Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.5, 2020

Cultural Identity and Literary Exchanges in the Zhou Dynasty: With a Focus on Music Production and Language Interpretation

(Abstract)

Fu Linpeng

Following the establishment of a world view that had as its basic contents the five directions (China and the barbarians/ethnic groups of the four quarters), the Zhou dynasty designed a set of bureaucratic systems for the management of and communication between the Zhou people and the barbarians. In this system, the specific duties of the officials in charge of music and reception of barbarians were most closely related to early literature. In particular, officials in charge of barbarian music were responsible for the transmission and performance of such music, while those in charge of the reception of barbarians were responsible for the interpretation of their languages. Research on the names, performance types, production process and political function of barbarian music has enabled us to learn about musical exchanges and cultural interaction between Zhou and the surrounding barbarian tribes. By means of examining some of the specific functions of the officials in charge of the reception of barbarians, such as oral interpretation on ritual occasions and the translation of documents involving neighboring barbarians, we can reflect on the cultural communication and textual generation between Zhou and barbarians. More importantly, these positions integrated the cultural elements of the barbarians into the ancient Huaxia ritual music, breaking through the cultural barriers arising from the distinction between the central kingdoms and the barbarians, and boosted the formation of a Huaxia cultural community.