In the Western Capital
[Chang’an], the Right Jiaofang is located in the Guangzhai Ward 光宅坊, and the Left Jiaofang
is located in the Yanzheng Ward 延政坊 [aka 长乐坊]. The Right Jiaofang mostly excels at singing, and
the Left Jiaofang mostly excels at dancing, so after a while this became a
tradition. In the Eastern Capital [Luoyang], the two Jiaofangs were both located in the Mingyi Ward 明義坊, and the Right one is to the south, the Left one to the north, or
east of the garden. Between the two [Jiaofangs] there is a body of water about
one qing or so (approximately 6.7
hectares), nicknamed Moon Pond. Its shape resembles a crescent moon, thus it is
named so.
Entertainer girls who are enrolled in the Yichun House 宜春院 are called “Inner Ladies” 內人, also known as “Front-row Ladies” 前頭人 because they often
perform right in front of the Emperor. Their families are also in the Jiaofang,
called “Inner Ladies Households” 內人家 and are given rice all year round. Of those who
received the Emperor’s favor, they are called the “Ten Households” 十家. They received housing, and their
bestowals are no different [from others]. In the beginning, there were ten
households who were particularly favored by the Emperor. Those who followed
after were decreed official titles, and their bestowal was the same as the
[original] “Ten Households.” Even though they numbered over ten but are still
called “Ten Households.” On the second and the sixteenth of every month, the
mothers of the Inner Ladies get to see their daughters. Those who do not have
mothers get to see one of their sisters or aunts. The Ten Households stay in
their own residences, while the rest of the Inner Ladies sit side by side in
the Inner Jiaofang to see [their families]. On their birthdays, the Inner
Ladies are allowed to see their mothers, aunts, and sisters, and the way they
are received is as stated before.
When [the girls] leave the pavilion to put on a
performance, if the Yichun House is understaffed, then they will add [girls]
from Yunshao House 雲韶. [Girls] from Yunshao are called “Palace Ladies” 宮人, and were entertainers of a lower status. Not only do they differ in their physical appearance,
but the jade pendants that they wear are also conspicuous and easily
discernible. Inner Ladies wear fish-shaped pendants, and Palace Ladies do not.
Daughters from common families are selected based on beauty and taken into the
inner palace, and taught how to play the pipa,
the sanxian [three-stringed lute],
konghou-harp, zheng, etc. They are called “Plucking Lutists” 搊彈家.
In the eleventh year of Kaiyuan [723], [the Emperor]
first composed “Divine Longevity Music” 聖壽樂. The various ladies were asked to dress in
colored robes of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, and danced to it with singing. The
ladies from Yichun House were capable of dancing in court after only one day of
instruction, but the Plucking Lutists still could not after a full month. By
the day of the performance, the Emperor himself encouraged them in person: “Play
well and do not embarrass me [the Third Son].” [He] put the ladies from Yichun
House at the beginning and end of the [dance line], the Plucking Lutists in the
middle of the line, and made them learn how to raise their arms [for the dance].
In the Yichun House too there were better and worse dancers; the good dancers
were picked to be at the head and tail of the dance line. The head dancers lead
in the line, and all eyes are on them, thus they must be skilled dancers. When
the music is about to end, about twenty dancers or so will slightly fall behind
[the music]. When the music ends, the coda is called “Closing Off” 合殺, and it is
especially swift, hence [the end of the line] in particular needs skilled dancers.
For the “Divine Longevity Music” dance, on each dancer’s
lapel is a big patch of embroidery, in the original color of the lapel. Then make
a robe of pure white silk, the end just reaching the [lower] sash. [The robe]
will cover them up like a short frock, and the embroidery will be concealed. When
the dancers first come out [on stage], then followed by musicians, all dancing
in white silk robes. In the second refrain, [the dancers] meet up in the middle
of the stage, amidst the crowd [the dancers] immediately pull off the covering
frock overhead and hide it in their bosoms. The audience suddenly sees the
girls glistening in beautiful embroidery, and everyone will be awed.
Whenever [the
dancers] are about to put on a performance, the person in charge first proposes
the names of the tunes. The ones that receive the Emperor’s marking with ink
get performed. The ones not marked are not performed. This is called “Proposal
Marking” 進點. On the day of the performance, the Inner Ladies will come out to
dance. The [rest of the] Jiaofang Ladies only get to dance “Yinzhou” 伊州 and “Five Days” 五天 over and
over again. Their repertoire does not extend beyond these two songs, and the
rest are danced by Inner Ladies. “Drooping Arms Gauze” 垂手羅, “Returning Waves
Music” 回波樂,“King of Lanling” 蘭陵王, “Warbling of the Spring Oriels” 春鶯囀, “Ban Shequ” 半社渠,“Borrowing the Mat” 借席, “Crow Crying at Night” 烏夜啼 and the like, are called “Soft Dances” 軟舞. “A-Liao” 阿遼, “Tuozhi” 柘枝, “Yellow Musk Deer” 黃麞, “Swaying Forest” 拂林, “Daweizhou” 大渭州, “Dharma Song” 達摩支 and the like are called “Swift Dances” 健舞. If drums are played atop
the boxcar, then it is either “Tuozhi” or “A-Liao.”
