儀式音樂
Ritual and temple music
Yishi yinyue (儀式音樂), ritual music, is the sound of Chinese religious life: Buddhist and Taoist chanting, the rites performed by priests for temples and families, Confucian ceremonial music, and the gongs, drums and shawms of temple festivals. Most of it is made by monks, priests and community musicians rather than concert performers, and nearly all the recordings on this page come from Taiwan.
- 龍山寺誦經Lóngshān sì sòngjīng — Sutra chanting at Longshan Temple, Taipei4:50
- 龍山寺早課Lóngshān sì zǎokè — Morning service at Longshan Temple, Taipei14:40
- 龍山寺唱誦Lóngshān sì chàngsòng — Scripture singing at Longshan Temple, Taipei9:04
- 香洲寺院誦經Xiāngzhōu sìyuàn sòngjīng — Monks chanting in a temple, Zhuhai1:13
- 台東法會誦經Táidōng fǎhuì sòngjīng — Buddhist puja in Taitung6:22
- 善化堂誦經Shànhuà táng sòngjīng — Chanting at Shanhuatang, Puli3:18
- 水林喪禮道士科儀Shuǐlín sānglǐ dàoshì kēyí — A Taoist priest at a funeral, Shuilin4:34
- 天南宮中元普渡法會Tiānnán gōng zhōngyuán pǔdù fǎhuì — Ghost Festival rite at Tiannan Temple, Mituo7:04
- 番薯厝建醮法會Fānshǔcuò jiànjiào fǎhuì — Jiao rite of renewal, Fanshucuo47:16
- 龍鳳佛堂問神儀式Lóngfèng fótáng wènshén yíshì — Consulting the goddess, Longfeng Hall, Taitung5:48
- 清水傳統喪禮Qīngshuǐ chuántǒng sānglǐ — Traditional funeral ceremony, Qingshui5:50
- 台南孔廟以成書院十三音教學Shísānyīn — A shisanyin class at the Tainan Confucius Temple1:30
- 天公陞壇祝壽Tiāngōng shēngtán zhùshòu — Birthday ceremony for the Jade Emperor, Tainan1:01
- 省城隍廟廟會Shěng chénghuáng miào miàohuì — City God festival in Taipei, with nanguan15:20
- 迎神遶境Yíngshén ràojìng — Gods entering the ceremony ground, Taipei13:36
- 北投廟會Běitóu miàohuì — Temple festival in Beitou8:30
- 艋舺青山宮廟會Měngjiǎ Qīngshān gōng miàohuì — Qingshan Temple festival, Wanhua3:22
- 淡水鑼鼓Dànshuǐ luógǔ — Gongs and drums in Tamsui4:28
- 淡水遶境Dànshuǐ ràojìng — Temple festival parade in Tamsui12:10
- 和樂軒樂器練習Hélèxuān yuèqì liànxí — Instrument practice at Helexuan, Bade3:46
- 台北客家義民祭Táiběi Kèjiā yìmín jì — Hakka Yimin Festival, Taipei6:50
- 水林傳統喪禮Shuǐlín chuántǒng sānglǐ — Traditional funeral rite, Shuilin9:08
- 板橋遶境Bǎnqiáo ràojìng — Temple festival parade, Banqiao6:56
- 文龍宮法會Wénlóng gōng fǎhuì — Puja at Wenlong Temple, Kaohsiung6:12
Liner notes
How to listen
Much of this music is not meant to be listened to as a performance at all. It is part of a rite, and what you hear depends on where you stand. Inside a Buddhist temple you may hear a morning service or a sutra being chanted. At a funeral or a temple's festival, the titles of these recordings point to voices and instruments together, as priests carry out their rites.
Outside, in the street, the music changes character. One tradition long heard in Taiwan is beiguan, whose usual instruments are two suona shawms, a woodblock, large and small gongs, drums and cymbals, played at weddings and ceremonies. The luogu page has more on the gongs and drums.
Priests and monks
Taoist ritual in Taiwan and eastern China is carried out by two broad kinds of specialist. The Zhengyi Taoist priests, sometimes called "blackhead" priests, stress their Taoist lineage. The ritual masters, or fashi, sometimes called "redhead" priests, work within folk religion outside official Taoism. Both can marry, and both perform rites for community temples and private homes. Ritual masters may perform healing, exorcism and jiao rituals, though historically they were excluded from the jiao liturgy. Buddhist monks offer similar services, in competition with both.
The Ghost Festival shows how they meet. In the seventh lunar month, known in Taiwan as Pudu, the realms of the dead are believed to open. Buddhists and Taoists both hold rites to relieve the hungry ghosts, often in the afternoon or at night, scattering rice and other food in all directions for the spirits.
Confucian ceremony
The oldest strand is the ceremonial music of the state, called yayue. Confucius saw correct music as part of good order, and the ritual-and-music system took shape under the Zhou. Yayue survived in imperial ceremonies until the end of the Qing dynasty and in Confucian ritual in China until 1949. It has been revived in Confucian ritual in Taiwan since the late 1960s, though scholars debate how faithful the revived music is.
Start with
For chant, begin with the Morning service at Longshan Temple, Taipei. For a Taoist rite, hear Ghost Festival rite at Tiannan Temple, Mituo. For the street, try the Temple festival parade in Tamsui. The Temple courtyards of Taiwan collection gathers more, and nanguan has its own page.
Questions
- What is Chinese ritual music?
- It is the music of Chinese religious practice: Buddhist and Taoist chanting, the music of rites for the dead and for temple festivals, Confucian ceremonial music, and the percussion and wind bands of processions. Most of it is performed by ritual specialists and community groups.
- What is the difference between a Taoist priest and a ritual master?
- Zhengyi Taoist priests stress their formal Taoist lineage, while ritual masters (fashi) work within folk religion outside official Taoism. Both serve temples and households, but historically only the priests performed the jiao liturgy.
- What happens at the Ghost Festival?
- In the seventh lunar month, called Pudu in Taiwan, ghosts are believed to roam the world of the living. Families make offerings, and Buddhist monks and Taoist priests hold rites to relieve the ghosts' suffering.
- What instruments are used in beiguan?
- Beiguan, long widespread in Taiwan, usually uses two suona, a woodblock, large and small gongs, drums and cymbals, and sometimes fiddles and plucked strings.