Abstract：The Ya Yue restoration movement that emerged in the Northern Song Dynasty has always been regarded as the largest-scale and most deeply influential Ya Yue restoration movement in ancient Chinese history since the Zhou Dynasty. This movement began during the reign of Emperor Taizu, was advanced through the efforts of Emperors Taizong, Zhenzong, Renzong, etc., reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and quickly came to an end with the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty. The rise of this restoration movement had profound historical motivations. Based on a profound reflection on the history of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period, the scholar-officials of the Northern Song Dynasty put forward the political ideal of “returning to the Three Dynasties” (Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties). Emperor Renzong and the subsequent emperors conformed to this historical trend, established “returning to the Three Dynasties” as the basic national policy, and launched a vigorous Ya Yue restoration movement. However, in specific practices, severely disturbed by imperial power politics, this Ya Yue restoration movement could not achieve true restoration in terms of both the reform of music temperament and the creation of music scores. It even became a tool for the rulers to whitewash peace. Judging from the specific implementation of the Ya Yue restoration movement in the Northern Song Dynasty, the so-called “returning to the Three Dynasties” advocated by the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty was merely a political slogan. It was a political means for them to win over the scholar-officials. Maintaining the supreme status of imperial power was their true purpose, and this was precisely the root cause of the ultimate failure of the Northern Song Dynasty’s political ideal of “returning to the Three Dynasties”.
刘茜. “回向三代”与皇权政治下的北宋雅乐复古运动[J]. 《深圳大学学报》（人文社科版）, 2025, 42(3): 27-34.
LIU Qian. The Ya Yue Restoration Movement under the Imperial Power Politics of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Ideal of “Returning to the Three Dynasties”. , 2025, 42(3): 27-34.
2025, Vol. 42 
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