Buddhist Music of Tianjin 2 CD set

Tianjin Buddhist Music Ensemble

Music-making like that heard here - with its roots in the religious ceremonies of the temples and of ritual societies - has been threatened since the 1950s. The disc in this collection present two very different traditions, connected by the thread of ceremony: Buddhist Music of Tianjin and Naxi Music from Lijiang.

Tianjin is a large and prosperous municipality on the coast near Beijing. It has inherited a rich legacy of musical culture from imperial times. This music is called Sheng-guan, taking its name from the two main instruments used in its performance. This exquisite music is still popular in the villages of Northern China.

Lijiang County, located in the north of China's southwestern Yunnan Province, is inhabited principally by the Naxi minority. The Naxi speak a Tibeto-Burman language - quite different from Chinese - and preserve a distinctive culture. Lijiang's music is very diverse, allowing traditional Naxi music to flourish in rural areas.

Li Jinwen
Wang Fengrui
Zhang Shicai
Zhang Shenglu
Pan Shizhong
Zhang Yujie

The Cultural Revolution in China, which lasted for ten years (1966-76) brought with it many horrors. Music-making like that heard here - with its roots in the religious ceremonies of the temples and of ritual societies - had, like many other activities, been precarious since the 1950s. Come the Revolution, such activities were completely proscribed, but since 1978 more liberal policies have allowed traditional culture, including religious practice, to make a substantial revival. The discs in this collection present two very different musics, but bound by the thread of ceremony, be it Buddhist, Taoist or Confucian.