Zhihuasijing Music

01 · Historical Records

Zhihua Temple in Beijing was first built in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty (1444), originally founded by Wang Zhen, a eunuch director of the Directorate of Ceremonial under the reign of the Ming emperor Yingzong, who "gave his residence to become a temple"; in 1961 it was listed by the State Council among the first batch of major historical and cultural sites protected at national level. From the 1950s onward a number of famous Chinese musicians have studied Zhihua Temple jing music, achieving fruitful results. Since the 1980s of the twentieth century Zhihua Temple jing music has been excavated and rescued by government departments, figures in the music world and figures in the Buddhist world, yet many problems remain difficult to solve to this day.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhihua Temple jing music has distinct artistic characteristics: its musical style is solemn, archaic and refined, its formal structure is large and regular, its performing techniques are rich, and it holds an enormous repertoire. Judging from the material available, the majority of scholars hold that jing music is related to the ancient music of the Tang and Song dynasties. In many respects, such as its repertoire, instruments, gong modes and performing methods, it preserves the old institutions of the Song and Ming. Traditional pieces include Xi Qiu Feng (Joy in the Autumn Wind), Na Tian E (Seizing the Swan), Qingjiang Yin (Clear River Leading Song), Mei Hua Yin (Plum Blossom Leading Song), Xiao Hua Yan (Lesser Huayan), Zui Weng Zi (The Drunken Old Man) and others. The enormous changes in present-day society make the development of Zhihua Temple jing music extremely difficult. In the past two years, through the efforts of many parties, the forty-five surviving pieces were promptly recorded. Nevertheless, Zhihua Temple jing music is still very short of inheritors in number, the ensembles cannot reach their original size, the timbre and the layers of content are monotonous, and it falls far short of expressing the character of the original ancient music.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Zhihua Temple jing music is transmitted mainly by the monastic community of Zhihua Temple in Beijing. The temple was first built in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign of the Ming dynasty (1444), originally founded when Wang Zhen, a eunuch director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, "gave his residence to become a temple". It became famous after it was studied by a number of well-known musicians from the 1950s onward, and from the 1980s it was jointly excavated and rescued by government departments, the music world and the Buddhist world. Its inheritors pass the art on in succession by monastic generation; most of the old artist-monks of the twenty-sixth generation have died, the inheritors of the twenty-seventh generation urgently need to improve technically, and the size of the ensemble and the layers of its timbre can no longer fully express the character of the original ancient music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Zhihua Temple jing music has now been transmitted for more than five hundred and sixty years and is honoured as a "living fossil" of ancient Chinese music. It demands a very high standard in transmission: nothing is casually added, deleted or altered, and emphasis is placed on protection and inheritance. Zhihua Temple jing music faithfully preserves the basic character of traditional Chinese music, providing a typical and vivid instance for the study of the connotations and changes of traditional Chinese culture. Most of the old artist-monks of the twenty-sixth generation of Zhihua Temple have died; the surviving Benxing and Fuguang are both of advanced age, and the inheritors of the twenty-seventh generation urgently need to improve technically. Zhihua Temple jing music still faces the danger of being lost and urgently requires further rescue and protection. Zhang Benxing (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): He knows the scores for the sheng, guan, dizi, cloud gong and other instruments like the palm of his hand, his playing flows like clouds and water and is finished in one breath, and his chanting for Buddhist ceremonies is also outstanding. He has travelled many times with his troupe to perform in countries of Europe and Asia, and phonograph records such as Beijing Zhihua Temple Jing Music and Zhihua Temple Jing Music have been published. Male, Han, born in 1923, died in 2009, a native of Beijing. Representative inheritor of Zhihua Temple jing music of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects. Hu Qingxue (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in June 1974, a native of Gu'an County, Hebei Province. He studied the sheng-and-pipe music of central Hebei from childhood, specialising in playing the sheng and the guan. He completed his training in 1995 and afterwards returned to his home area for a time. From 2004 he has served as a full-time performer at Zhihua Temple. He masters the guan performance and gongche notation singing of more than forty surviving tune patterns. His guan technique is accomplished and stands out among inheritors of his own generation; he can also play the sheng and other instruments, and his singing is accurate in pronunciation and full in tone. He is devoted to the transmission, dissemination and study of the project, and has often gone into schools to teach the skill. Representative inheritor of Zhihua Temple jing music of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Zhang Benxing 02-0312
• Hu Qingxue 04-1529
• Qu Yongzeng

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhihuasijing Music (Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhang Benxing · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Hu Qingxue · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗