What is the uniqueness and flexibility of Dunhuang Nuo in Nuo culture?

Nuo is a ritual activity, whose main function is to drive away ghosts and epidemics. This kind of ceremony has appeared in the early stage of human civilization and can be seen everywhere in primitive religious sacrificial activities. Later, Nuo was brought into the scope of the imperial etiquette system, and with a fixed form and norms, all local Nuo activities should be observed. Dunhuang Nuo, because of its special geographical location, is flexible in combination with local characteristics without changing the core content of the imperial Nuo.

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1. Nuo culture has a long history in China, and each period has its own historical features at that time. Influenced by many factors, it has evolved into ancient Nuo and modern Nuo. Nuo instrument is not formed at the beginning, and it is more casual; In Shang dynasty, Nuo began to enter the traditional ritual system; From the pre-Qin period to the Qin dynasty, Nuo instruments gradually took shape; In Han Dynasty, Nuo ceremony became a fixed and standardized ceremony, which must be strictly observed when holding Nuo ceremony, laying a foundation for ancient Nuo ceremony. At this time, the status of Nuo has become very important.

The Tang Dynasty was the peak of the development of Nuo system, and then it gradually declined, showing the phenomenon of prosperity and decline. Because Nuo culture is composed of two parts: "ceremony" and "drama", these two parts are a trade-off, that is to say, if one part is prosperous, the other part is relatively diluted. The development of Nuo culture is a long-term game between ceremony and drama. The ritual procedure of Nuo ceremony in Tang Dynasty was the most complete. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, "ceremony" became unimportant and "drama" became more and more important.

Folk Nuo dance

Before the Northern Song Dynasty, Nuo culture belonged to the court, but after the Song Dynasty moved to the south, Nuo culture moved from the north to the south, which was rich and colorful, making Nuo culture move from the court to the people, thus making it more free. However, due to the lack of government support, Nuo culture no longer exists. Nuo in the Southern Song Dynasty is a symbol of Nuo today. Under the influence of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Nuo culture produced the Nuo opera that we are familiar with today.

Second, the characteristics of Dunhuang Nuo 1, unearthed cultural relics to see Nuo culture

Dunhuang Nuo is a special kind, but the early information is incomplete, so people can't grasp the face of Dunhuang Nuo. Nuo culture at that time can only be traced back to some tomb cultural relics unearthed in Dunhuang today. In Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty, there were not many unearthed cultural relics, only a few pieces. The red pottery masks unearthed in the Sui Dynasty, one looks like a tiger and the other like a pig's nose. These two things are full of murderous look, because their main function is to exorcise ghosts, so they look ferocious. The mask glows round and wide, showing awe of ghosts, just like Fang's "golden four eyes" in Nuo, which means that the four eyes can see wider and farther, which can make ghosts have nowhere to hide.

These two groups of shapes conform to the cognition of the ancients. The ancients thought that the tiger was a yang beast, and its yang was very heavy, so it could stop yin and subdue ghosts. The tiger is also a powerful beast, and people believe that it can devour ghosts. In addition, some tomb animals have been unearthed. The images of these tomb animals are all human heads or animal heads, which means that ghosts in tombs can be suppressed. From these ghosts and animals related to Nuo, we can learn some thoughts and cultures related to Nuo at that time.

Great Nuo Map of Southern Song Dynasty 1

2. Development and changes of Dunhuang Nuo.

Among the Nuo culture in the Middle Ages, Dunhuang Nuo culture is unique. However, in the period of Guiyijun, that is, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, although Nuo activities were created by the people at this time, they still belonged to the category of court etiquette system, and they followed relevant ceremonies and procedures, which were not much different from Nuo ceremonies recorded in the Book of Tang Dynasty. This was a very important period in Dunhuang. Later, after the Tangut regime in Xixia and the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became less and less original. In the fifth year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, Dunhuang was incorporated into the territory of Ming Empire. However, due to its remote and backward location, Dunhuang became a customs clearance in the third year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, making it even more desolate.

Originally, Dunhuang was a place where countries in the western regions met. However, due to the abandonment, Dunhuang's economy and culture did not develop greatly at that time, and it fell behind a lot compared with the Central Plains, becoming an obscure and remote town. Although during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the government implemented a large-scale immigration policy to Dunhuang, but this immigration also impacted the original appearance of Dunhuang Nuo culture. Later, Dunhuang Nuo culture was the synthesis of Nuo culture in northwest China, which was not inherited from Tang and Song Dynasties, but had substantial changes.