Dongjing Music
01 · Historical Records
Dongjing ancient music rose to prominence in the Yuan dynasty, was formally founded in the early Ming dynasty, and began to flourish towards the end of the Ming. The Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing (ancient music) troupe was established in 1943; the whole troupe consisted of eighteen young girls, who boldly broke through the constraints of feudal ritual and established the Tonghai "Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society". After two years of study they had mastered gongche notation and numbered notation and could perform more than forty tune patterns with ease. In 1947, after performing Dongjing at the Sanyuan Palace, in a manner distinctive to themselves they carried this performance into folk Buddhist worship, which has continued as a custom to the present day and has a history of more than sixty years. In September 2001 Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing music was invited to perform in Beijing, attracting widespread attention.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dongjing music is current mainly among the Han, Bai and Naxi peoples of Yunnan Province; it was originally a form of Taoist ritual music, and takes its name from the fact that the chanting and singing of the text of the Dadong Xianjing is its main content. Its musical tunes are very rich; each region in which it is current has its own independent set of tunes of every kind, numbering from forty to more than a hundred. Tonghai Dongjing ancient music is current within Tonghai County of Yunnan Province, centred on Xiushan Town and Hexi Town, and spreading to the townships of Jijie, Yangguang, Sijie and others. In the past twenty years it has spread more widely throughout the county. It is not a single kind of folk music; it also incorporates musical tune patterns and performing techniques of north-west China and of Jiangnan. Among the several hundred Dongjing performing troupes existing in Yunnan, the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing (ancient music) troupe gives the most outstanding performance. Inheriting the performing tradition of Tonghai music, Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing music fully displays the distinctive charm of women's performance: when accompanying religious rites it is earnest without losing warmth, devout yet benign; in singing it is stirring yet crisp, slow yet sweet; and in instrumental performance it wins through an artistic style that is slender and delicate, lingering and melodious. As the only women's Dongjing organisation in Yunnan Province, the Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society was the first to open the way for women to perform Dongjing.
Xiao Kai Men
One of the pieces performed by the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society.
Yin Yang Diao
One of the pieces performed by the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society.
Zhe Gu Tian
One of the pieces performed by the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society, belonging to the Jiangnan sizhu music type.
Die Luo Jin Qian
One of the pieces performed by the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society.
Three repertoire strands
The women's Dongjing society performs thirty-nine pieces, including Xiao Kai Men, Yin Yang Diao, Zhe Gu Tian and Die Luo Jin Qian, which fall into several main types: classical music, Jiangnan sizhu music and folk music.
Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing society
Founded in 1943, the whole troupe consisted of eighteen young girls, who boldly broke through the constraints of feudal ritual and, after two years of study, mastered gongche notation and numbered notation and could perform more than forty tune patterns with ease; after performing Dongjing at the Sanyuan Palace in 1947, they carried this activity into folk Buddhist worship, where it has continued as a custom.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The women's Dongjing society performs thirty-nine pieces, including Xiao Kai Men, Yin Yang Diao, Zhe Gu Tian and Die Luo Jin Qian, which fall into several main types: classical music, Jiangnan sizhu music and folk music. The performance of the women's Dongjing society has added new vitality to Tonghai Dongjing ancient music and has exerted a great influence locally.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dongjing Music · Dongjing Music.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
For many years this special form of musical performance has continued to be transmitted without decline among the people of Tonghai. It preserves most completely the procedure and content of Dongjing performance, providing important material for the study of the local history, culture and folk art of Yunnan. At present only four members remain in the Tonghai Miaoshanxue women's Dongjing (ancient music) troupe; women's Dongjing music is finding it difficult to survive, its development is impeded, and it urgently needs protection and transmission.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Han Dingsheng 05-2144
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。