First, Taiwan Province scholar Yu Guofang's History of China Dance, Sheng Da Bookstore 1979. From primitive times to Qing dynasty, the book collected a large number of documents and materials, and made textual research according to Chinese historical dynasties in the form of pictures and texts. For ancient dance, the author thinks it has a lot to do with the way of working and social life. For example, "hunting dance" is the product of hunting life, and "the ancient dry dance in China also evolved from the war dance of primitive tribes". The author concludes: "Because of the competition for survival, war dances appeared among primitive tribes. Swearing to the gods before the war, thanking the gods after the victory, praying for a happy life and a bumper harvest, or expelling the devil are the main consciousness in primitive life and the main force for the development of primitive dance. In addition, there are medical dances to save lives, curse dances or magic dances, all of which are religious. For another example, for the natural continuation of human life, the love dance between men and women of the opposite sex is also going on in different dance ways. This kind of dance is the origin of later entertainment dance, party dance between rural areas and ballroom dance. " Regarding the Zhou Dynasty, the author thinks: "The system of rites and music began in Yao and Shun and flourished in the Zhou Dynasty. In ancient times, national sacrificial ceremonies and folk clan ceremonies were conducted in the form of dances. In addition to etiquette, it is also used for national education. " As for the dances in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the author thinks: "Classical dances gradually declined, while folk customs and national dances with local color styles in various countries flourished. It was also improved by the arrangement of musicians at that time and became a new hedonic dance. This new music and dance centered on female dance was the joy of Zheng and Wei at that time, and it was also the development period of artistic dance. " Regarding the dances of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, the author thinks: "Han Yuefu is an era of synthesis and creation, a synthesis of China's northern and southern music and dances, and a synthesis of Chinese and foreign national dances." At the same time, it is pointed out: "The integration of dance and music has created a new realm of unity, which has also made dance gradually flourish." As for the dances in the Tang Dynasty, the author's conclusion is: "China's dances, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, flowed into the palace, and in the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, dances from all over China and foreign countries flowed into the Central Plains in the past 300 years, and gradually merged into the main system of Asian dances in the Tang Dynasty through absorption, integration and assimilation. The formation of this mainstream dance system is actually attributed to the "pear garden" established by Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. After the Tang Dynasty, dance gradually merged into traditional Chinese opera, which is proof. Because in the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the dance of rites and music, the rest of the dances gradually focused on the content and skills of performing dances, and then gradually merged with opera. " As for the dance in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the author thinks: "Dance has already existed in the Daqu of the Song Dynasty. It is in the form of' Ci' and enriched the content of dance in the process of transformation. Yuanqu' was a poem at that time, and the opera was a song and dance drama of that era, showing the story of life's joys and sorrows. " In the Yuan Dynasty, "with the rise of cities and the increase of markets and amusement places, this kind of dance drama in the form of dance, music and singing was of course accepted by the public". The author also introduces the process of the Ming and Qing Dynasties' dance blending into "Kunqu Opera" and "Traditional Opera". The book is not complicated in theory, but it is rich in historical materials, and has a systematic arrangement and excavation in ancient literature and Wu Le.

The second monograph with the nature of "general history" is Wang Kefen's "History of Ancient Dance in China". With popular brushstrokes, the author clearly outlines the development of China dance art in the order of dynasties. The author lists the "female music" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and holds that: "During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the royal nobles used" female music "as a tool for enjoyment. In the process of competing for hegemony,' female music' became a gift they gave each other or a victim of political struggle. " And further pointed out: "Because of the enjoyment needs of the ruling class, they (dancers) have obtained some conditions to improve their dance skills. It is the creation of a large number of professional song and dance artists that has promoted the development of ancient dance in China to a certain extent. " The author thinks: "The unique female music in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period accumulated and paved the way for the formation of female music in the Han Dynasty;" The great exchange of music and dance among all ethnic groups during the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties supported and promoted the prosperity of dance in the Tang Dynasty. " The author points out: "The Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties are a turbulent era, and at the same time, it is also an era of gradual integration of all ethnic groups. Various music and dance arts communicate, influence and absorb each other. The spread of these folk music and dances with different styles in the Central Plains greatly enriched the dance art in China and prepared the conditions for the high development of dance in the Tang Dynasty. "The author thinks that the Tang Dynasty is the' golden age' for the development of dance art in China, and comments on the famous music and dances in the Tang Dynasty, such as nine-part, ten-part, left-part geisha, inner-part geisha, sword dance and soft dance, song-and-dance Daqu, folk song-and-dance drama, etc. The author pointed out: "In a large number of music and dances in the Tang Dynasty, most of them showed certain styles and simple emotions. In addition, there are some musical dramas that combine songs, dances and dramas to show certain characters and plots. The author introduced three famous musical dramas, Da Mian, Tiaotou and Tiaotaoniang, and pointed out that these are the embryonic forms of "post-drama". The author emphatically points out: "In the development of dance in the Tang Dynasty, there is still a noteworthy problem: the Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous era of ancient musical dance. The feudal ruling class sometimes used folk dances of all ethnic groups intact, sometimes injected them with the political content they needed, still maintained their original artistic form, and sometimes greatly reformed their content and form to meet their political and entertainment needs. As for the dance in the Song Dynasty, the author thinks: "During the Song Dynasty, due to the development of agriculture, handicrafts, commerce and foreign trade, many large cities with large population and developed transportation appeared. With the development of urban economy and the prevalence of guild system, folk dance and other performing arts have made great progress. "The author gives a detailed description of the dance orders that often appear in Goulan and Wasi in the Song Dynasty, such as dancing spin, dancing Fan Yue, playing with big heads, flower drums, dancing knives, dancing knives, dancing people's cards, dancing judgments and flag-turning. Based on a large number of historical materials, this paper makes textual research on the dance performances of the huge amateur dance group "Dance Team" in the Song Dynasty, such as butterfly, Tatar dance, boat running, bamboo horse, Bao Lao, Shi Zhailang and village Dengaku, and emphatically points out: "People in the Song Dynasty. In addition, when talking about "Song Dynasty inherited the Song Dynasty's song and dance, and developed and changed, which was not only a simple dance performance, but also a paragraph in which characters' stories were described or performed in the dance", the author pointed out: "Song Dynasty's song and dance is no longer a simple dance performance, but contains elements of singing or performing stories, and the art of traditional Chinese opera is gradually formed in this development process. Talking about dances in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the author thinks: "Due to the extreme sharpening of class contradictions and ethnic contradictions, people are urged to seek art forms that can directly express people's painful life and rebellious spirit. It is difficult to achieve this requirement simply by singing and dancing. " "Simple dance art rarely exists as an independent performing art, except for some that are still circulated among the people. "

Chang wrote the monograph "Dance History of China" on 1998. This book is characterized by its style, and its front and back are close to the special history of dance, such as Nuo, foot flute, yangko and ancient painting lamp. The middle part is still sorted by dynasty, but in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, specific dance sequences were listed and introduced in detail, such as Huteng, Zhezhi, Nishang Feather and so on. Its essence is as follows: (1) value the people and despise the DPRK. The author himself said: "The narrative in this short book focuses on the development of folk dance art. If it can be verified according to the facts and the source is indeed entrusted, that is what I hope to achieve. As for the suburban banquet created by the imperial court, it was only for the feudal rulers to sing praises and show off their strength, and it was not recorded. " (2) Based on the spirit of "impertinent pursuit of various fields", the author thinks: "Jiao Fangji contains more than 300 songs of the Tang Dynasty, some of which only have names and cannot be verified, and some of which can be tested but the dance music has been lost; At that time, it was mostly from the people, and it is still possible to spread to the people now; If we can study in many ways and regain our lonely mood, it will be of great benefit to the study of dance history. " (3) In view of the practice of corroborating historical issues with foreign materials, the author thinks: "As for Tang Wu's introduction to Japan and Song Dance's introduction to Korea, although there are ancient books for reference in this country, they are different from the original dances in Tang and Song Dynasties; In the Middle Ages of China, various dances from Central Asia were absorbed, melted or remade by the nation and became part of the national dance. China's ancient music and dance spread in Japan and South Korea may have a similar situation. In the cultural exchange, we have close friendship with each other, which is enough to commemorate. If it is used as an empirical study, it is still doubtful to talk about China ancient dance, so I hesitate to do more. " (4) About the rise and fall of ancient dance art in China, there are "the theory of flourishing Tang Dynasty" and "the theory of flourishing Han Dynasty". Chang's view is quite different: "China's feudal dance art reached a high level in the prosperous Tang Dynasty." "Since the Song Dynasty, it has gradually declined, which is caused by the wind. Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, urban dance has gradually become a sigh of' decline', but folk dance, like old trees and old flowers, opened in Shan Ye in the Middle Ages and has been open until today. "

From 65438 to 0989, Wang Kefen wrote the history of dance development in China. (1) The author clearly pointed out: "If the Tang Dynasty was the peak of the development of China's ancient representative dance, the Song Dynasty was an era when the folk dance enjoyed by the masses flourished." (2) In the fourth quarter of the third chapter of the book, there is an article devoted to the music and dance theories of Confucianism and Mohism. The author pointed out: "The music and dance theories produced in the academic atmosphere of' a hundred schools of thought contend' have influenced for more than two thousand years, and some of them still have quite important reference value today." (3) Dance in Song Dynasty. The author pointed out: "Since the Song Dynasty, the mainstream of dance activities has gradually turned to the people and merged into the long river of the development of traditional Chinese opera." (4) Regarding the dance in the Han Dynasty, the author wrote: "The Han Dynasty is an era of great development and prosperity of culture and art (including dance art). It is manifested in: the general prosperity of dance activities, the great improvement of performing arts such as music and dance, the emergence of some famous dancers, the introduction of acrobatic illusion of western music and dance and frontier minority dance, the important role of Yuefu in gathering folk music and dance, and so on. " Regarding the dance in the Tang Dynasty, the author further confirms that "as an independent performing art form, the dance in the Tang Dynasty is the peak of the development of ancient dance art in China."

The Outline of China Ancient Dance History edited by Song Peng and Yu Ping has the following characteristics: (1) This book has important academic research value in primitive dance and its occurrence. (2) The style is close to the "theme" clue. For example, women's music of past dynasties is listed in one chapter, court dances of past dynasties are listed in one chapter, music and dance institutions of past dynasties are listed in one chapter, and all religious dances are listed in one chapter. Readers can shake the leaves according to the branches, systematically grasp the overall context of a certain type of dance, and it is easier to get a clearer stage understanding. (3) There are often general explanations in big chapters, or some subjective opinions of the author in historical research. For example, at the end of the chapter "Palace Dance", the author put forward some personal views on "Cultural Reflection on Palace Dances of Past Dynasties": ① "In some ideological contents, the palace dances of past dynasties have the same internal connection ... which all reflect the immortal thought to varying degrees. This phenomenon of different times and keen on the same content fully illustrates the restrictive effect of social cultural-psychological structure on dance art "②" The political situation of the times and various social factors determine the content and form of court dance in various historical periods. " (3) "Palace dance, as a spiritual commodity enjoyed by the ruling class in past dynasties, has always had dual functions. First, it has been used as a political and religious tool; The other is as a function of enjoying entertainment. " (4) "On the one hand, court dance affects the direction of dance development; On the other hand, court dance has to be influenced and restricted by unorthodox dances (such as folk dances) from time to time. It is in this contradictory state that court dance occurs, develops, changes and grows. " For another example, in the relevant chapter of Song Dynasty Folk Dance, the author pointed out: "To sum up, Song Dynasty folk dance inherited Han and Tang Dynasties, enlightened the Qing Dynasty and was directly contemporary. Its contribution, position and function are so important that it is enormous. However, from the above-mentioned dance activities in the Song Dynasty, we can also notice two problems worth thinking about: first, the relationship between dance and drama; The first is the relationship between dance and ballet. In other words, China's dance, whether it is a palace or a folk dance art activity, has developed to a qualitative stage in the Song Dynasty: that is, from expressing high-level emotional dance and ordinary level plot dance to developing into a dance drama with complete structure. Unfortunately, the development of China national dance did not follow this general artistic development process, but went astray in an unusual way. The so-called' going astray' here refers to two trends: First, the rise and prosperity of China's traditional opera art makes dance absorbed, assimilated or alienated by it. For example, many dance dramas in the Song Dynasty, such as Avoid Heavy Hair, Liu Shuai, Qiao Jiao, Xiang Qiao Sheng, Ma Ming Wang and Liu Qing Niang, were absorbed by Song Zaju and Jin. Many folk dance music, such as "Acura", "Man Sorting" and "Joe Catching Snakes", were also adopted by the zaju and the original elements at that time. What is particularly puzzling is that once the above-mentioned dance works are adopted by traditional Chinese opera, they will never be handed down, and the so-called' dance segments' and' dance music' left in the traditional Chinese opera repertoire can only provide us with some specious or unrecognizable fakes at most. Secondly, Chinese folk dance has changed more or less since it lost the opportunity to develop into a dance drama art in the Song Dynasty. But from the perspective of hierarchy and level, it is basically intact and stagnant. From the above phenomenon, we can get three inspirations: First, the rise and fall of various artistic activities in China is closely related to the aesthetic and entertainment views of the supreme ruler of China. The king of Chu had a thin waist and starved to death in the palace; The king of Qin loves swordsmen, and all the people are hurt. " Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty liked Ci Fu, and Sima Xiangru was very famous in China. Tang Xuanzong loved music and dance, and "clothes and feathers" spread all over the world. The relationship between the prosperity of literature and art in Han and Tang dynasties and the likes and dislikes of lonely people at that time is extremely obvious and direct. In the Song Dynasty, the country's situation declined day by day, and internal and external troubles continued. The style of looking down on the sea and being overbearing in China countries such as Han and Tang Dynasties has long gone, and correspondingly, the form of large-scale art activities has shrunk or even died out. The large-scale palace music and dance performances that prevailed in the Han and Tang dynasties have become a thing of the past, and they have been replaced by miniature opera art suitable for indoor appreciation. The art cost of Chinese opera is low, and it is suitable for fine carving, which is very suitable for the emperor and his idlers in a peaceful corner. It is also very important that the stylization of traditional Chinese opera art is quite serious. Generally speaking, in traditional Chinese opera, you can't feel the passionate, enthusiastic, energetic and positive artistic atmosphere in dance art. The relatively quiet, euphemistic and artificial style in traditional Chinese opera is very appealing to those increasingly corrupt feudal officials. From the appreciation of zaju by rulers in Jin and Yuan Dynasties and the preference of rulers in Qing Dynasty for Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera, it is not difficult to see that the supreme ruler plays an important role in the development and evolution of an art form and category. Secondly, Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism, which was dominant in the Song Dynasty, seriously restricted China people's national self-confidence and creativity, and even stifled the development of the most important human personality factor. Passionate nationalism and artistic style have been distorted and stifled, and Ah Q nationalism, which Mr. Lu Xun hates, is on the rise. How does our national dance drama stand out in this social environment and social psychological structure? Who can give the national dance drama, a restless fetus in the mother's womb, due sponsorship and support? Thirdly, in addition to the first two factors, the limited commodity economy in Song Dynasty is also an important reason why urban culture is difficult to rise to a higher level. The commercial and trade activities in Song Dynasty were abnormal. On the one hand, the monopoly control of officials and businessmen has led to the strange phenomenon of developed commerce and stagnant commodity economy; On the one hand, a large number of small businessmen can not develop themselves under the merger of bureaucratic commerce, and there is a strange phenomenon that business is developed but commercial capital cannot be formed. Corresponding to the abnormal economic structure is the abnormal cultural phenomenon. That is the sad social and cultural environment of' strong women in business do not know the hatred of national subjugation, but they still sing flowers across the river'. Lack of social soil suitable for the formation of national dance drama, lack of new audiences with higher appreciation interest, and dissatisfaction with the new class of general sketch performance will also lose a' marketable' driving force from social and cultural needs, which is the third important reason why the Song Dynasty dance failed to achieve the goal of dance drama. Due to the comprehensive effect of the above-mentioned ideology, economic life, artistic laws and other factors, the China national dance drama, which should have formally entered the stage in the Song Dynasty, died. On the one hand, she found her home among the local people and began to struggle and wait for her true colors; On the one hand, she married someone else and gradually became invisible and even lost in the performing arts of traditional Chinese opera. "