He Chunsheng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He has loved music since childhood. At the age of 22 he entered the Maoshan Daoist Abbey, where he studied the Maoshan Daoist zhaijiao ritual and Maoshan Daoist music under Daoist priest Shi Jueyi, sixtieth-generation transmitter of the Maoshan Shangqing school, and Daoist priest Zhou Nianxiao, seventy-seventh-generation transmitter of the Shangqing school. He became thoroughly proficient in Maoshan Daoist ritual and music and is also skilled at playing the erhu, sheng and dizi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Daoist Music in Jurong, Jiangsu: The ritual music of the Shangqing zongtan zhaijiao ceremonies of Maoshan historically enjoyed the status of “national zhaijiao” (see the Maoshan Zhi of the Ming dynasty); its content consists mainly of praise of the Three Maoshan True Lords, of the principal masters of the Shangqing school, and of the perfected Zhenren of successive ages; its chanting takes such forms as zan, ji, zhou, song, fu, gao and yin, and the words of the chants continue the prosodic tradition of ancient ci and fu, using for the most part four-character and six-character lines and the form of repeated stanzas and lines, while also accommodating mixed line lengths. The ritual music of the Shangqing zongtan zhaijiao ceremonies of Maoshan historically enjoyed the status of “national zhaijiao” (see the Maoshan Zhi of the Ming dynasty); its content consists mainly of praise of the Three Maoshan True Lords, of the principal masters of the Shangqing school, and of the perfected Zhenren of successive ages. In the noon court ceremony, the Wei Ling Zhou and the Sheng Ban and the like in the “opening of the altar” of the San Mao Biao, the San Mao Ci, Hua Xia Zan, Xun Biao and Kai Tian Fu and the like in the “stating of the vow”, the Xiao Li Jing and the San Mao Gao and the like in the “closing rite”; and also in the morning and evening court ceremonies, the Xiang Zan, Bu Xu and Zhixin Chaoli in the “opening of the repentance” of the San Mao Chan, the Sheng Hao in the “bowing in repentance”, and the San Mao Gao, Hui Xiang He and Hui Xiang Wen and the like in the “sending off of the repentance” — all of these are comparatively classic yunqiang pieces of Maoshan Daoist music. Its instrumental tune patterns play an important role in the various stages of the ritual (opening the court, linking, filling the interval, closing the altar and so on), setting off, transforming, regulating and running through the proceedings; they complement the chanting of scripture and hymns and display the integrity of their own structure. Maoshan Daoist music has a long history; in the course of its formation and development it absorbed and merged elements of traditional music from the Eastern Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties through to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1962, a native of Jurong City, Jiangsu Province. He has concentrated on collecting, organizing and researching materials on Maoshan Daoist music, and has edited the newspapers Jiangsu Daoism and Maoshan Daoxun (Maoshan Daoist Bulletin). He has been invited on numerous occasions to Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as to Singapore and Malaysia to perform Daoist rituals and play Daoist music. Within the documented technical tradition of Daoist Music in Jurong, Jiangsu: Maoshan Daoist music is traditional music whose core area of circulation is the Maoshan Taoist Monastery in the Maoshan Scenic Area, Jurong City, Jiangsu Province. The area covered by this heritage project includes Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, as well as Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province and Shanghai. Maoshan is a famous mountain of Daoism in China, long honoured as the Eighth Grotto-Heaven and the First Land of Blessing. Its many yunqiang melodies each have a character of their own, and those with the greatest influence are the San Mao Biao and the San Mao Chan. Together with the morning and evening lessons and the music of other zhai rites, the repertoire of Maoshan Daoist music totals more than 100 pieces (of which more than 70 are scripture chants and more than 30 are instrumental tune patterns). Its chanting takes such forms as zan, ji, zhou, song, fu, gao and yin. The words of the chants continue the prosodic tradition of ancient ci and fu, using for the most part four-character and six-character lines and the form of repeated stanzas and lines, while also accommodating mixed line lengths. Its melodies are characterized by broad sweeps and rises and falls within slow, drawn-out tones, their flavour lying especially in the use of many grace notes; the introduction of some free-metre recitation gives them a marked rhythmic character reminiscent of Tang and Song music. Every year the Shangqing zongtan zhaijiao ceremonial activities are held during the prescribed incense periods and on the birth days of the various deities. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "San Mao Biao": In the noon court ceremony, the Wei Ling Zhou and the Sheng Ban and the like in the “opening of the altar” of the San Mao Biao, the San Mao Ci, Hua Xia Zan, Xun Biao and Kai Tian Fu and the like in the “stating of the vow”, the Xiao Li Jing and the San Mao Gao and the like in the “closing rite”; and also in the morning and evening court ceremonies, the Xiang Zan, Bu Xu and Zhixin Chaoli in the “opening of the repentance” of the San Mao Chan, the Sheng Hao in the “bowing in repentance”, and the San Mao Gao, Hui Xiang He and Hui Xiang Wen and the like in the “sending off of the repentance” — all of these are comparatively classic yunqiang pieces of Maoshan Daoist music. "Wei Ling Zhou": In the noon court ceremony, the Wei Ling Zhou and the Sheng Ban and the like in the “opening of the altar” of the San Mao Biao, the San Mao Ci, Hua Xia Zan, Xun Biao and Kai Tian Fu and the like in the “stating of the vow”, the Xiao Li Jing and the San Mao Gao and the like in the “closing rite”; and also in the morning and evening court ceremonies, the Xiang Zan, Bu Xu and Zhixin Chaoli in the “opening of the repentance” of the San Mao Chan, the Sheng Hao in the “bowing in repentance”, and the San Mao Gao, Hui Xiang He and Hui Xiang Wen and the like in the “sending off of the repentance” — all of these are comparatively classic yunqiang pieces of Maoshan Daoist music. "Sheng Ban": In the noon court ceremony, the Wei Ling Zhou and the Sheng Ban and the like in the “opening of the altar” of the San Mao Biao, the San Mao Ci, Hua Xia Zan, Xun Biao and Kai Tian Fu and the like in the “stating of the vow”, the Xiao Li Jing and the San Mao Gao and the like in the “closing rite”; and also in the morning and evening court ceremonies, the Xiang Zan, Bu Xu and Zhixin Chaoli in the “opening of the repentance” of the San Mao Chan, the Sheng Hao in the “bowing in repentance”, and the San Mao Gao, Hui Xiang He and Hui Xiang Wen and the like in the “sending off of the repentance” — all of these are comparatively classic yunqiang pieces of Maoshan Daoist music. "San Mao Ci": In the noon court ceremony, the Wei Ling Zhou and the Sheng Ban and the like in the “opening of the altar” of the San Mao Biao, the San Mao Ci, Hua Xia Zan, Xun Biao and Kai Tian Fu and the like in the “stating of the vow”, the Xiao Li Jing and the San Mao Gao and the like in the “closing rite”; and also in the morning and evening court ceremonies, the Xiang Zan, Bu Xu and Zhixin Chaoli in the “opening of the repentance” of the San Mao Chan, the Sheng Hao in the “bowing in repentance”, and the San Mao Gao, Hui Xiang He and Hui Xiang Wen and the like in the “sending off of the repentance” — all of these are comparatively classic yunqiang pieces of Maoshan Daoist music.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Daoist Music (Maoshan Daoist Music), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In more than thirty years since entering the abbey he has devoted himself wholeheartedly to performing and transmitting Maoshan Daoist ritual and music, and over the past decade he has trained more than ten transmitters of Maoshan Daoist music.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. He Chunsheng · National Representative Bearer Archive