The Sogdian Whirl dance or Sogdian Whirl (in Chinese ''huxuan wu'', zh, 胡旋舞) was a Sogdian dance imported in China in the first half of the first millennium AD. The dance was imitated by the Chinese, and became extremely popular in China, where it went on to be performed at court.
History
The Sogdian Whirl and other similar, imported dances were extremely popular in China during the
Tang Dynasty, especially in the area of
Chang'an and
Luoyang.
The
Sogdian merchant-dancers, who performed different dances
but were especially renowned for this dance, were very famed in China. In the Sogdian Whirl, a young woman was spinning inside a circle.
The Sogdian Whirl became enormously popular in China. It was performed both in the Chinese court and in China itself. Sources from the Tang dynasty attest to it being performed at court. The dance was performed at court by, among others, the
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early ...
and
Yang Guifei, his favorite concubine.
The Sogdian Whirl was depicted in the
funerary art of Sogdians in China.
Further, it was depicted on many native Chinese tombs, which further shows its popularity in China.
Gallery
File:Sogdian whirl with large pipa.jpg, Buddhist cave art, a dancer spins while the orchestra plays. Grotto 46 Left interior wall, second panel. Also called cave 112.
File:Sui Tomb Wall Painting, Swirling dance.jpg, Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
tomb wall painting, with "swirling dance"
File:Dunhuang Mogao Caves Dancer.jpg, Cave 220 “Hu xuan” dancer in mural from Mogao.
File:Central Asian dancers and musicians, Northern Qi jar found in a tomb at Anyang, 575 CE.jpg, Northern Qi jar with Central Asian (probably Sogdia
Sogdia (Sogdian language, Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also ...
n) dancers and musicians from the tomb at Anyang
Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.
It had a ...
, 575 CE.
See also
*
Sogdian art
*
Iranians in China
*
Tang China
*
Huteng dance
References
{{reflist
Sogdians
Tang dynasty
Asian dances
Dances of China