The Shide Court Dance

Ceremonial purpose

*Shide wu*, or the Shide Dance, was one of the organised ensemble dances performed at Qing court banquets, especially for gatherings involving the imperial clan and commemorations of dynastic ancestry. It was not an informal village folk dance. The *Draft History of Qing*, in its treatise on music, distinguishes three court ensemble dances by occasion: *Qinglong wu* for court celebrations, *Shide wu* for banquets of the imperial clan, and *Desheng wu* for victory banquets. Their performing arrangements were related, but their ritual purposes differed.

In 1743, during the Qianlong emperor's eastern journey to Shengjing, ten chapters of lyrics for the Shide Dance were composed in connection with remembrance of the dynasty's foundation. This association gave the performance an explicitly genealogical and commemorative purpose. A continuation of the *History of the Qing Palace* records the assembly of a Shide troupe before a banquet for imperial princes at the Qianqing Palace in the first lunar month of 1783.

Music, dance and political meaning

Court entertainment combined singing, dance and instrumental music, including zither, bowed strings, *pipa*, *sanxian* and rhythmic implements. A thematic resource from the National Palace Museum in Taipei likewise groups Shide with Qinglong and Desheng among banquet dances with distinctive Manchu associations. Its importance extends beyond choreography: the ceremonial performance offered the court a means to stage imperial kinship, transmit ancestral memory and affirm a political order through music and movement.

For related historical context and vocabulary, consult The Eight Banners.

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