Ritual Embodied Historiography: Foundational Theory on the Reconstruction of Classical Han Dynasty Chinese Dance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71094/gjsl.v2i1.247Keywords:
Reconstruction, Han Dynasty, Embodied Historiography, Materiality, Cultural MemoryAbstract
The reconstruction of ancient Chinese dance, particularly from the Han Dynasty period, faces epistemological, material, and cultural challenges due to the scarcity of archives and the fragmentation of visual and textual sources. This study analyses three contemporary reconstruction works—Tonque Ji (Sun Ying), Han Painting Dance Experimental Performance (Liu Jian), and the Yong Dance Series (Tian Tian)—employing a grounded theory approach to map conceptual patterns in dance reconstruction practices.
The findings propose the conceptual model of Ritual Embodied Historiography (REH), which frames reconstruction as an embodied historiographical process, wherein the body functions as a living archive, an affective medium, and a site of symbolic reactivation through engagement with material artefacts and contemporary sociocultural contexts. The study indicates that Han dance reconstruction cannot be fully understood through conventional Western frameworks but requires approaches grounded in cosmology, Confucian ritualism, and Eastern epistemology. The model extends global dance reconstruction scholarship by emphasising the body’s role as an agent of historical knowledge production in performance practice.
References
Adshead-Lansdale, J. (1988). Dance analysis: Theory and practice. London: Dance Books. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1939466M/Dance_analysis (Open Library)
Baiyue, I. A. S., & et al. (2022). A research study of dance formation based on the cultural and historical memory of the old Luoyue ethnic group. NeuroQuantology. https://doi.org/10.14704/nq.2022.20.5.NQ22582
Barad, K. (2003). Posthumanist performativity: Toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter. Signs, 28(3), 801–831. https://doi.org/10.1086/345321
Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.
Chao, Y. (n.d.). Dance, culture and nationalism. City University Open Access Repository. https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/11875/1/Dance%2C%20culture%20and%20nationalism.pdf
Chen, J. (2018). The ‘body of ritual’ transformed: Discourses and actions in the Daba rituals among the Na (Moso). Journal of Chinese Sociology, 5(1), 1–17. https://journalofchinesesociology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40711-018-0077-6
Chen, L. (2020). Praying for New Year in Han Dynasty: Ritual Nuo dance practice. In Atlantis Press Conference Proceedings. https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125944384.pdf
Ding, M. (2025). The sacredness of Eastern Han Dynasty pictorial stones from the perspective of physicality. Advances in Humanities Research. https://direct.ewa.pub/journal/ahr/article/view/27053
Dou, H. (2024). A comparative study of dance characteristics on Han Dynasty portrait stones in Nanyang and Shandong. ERH SS. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379530417_A_Comparative_Study_of_Dance_Characteristics_on_Han_Dynasty_Portrait_Stones_in_Nanyang_and_Shandong
Fāng, J. (2023). Experimental restoration and reconstruction in music archaeology. Journal of Music Archaeology. https://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572%200x003f6ff2.pdf
Foster, S. L. (2011). Choreographing empathy: Kinesthesia in performance. Routledge.
Giulo, M. (2016). Royal mausoleums of the Western-Han and of the Song Chinese dynasties: A contextual approach. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.05985
HUSAIN, M. A., & Zulkafli, N. (2023). The Transformation of Latar Tirai in Bangsawan Tengku Anum (2002) Istana Budaya . Jurai Sembah, 4(1), 30-34. https://doi.org/10.37134/juraisembah.vol4.1.4.2023
Jinfang, H., & Abdul Wahid, N. (2025). Traditional Dance Heritage of Southeast Shanxi Province China. Jurai Sembah, 6(1), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.37134/juraisembah.vol6.1.5.202
Long, X. (2024). The embodiment of Confucian thought in Chinese classical dance. Trans/form/Ação. https://www.scielo.br/j/trans/a/rPCC8Dt5dkbQHk3h4mmNHPf/?lang=en
Marshall, A. R. (n.d.). Engendering mediumship: When youths performed the rain-dances in Han Dynasty China. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249843210_Engendering_mediumship_When_youths_performed_the_rain-dances_in_Han_Dynasty_China
McLeod, A. (2024). Embodied contexts: Textual and affective dimensions of historical performance. Performance Studies Quarterly, 40(1), 77–99.
Min, T. (2025). Cultural resilience from sacred to secular: Ritual spatial transformation of the Tujia 'Hand-Waving Sacrifice'. Religions, 16(7), 811. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/7/811
Poulton, W., & Zi, W. (2020). Practice of knowledge: Workshop report on the archaeology of Chinese music. Atlantis Press. https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125937062.pdf
Pratt, M. G. (2023). General coding and analysis in qualitative research. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.859
Rademaker, L. L., & Polush, E. Y. (2022). Qualitative data analysis. In Evaluation and action research: An integrated framework to promote data literacy and ethical practices (pp. 94–118). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197620823.003.0007
Taylor, D. (2003). The archive and the repertoire: Performing cultural memory in the Americas. Duke University Press.
Tian, L., & Wu, M. (2023). Research on the cultural program Dancing Millennium from ritual view of communication. Advances in Journalism and Communication, 11, 55–68. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=123296
Wang, Y. (2025). Cultural symbols and artistic expression of music, dance and acrobatics in Han Dynasty stone sculpture. Modern Applied Anthropology Journal, 12(2), 33–49. https://www.maajournal.com/index.php/maa/article/view/1729
Wilcox, E. E. (2018). Dynamic inheritance: Representative works and the creative process in Chinese dance. Journal of Folklore Research, 55(1), 1–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jfolkrese.55.1.04
Xiang, L., Jirajarupat, P., & Qiu, J. (2024). The ancient performance arts in Shi jing – Feng. Journal of Modern Learning Development, 7(1), 12–28. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jomld/article/download/272893/185494
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Cui Jie, Muhammad Fazli Taib Saearani (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
