(East-West Question) Ren Yingfei: Why was the ice play, which was designated as a "national custom" by Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty's "response" to the impact of Western culture?

  China News Agency, Beijing, February 10th: Why is the ice play, which was designated as "national custom" by Qianlong, the "response" of the Qing Dynasty to the impact of Western culture?

  The author is Ren Yingfei, an associate researcher at the National Library of Ancient Books

  In the cold winter, no matter in ancient times or now, there are always a group of people who are unwilling to be lonely, walk out of the house and run to the ice rink.

This can not help but reminiscent of the most famous ice games in the Qing Dynasty - the Ice Fun Festival.

In recent years, Bingxi has become well-known to the public, more because of a scene in the popular TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan" in which Anling Rongbing dances on the ice.

In fact, the term "ice play" first appeared in the Qianlong period, and the literature refers to a number of ice sports unique to the Qing court as ice play.

  Ice play, also known as ice play and ice skills, refers to the traditional ice sports form that sprung up in the winter production and life practice of ancient northern Chinese peoples and formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

In the tenth year of Qianlong (1745), Bingxi was designated as a "national custom" by Qianlong, and a system of viewing Bingxi was formed every year.

Later, the term "ice play" was widely accepted by the court and the people, and gradually became the general term for ice sports in northern China.

From festive entertainment to court ceremonies

  As early as the reign of Nurhaci, an ice activity called "running ice show" was popular in the court of the Later Jin Dynasty.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year in the tenth year of destiny (1625), Nurhaci once held an "ice running show" on the banks of the Prince River outside Tokyo, Liaoyang, including two events: "playing football" and "running on ice".

All the aristocrats of all ethnic groups and their relatives, whether male or female, in the Houjin court can participate.

All participants will be rewarded at the end, regardless of whether they win or lose.

After the event, all the staff also held a palace banquet on the ice.

  Hou Jin's "running ice show" has obvious court entertainment properties.

On the eighth and fifteenth day of the first month of the seventh year of Chongde (1642), Nurhaci's successor, Huang Taiji, also held a "cuju show" on the ice surface of the Hunhe River in Shengjing.

The event was recorded by the North Korean embassy in China at that time. Prince Zhaoxian and Prince Fenglin of North Korea watched along with officials of the Qing Dynasty. After the end, the participants held a feast in the house to celebrate the festival.

This "Cuju Show" held during the New Year is between the ice-running show during the Tianming period and the ice-playing ceremony during the Qianlong period. .

On January 12, 2020, at Pier 3 of Hunhe Olympic Park, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, the Shengjing Ice Festival and Shenyang International Ice Dragon Boat Finals were held.

Photo by Liu Baocheng issued by China News Agency

  After the Qing army entered the customs, the Qing Dynasty brought the "Cuju drama" to Beijing city.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Gao Shiqi, a close minister, recorded the process of playing balls on the ice in Taiye Pool in Xiyuan in "Notes on Retirement of Food in Jin Ao".

During the Qianlong period, the original ice activity was transformed by Emperor Qianlong, and gradually evolved into an ice festival with the nature of a national ceremony and music celebration.

The ice-playing ceremony continued to the Jia and Dao dynasties and was interrupted during the Daoguang period.

During the Guangxu period, the Royal Ice Fun Festival reappeared briefly.

The performances of the Ice Fun Festival

  During the Qianlong period, the ice play festival can be divided into at least three items: rushing, catching the ball and turning the dragon to shoot the ball.

The "Ice Playing" in the Palace Museum's collection vividly depicts the scenes of people playing these three sports at that time.

On October 3, 2021, at the National Day Garden Party at Badachu in Beijing, the replica exhibits of "Ice Playing Picture" attracted the attention of tourists.

Photo by Li Wenming issued by China News Agency

  Rush is the equivalent of speed skating today, where participants wear skates on their feet.

The flag erected on the ice is the starting point, and the throne where the emperor is watching is the end point.

After the firecrackers were fired, the athletes galloped and slid to the throne. The first to come was the winner.

  The snatch is the equivalent of ice football, with participants wearing spiked shoes.

Divided into two teams of red and yellow, each team has two groups, and each group of athletes is divided into main force and substitute.

Each group of ten main players, wearing red or yellow jackets, stood at the front of the team.

The ball-snatching event evolved from the Manchu traditional sports activity "kick the head", and it is also the oldest one in the Manchu ice sports.

  In order to increase the viewing value of the ice-playing ceremony, Emperor Qianlong transformed figure skating, combining traditional northern riding and shooting with the court hundred operas that have been popular for thousands of years, and created the "Zuanlong Shooting Ball" project.

Zhuanlong shooting first draws a dragon-like spiral on the ice. The performers are divided into eight flags. In the order of red, positive blue, and inlaid blue, they go out and slide in turn.

The gliding performance is divided into two forms, one is ice skating and archery.

Each flag is led by the flag bearer, followed by the archer.

Set up a gate near the emperor's ice bed.

The sky is hanging on the Jingmen, and the archers open their bows and shoot arrows at the moment of sliding through the Jingmen.

The other is figure skating, archery and Baixi skills.

In addition to the flag bearer and the archer, there are two performers for each flag.

These performers perform tricks such as playing Chinese flags, playing musical instruments, juggling weapons, and multi-person figure skating on the ice.

The presentation of juggling skills can be said to be the perfect fusion of the Manchu tradition of "good ice and snow" and the Han court's "hundred operas".

  In addition to the above-mentioned items, "Tang Tu Scenic Spots" also shows a kind of ice play activity similar to the combination of infantry and cavalry.

However, due to the lack of documentation, it is now impossible to know the way and details of the performance of this event.

Bingxi Festival is the result of Qianlong's reform of ritual system

  During the prosperous age of Kang and Qian, the factors that were hidden in the Qing Dynasty began to appear. Western culture, which was mediated by missionaries, had influenced the Qing Dynasty, and faced the collision of Eastern and Western cultures and the degradation of Manchu ancestors' customs.

The impact of Western culture prompted the Qing Dynasty to begin to reflect on the cultural identity of the dynastic state, trying to find cultural resources in the tradition, and to re-establish the connotation and extension of the "self-identity" of the dynastic state.

  In this context, in the tenth year of Qianlong’s reign, Bingxi was designated as a “national custom”, and the hundreds of court operas and traditional dramas that have been circulating for thousands of years were introduced into Bingxi, and the old custom of riding and shooting was added, making Bingxi an important celebration in the Qing Dynasty. .

Emperor Qianlong's transformation of Bingxi expressed the profound intention of the Qing Dynasty to inherit traditional culture and maintain unique old customs, and a new national exhibition was established.

Since then, Bingxi has changed from a traditional ice entertainment project to a national celebration that transcends ethnicity, region, time and space.

On January 20, 2016, during the Great Cold solar term, performers dressed in the costumes of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty staged a royal "ice play" in Beihai Park, Beijing.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita

  At the same time, Qianlong also wrote the Bingxi Festival into the history books of Dianzhi.

The traditional ritual system is divided into five rituals: auspicious, evil, guest, military and Jia.

  In the ceremony, Bingxi belongs to the "military ceremony", which is an extension of the "ceremony of the grand reading", which carries the functions of the ceremony similar to the grand reading.

In the music ceremonies, ice play and fire play, walking horse tricks, etc. are side by side, both belong to "san music", and its function is "the reception of the national banquet", which is a performance activity of the national banquet, reflecting the role of ice play in the "guest ceremony" positioning in .

  Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, "ritual" and "music" have established China's ideological and cultural system for more than two thousand years.

"Book of Rites" Kong Ying Dashu said: "The master of music is harmonious, and the near and far are in harmony; the master of ritual is respectful, and the noble and the lowly are ordered." Ritual represents difference and order, and music represents harmony under order.

Bingxi appeared at the same time in "ceremony" and "music", indicating that in the ritual system of Qing Dynasty, Bingxi not only represented a specific hierarchical order, but also represented the harmony and tolerance between orders.

  As a performance item during the national banquet, Bingxi is first of all to activate the atmosphere of the banquet and provide entertainment for the emperors, princes, ministers, and foreign envoys who participated in the banquet.

The more profound significance is that these performances represent the image of the country: in the "military ceremony", it has the meaning of "reviewing military affairs and raising the country's prestige"; come” concept.

Therefore, the Ice Fun Festival will fully display the state ceremony that not only emphasizes order but also promotes harmony.

The Ice Fun Festival was the Qing Dynasty's response to the shock of Western culture

  In the early Qing Dynasty, the "view of the world" that had been popular in China for more than 2,000 years began to face the challenges of the Western world.

The conflict brought about by cultural differences between the East and the West was directly reflected for the first time on the issue of the border demarcation between China and Russia during the Kangxi period.

In the traditional Eastern political culture, "the world", "dynasties" and "the people" are concepts that are deeply rooted in the bone marrow, which is both interrelated and conflicting with the concepts of "territory", "country" and "nation" in Western political culture. relation.

The rulers of the Qing Dynasty began to reflect on how to find resources in traditional culture, not only to ensure that the traditional view of the world would continue to become the mainstream, but also to allow foreign countries to accept such a "state" to the greatest extent.

Constantly transforming the ritual and music system of the dynastic state, toward the direction of strengthening the core and expanding the extension, may be an effective way to resolve the conflict between the East and the West.

In January 2004, a dress rehearsal was held in front of the Temple of Prayer for the New Year at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Sheng Jiapeng

  After the Qing army entered the customs, the production and life, social organization and Confucian culture of the Han region were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

At the same time, the degradation of the old customs of the Eight Banners and the penetration of Western culture made the Qing Dynasty feel potential threats and unease.

During the Qianlong period, establishing a cultural system with new connotations and revitalizing the country's image was a problem that Emperor Qianlong had to solve.

  Solving new problems requires finding a basis in traditional culture.

The Ice Fun Festival combines the old customs that were popular outside the customs with the rituals of traditional dynasties to form a celebration that represents the image of the Qing Dynasty. It not only holds regular ice fun activities, but also incorporates the items of the Ice Fun Festival into the celebration feasts and New Year's Hajj and other ceremonies. in the project.

In this way, whether it is the Eight Banners or other ethnic groups, or even vassal states, they can all find a sense of belonging in the ceremony.

The Qing Dynasty continued to add new factors to the ritual system, so that "living people" had more and more "self-identification" of culture while accepting national celebrations.

  The emergence and development of the Ice Fun Festival is related to the transformation of cultural identity in the Qing Dynasty.

Especially in the late Qianlong period, in the face of the strong influence of Western culture, the Bingxi Festival, as a ritual activity with distinctive dynastic characteristics, became a kind of "response" to Western culture in the Qing Dynasty.

But this "response" was not passively produced due to the impact of Western culture, on the contrary, it always followed the evolutionary law of the internal system of the dynasty.

With the general recognition of Confucian culture and the post-transformation ritual system in the Qing Dynasty, the "living people" within the territory of the Qing Dynasty formed a relatively stable group of people with common psychological qualities.

At the same time, the traditional culture of self-identification is still adding new content in the continuous integration.

(Finish)

Interviewee Profile:

  Ren Yingfei, associate research librarian of the National Library of Ancient Books, Ph.D. in History, Minzu University of China.

His main research fields are the history of Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chinese traditional ice and snow culture, ancient Chinese maps, etc. He is engaged in the special collation and research of Chinese traditional ice and snow culture and Chinese maps.

He is the author of "The Origin of Ice Play" and "Impression of Jinghua: Beijing City in Maps of the Ming and Qing Dynasties".