On Interaction Between the Geisha from “He Gu” and Lyricists of Scholar-official in the Southern Song Dynasty

Abstract

With the decline of the Music Bureau, the performance spaces of “He Gu” geisha were no longer confined to traditional public places of entertainment (Goulan Wasi), such as the city streets and alleys, Instead, they increasingly appeared at banquets and social occasions attended by scholars and officials. There was an increase in interaction between scholars and officials and “He Gu” geisha, with scholars and officials providing various lyrics for the “He Gu” geisha to sing based on their needs, and the latter also seeking lyrics from the former for various reasons, which generally prospered the overall performance of lyrics. “He Gu” geisha’s performance field was expanded from the marketplace to the scholar-official world, and inadvertently gained a relatively higher level of taste into their performance. The works produced by the interaction between scholar-officials and “He Gu”geisha also constituted a source of the latter’s performance content. The two-way interaction played a unique role in the creation and style of lyrics, and was a significant force in the development of the history of southern Song dynasty lyric poetry.