Jia Tingxin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Jia Tingxin, Male, Han, from Daxing, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble (Ⅱ-59). The tradition is documented in Daxing, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Daxing, Beijing: Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is current in nearly thirty counties and cities south of Beijing, west of Tianjin and north of Cangzhou and Dingzhou; it is a drum-and-wind music peculiar to the Jizhong Plain, popularly called a “music society” by the people, and, because it is led by the guan and accompanied by the sheng and other instruments, also called “sheng-and-guan music”. Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is found all over the Jizhong Plain; the farmers of this region form societies by village, borrowing instruments to meet, and play in local sacrificial rites, funerals and other folk activities, handing it on from generation to generation in their own distinctive way. The Baimiao village music society is current in Baimiao Village, Changziying Town, Daxing District, Beijing, and belongs to the sheng-and-guan music transmitted by monks; it is said that at the end of the Ming dynasty monks of Tanzhe temple brought the temple's pieces to Baimiao, and that later elements of Daoist music and folk music were blended in, so that it has both the characteristics of Beijing Chan music and of folk drum-and-wind music. Its instruments fall into two kinds: wind instruments such as the sheng, guan and flute, and percussion instruments, the “dharma instruments”, such as gong, drum, nao and cymbals. The ancient scores it once held contained more than a hundred pieces, all notated in gongche; of these only some seventy pieces, including Yu Fu Rong and Cui Zhu Lian, now survive, and were put together after 1985 by old artists from memory. It is said that at the end of the Ming dynasty monks of Tanzhe temple brought the temple's pieces to Baimiao, and that in later transmission these were continually improved and blended with elements of Daoist music and folk music, so that the Baimiao village music society came to have the characteristics of Beijing Chan music and of folk drum-and-wind music.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Jia Tingxin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Daxing, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Daxing, Beijing: Besides wind instruments such as the sheng, guan and flute, Jizhong sheng-and-guan music also uses such percussion instruments as cloud gongs, drums, nao, cymbals and clapper bells. The pieces of sheng-and-guan music fall into three kinds: suites, short pieces and independent sets of percussion music; of these the suites are of great length and complex structure, and form the main part of the whole performing repertory. The Baimiao village music society is current in Baimiao Village, Changziying Town, Daxing District, Beijing, and is performed by a small band; it belongs to the sheng-and-guan music transmitted by monks, and its ties with Tanzhe temple in Beijing are very close. The instruments used by the Baimiao village music society fall into two kinds: wind instruments, chiefly the sheng, guan and flute; and percussion instruments (all called “dharma instruments”), chiefly gong, drum, nao and cymbals. Baimiao village once possessed ancient scores containing more than a hundred pieces, all notated in China's ancient gongche notation. At present the Baimiao music society band consists of fifteen people, and generally nine or eleven perform; the guan leads and small cymbals set the tempo. In performance the musicians sit in two successive sets, front and rear: the front set opens with the small cymbals and is played by percussion instruments such as drum and gong, while the rear set is played by the sheng, guan and transverse flute; the front and rear sets alternate in turn, going round in sequence until the pieces are finished. The Baimiao music society has absorbed the essence of Chan music and of folk music, combining the austere emptiness of religious colour with a strong local rural flavour; its style is solemn and dignified, bold and high. In the related rites of village society the Baimiao music society has already become an important part of the local folk custom. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yu Fu Rong": One of the seventy-odd pieces surviving in the Baimiao village music society, shared with the other music societies of Jizhong sheng-and-guan music. "Cui Zhu Lian": One of the seventy-odd pieces surviving in the Baimiao village music society. "Alternating front and rear sets": Performance is divided into two successive sets, front and rear: the front set opens with the small cymbals and is played by percussion instruments such as drum and gong, the rear set by sheng, guan and transverse flute, the two alternating in turn until the pieces end.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Jia Tingxin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble, with Daxing, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Daxing, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Daxing, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Daxing District Cultural Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Jiatingxin (Daxing, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Jiatingxin · China ICH Official Archive