Buddhist Music

01 · Historical Records

Buddhism was introduced into China around the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han; Buddhist music from India and the Western Regions, over its long course of development, absorbed artistic elements of Chinese folk music and thereby took on a distinctive character, becoming an important component of Chinese Buddhist culture. After the founder of the Drikung sect, Jowa Jinchen Gongbu, established the Drikung Kagyu school in 1179, the custom of performing religious music in the protector-deity hall gradually took shape, and a relatively complete monastery music ensemble appeared.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Buddhist music is the music used by Buddhist monasteries in various Dharma-service activities and festival celebrations. It contains both Chinese national tunes and musical tunes of the minority peoples of India and the Western Regions. The musical zanbei directly applied by Buddhism is also called “fanbei”; it praises the Buddha and the bodhisattvas in short verse form, has singing modes such as solo, unison and chorus, and may be accompanied by instruments when sung. The music of the Drikung Kagyu school is the most important form of music in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, used mainly for the monastery's ritual offerings, welcoming ceremonies, the Cham sacred dance and various other ritual observances of Buddhist affairs. Drikung Monastery, the ancestral monastery of the Drikung branch of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, is located in Menba Township, Mozhugongka County, southeast of Lhasa City. The religious music ensemble of the Drikung Kagyu school has set a model not only for the monastery religious ensembles of the more than two hundred branch monasteries of the Drikung sect in every part of the Tibetan regions, but has also influenced almost all the ensembles of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The music of the Drikung Kagyu school is called “qu-rui”, meaning offering music; it has complete performance forms and superb performing skills. The instruments of the Drikung Kagyu school music are very complete, chiefly including a dozen-odd kinds such as the handle drum, cymbals, naos, the long trumpet, the Tibetan-style suona jialin and the bronze gong; of these one cymbal, six handle drums, one or several pairs of long trumpets and the jialin make up the main body of the ensemble. Besides these there are special instruments such as the surna, the dama drum and the small flat gong.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Drikung Monastery, the ancestral monastery of the Drikung branch of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, is located in Menba Township, Mozhugongka County, southeast of Lhasa City. The religious music ensemble of the Drikung Kagyu school has set a model not only for the monastery religious ensembles of the more than two hundred branch monasteries of the Drikung sect in every part of the Tibetan regions, but has also influenced almost all the ensembles of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries; the pieces are transmitted down through the “rui-ci” scores, that is the ensemble scores, and through oral teaching from elder musician-monks.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music · Buddhist Music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The music of the Drikung Kagyu school originally had more than eighty large-scale pieces, of which only some twenty can now be performed; these include a system of pieces suitable for the various ritual observances of Buddhist affairs, as well as a large number of both special-purpose and non-special-purpose pieces. These pieces are transmitted down through the “rui-ci” scores, that is the ensemble scores, and through oral teaching from elder musician-monks, and they have influenced the repertoires of the ensembles of the various Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. As an important form of music in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, the music of the Drikung Kagyu school preserves the basic character of Tibetan Buddhist music and provides a vivid example for the study of China's rich traditional culture. In recent years the elder musician-monks of the Kagyu school have died one after another, and few can now read the “rui-ci” scores; urgent rescue is needed. Dunzhu (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in April 1968, a native of Mozhugongka County, Tibet Autonomous Region. He entered Drikung Monastery in Mozhugongka County for study in 1981, and in 1990 was elected as its leading chanter. He persisted in studying the various kinds of religious music, thoroughly mastering the playing and conducting of the different instruments of the Drikung Kagyu school as well as the religious musical chants performed on various occasions. From 1997 to 2004 he served as instructor of the Gar Qiangmu performance team of Drikung Monastery. From 2008 he began to serve as the khambo in overall charge of the monastery's Buddhist affairs, and is a distinguished lama of both virtue and art at Drikung Monastery. Representative inheritor of the Buddhist music (Drikung Kagyu school music) item of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He trained another young gurulu inheritor, Palo Danzengduoji.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Song Chun 03-0889
• Shilongjiang 03-0890
• Dunzhu 03-0891
• Cheng Laijiacuo 03-0892
• Xu Jianye 03-0893
• Shiyongwu 04-1535
• Jiayanglezhu 04-1536
• Nimazhuoga 05-2149
• Suonanzhuoma 05-2150
• Luocangguanque 05-2151
• Luocanggengga 05-2152
• Kuochen
• Xincheng

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Buddhist Music (Mozhugongka, Tibet) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Dunzhu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗