Daoist Music
01 · Historical Records
Mount Lao Daoist music has a long history: over more than 1,500 years of development from the Northern and Southern dynasties to the present, it has absorbed artistic elements from Daoist music, qin music, popular ditties (liqu), Jiangnan music and many other musical forms, and has formed a natural style of its own that is simple in form and far-reaching in meaning, refined, fragrant and restrained.
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. Mount Lao Daoist music falls into two main categories, jingyun (scriptural melody) music and instrumental music. The jingyun music is further divided into diantan jingyun and yingfeng jingyun, and its forms of expression include the singing style, the chanting style, the reciting style and several others. The singing style has a beautiful melodic contour and includes representative works such as 《Bu Xu》, 《Diaogua》, 《Da Zan》 and 《Xiao Zan》; the chanting style has little contour, half reciting and half singing, and is mostly found in the morning and evening devotions; the reciting style is used chiefly for zhaijiao rites such as “zhenji” (relief of the hungry ghosts). The instrumental music is represented by yingfeng music and guqin music; in general it too can be divided into two categories, one being “zhengqu” (formal tune) for the zhaijiao rites of the inner and outer altars, and the other being “shaqu” (play tune), which is generally played before the zhaijiao rite begins and serves to regulate the atmosphere. Representative works of Mount Lao Daoist music include 《Lihentian》 and 《Liuwen Qingtian》 and others.
Bu Xu
Mount Lao Daoist music falls into two main categories, jingyun music and instrumental music. The jingyun music is further divided into diantan jingyun and yingfeng jingyun, and its forms of expression include the singing style, the chanting style and the reciting style. The singing style has a beautiful melodic contour and includes representative works such as 《Bu Xu》, 《Diaogua》, 《Da Zan》 and 《Xiao Zan》; the chanting style has little contour, half reciting and half singing, and is mostly found in the morning and evening devotions; the reciting style is used chiefly for zhaijiao rites such as “zhenji”.
Diaogua
Mount Lao Daoist music falls into two main categories, jingyun music and instrumental music. The jingyun music is further divided into diantan jingyun and yingfeng jingyun, and its forms of expression include the singing style, the chanting style and the reciting style. The singing style has a beautiful melodic contour and includes representative works such as 《Bu Xu》, 《Diaogua》, 《Da Zan》 and 《Xiao Zan》; the chanting style has little contour, half reciting and half singing, and is mostly found in the morning and evening devotions; the reciting style is used chiefly for zhaijiao rites such as “zhenji”.
Da Zan
Mount Lao Daoist music falls into two main categories, jingyun music and instrumental music. The jingyun music is further divided into diantan jingyun and yingfeng jingyun, and its forms of expression include the singing style, the chanting style and the reciting style. The singing style has a beautiful melodic contour and includes representative works such as 《Bu Xu》, 《Diaogua》, 《Da Zan》 and 《Xiao Zan》; the chanting style has little contour, half reciting and half singing, and is mostly found in the morning and evening devotions; the reciting style is used chiefly for zhaijiao rites such as “zhenji”.
Xiao Zan
Mount Lao Daoist music falls into two main categories, jingyun music and instrumental music. The jingyun music is further divided into diantan jingyun and yingfeng jingyun, and its forms of expression include the singing style, the chanting style and the reciting style. The singing style has a beautiful melodic contour and includes representative works such as 《Bu Xu》, 《Diaogua》, 《Da Zan》 and 《Xiao Zan》; the chanting style has little contour, half reciting and half singing, and is mostly found in the morning and evening devotions; the reciting style is used chiefly for zhaijiao rites such as “zhenji”.
Lihentian
Representative works of Mount Lao Daoist music include 《Lihentian》 and 《Liuwen Qingtian》 and others.
Liuwen Qingtian
Representative works of Mount Lao Daoist music include 《Lihentian》 and 《Liuwen Qingtian》 and others.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mount Lao Daoist music is transmitted mainly among more than 120 temples and monasteries of the Mount Lao area in Qingdao City, Shandong Province; by geographical location it is divided into two major performing schools, the “Inner Mountain School” and the “Outer Mountain School”. Mount Lao Daoism belongs to the Northern Quanzhen school, so its music mainly uses the authentic Quanzhen vocal system; at the same time it incorporates the local speech and the folk music of the Shandong area, showing a pronounced local character in its singing style, its melodic characteristics and its structural form, and forming the “Mount Lao resonance” (Laoshan yun) famed among Daoist ritual sites.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Mount Lao Daoist music preserves the surviving style of the classical music of the Ming and Qing periods, and has high value for musicological research. At present, the gradual fading of traditional folk customs and the continual decline of jiao rituals have caused the space in which Mount Lao Daoist music can survive to shrink day by day; at the same time, the transmission of its performance technique is also in crisis, and it is necessary to plan rationally so as to protect this ancient religious music in good time.
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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