The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Yayue tradition · prehistoric–

Sui–Tang court administration keeps yayue as Confucian ritual and stages yanyue as banquet entertainment in the same palace system.

Influence

Yanyue

tradition · 7th century–10th century

Also called yan yue, Tang banquet music, banquet music

Tang court banquet and entertainment music (yanyue): suite pieces, mixed Central Asian and Chinese court bands, not Zhou sacrificial Yayue. Empty extra Received is checked: do not hang Yayue; the Central Asian banquet mix is not a catch-all node. The hop into Japanese Gagaku is the tōgaku wing. The hop into Korean Dangak is the Goryeo entertainment wing. Empty extra Given is historically checked.

Listen

  1. Nishang yuyi Tang court banquet tradition (8th century) YouTube
  2. Qin wang po zhen yue Tang court banquet tradition (7th century) YouTube
  3. Togaku repertory (Tang-derived pieces) Japanese court transmission (8th–9th century)

Passed on

Dangak tradition · 7th century–19th century

Dangak takes Tang yanyue’s banquet suite and mixed court band and recodes them as a Korean entertainment wing.

Influence
Gagaku tradition · 8th century–

Gagaku’s tōgaku wing keeps Tang yanyue suite pieces and banquet-band craft and turns them into a Japanese palace school.

Influence

Yayue → Yanyue

function and contextform and structureinstrumentationstrength: mediumscholarly consensus581–907patronagepedagogynotation

Mechanism

Sui–Tang court administration keeps yayue as Confucian ritual and stages yanyue as banquet entertainment in the same palace system. Tang sources note popular and foreign material entering court music; yanyue is the sounding entertainment recoding of that court. Strength medium. Not parentage of repertory piece-for-piece: ritual hymn and banquet suite remain different jobs.

Evidence

Grove on Tang reservation of yayue for sacrifice and yanyue as the dominant banquet form; yuebu as the bureaucratic carrier; later Japanese tōgaku taking the banquet wing (yanyue gagaku), Korean ritual taking the yayue wing (yayue aak).

Debate

Whether coexistence in one court is influence. The hop is institutional and functional recoding (ritual court music → banquet bureau), not a claim that banquet suites are rewritten yayue hymns. Do not reverse-parent gagaku from yayue; the Japanese sounding parent is yanyue.

Mediators

institution: Sui–Tang court music offices (yuebu)

Yanyue → Dangak

form and structureinstrumentationfunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus700–1200patronagepedagogynotation

Mechanism

Dangak takes Tang yanyue’s banquet suite and mixed court band and recodes them as a Korean entertainment wing. Strength high. yanyue gagaku is the Japanese tōgaku hop; this edge is the Korean court hop. Aak leftover as the sacrificial Song-yayue child, not this banquet wing.

Evidence

Goryeo–Joseon dangak pieces (Nagyangchun, Boheoja) as named Tang-derived repertory; Grove on dangak vs hyangak vs aak.

Debate

Whether Korean court music is all yayue. Sacrificial bronze-and-stone is aak’s; banquet Tang entertainment is dangak’s.

Mediators

institution: Goryeo court music office

Yanyue → Gagaku

form and structureinstrumentationperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus700–900patronagepedagogynotationmigration

Mechanism

Gagaku’s tōgaku wing keeps Tang yanyue suite pieces and banquet-band craft and turns them into a Japanese palace school. Strength high. Zhou Yayue is a different job and is not drawn.

Evidence

Nara–Heian offices gathering Tang pieces; Grove on tōgaku as banquet music, not sacrificial yayue.

Debate

Whether the shared graph 雅樂 already makes yayue the parent. The sounding repertory is banquet yanyue; the sacrificial school stays on yayue aak.

Mediators

institution: Nara–Heian court music offices