Baisha Xiyue

Introduction

A Naxi classical suite joining instruments, song and dance, of which eight tunes survive

Baisha Xiyue is a classical suite of the Naxi people of Lijiang that combines instrumental music, singing and dance. Two accounts of its origin are told: one calls it music left behind by the Yuan, said to be a parting gift of musicians and scores from Kublai Khan, while the other traces it to Naxi folk music mourning those killed in war. The Lijiang prefectural gazetteer of 1743 already records it, and a late Qing county gazetteer describes its use at funerals. Tradition holds that it once had ten tunes, of which eight survive, played by an ensemble of at least eight on flutes, reed pipe, plucked and bowed strings and zither, often with song and dance. It was added to the third national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2011.