At dusk before a Daoist temple hall wreathed in incense, a priest in a red ritual robe holds a tablet at the altar. Musicians in blue robes kneel on either side playing gongs, drums and flutes while onlookers stand quietly.
Pacing-the-void hymns that open the altar to the gods
Introduction
The sung hymns and instrumental labelled tunes of Zhengyi and Quanzhen priests in Daoist rites of offering and purification
Daoist ritual music is the music that Daoist priests sing and play in their rites of offering and purification. It has two kinds, yunqiang (sung scripture hymns) and paizi (instrumental labelled tunes), used at the altar to invite, praise and send off the gods, and two main traditions, the married Zhengyi priests and the monastic Quanzhen order. In 415 Kou Qianzhi of the Northern Wei said that Lord Lao had given him the New Code of Chanted Recitation in the Clouds, with which he reformed the rites of the Celestial Masters; the Northern Song Jade Tunes ritual records fifty Daoist hymns in a curved notation, the oldest surviving collection of Daoist vocal music. The Daoist music of Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou (II-68), the temple music of Wudang (II-69) and the twenty traditions under Daoist music (II-139), including Wuxi, Shanghai, Longhushan, Maoshan and the Quanzhen halls of Hong Kong, are still handed down; the Wuxi musician Hua Yanjun (Abing) came out of this tradition.
Timeline
- 415OriginIn the tenth month of 415 Kou Qianzhi, on Mount Song, said that Lord Lao had appeared to him, made him Celestial Master and given him the New Code of Chanted Recitation in the Clouds in twenty scrolls, with which he reorganised the Celestial Masters; it is the earliest clear record of chanted Daoist liturgy.
- 1115EvolutionThe Jade Tunes ritual, probably printed in the Zhenghe reign of Northern Song (1111–1118), holds fifty Daoist hymns; its first two volumes notate pacing-the-void and other odes in a curved notation, making it the oldest surviving collection of Daoist vocal music, now in the Zhengtong Daoist Canon.
- 1810EvolutionLate in the Ming or early in the Qing, Shi Liangsheng compiled the Zhaitian and other liturgies, and in the Jiaqing reign (1796–1820) Cao Xisheng, a priest of Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou, revised the Juntian miaoyue, still the standard of the temple's Zhengyi ritual music.
- 2006ImpactIn 2006 the Daoist music of Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou (II-68) and the temple music of Wudang (II-69) entered the first national ICH list; in 2008 Daoist music (II-139) added thirteen traditions such as Wuxi and Shanghai, with seven more in 2011 and 2014.
Heritage Listings
- 2006National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · II-68 Daoist music of Xuanmiao Temple · Suzhou · no. 99 · Suzhou · Jiangsu · safeguarding body: Suzhou Daoist Association
- 2006National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · II-69 Temple music of Wudang · no. 100 · Shiyan · Hubei
- 2008National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · II-139 Daoist music [no. 638: Taiping Daoist music of Guangzong · Hengshan · Shanghai · Wuxi · Qiyunshan ritual music · Laoshan · Taishan · Jiaodong Quanzhen · Lashan · Hainan offering-rite music · Chengdu · Baiyunshan · Qingshui · Guangzong · Hebei · Yanggao · Shanxi · Shanghai Daoist Association · Wuxi · Jiangsu · Xiuning · Anhui · Laoshan District of Qingdao · Tai'an · Yantai and Dongping · Shandong · Ding'an · Hainan · Chengdu · Sichuan · Jiaxian · Shaanxi · Qingshui · Gansu]
- 2011National list extension items3rd batch · II-139 Daoist music: Dongyue Temple Daoist music · Macau Daoist ritual music · Pingyang · Zhejiang · Macau SAR
- 2014National list extension items4th batch · II-139 Daoist music: Huazhangmeng · Maoshan · Cangnan Zhengyi ritual music · Longhushan Zhengyi Celestial Master music · Quanzhen hall ritual music · Dingzhou · Hebei · Jurong · Jiangsu · Cangnan · Zhejiang · Yingtan · Jiangxi · Hong Kong SAR