Orality and Literacy in the Transmission of Japanese Tōgaku : Its Past and Present
2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/17411912.2011.549359
ISSN1741-1920
Autores Tópico(s)Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
ResumoAbstract Transmission of music is never carried out solely through writing; rather it occurs through both oral and written traditions. Tōgaku, a repertory of entertainment music imported to Japan from China between the seventh and the ninth centuries AD, was initially transmitted with a great reliance on the written tradition. However, during the course of its historical development, there was a gradual increase in the reliance on oral transmission. This paper studies changes in the oral and written traditions of tōgaku in Japan by investigating the notations and mnemonic devices used to resemble the melodies during the learning process. Keywords: Tōgaku Shōga NotationOral TransmissionMnemonic Device Acknowledgements The author's heartfelt thanks go to Dr David W. Hughes, who has provided invaluable advice on the contents of this article, particularly with regard to the acoustic–iconic attributes of the mnemonic device in tōgaku. Notes 1. While some scholars prefer the term 'aural' to 'oral' (see Nettl 2005 Nettl, Bruno. 2005. The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. [Google Scholar]: 291), in this paper I use the term 'oral'. 2. Modern tōgaku instrumental pieces are performed by an ensemble of five melodic instruments. These are the four-stringed lute, the 17-piped mouth organ, the 13-stringed long zither (gakusō), the double-reed pipe (hichiriki) and the transverse flute (ryūteki). 3. Jinchi Yōroku is a collection of 13-stringed long zither pieces compiled by Fujiwara no Moronaga (1137–92) in the second half of the twelfth century. The original has been lost but more than 30 manuscript copies have survived to the present day (Endō 2003 Endō , Tōru . 2003 . 'Heianchō Tōgaku no Chōshi Kōzō no Kenkyū' ['A Study of the Structures of Tōgaku Modes Used in the Heian Period'] . Ph.D. diss., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music . [Google Scholar]: 26–27). The Rakusaidō manuscript copy, which is now preserved in the Research Institute for Japanese Music Historiography at Ueno Gakuen University, was written in the eighteenth century. 4. This score is also known as Nangū ōjō-fu. The notation of this score has been lost but the preface has survived to the present day. See Fukushima (1976, quoted in Fukushima 2007 Fukushima , Kazuo . 2007 . Nihon Ongaku Shisō [A Collection of Essays on Japanese Music History] . Osaka, , Japan : Izumi Shoin . [Google Scholar]: 16–77 ) for details. 5. The meaning of jōto is unclear. It can be translated literally as 'upper student'. Jōto may, therefore refer to excellent students with advanced performing skills. 6. The manuscript copy that I have examined is the Rakusaidō version, a copy made in the Edo period (1603–1868) and preserved in the Research Institute for Japanese Music Historiography at Ueno Gakuen University. Allan Marett's transcription of 'Rindai' has also been consulted (Marett 1977 Marett Allan J. . 1977 . 'Tunes Notated in Flute-tablature from a Japanese Source of the Tenth Century' . Musica Asiatica 1 : 1 59 . [Google Scholar]: 55). The boxes in Figure 1 refer to the analyses presented in the subsequent sections of this paper. 7. This judgement is based on the historical tōgaku melodies transcribed and analysed in my previous research (Ng 1998 Ng , Kwok Wai . 1998 . 'Modal Practice in Japanese tōgaku of the Late Twelfth Century: Its Relationship to the Modal Theory of Tang-period China (A.D. 618–907)' . M.A. thesis, International Christian University . [Google Scholar], 2007). 8. The manuscript copy that I have consulted is the Kikutei-ke version, a copy made in the Kamakura period and preserved in The Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō Shoryōbu). In Sango Yōroku, 'Rindai' can be performed using two forms of tunings: the fukōjō and hyōjō tunings. I referred to the version performed using the hyōjō tuning. 9. Even though Ruisō Chiyō and Kyōkunshō were compiled in the thirteenth century, many records in these two sources reveal the performing traditions and practices of earlier periods. For instance, the zither melodies in Ruisō Chiyō reflect those that were performed in the twelfth century (Terauchi 1996 Terauchi , Naoko . 1996 . Gagaku no Rizumu Kōzō—Heian Jidai Sue niokeru Tōgakukyoku nitsuite [The Rhythmic Structures of Gagaku: Focusing on the Tōgaku Pieces Performed in the late Heian Period] . Tokyo : Daiichi Shob( . [Google Scholar]: 108). 10. The Kyōkunshō that I have consulted is a version edited by Ueki Yukinobu. This version is published in the book Nihon Shisō Taikei 23: Kodai Chūsei Geijutsuron (Tokyo: Iwanami; Shoten 1973). See also Koma (1233). 11. The Noda School represents the direct line of descent of the Koma Family. 12. Magana or man'yōgana is a type of ancient writing system that employs Chinese characters to write Japanese phonetically. 13. There is also Japanese research on this relative vowel–pitch relationship, and some research demonstrates similar results to that of Hughes 2000 Hughes , David W. . 2000 . 'No Nonsense: The Logic and Power of Acoustic–Iconic Mnemonic Systems' . British Journal of Ethnomusicology 9 2 : 93 120 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar] (for example, Terauchi 2004b Terauchi , Naoko . 2004b . 'Edo Jidai Shoki niokeru Ryūteki Shōga nikansuru Ichikōsatsu' ['A Study on the Mnemonic Shōga of Ryūteki Flute in the Early Edo Period']. Kōbe Daigaku Kokusai Bunka Gakubu Kiyō: Kokusai Bunkagaku Kenkyū 22&23 : 1 27 . [Google Scholar]: 7–8). Nevertheless, Japanese research focuses mainly on Japanese mnemonic devices. See Terauchi (2004b): 18; note 1) for detailed information. 14. The Tsuji School was a tradition of the branch family. Some sources use 'Tsujiko' rather than 'Tsuji' as the name of this school (Endō, Sasamoto, and Miyamaru 2006: 77). 15. The flute tablature notation that is employed to signify the melody of the Tsuji version does not include metrical signs. The rhythm of the Tsuji version is therefore decided according to that of the Noda version. 16. The difference between the use of consonants ch and t between the two versions is not significant. The reason is that in Japanese phonology ch replaces t when t precedes the vowel i, but there is no ti in the Tsuji example requiring this replacement (Hughes, personal communication). 17. Because tōgaku was performed in a clear heterophonic texture before the fifteenth century (for musical examples, see Picken et al. 1981 Picken , Laurence E. R . with R. Wolpert , A. J. Marett , J. Condit , E. Markham and Y. Mitani . 1981 . Music from the Tang Court . 1 . London : Oxford University Press . [Google Scholar], 1985, 1986, 1987; Ng 1998 Ng , Kwok Wai . 1998 . 'Modal Practice in Japanese tōgaku of the Late Twelfth Century: Its Relationship to the Modal Theory of Tang-period China (A.D. 618–907)' . M.A. thesis, International Christian University . [Google Scholar], 2007 Ng , Kwok Wai . 2007 . 'The Modes of tōgaku from Tang-period China to Modern Japan: Focusing on the Ôshikichô, Banshikichô and Hyôjô Modal Categories' . Ph.D. diss., The University of Sydney . [Google Scholar]), it is practicable to compare and analyse the same tōgaku melody played by two different melodic instruments at different periods of time. 18. 'Rindai' was performed using the banshiki mode, in which F# was not a pitch that was commonly decorated with a mordent. For an explanation of the relationship between the pitches on which a mordent is performed and the structure of the banshiki mode, see Marett (1977: 10–11). 19. Because the lute and zither are treated as harmonic instruments and used to play fixed melodic patterns in modern performance, they do not have any corresponding shōga. While the mouth organ is used to play cluster chords nowadays, musicians still need to learn how to sing the melodies in the form of sustained notes, whose names follow those of the pipes. This modern mouth organ 'shōga' does not, however, reflect the main melodic line of modern performance. 20. This depiction is made by reference to the double-reed pipe score published by the Ono Gagaku Society. In 2004 during my PhD fieldwork in Japan, I made a thorough comparison of the notations published by the Ono Gagaku Society with those written in the Meiji Sentei-fu. The double-reed pipe notations written in the Meiji Sentei-fu are properly reflected in the versions printed by the Ono Gagaku Society. 21. See Ng (2007 Ng , Kwok Wai . 2007 . 'The Modes of tōgaku from Tang-period China to Modern Japan: Focusing on the Ôshikichô, Banshikichô and Hyôjô Modal Categories' . Ph.D. diss., The University of Sydney . [Google Scholar]): 235–46) for a detailed explanation of this metrical discrepancy. 22. The syllables of line 1 are ta–a–a–ru–ra–re–re–ta–a–fa–ro, followed by ta to begin line 2. The first vowel change from a to u marks a descent; u to a is an ascent; a–e–a is an ascent followed by a descent; a–o is a descent; and o–a is an ascent (Hughes, personal communication). 23. During the singing of shōga, the character is pronounced as fa rather than the standard-language pronunciation ha. Additional informationNotes on contributorsKwok-wai NgKwok-wai Ng completed his Ph.D at the University of Sydney. His research is on the transmission and development of Tang music (tøgaku) in Japan, focusing on aspects of musical notation, the structure of modes, the use of ornaments, and orally transmitted performing techniques
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