Daoist Music

01 · Historical Records

Taiping Daoist music originated in the Taiping Dao uprising of the late Eastern Han, and has been handed down in Guangzong County for more than 1,800 years up to the present. Over its long development it continually absorbed elements of Buddhist music and of court music, while also taking in large quantities of the operatic music and folk ditties of the Guangzong area, until it finally formed a complete body of Taiping Daoist music composed of liturgical music and instrumental music. The scores that survive today consist chiefly of the score of 【Taiping Shiba Fan】 and the so-called “three immortal tunes” — the scores of 【Chaotianzi】, 【Jingtang Yue】 and 【Yufurong】 and others.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Daoist music is also called “daochang music” (music of the ritual ground); it is the music used in Daoist zhaijiao liturgical observances, and, like Daoism itself, it too has its origin in the ritual song and dance of ancient shamans. Daoist music consists of instrumental and vocal parts. In the instrumental part the leading instruments are bells, ching, drums, wooden fish and small gongs, supported by wind, plucked and bowed string instruments; the vocal part is centred on chanting, and comprises the solo singing of the high-ranking officiant who proclaims the precepts, recites dharani, praises the spirits and chants the declaration, together with the spoken declaration of the dujiang daoshi and the unison singing of the assembled daoshi. Guangzong County lies in southern Hebei Province and is the birthplace of Taiping Daoist music. The principal performing instruments of Guangzong Taiping Daoist music are the wind instruments guan, sheng, di and xiao, with the altar drum, small gong, dangzi, nao and cymbals as accompaniment. The instruments used by Guangzong Taiping Daoist music differ from the sizhu and orchestral instruments of the Daoist temples throughout the country, and its tunes, scores and modal flavours differ greatly from those of the two schools, “Quanzhen” and “Zhengyi”. Some of its tunes are bright and high-pitched, with wide undulating contours: they combine the airy, otherworldly quality of Daoist music with a rugged, sonorous force, giving the style a markedly distinctive character. Guangzong Taiping Daoist music possesses 181 tune patterns, of which 48 are string-accompanied tune patterns, 41 are instrumental tune patterns, 45 are percussion tune patterns and 47 are lost tune patterns; there is also one handwritten gongche (Chinese notation) volume of Taiping Daoist music that has been passed down through many hands. In addition, when large-scale folk dances such as 《Tai Huang Gang》 are performed, they are accompanied by Guangzong Daoist music, which is likewise an important component of it.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Its performance forms are divided into two types: one is jingyue (static music), performed either seated or standing; the other is dongyue (moving music), also called “wuyue” (dance music) or “daowu” (Daoist dance), in which the musicians play while advancing. In terms of surviving repertoire, scores, performance etiquette, mode of transmission, instruments and related crafting techniques, Guangzong Taiping Daoist music preserves the original appearance of Daoist music rather well, and is an important reference for studying ancient Daoist music and its relationship with folk music and folk customs.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, because of changes in the social environment and in people's ideas, the space in which Taiping Daoist music can survive is growing smaller, and a number of transmitters have died one after another, so that its tune patterns are gradually being lost; protection measures urgently need to be strengthened. Zhang Yubao (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1947, native of Guangzong County, Hebei Province. He began studying instrumental performance of Taiping Daoist music at the age of 14, mastering the wind instruments guanzi, sheng, di and xiao; he is a twentieth-generation disciple of Taiping Daoist music. Besides being proficient in playing the various instruments used in Daoist music, he can also recite the classics, preside over religious rituals, and is skilled in Daoist calligraphy and paper-cutting; he has also made the sub-bass pipe that had been lost for more than 2,000 years, making the performance of Taiping Daoist music more melodious and pleasant to the ear. In order to protect and transmit Taiping Daoist music, he has collated more than sixty volumes of texts, totalling 120,000 characters and covering 121 musical pieces. The Guangzong Taiping Daoist music ensemble to which he belongs is frequently invited to take part in various folk celebratory performances and folk music competitions. Representative inheritor of the third national-level intangible cultural heritage item Daoist Music (Guangzong Taiping Daoist Music).

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Zhang Yubao 03-0894
• Li Manshan 03-0895
• Shi Jitong 03-0896
• You Wuzhong 03-0897
• Zhang Minggui 03-0898
• Wu Bingzhi 04-1537
• Feng Yingzhan 05-2153
• He Chunsheng 05-2154
• Wu Lixun 05-2155
• Zhan Heping 05-2156
• Zhang Jintao 05-2157
• Huo Dezhong 05-2158
• An Baohui 05-2159
• Wu Huyong

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Daoist Music (Guangzong, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhang Yubao · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗