| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Japanese court music (gagaku) was imported from China from the seventh to ninth centuries and has been performed continuously until today. In this music the original form of Tang music, which did not survive in China, is thought to be largely preserved.
We investigated all kinds of materials on Japanese court music -- on costumes, masques, dances, scores, tales and so on -- and contrasted them with the descriptions in Sui and Tang dynasty documents. Our studies resulted in four papers published in 1998, and 1999. In these papers we attempted to find solutions to questions on matters such as the interpretation of symbols used on the Tang music scores and the Dunhuang choreografic scores. Besides we planned to publish a book titled "Japanese Court Music and Sui-Tang Music : Background of the Lylics of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties" both in Japan and China. As of February 1999, the first draft was completed.
In autumn in 1998, we discovered that Dr. Picken who belonged to Cambridge University, had been researching Japanese court music for decades and had published many books. After preliminary investigation, we realized there was a very poor selection of his work in the university libraries in Japan, and the results of his research have been almost totally ignored in the academic world in Japan. In summer in 1999, Tokura visited Cambridge and studied Dr. Picken's works. Currently we are reviewing the works by Dr. Picken and his group that Tokura obtained in Cambridge. Our draft is under consideration for final publication.
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