Daoist Music
01 · Historical Records
The transmission of Shanghai Daoist music is connected with the spread of the Zhengyi-school Daoist rites of the Jiangnan region from the Song and Yuan dynasties onward in the Songjiang, Jiading and Pudong areas. Daoist priests of successive generations handed the tradition on through apprenticeship, through temples and through family transmission at the same time, so that three major schools gradually formed: the eastern suburb, the western suburb and the urban district. Because the Shanghai Daoist liturgical observances are performed and sung in the Shanghai dialect, the singing and playing of all three schools carry the flavour of Jiangnan sizhu.
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. Shanghai Daoist music has two parts: first, music accompanying Daoist rites, and second, pieces that express Daoist thought. Music accompanying Daoist rites is also called “zhaijiao music”, “daochang music” or “fashi yin”; it is used mainly to accompany the various Daoist zhaijiao observances, and among the things it covers are the accompaniment for daoshi and high-ranking officiants when they chant and sing, the accompaniment played while the officiant performs the rites, the transitional music for changes in the arrangement of the altar between the successive stages of a rite, and the music that opens and closes a rite. The pieces that express Daoist thought are purely instrumental. Their chief purpose is to promulgate the ideas and concepts of the Daoist school, and through performance they convey a spirit of clear serenity and of returning to the uncarved block; these Daoist tunes are mostly performed on their own and are not included in the rites. The spoken declamation and the chanting lay stress on the rise and fall of the language and are rich in rhythmic feeling; the melodic lines undulate and continue, beautiful and pleasant to the ear; the vocal style is clearly stratified, and between one section and another and between one phrase and another the parts are linked by type-like melodic accompaniment. The melodic contour of the opening phrase is often different from the tune used in the repeated chanting that follows; sometimes the repetition even begins on the initial phrase and slowly turns into the main tune, producing changes of both tune and mode. In singing, the music is solemn and ornate, carrying a good many ornamental notes. Besides the qudi, bells and drums, bowed and plucked string instruments also play an important part in the accompaniment, making the music as a whole more elegant and full-bodied. In modern times, with China beset by internal troubles and external aggression and Shanghai repeatedly subjected to shocks, Daoist music was severely scattered and lost.
Yingxianke
Representative works of Shanghai Daoist music include 《Yingxianke》, 《Jingtan Keyi》 and 《Shifan Luogu》 and others; the present representative inheritor is the Shanghai Municipal Taoist Association.
Jingtan Keyi
Representative works of Shanghai Daoist music include 《Yingxianke》, 《Jingtan Keyi》 and 《Shifan Luogu》 and others; the present representative inheritor is the Shanghai Municipal Taoist Association.
Shifan Luogu
Representative works of Shanghai Daoist music include 《Yingxianke》, 《Jingtan Keyi》 and 《Shifan Luogu》 and others; the present representative inheritor is the Shanghai Municipal Taoist Association.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Because the Shanghai Daoist liturgical observances are performed and sung in the Shanghai dialect, the singing and playing of the three schools of Shanghai Daoist music — the eastern suburb, the western suburb and the urban district — all carry the flavour of Jiangnan sizhu: delicate and indirect, elegant and fresh. In theory, repertoire, singing and playing technique and many other respects, Shanghai Daoist music has exerted an enormous influence on the local folk music. It has long preserved the form of the originally transmitted Daoist music, and it is an important subject in the study of ancient Chinese religious music.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Shanghai Daoist music derives from the Daoist rites and music of Suzhou and of Mount Longhu in Jiangxi, and has a history of more than 800 years to the present. Through the transmission and development of thirty generations of daoshi, the musical traditions of the Shanghai area were fused into it; equal weight is given to singing and instruments, and it displays a pronounced Shanghai character in the shaping of vocal lines and in melodic ornamentation. Representative works of Shanghai Daoist music include 《Yingxianke》, 《Jingtan Keyi》 and 《Shifan Luogu》 and others; the present representative inheritor is the Shanghai Municipal Taoist Association. At present, with the successive passing away of Daoist musicians of the older generation, the ancient Shanghai Daoist music has no successors in its transmission and is on the verge of extinction; rescue and protection are urgently needed. Shi Jitong (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Dharma name Dingtong, male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1924, native of Shanghai. Since 1986 he has collated the complete body of ritual materials for Daoist music, such as the contents of the many kinds of rite including buxu, song, zan and ji. The ritual music he contributed, such as the large-scale wind-and-percussion pieces 《Wanhuadeng》 and 《Ma Dui》, has become repertoire unique within Shanghai Daoist music. Representative inheritor of the third national-level intangible cultural heritage item Daoist Music (Shanghai Daoist Music). Over his long career in Daoist music he trained a large number of Daoist disciples, and he is a representative inheritor of Daoist music with considerable influence in the Jiading area.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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