Taoist Music of Xuanmiao Taoist Temple
By admin on 2015-01-12

Xuanmiao Taoist Temple 玄妙观 is one of the ancient Taoist temples in southern China, and is located in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

According to historical records, the Xuanmiaoguan Taoist Temple was first founded in the Western Jin Dynasty (265 – 316) and was named Zhenqing Temple at that time. The name was then changed toKaiyuan Templeduring the Tang Dynasty and Tianqing Temple during the Song dynasty. It was not until the Yuan dynasty that the temple was named Xuanmiaoguan Taoist Temple (mysterious sublimity).

The Taoist music of Xuanmiaoguan Taoist Temple had a great reputation for a number of years. . It is influenced by the Taoist music of the Celestial Masters Tradition of the Dragon and Tiger Mountain in Jiangxi Province, and has also absorbed elements of folk music, such as Kunqu Opera, music of the Jiangnan area, Wuqiang Opera and local ditties.

Most of the musical instruments have local features. For example, the main musical instruments used are the flute, the xianzi (a three-stringed plucked instrument), the drum, cymbals, the sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument), the xiao (a vertical bamboo flute), the ancient violin, the shuangqing, the yunluo, the daluo, the xiaoluo (gongs), big and small horns, and the erhu(a two-stringed bowed instrument), etc.

The Taoist music of Xuanmiaoguan Taoist Temple sounds pure, low, deep, slow, and moderate. It has a hint of court music style and is elegant in its primitive simplicity.