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. Beiwudang Temple is located at Jiuquankou in the Helan Mountains to the northwest of Dawukou District, Shizuishan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; the music transmitted in the temple is the product of the union of the three teachings of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, and after more than a thousand years of development and change, the music coming from India has absorbed the local folk ditties and the music of opera and quyi, becoming a special form of folk music in the Ningxia region.

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. At every major temple fair the monks of Beiwudang Temple chant the sutras to the sound of gongs, drums, the wooden fish, naos and biaos being struck, and of sheng, xiao, guan and flute being played. On such occasions the drums and music sound together in the great hall and the chanting of the sutras rings out clear, presenting an auspicious scene. The temple music of Beiwudang Temple on the one hand has the gentle, roundabout character of southern music, and on the other hand does not lose the lofty resonance of the northern ethnic music of the Tangut, Mongol, Tibetan and other peoples. Its sung texts are composed in several languages and scripts, including Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan as well as Chinese. The temple music of Beiwudang Temple is divided into wen music and wu music, in which the wen music, that is the vocal scores, is recorded in gongche notation; the wu music is also called “zha-zha-zi” and is recorded by a vertical-column method of notation. The two combine to form temple music in which wind instruments and percussion are played together. The instruments played in the temple music of Beiwudang Temple include gong, drum, wooden fish, nao, biao, sheng, xiao, guan and flute, and the representative works include 《Four Seasons Song》, 《Awakening the World》 and the like.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The temple music of Beiwudang Temple is divided into wen music and wu music: the wen music, that is the vocal scores, is recorded in gongche notation; the wu music is also called “zha-zha-zi” and is recorded by a vertical-column method of notation; the two combine to form temple music in which wind instruments and percussion are played together. Its sung texts are composed in several languages and scripts, including Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan as well as Chinese; on the one hand it has the gentle, roundabout character of southern music, and on the other hand it does not lose the lofty resonance of the northern ethnic music of the Tangut, Mongol, Tibetan and other peoples.

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 temple music of Beiwudang Temple is an important reference in the study of the history of ethnic music; its sung texts, which combine several languages and scripts, are a further witness to the fusion of many ethnic cultures. At present, under the influence of modern music the temple music of Beiwudang Temple lacks successors and has entered an endangered state; urgent rescue and protection are needed. Xu Jianye (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Dharma name Xuxi, male, of Han ethnicity, born in November 1942, a native of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. In order to rescue and preserve Buddhist music, in 1972 the eminent Ningxia Buddhist master Shi Xuzuo went to Helan County in Ningxia together with Xu Jianye to find Master Jiinian, and recorded in numbered notation more than two hundred pieces that the master had recalled from memory. He has contributed and provided material for the northern Ningxia music content in the 《Collection of Chinese Folk Music · Ningxia Volume》. Most of the singing, chanting, praising and instrumental pieces of temple music now transmitted at Beiwudang Temple owe their transmission and spread to the scores he recorded. He has sorted and collated the surviving portions of Buddhist music against modern music by category — such as the modes of the pieces, the features of their rhythm, whether a piece is a creative work or a circulating and popular tune — with the aim of summarising them at the theoretical level. Representative inheritor of the Buddhist music (Beiwudang Temple temple music) item of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.

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 (Pingluo, Ningxia) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Xu Jianye · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗