Collected Illustrations of the Three Powers

Human Affairs, Volume 9

The Records of Distinctive Dances states that the Son of Heaven The Emperor wears the ceremonial crown and holds the shield. This is because, in ancient times, the sovereign himself performed the Great Military dance original: "Dawu" (大武); a ritual dance commemorating the military victory of King Wu of Zhou, and thus he wore the crown while wielding the shield and the axe.

When the eight rows of dancers original: "ba yi" (八佾); a troupe of 64 dancers, a ritual honors reserved strictly for the Emperor perform the "Great Dance," they adopt the posture of striking and stabbing. In this case, the dancers hold shields and halberds. Why is this? It is because the ceremonial crown is not the appropriate attire for a scholar original: "xueshi" (學士); here referring to the rank of the performers, and a jade axe is not a suitable tool for the actual movements of striking and stabbing.

How, then, do the completions original: "cheng" (成); a completed sequence or movement within the ritual of the Civil and Military dances differ?

It is said that one, three, and five sum to nine, which is the number used by the Creative Heaven hexagram original: "Qian" (乾); this is the numerical value of the Three-Fold Heaven. Two and four sum to six, which is the number used by the Receptive Earth hexagram original: "Kun" (坤); this is the numerical value of the Two-Fold Earth.

The Civil Dance is Yang the active, celestial principle in nature; therefore, it is structured around the "Three-Fold Heaven" (nine sections). The Military Dance is Yin the receptive, terrestrial principle in nature; its rhythm is structured around the "Two-Fold Earth" (six sections). This is a natural correspondence of cosmic symbols.

It is asked: The Elegant Music of Shun original: "Xiaoshao" (簫韶); the quintessential "civil" ritual music of the legendary sage-king Shun has nine completions, while the Great Military dance has six completions, yet they are both also referred to as variations original: "bian" (變). Why is this so?

The answer is: In the context of musical notes, they are called "variations"; in the context of the ritual dance, they are called "completions." In reality, they are the same thing.

We now provide a General Diagram of the Dance Positions original: "wu biao" (舞表) to show the overall arrangement. The six rows for the combined Civil and Military dances are attached following this.