The origins of ci: A contemporary reflection on a thousand-year-old academic controversy

Abstract

The academic controversy over the “origin of ci” has lasted over a thousand years throughout the study of this Chinese poetic genre. According to their own account by literati of the Tang dynasty, ci was collected from folks of the fields for both its phrase and tune. But since the Song dynasty, different arguments have arisen. Some held that ci had its origin in the so-called “long-and-short lines”, while others postulated “phrase-filling in uniform tunes”; still others believed in its derivation from “foreign-tune with Chinese phrase”. Starting from the 20th century, the focus of debate shifted to whether ci had evolved from native vernacular songs or been invented for new tunes, and, if the latter was true, whether the tune came from abroad (Hu 胡) or within China (Hua 华). However, all these arguments have some theoretical flaws resulting from: (i) an isolated and undefined academic context and research orientation; (ii) a method of substituting the part for the whole, which may have distorted the true picture of Chinese-foreign music exchange; (iii) the false premise that new tunes gave rise to new genres of poetry; and (iv) the disregard of the reality in learning and spread of ci performance and composition, and neglect of the role played by social changes and human subjectivity in the budding of new literary genres.

摘要

“词之起源” 是词学研究中的千年学案。 唐人自述其歌词曲调主源乃 “采民甿者”。 宋以后至今, 逐步形成 “长短句源流” 说、 “填实泛声” 说、 “胡乐入华而词生” 说等主要观点。 20 世纪以来, 出现了 “词源民间” 与 “胡乐生词” 说的争锋, 继有以胡乐为主体和以华乐为主体的两种 “燕乐生词” 说。 20 世纪的 “词之起源” 论存在着若干学理缺陷: 学术语境和研究指向单调模糊: 以局部现象覆盖整体, 歪曲唐代华乐、 胡乐交流实况: 阐释前提 “新音乐生成新词体” 不能成立: 脱离词的传唱和创作实践, 忽视文艺形式建树中的社会运行和人的主体性。