Sheng and Guan Ensemble

01 · Historical Records

The blowing songs are a very ancient form of wind music. They arose in the Han dynasty, were first used at court, were afterwards taken up by the temples, and in the Ming and Qing dynasties flowed into the folk. According to tradition, during the Jingtai reign of the Ming dynasty a Hanlin scholar who had retired to his homeland helped the monks of the temple to hand down the art of the blowing songs, so that it spread among the local people.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Sheng-and-guan music generally consists of the guan, the sheng, the flute, cloud gongs and such other instruments, together with percussion instruments such as the drum, the nao and the gong. The principal instrument is the guan, called “bili” in ancient times; it is a double-reed aerophone, usually made of wood, with eight finger-holes in the upper part, seven in front and one behind, and a double reed of hard reed cane; its pitch is often tuned by changing to reeds of different sizes. In the court music and temple music of successive dynasties the guan was always the principal instrument, and was called the “head pipe”. Sheng-and-guan music is the most solemn and refined musical art within folk drum-and-wind music. It differs from the suona-and-percussion music whose principal instrument is the suona: the special flavour that comes from its combination of instruments enables it to create the clear, empty and tranquil atmosphere that religious occasions require, so it was generally adopted by the temples and Taoist shrines throughout China and became a common form of instrumental music in the old religious rites. The Chao Hua blowing songs are preserved in Chaohua Town, Xinmi City, Henan Province, where the vast Chaohua Monastery stands. The guan is the principal instrument of the Chao Hua blowing songs, accompanied in performance by the sheng, the guan and the xiao, together with such percussion as the yun drum and the large nao. The guan is finely cast from bronze and brass, and the reed is made of selected reed cane; it has eight holes, seven in front and one behind, and takes the shape of an inverted horn, thick at the top and tapering downward. Notation still follows the traditional gongche system. The pieces fall roughly into five groups: ancient pieces, which are court music, of which there are about twelve; folk songs, which are local tunes, of which there are about fifteen; temple sacrificial music, which is solemn in character, ten pieces in all; modal music, which consists of exercises; and zhanzi, which are short pieces. When playing, the performers wear long robes in the Daoist style and stand in two rows, the front row playing the wind instruments and the rear row the percussion. The performing style is plain, bright and refined. Through its distinctive copper pipes and reed mouthpieces, its ancient system of notation and performance and its hard-to-seen tune patterns, it shows people the special character of ancient music, and has become invaluable first-hand material for the study of the history of ancient Chinese music. At present several of the leading heads of the Chao Hua blowing songs have died in succession; in the blowing-song teams the principal percussion players are all over seventy-five and can play only a dozen or so tune patterns. In this situation the survival and development of the Chao Hua blowing songs faces many difficulties, which is a cause for concern.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

According to the thickness and length of the body the pipe is divided into large, medium and small; the small pipe has a sharp, high tone and a whole series of playing techniques such as beaten notes, trills, scrubbing tones, flutter-tongue, glissando and harmonics.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Sheng and Guan Ensemble · Sheng and Guan Ensemble.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

As a folk performing style that inherits ancient drum-and-wind music, the Chao Hua blowing songs are handed on through oral transmission from heart to heart, and function as a living fossil of music. To strengthen protection measures and to salvage this precious ethnic musical heritage is of great significance. Wang Guoqing (from the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in February 1963, a native of Xinmi City, Henan Province. In 1974 he studied instrumental music in the school's propaganda troupe. He has mastered the technique of changing key on the guan of the Chao Hua blowing songs; the court music he plays is noble and elegant, the sacrificial music solemn and awe-inspiring, and the folk music lively and joyous. His main works include the court music Chuan Ling, Qing He Ling and Xiao Tao Hong, the temple music Shen Tong Zi, Wu Sheng Fo and San Chi Fo, and the folk music Zhuang Yuan You Jie, Pa Tian Qiao and Guan Deng, among others. He is the representative inheritor of sheng-and-guan music (the Chao Hua blowing songs), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the third national-level batch. He is devoted to the transmission and development of the Chao Hua blowing songs and has trained a number of students.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Diao Dengke 03-0880
• Wang Guoqing 03-0881
• Qiao Zhongxin 05-2128
• Li Shaojun 05-2129

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Sheng and Guan Ensemble (Xinmi, Henan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Guoqing · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗