满洛城”的横笛，到“中军置酒饮归客，胡琴琵琶与羌笛”中的各种乐器，从“人间物类无可比，奔车轮缓旋风迟”的胡旋舞，到“环行急蹴皆应节，反手叉腰如却月”的胡腾舞，现存大量诗文说明，西域乐舞不仅深刻影响着当时人们的精神文化生活，也深刻影响了中华音乐文化的进程。今天，我们从敦煌莫高窟的壁画上，从西安、吐鲁番等丝绸之路沿线城市出土的唐三彩、陶俑上，能看到不少关于唐代乐队、舞伎的刻画，它们生动饱满、元气淋漓，仿佛将我们带到那个声韵流动、光彩耀人的世界。

As is known to all, the Tang dynasty was remarkable for its rich and splendid culture, which embraced and integrated the cultures of various ethnic groups. Numerous poems written in the Tang dynasty had records of music and dances from the Western Regions. Li Bai, one of the most famous poets in Tang wrote about flute that “the sound of flute blended into the spring breeze came around, carried to every corner of Luoyang City and beyond.” Cen Shen wrote about multiple instruments in his poem that "we drink in headquarters to our guest homeward bound; with Tartar lutes, pipas and pipes the camps resound.” Bai Juyi wrote about the Huxuan Dance (female dance featured with whirl movements) in the verses that “Nothing on earth compares to it. She whirls faster than a fast-turning wheel or a gale.” And Li Duan wrote about the Huteng dance (male solo dance featured with bounce movements) in the verses that “each step in circling and jumping agrees with the tempo, and with arms akimbo, he looks like a crescent moon.” Those verses and prose demonstrate that music and dance from the Western Regions deeply influenced not just people’s cultural life at the time but also the progress of Chinese music culture. Today, we could find lots of scenes of Tang music performers and dancers painted on the murals of the Mogao Caves and on Tang Tri-Clolored Pottery, and also terracotta figurines excavated in the cities such as Xi’an and Turpan along the Silk Road. They are rendered so vivid and vibrant as if to take us back to that ancient world of flowing sounds and glories.

自唐以降，各民族音乐文化的交融互鉴仍在继续。唢呐，这一极具中国乡土特色的乐器，是在唐之后经由西域传入中原并渐渐被广泛接受的。可以说，一些古代乐器在它的起源地已经失传，却在中华大地深深扎下了根，成为中华民族乐器中的瑰宝、中华音乐文化的代表。

From the Tang dynasty onwards, music and cultural interaction and integration between different ethnic groups still continued. Suona, a woodwind musical instrument that resonates strongly with Chinese folk traditions and customs, was introduced to the Central Plains via the Western Regions after the Tang dynasty. It came to be widely accepted gradually. In this sense, it is safe to say that some ancient musical instruments failed to be handed down in places where they originated, but took root deep on Chinese soil and became gems of Chinese national instruments as well as emblems of Chinese music culture.

千百年来，中华文化的大河滔滔向前，奔腾不息，是因为有各民族文化的活水不断汇入。自古以来，少数民族就能歌善舞，如今依然保持着这一传统和特色。在《星光大道》《中国好歌曲》等电视节目中，少数民族选手的表演原汁原味原生态，深受观众喜爱。新疆维吾尔木卡姆艺术、蒙古族长调民歌、蒙古族呼麦歌唱艺术、中国朝鲜族农乐舞、侗族大歌等，与源自中原的昆曲、古琴艺术等，被列入联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录，成为中华文明对人类音乐文化杰出贡献的代表。各族文化交相辉映，中华文化历久弥新，这是今天我们强大文化自信的根源。

Chinese culture has been developing continuously for thousands of years constantly integrating various ethnic cultures. Since ancient times, Chinese ethnic minorities have been good at singing and dancing, a tradition that they still keep today. Contestants from ethnic minorities in such TV talent shows as Star Boulevard and Sing My Song have been highly favored by audiences for their folk performances. The art forms that originated from ethnic minority groups, such as the Uygur Muqams of Xinjiang, the Mongolian Long Tune, the Mongolian art of singing - Khoomei, farmers' dance of Korean ethnic group, grand song of the Dong ethnic group, together with those originated from the Central Plains, such as Kunqu opera and guqin (a 7-stringed plucked musical instrument), have been made on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, representing the Chinese civilization’s great contributions to human music culture. The Chinese culture has become what it is today through all ethnic cultures interacting with one another. And this is the root of our strong cultural confidence today.

  （执笔：肖静芳）

(By Xiao Jingfang)