About Us
The Classic of Poetry as Chinese Poetry and Music: The Case of "Cooing and Wooing"
School of Chinese Scholar Seminar
The Classic of Poetry as Chinese Poetry and Music:
The Case of "Cooing and Wooing"
Abstract:
The Classic of Poetry (Shijing 詩經) is universally known as a masterpiece of world literature; less known is the fact that it is also a core source of Chinese music and music making. This presentation analyzes the verbal-musicality of Shijing lyrics and its sonic realizations by Chinese literati musicians with a case study of 'Cooing and Wooing (Guanju 關雎),' arguing that historical and contemporary readings and singing of Shijing lyrics demonstrate the Chinese tradition of yue 樂, a multimedia performance and negotiation of Chinese heart-minds.
About the Speaker:
Joseph S.C. Lam is Professor of Musicology at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at the University of Michigan. A musicologist and sinologist, Lam specializes in the music and cultures of Southern Song (1127-1279), Ming (1368-1644), and modern China (1900 to present). Lam’s recent publications include: “Zhang Dai’s (1597-1680) Musical Life in Late Ming China”, in Ming China edited by Kenneth Swope (New York: Routledge, 2019); and “Huaigu yinyue lilun yu shijian di yige chubu tian / A Proposal on Music of Reminiscence: Theory and Practice,” Yinyue yishu / Musical Art (2019/2). Lam’s latest monograph is Kunqu, A Classical Opera of Twenty-first Century China (Hong Kong University Press, 2022). Currently, Lam is working on a monograph tentatively entitled, “Confucius’s Songs: A Global Music History of Chinese Shiyue / Poetic Music.”
