Daoist Music
01 · Historical Records
In the thirty-sixth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty (1608), the Daoist priests of Beijing Baiyun Guan — Wang Zhenshou, Zhang Zhenyi and others — reached Mount Baiyun holding a warrant from the Shaanxi Provincial Administrative Commission in order to take charge of all religious affairs there, bringing the Daoist music of Beijing Baiyun Guan into Shaanxi. Mount Baiyun Daoist music thereby acquired a style that is plain and elegant and solemn and dignified, and was praised as “divine resonance of White Cloud, immortal music of the sacred realm”.
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 Baiyun is the largest Daoist temple of the northwest, situated amid the towering mountains of Jia County in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. Mount Baiyun Daoist music consists of three parts: jingyun melodies, sheng-and-wind music and percussion. By musical form the jingyun melodies fall into three categories: the fengjing qiang (scripture-reciting style), the songgao qiang (edict-chanting style) and the yunqiang (rhyme style). The sheng-and-wind music is an extremely important component of Mount Baiyun Daoist music: it is used in almost every Daoist activity and rite, either accompanying the singing of the jingyun melodies or being performed on its own as sheng-and-wind tune patterns. The percussion includes two categories: the naocha pieces, in which large and small nao and cymbals are the principal striking instruments, and the dangcha pieces, in which the dang and small cymbals are the principal striking instruments; they may be played at the transitions and linkages between the successive stages of ritual procedure, and they may also serve as introduction, interlude and coda in the singing and playing of jingyun melodies and sheng-and-wind music. At present 142 Mount Baiyun Daoist melodies have been collected and written down, including 65 jingyun melodies, 52 sheng-and-wind pieces and 25 pieces for percussion instruments. Its representative pieces include 《Dao Bing Ji》, 《Zhong Tang Zan》 and 《San Jiao Sheng Ren Zan》 and others. At present, as the times develop and evolve, folk sacrificial activity is gradually dying out, and after the Daoist priests of the older generation of Mount Baiyun died one after another, it became difficult to form a band of impressive size in the temple. If this continues, Mount Baiyun Daoist music will face a crisis of decline and extinction.
Dao Bing Ji
One of the representative pieces of Mount Baiyun Daoist music.
Zhong Tang Zan
One of the representative pieces of Mount Baiyun Daoist music.
San Jiao Sheng Ren Zan
One of the representative pieces of Mount Baiyun Daoist music, exemplifying the characteristic blending of the three teachings.
142 catalogued pieces
At present 142 Mount Baiyun Daoist melodies have been collected and written down, including 65 jingyun melodies, 52 sheng-and-wind pieces and 25 pieces for percussion instruments; by musical form the jingyun melodies fall into three categories: the fengjing qiang, the songgao qiang and the yunqiang.
Cymbal and dang-cha pieces
The percussion includes two categories: the naocha pieces, in which large and small nao and cymbals are the principal striking instruments, and the dangcha pieces, in which the dang and small cymbals are the principal striking instruments. They may be played at the transitions and linkages between the successive stages of ritual procedure, and they may also serve as introduction, interlude and coda in the singing and playing of jingyun melodies and sheng-and-wind music.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mount Baiyun in Jia County is the largest Daoist temple of the northwest. In the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, the Daoist priests of Beijing Baiyun Guan, obeying the warrant of the Shaanxi Provincial Administrative Commission, came to the mountain to take charge of all religious affairs, bringing the capital's Daoist music into northern Shaanxi; afterwards it further absorbed local Buddhist tunes and the tunes of Jin opera, the suona and the folk songs of northern Shaanxi, forming a style that combines the winding grace of the south with the high resonance of the north.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the course of its transmission Mount Baiyun Daoist music absorbed local Buddhist tunes and musical tunes such as Jin opera, the suona and the folk songs of northern Shaanxi, so that its performance style and performance technique came to bear strong local features; it has become a survival of Daoist music and folk music that is rarely seen today, and has research value for the history of Daoist music and for the history of national culture. For this reason a protection and support plan must be drawn up as soon as possible, to guarantee that this religious art can go on surviving and developing in the manner of former times. Zhang Minggui (per the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Daoist name Xixianzi, male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1931, native of Jia County, Shaanxi Province. He is the fifteenth-generation Daoist priest of Mount Baiyun. He is fully proficient in every wind instrument and every percussion instrument used in performing Daoist music. On the foundation of inheriting traditional Daoist music, he has absorbed the essence of Buddhist music, Jin opera, suona music and the folk songs of northern Shaanxi, enriching the artistic expressiveness of Mount Baiyun Daoist music. The Mount Baiyun Daoist music he performs is at once plain and elegant and solemn and dignified, while at the same time possessing the winding beauty and fresh, delicate character of Jiangnan music. In 1996, at the invitation of the British Taoist Association, he went to London, Edinburgh and other places to expound the Dao and exchange. Representative inheritor of the third national-level intangible cultural heritage item Daoist Music (Mount Baiyun Daoist Music). Since taking charge of Daoist affairs at Mount Baiyun, he has repaired the temple, rescued and collated materials relating to Daoist music, and tirelessly taught Daoist ritual and Daoist music; he has already trained outstanding disciples such as Ren Zhixiao, Zhang Zhipeng and Cao Zhizhong.
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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