Taoist music (Wuxi Taoist Music)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Taoist music (Wuxi Taoist Music)

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 638

Project No.: Ⅱ - 139

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Jiangsu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Protection unit: Wuxi Taoist Association

Introduction to Taoist music (Wuxi Taoist Music)

Applicant: Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province

Taoist music, also known as "Daochang music", is the music used in Taoist religious activities. Like Taoism, it originated from the sacrificial songs and dances of ancient witches. Taoist music consists of two parts: instrumental music and vocal music. Instrumental music is mainly composed of bell, chime, drum, wooden fish, cloud Gong and other instruments, with wind, plucking, string pulling and other instruments. Vocal music is mainly composed of chanting, which is composed of Gaogong master's recitation of vows, praise of God, chanting of the table, the confession of all preachers and the chorus of all Taoists.

The Taoist music in Wuxi area of Jiangsu Province has a history of more than 1400 years. It inherits the classical music tradition of Chinese Taoism. In the process of development, it absorbs the artistic factors of local folk music, Southern Jiangsu local opera, especially Kunqu Opera, and gradually forms a distinctive artistic style of returning to the original and beyond the vulgarity.

Wuxi Taoist music can be divided into three types: tune, Sanskrit, gongs and drums. Tune belongs to vocal art, which has the forms of praise, Bu Xu, mantra, Daoqu and Lang Nian. Sanskrit, also known as "Shifan drum", belongs to instrumental art, which is an independent kind of music played with single drum, Qudi, Sheng, huqin, pipa, Quxian and other silk and bamboo instruments; Gongs and drums, also known as "Shifan gongs and drums", belong to the same instrumental art as Sanskrit. They are also independent music. They have unique characteristics in instrument configuration, routine combination, performance style and zhaishi usage.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Wuxi's Taoist music circle was full of talents and experts. For a while, "five bands", "eight brothers" and "ten bands" emerged, and some outstanding representatives of Wuxi's Taoist music came into being, such as Qin Xianzhi, Zhu Qinfu, the king of nangu, and Hua Yanjun, a Taoist musician. Such works as Er Quan Ying Yue, 18 Pai and Xia Xi Feng were born in this fertile land, which is the great contribution of Wuxi Taoist music to national culture and art. The representative works of Wuxi Taoist music include "praise for saving suffering", "fragrance of Cinnamon Twig", "Eighteen sixty-four two" and so on.

Wuxi Taoist music is famous for its long history, rich local characteristics, grand scale and exquisite routine. It is unique in the field of Chinese Taoist music and even national folk music, and has research value in religion, folklore, musicology and other aspects. In the 1960s, the Taoist activities in Wuxi basically stopped, which directly affected the development and inheritance of Taoist music. Later, with the recommendation of Mr. Yang Yinliu and others, Wuxi Taoist music gradually became known and began to spread all over the country. At present, some highly skilled Taoist musicians in Wuxi have died, and many of them are almost lost. It is urgent to invest in the rescue and protection work.