In the ancient court of Japan they held
Toka Sechie _??__??__??__??_, one of the types of Imperial ceremony or feast celebrated on the sixteenth day of each new year. We know it as
Toka Sechie because the ceremony included the typical dance of
Toka _??__??_. It has been argued that it comes from the Chinese festival of
YuanXiaoGuanDeng _??__??__??__??_, but there is a serious time contradiction;
YuanXiaoGuanDeng were held in 713, whereas Japanese model of
Toka Sechie started between the end of the 7
th century and the very beginning of the 8
th century. So I suggest that
BaiXi _??__??_ (an acrobatic, music and dance festival that was held in an old Chinese city by
Yang _??_ (reigned 604-18), a great emperor of the
Sui ?? dynasty) is where the Japanese model of
Toka Sechie originated, based on some constructive comparisons between two imperial events from a political point of view. Moreover, I will analyze the political importance of musical and dancing performance in the Japanese ancient court mentioning not only other examples of Emperor
Yang's BaiXi but also the archery ceremony.
In chapter 1, I reveal two things about the construction of
Toka Sechie through analysis of official protocol and histories; firstly, the presence of embassies at the ceremony was highly important in order that they may perform there. Secondly, in the early days the dates and events were not fixed, the
Toka performance especially was not regulated until the middle of the 8
th century, so we cannot use the
Toka as evidence to determine the origin of
Toka Sechie.
In chapter 2, I study the Chinese side, basing this study on descriptions of the official history of
SuiShu ⌈_??__??_⌋, some literature and other types of records. I demonstrate inconclusively the existence of
Toka performances in this area by showing that some terms of “
Toka” performance appear besides those imperial events. On the other hand, I conclude that Emperor
Yang's BaiXi is the model of
Toka Sechie due to two commonalities with the Japanese Imperial ceremony; firstly, Emperor
Yang gave audience to those who came to LuoYang _??__??_
BaiXi to display his immense power and that of his vast
Sui empire, at which the embassies were obliged to be present. Secondly, we can see systematic and national arrangements for this festival.
To determine whether or not embassies performed in each court, I must take into consideration the significance of the difference between two Imperial archery ceremonies (
SheLi _??__??_ in China,
Sha _??_ in Japan) in chapter 3 as Japanese model of
Toka Sechie is closely related to the ceremony of
Sha. In Chinese
SheLi, foreigners never participated but were obliged to in Japanese
Sha, as was the case in Emperor
Yang's BaiXi and in
Toka Sechie and its Japanese model. Now we have a model on which to base a study on the political significance of the difference between these archery ceremonies in each country, and I suppose that its significance is also applicable to
Toka Sechie, not only because the Japanese model of
Toka Sechie contained archery performances in its original style, but also because both marshal and musical performances are considered symbolic of the performer's obedience to the main spectators in ancient Japan. A Japanese historian has proved that these situations in two Imperial archery ceremonies represent the difference of
Li _??_, a political philosophy which includes various ways to show and maintain it in each court. In addition to this conclusion, it is suggested that
Yue _??_.music had second place to express
Li, as
She had the third, so I consider that the typical ceremony to perform music and dance in Japan can reflect
View full abstract