Yayan, meaning elegant language, was the official language over many ancient Chinese dynasties. It was one of the oldest languages in ancient China, dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Yayan was also called Xiayan because in ancient times, the words “Ya” and “Xia” were often used interchangeably for their similar pronunciation.
The predecessor of Yayan was the language of Chinese ancestral clans. About 4,000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor tribe entered the Central Plains and annexed many other tribes. The process merged the languages of the Yellow Emperor and the conquered tribes, making Yayan “the common language of the tribal alliance” .” During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, Yayan gradually became the common Chinese language.
Chanting is an elegant way of expression and a way of reciting and composing traditional Chinese poetry and literature. Chanting is between reading and singing. Mr. Guo Moruo interpreted chanting as “close to singing or free singing without a musical score (Guo, 2000).” Mr. Zhao Yuenren said: “The chanting is singing the words in a loud voice without using the tone of a single word (Yuenren Zhao, 2000).” The chanting can be traced to the Zhou Dynasty. The chapter of Zongbo of Rites of Zhou (Zhou, 2014), showed that when the sons of noblemen reached the school age, they had to learn Chanting from their teacher.
Naturally, Yayan chanting used Yayan to recite poetry. This way took advantage of Yayan’s expression of rich emotions, and it could accurately express people’s rich emotional world and their understanding of nature and society . During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius promoted Yayan along with Yayan chanting.
“The greatest characteristics of Yayan chanting advocated by the ancient Chinese are rich in emotion, elegant in mood, calm and leisurely in tone. The rhyme expressed by the ancients is classical, natural and pure emotion music. The process of chanting can make people happy, nourish their emotions, and adjust their mind and body” (Ou, W. (2015). 浅谈文化/ Talking About Culture. Flower City Press)