A performance of what is described by some as "fossil music" will be staged by a band of old Naxi people at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing this Friday and Saturday.
This traditional type of music has been well and truly kept alive for thousands of years. It is an ancient music preserved by the Naxi people, an ethnic group from Lijiang, a remote town in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. The concert will consist of two types of fossil music:
The first is called "Baisha Xiyue" (White Sands and Elegant Music), which is played on traditional string and woodwind instruments.
According to Xuan Ke, head of the band, it was actually a Naxi requiem dedicated to warriors lost in a legendary battle between the Naxi and Pumi tribes.
Legend has it that a Naxi princess was married to a Pumi prince. But her father wanted to conquer the Pumi region and started a war. The princess tried to stop the war but was confined to an island and died of a broken heart when she heard that her husband had died in the battle.
The other type is "Dongjing Music" (Cave Scripture Music) which originated from Taoist and Buddhist ritual music and was "imported" to Naxi from Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces after the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
The music was very popular during the 13th and 14th century, but was forgotten and deserted by most Chinese in the central region of the country.
Fortunately, it has been well preserved ever since by the Naxi musicians.
In 1981, Xuan Ke, the son of a Tibetan mother and a Naxi father, organized some old Naxi musicians and established the Dayan Naxi Ancient Music Association.
They stepped out of Lijiang to perform around the country to introduce "fossil music" to more and more people. Early in 1998 their debut at the Forbidden City Concert Hall amazed Beijing music critics and fans.
The musicians also play rare and ancient instruments.
A Persian lute, called sugudu in the Naxi language, was originally an Egyptian stringed instrument which was adopted and modified by the ancient Persians. It made its way across India into China's Tibet, Sichuan Province and finally into the hands of the Naxi.
Xuan said: "The sugudu makes the music more colorful and has become an indispensable part of the band."
The band is also proud of its 400-year-old pipa, which is widely said to have been given to the Naxi as a gift by a virtuoso musician disguised as a rugged, old man, in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
A Naxi instrument, the bobo, is actually the archetype of the pipa and many other instruments, including the 10-chiming-gongs and the bamboo huqin with its human face.
Some of the music and the instruments are old, along with some of the performers whose ages range from 54 to 82.
He Shangchao, one of the oldest musicians in the band, said: "Playing the music is a good way to cultivate yourself. When playing sacred music, we must sit still like a Buddha, forget about our daily lives and get totally immersed in the music."
Just like He, most of the performers in the band have been playing their instruments since a very young age.
"When they were young, they loved to play music just like today's youngsters fascinated by rock'n'roll or R&B," said Xuan.
However, nowadays, young people in Lijiang are also strongly influenced by pop culture just like most of their peers in other parts of the country.
"It is difficult for people of my age to learn about the smooth and ancient music," said He Xiufen, 24, who now sings the vocals for the band.
Meanwhile, how to pass on the music has become an important issue for the Naxi people.
There is no formal or systematic program to teach those interested in their type of music and those who do want to learn have to sit by old musicians to pick up some instruction and tips.
(China Daily January 24, 2002)
