Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
During the “Cultural Revolution” all the scores were burned, and what survives now are the scores of some seventy pieces including Yu Fu Rong and Cui Zhu Lian, put together after 1985 by old artists from memory. At present the instruments of the Baimiao village music society are badly damaged, there is a break in the succession of personnel, the technique is on the verge of being lost, and urgent rescue is needed.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Feng Yuechi 02-0302
- Cai Yurun 02-0303
- Shangxuezhi 02-0304
- Hu Deming 02-0305
- Xia Laofei 03-0849
- Liu Qin 03-0850
- Wang Ruhai 03-0851
- Hu Guoqing 04-1528
- Shi Junping 05-2083
- Shao Shutong 05-2084
- Cai Baoheng 05-2085
- Zhang Zhanmin 05-2086
- Jia Tingxin
- Lizhanglin
- Pan Desen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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