British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Saving the Soul in Red China: Music and Ideology in the "Gongde" Ritual of Merit in Fujian
Author(s): Hwee-San Tan
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 11, No. 1, Red Ritual: Ritual Music and
Communism (2002), pp. 119-140
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4149888
Accessed: 07/01/2009 07:47
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bfe.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
British Forum for Ethnomusicology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
British Journal of Ethnomusicology.
http://www.jstor.org
HWEE-SAN TAN
Saving
the soul in Red China: music
and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of
merit in
Fujian
In
China,
a commemorative ritual
for
the
dead,
known in Minnan
(southern
Fujian)
as
Gongde, may
be
performed by
Buddhist,
Daoist or
lay
ritual
specialists.
Commercialism and
syncretism
with
popular beliefs
over time have
long
since led institutional Buddhists to
frown upon
its
performance by
their
own members. Since the
1980s,
the
government-mandated religious reform
has
provided
the institutional Buddhists with an
opening
to reinvent the
Gongde
tradition. This
change,
I
argue,
is due in
part
to state control and in
part
to the
Buddhists'
redefinition of ideological orthodoxy,
the basis
of
which lies in a
Buddhist
reform
movement
of
the
early
twentieth
century. Change
in the
Gongde
has a
definite impact
on
music,
a
fundamental component
in ritual. This
paper
examines how
political
and
ideological forces
serve as coercive and
enabling
factors influencing
the
meanings of Gongde
and its music.
Introduction
Religion
is a
powerful
tool for
political
and social control. In
imperial
China,
the
use of Confucian ideals and the
manipulation
of Buddhism and Daoism at
different times
by
the
ruling
6lite
testify
to this. Attitudes to
religion changed
in
the
early
twentieth
century.
Seen as an
impediment
to China's
modernization,
first the Nationalists and then the Communists
adopted
an
anti-religious
stance,
culminating
in the most severe
suppression
of
religion during
the Cultural
Revolution
period (1966-76). Following
reforms introduced
by Deng Xiaoping
in the late
1970s,
government hostility
towards
religion
abated,
culminating
in
the introduction in 1982 of a
policy
of freedom of
religious
belief.
However,
the
Chinese Communist
Party (hereafter CCP)
continues to view
religious practices
-
particularly
traditional customs - with
suspicion, deeming
them "feudal" and
"superstitious",
and tries to control and
regulate
them. Institutional
religions
such
as
Buddhism,
monastic
Daoism,
Christianity
and Islam are more
open
to
politi-
cal
manipulation by
the CCP. For their own
growth
and
development,
institu-
tionalized
religions
see
no
disadvantage
in
adapting
and
functioning according
to
new socialist
ideologies.
Indeed I would
argue
that the
monastery-based
institu-
tional Buddhists see this as a chance to modernize their
religion
and reinforce
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL. 11/i 2002 pp. 119-40
120
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.1 1/i 2002
their doctrinal
ideologies.1
On the other
hand,
government
control in rural areas
is more tenuous. This can be seen in the
re-emergence
of traditional and
opulent
funeral and
Gongde
rituals in more rural areas.2 This
paper
will focus on the
institutional Buddhists'
reinterpretation
of
Gongde ("merit"),
a ritual
performed
to
expedite
the soul's
journey
to Western Paradise or to a better rebirth.
Through
remodelling
a ritual which has been a bone of contention
among
institutional
Buddhists,
we see how the
power
relations of the Buddhists are
negotiated.
Change
in the
Gongde
has a definite
impact
on
zan,
an
important hymn-type
in
Buddhist
liturgy.
Examination of this
change
and its influence on choice of
styles,
musical
speed
and melodic lines reveals how
political
and
ideological
forces serve as coercive and
enabling
factors
influencing
the
meanings
of
Gongde
and its music.
Buddhist
concepts
of afterlife and the fundamental tenets of Chinese ancestor
worship
have
historically shaped
the Chinese ritual for the dead. The
holding
of
such a service is known as zuo
Gongde (hereafter
termed
simply Gongde)
in
Minnanese-speaking
areas
(and among Minnanese-speaking
Chinese
overseas).3
Over
time,
its ritual form
developed
into a
performance genre
which transcends
divisions of
region
and
religion.
The
Gongde
came to be -
and is still
today
-
performed by Buddhists,
Daoists or different
types
of
lay
ritual
specialists
of the
popular religion type. By
the late
eighteenth
to
early
nineteenth
century
the
active role
played by
Buddhist clerics in rites for the
dead,
and the commercial-
ism that
accompanied
such
rites,
caused Western observers in China
(and
indeed
Chinese
intellectuals)
to describe Buddhism as a
religion
for the salvation of the
dead rather than the
living. Among
the more erudite members of the
clergy,
the
commercialism of Buddhist rites for the dead was
perceived
as
being
one of the
causes of a decline in the morals of the monastic order. The infusion of folk
beliefs,
which
gradually
overshadowed the basic tenets of doctrinal
ideology,
also caused the learned Buddhists to frown
upon
the ritual.
Changing political
and social conditions
brought
forth another Buddhist
reform in the
early
twentieth
century,
led
by
the monk Taixu
(1890-1947)
and
several others. This left a
legacy
which exerted some influence on
(and
in
my
opinion
continues to
influence)
trends in
contemporary
Chinese Buddhism. But
Taixu's reforms were
nipped
in the bud
by
the advent in 1949 of the
CCP,
whose
successive
political
reforms and movements
disrupted
normal life nationwide
and culminated in the virtual
suspension
of
religious practices during
the
See below for an
explanation
of institutional monasteries. I use the term "institutional"
Buddhists when
speaking
of the ordained monastic members to avoid
using
the word "monk"
too
often,
since it is a title that is
correctly
restricted to a revered member of the order.
2
My
own
study
of
lay
ritualists in rural Minnan and recent
anthropological
studies
by
others
attest to this. See Dean
(1988,
1989 and
1993),
Siu
(1989)
and
Lagerwey (1987).
3
In
different parts of China, this
type of ritual
may
be known
by
other terms such as zuo chai
("performing vegetarian feasts") Dore (1987:215-23), and zuo daochang ("performing ritual")
Reichelt (1927:130), or it is sometimes
simply
known as
zuo foshi ("performing Buddhist
event"). Dialectal
pronunciations differ. For
example,
in the Minnan dialect of
Fujian, Gongde
is
pronounced more like
Gongdek. I have
given
all Chinese terms in their Mandarin
pronunciation.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
121
Cultural Revolution.
Following political,
economic and
religious
reforms that
began
in the
early
1980s,
religious
traditions have been rebuilt
rapidly.
In the
new
era,
the
Gongde
is
experiencing greater changes
than
any
other Buddhist rite
because of its contentious nature. To the
CCP,
it borders on
"superstition"
because it
propagates
belief in
ghosts
and
spirits.
To the more learned
Buddhists,
it is an obstacle to the
development
of doctrinal Buddhism for two reasons:
undesirable
syncretism
with
popular
beliefs over
time,
and distraction from the
basic aims of their
religious practice
due to the
temptations
of commercialism.
Radical
political
and social
changes
under Communist rule have
presented
the
Buddhists with an
opportunity
to re-evaluate a ritual that has cast a shadow over
the Buddhist order.
My
assessment of the
change
and the reasons for
change
in
Gongde
is based on
findings
in
Minnan,
Fujian.
Even within this
region,
as we
shall see
later,
the
picture
is far from
homogeneous.
On the one
hand,
this
change
can be
interpreted
as a
response
to continued state control in the new reform era.
Reinterpretation
of
Gongde by
the institutional Buddhists reveals how
they
respond
and
adapt
to
political agendas.
On the other
hand,
the
modem-day pic-
ture seems to
represent
more than mere
compliance
to the
Party
line. It
appears
to
point
to a redefinition of
ideological orthodoxy by
institutional
Buddhists,
the
basis of which lies in Taixu's reform.
Gongde
in
Fujian province
Fujian province
in southeast
China,
particularly
its southern
region Minnan,
is
one of several coastal
provinces
whose economic
development
has been vibrant
in recent
years.
Overseas Chinese with roots in this
region played
a substantial
role in the restoration of the local
economy
and the revival of
religious practices
and culture. Thousands of
religious
sites,
particularly
Buddhist
temples
and
monasteries,
have been restored since the
early
1980s
(Dean
1989 and
1988).
MacInnis (1989:125)
estimates that
Fujian
has
10,000
monks
(including novices)
in the
temples
and monasteries and about
60,000-70,000
lay
devotees
(jushi).
One of the results of the rise in economic means is the
increasing prevalence
of
Gongde
rites for the dead.
In
Minnan,
three
types
of
ritualist4
may perform Gongde:
ordained
monks,
lay
women
practitioners
known as
caigu (Vegetarian Sisters)
and
lay profession-
als known as
xianghua heshang (Incense-flower monks).5 Ordained
monks
may
live in
large
monasteries which are
public learning
institutions
(conglin siyuan)
regulated strictly by
rules and
regulations.6
Other
types
of Buddhist institutions
include the
hereditary
and branch
temples. Up
to the 1950s the term
hereditary
temple (zisun miao)
was used to refer to Buddhist establishments that were
4 I will use the word "ritualist" to
replace
the cumbersome "ritual
specialist"
since it will recur
throughout
this
paper.
5
Ordained nuns are omitted here because it is still rare in Minnan to see
Gongde performed
only by
nuns.
6 Monasteries of
learning
are
public
in the sense that ordained monks from
any part
of China
are allowed to seek
temporary stay
for the
purpose
of
seeking knowledge (canxue
-
"partici-
pate
and learn").
122
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
privately
owned
by
one monk or a
"family"
of monks. Such a
temple
was
passed
on within the same tonsure
family
of monks from one
generation
to another.7
Today,
under Communist
rule,
private ownership
of
religious
establishments
by
ordained clerics is no
longer permitted.
A branch
temple,
as the term
suggests,
is
an offshoot of a
monastery
and is overseen
by
its
parent monastery. Ultimately
all
religious
institutions are under the control of the
government-run Religious
Affairs Bureau. It is not
possible
here to delve into the
present-day categoriza-
tions of Buddhist
establishments;
suffice to
say
that
hereditary
and branch
temples,
which are run
according
to less
stringent
rules,
are
frequently
used as
venues for
Gongde
rituals.8 In
any
case,
I will call ordained monks - whether in
institutional or in
hereditary/branch temples
- who
perform Gongde
"institu-
tional ritualists".
The
caigu Vegetarian
Sisters,
women who devote their life to
Buddhism,
are
the second
type
of
Gongde
ritualist. This tradition came to the fore in Minnan at
the end of the nineteenth and
beginning
of the twentieth centuries. Like ordained
nuns,
caigu
renounce the world and live in
(and
now often
run)
small
temples.
Unlike ordained
nuns, however,
they
are not
fully
ordained and do not shave
their heads. Since the
religious
revival, caigu
have taken on a
major
role as
Gongde
ritualists.9
Every Vegetarian
Sister takes the Ten
Precepts
with an
ordained monk who serves as her
teacher.'0 Thus,
this
group
of women ritualists
relates to and has close links with institutional Buddhism. Because of this link
I call them semi-institutional ritualists. The third
category
of ritualist is one of
several
types
of suburban or rural
lay
ritualist who
perform religious
rituals as a
profession.II Although
these "incense-flower"
(xianghua)
ritualists
identify
themselves as
Buddhist,
they rarely
have links with institutional Buddhists
and,
unlike the
women,
are not
recognized by
them. Since ritualists of this
type
are
not so relevant in this
paper, they
are not discussed at
length.12
The
liturgy types
and vocal
styles
of institutional and semi-institutional
Gongde
ritualists are
largely
shared. To understand how
change
in the structure
of
Gongde
affects music we must first examine its ritual and musical contents.
7
Taking
the tonsure
(titou)
-
shaving
one's head
-
is the first
step
to
becoming
a monk. The
monk who shaves the novice's head becomes the father
figure
of the tonsure
family.
8
Although
the
meanings
of
"hereditary temple"
have
changed,
for convenience I will continue
to use this term.
9 For a full
study
of this
tradition,
see
my forthcoming
doctoral thesis.
10
The
"Precepts" (jie)
are moral codes of conduct observed
by
Buddhists.
I'
The
Fire-dwelling (huoju)
Daoists are one
type
of
lay
ritualist
serving
rural
Fujian.
In sub-
urban
Minnan,
another
type
of semi-institutional ritualist
exists,
known as
Vegetarian
Friends
(caiyou). These are lay Buddhists who may observe the "Five" or "Ten Precepts", but unlike
caigu, they
do not renounce
lay
life. Before the rise of women as ritualists, Vegetarian
Friends
were a common alternative to monks as
Gongde ritualists, but as their number
gradually
diminished, their role as
Gongde
ritualists has become
replaced by
the
caigu.
12
For the music in
Gongde performed by
the Incense-flower ritualists, see Tan
(forthcoming).
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
123
Traditional elements in
Gongde
The
Gongde
is one of
many types
of rites for the dead.13 Buddhists believe that
merit
may
be accumulated in a
person's
life
by performing good
deeds and
giving offerings
to the
sangha (monastic community)
or donations to monas-
teries or
temples. They
also believe
that,
after a
person's death,
intercession
by
the sacrosanct
sangha
on behalf of the soul
helps
it to a better rebirth. Such a rit-
ual,
it is
believed,
would increase the merit of both the deceased and the
family
who
pays
for the ritual. The
Gongde
is thus a set of rites which must be carried
out
by
ritual
specialists.
It
may
be
performed
as
part
of a
funeral,
before
burial,
or more often as a memorial rite after the burial.
Traditionally,
for those who
could afford the
expenses, Gongde
would be
performed
on
every
seventh
day up
to the 49th
day,
and on the 100th
day,
and first and third anniversaries after
death. Each
performance might
last from three to seven
days, culminating
with a
feast for all who took
part.
The
length
and
grandeur
of the ritual
depends very
much on the financial
standing
of a
family.
Today
the
Gongde
is
rarely performed
as
part
of urban funerals because com-
pulsory
cremation,
put
in
place gradually
after 1949 to eliminate feudal customs
and
practices,
is still
stringently imposed.14
In Xiamen,
for
example,
cremation
takes
place
within a
day
after
death,
and
religious
services are
prohibited
in the
mortuary.
In
Quanzhou, regulations
are less
stringent;
cremation
may
take
place
up
to three
days
after
death,
but elaborate funerals are still frowned
upon by
officials. With such restrictions in
place,
most urban families therefore turn to
Gongde
at different
periods
after death in order to
satisfy
their need to show
respect
for their dead and to demonstrate their
piety.
Since the
1980s,
the
rural
and urban divide is more distinct than ever. In the
cities,
lengths
of
Gongde
tend
to
vary
between half a
day
and three
days,
while in suburban and
rural
places,
rituals of three and more
days
are the norm.
Although
detailed studies of the ritual elements in
Gongde
are
lacking,
we
can
gather
a
picture
of the essential elements in
Gongde (and funerals) per-
formed
up
to the late
imperial
Chinese
period through
the numerous
writings
of
Westerners at that time.
15Scriptures
were read as
part
of the
ceremony,
but these
generally
receive
only
a
cursory
mention.
Conversely,
these writers tend to lavish
great
detail on several sub-rites that were often found in traditional
Gongde,
13
Other large-scale
rites for the dead still
commonly performed today
include the "Water and
Land
Plenary
Mass"
(Shuilufahui)
and the
Yogacara
Rite of
"Feeding Flaming
Mouth"
(Yuqie
yankou
shishi
yaoji,
hereafter abbreviated as the Yankou
rite).
The former is a
public
event
organized by
a
single monastery
to benefit universal souls.
During
this
event,
devotees
may
pay
to take
part
in the Mass to
earn
merit either for themselves or for their deceased. The
Yankou is also a universal salvation
rite,
in which all souls in the
"hungry ghost"
realm are
saved
from
their
sufferings;
this rite is
frequently performed
as an
appendix
to the
Gongde
if
a
family
can afford the
expenses.
14 This is true
only
of urban centres. See note 1.
15
Late
imperial ethnographies by
De Groot (1885, 1892-1910), and Doolittle
(1866) are
par-
ticularly
useful for
religious
traditions and customs in
Fujian.
Other
important reference
sources on
Gongde
are Addison (1925), Day (1940), Dore (1987) and Reichelt (1927).
124
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
including "Crossing
the
Bridge
of No Recourse"
(guo
naihe
qiao),
where the
safe
crossing
of it
by
the soul was
facilitated;
"Breaking
Hell"
(po diyu),
in
which the
story
of Mulian
(Maudgalyana,
a
disciple
of
Sakyamuni Buddha)
saving
his mother from her
sufferings
in hell was enacted to
symbolize
the
saving
of the
soul;16 "Breaking
the Blood Pond"
(po xuehu),
in which women
who had
given
birth or died in childbirth and
plunged
into this
pond
of blood
were
rescued;17
and the Yankou rite of
saving hungry ghosts (see
note
13).
Another
frequently
cited
activity
was the
burning
of
paper
houses and other
paper
items for the dead. The Chinese came to believe that
they
must
provide
their deceased with material comfort
just
as when
they
were alive. A custom that
is local to Minnan is
"Turning
the Wheel"
(qianzang),
which was described as
being
a
part
of the
ceremony
of
"Breaking
the Blood Pond"
(De
Groot
1885:110-11).
The "wheel"
(zang)
is a
cylindrical object
made of
paper
and
bamboo sticks which is turned around in the ritual to
symbolize helping
the soul
to
spiral
out of the Blood
Pond.18
Thus we can conclude
that,
up
to late
imperial
times, Gongde performed during
the funeral or as a memorial rite afterwards
comprised,
more or
less,
the elements mentioned above. In the
eyes
of erudite
monks,
many
of these rites do not
really
accord with Buddhist doctrinal ideo-
logy.
Yet there was no doubt that the ordained clerics
played
an
important
role in
such
performances:
"The
greater
number of the
monks, however,
take
part,
and a
few with
particularly good
voices and with a
special
inclination towards the
melancholy,
can
carry
the business to
great lengths" (Reichelt 1927:101). Many
major
monasteries
supplemented
their income
by performing
rites for the dead.
Some
performed only major
rites such as the "Water and Land
Plenary
Mass"
while others
specialized
in small-scale rites such as
Gongde
and the Yankou
rite.19 It is evident that
Gongde
was a lucrative source of income for
many
Buddhist
institutions,
large
or small.
Thus,
while some monks view its
perform-
ance with
disdain,
few were
capable
of
challenging
or
reforming
a ritual that
involves
complex
social and economic
implications.
In the late
1990s,
a different
and diverse
picture
has
emerged
in
Fujian province.
Gongde
in the
contemporary
milieu
My survey
in
Fuzhou,
Putian and Minnan revealed that
major
monasteries that
were known to be active in
Gongde
before 1949 now ban its
performances
on
their
premises. Examples
include
Yongquan-si
in Gushan
(Drum Mountain)
and
Xichan-si,
both in the outskirts of Fuzhou.2) Monks in these monasteries
6 For a
study
of Mulian as ritual
opera
and
operatic ritual,
see Johnson
(1989).
17
Dean
(1988) gives
references to this rite in
post-Mao
China.
18
As observed
by
Dean
(1988)
in a Daoist
funeral,
the
"Turning
the Wheel" rite is still asso-
ciated with
"Breaking
the Blood Pond".
9
Major
monasteries such as
Tianning-si
and Qixiashan-si in
Zhejiang
and
Yongquan-si
in
Fuzhou were known to hold minor rites for the dead, while some
only
held
large-scale
"Plenary
Water and Land Mass" rites (see Welch 1967; Fitch 1929).
21)
The word si is a
generic
term for a Buddhist
place
of
worship;
often
appended
to the official
name, it
may
connote either a
large
institutional
monastery
or a smaller-size
temple.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
125
informed me that these
places
are
public learning
monasteries
(conglin siyuan),
and the main aims of the resident monks there are self-cultivation and the
prac-
tice of
religion (xiuxing).
Yet,
I also learned that monks from some monasteries
in
Fuzhou,
probably
lured
by
commercial
gain, perform Gongde
in
private
out-
side.
Chengtian-si
in
Quanzhou,
on the other
hand,
not
only
bans this rite but
also
prohibits
its residents from
performing Gongde
outside its
premises.
Monks
in
Kaiyuan-si
in
Quanzhou
stressed to me that their
monastery
is a
government-
designated "prominent monastery" (zhongdian simiao)
and were ambivalent
about their involvement in
Gongde. They probably
felt that such an admission
might
tarnish their
image;
or
perhaps they
considered that it was
politically
incorrect to admit involvement in such an
activity.
In contrast to other
major
monasteries,
Nanputuo-si,
Xiamen's
largest
monastery,
continues to
perform Gongde. Nanputuo-si began
as a small
temple
built around the tenth
century
and
gradually expanded
its scale.
Up
until
1924,
it
was a
hereditary temple (zisun miao)
of the
Lingji
branch Chan School. That
very year,
it was converted to an institutional
conglin monastery
and an abbot
was
democratically
elected. A
year
later,
the Minnan Buddhist
College
was
established there. In
1927,
the reformist monk Taixu was elected abbot of the
monastery
and director of the
college.
Under Taixu's
direction,
Nanputuo-si
became an
important
base for the Buddhist reform movement. It remained active
until the Cultural
Revolution,
during
which no monks remained in the
monastery.
From the
early
1980s it was
gradually
rebuilt and restored.
Today
Nanputuo-si
is one of the
greatest
tourist attractions in Xiamen and houses one
of the best-known Buddhist
Colleges
in
Fujian.
Apart
from other
regular
rituals and the annual
Plenary Masses,
Nanputuo-si
has a
very
vibrant
Gongde
ritual schedule.
Gongde
commanded
by private
fam-
ilies are so
prevalent
that one takes
place
in the main shrine
virtually every
other
day.
In contrast to most other monasteries in
Quanzhou
and Fuzhou - which
have banned
Gongde,
or turn a blind
eye
if it is
performed
outside,
or are
vague
about its
performance
-
Nanputuo-si
treats
Gongde
as
very
much
part
of its ritual
activities. Monks in the
monastery
were also
very open
about their involvement
in
Gongde.
What
brought
on the draconian measures
by
some monasteries to
eliminate the
performances
of
Gongde? Why
does
Nanputuo-si
continue to
per-
form
Gongde
when there is
evidently
still much
stigma
attached to it?
Examining
the ritual
procedure
of
Gongde
as
performed
in this
monastery today,
we can
begin
to
get
some answers. The
programme
of a
one-day Gongde
at
Nanputuo-si
takes
place
as follows:
MORNING
1
Purifying
the Altar
(Jingtan)
2 Penitence
(Baichan) (vol. 1)
3 Penitence
(vol. 2)
4
Offering (Shanggong)
AFTERNOON
5 Penitence
(vol. 3)
126 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
(6)
Small
Mengshan
Universal Salvation Rite
(Xiao Mengshan)21
7
Transferring
Merit
(Huixiang)
EVENING
(8) Flaming
Mouth
(Yankou)
Like most other Buddhist
rites,
the
Gongde
is an
assemblage
of
several,
sometimes
autonomous,
rites. There is
(and
nor was there in earlier
times)
no
prescribed liturgical
manual for
Gongde
as a whole since commercial demands
could dictate what sub-rites could be added or taken out. But
today
most
Gongde
performed by
institutional monks and women ritualists follow the model above.
The main
body
of institutional
Gongde
is the "Penitence"
rite,
which often con-
tains several volumes of texts
ranging
from three to ten volumes.22 Other
smaller, independent
rites such as
"Purifying
the Altar" and the
"Offering"
are
performed
in between sections of the "Penitence". At the start of
Gongde (and
indeed
any
other
special rituals),
the ritual
space
must be
purified;
hence,
the rite
of
"Purifying
the Altar"
precedes many
rituals.
Offerings
of food and drink to the
Buddhist
pantheon
are
always performed
before noon so as not to clash with the
feeding
of
beings
in the lower realms
(see below).
To further enhance merit for
the
deceased,
a "Universal Salvation" rite to feed
hungry ghosts
is often added.
This can be either the
larger-scale
Yankou rite if a
family
can afford the extra
expenses
or the
simpler Mengshan
rite
(see
note
21).
"Universal Salvation" rites
often take
place
in the late afternoon or
early evening
as these are the times the
lower realms of
beings
can consume
any offerings.
From the
programme
outlined
above,
we can see that
many
of the ritual
elements which were found in traditional rites for the dead observed
by early
writers in
imperial
and
early republican
times are not evident in
Gongde per-
formed in the
Nanputuo-si today.
Thus,
by excluding
elements of the
Gongde
often considered
by
6litist
Buddhists as
being
inconsistent with true Buddhist
teachings,
the
Nanputuo-si
is
attempting
to
legitimize
a ritual often
regarded
as
highly
contentious. How is music in
Gongde
influenced
by change
in attitudes
and
change
in ritual elements? Before this
question
is
addressed,
let us introduce
the music in
Gongde.
Music in
Gongde
Buddhist vocalization in
general
is said to
comprise
two main
styles
of
delivery,
which are
commonly
referred to
collectively by practitioners
as
changnian
or
changsong (both meaning
"to
sing
and
recite").
The
sung
form, accompanied
on
21
Items 6 and 8 are never
performed
in a
single Gongde.
For families unable or
unwilling
to
pay
extra for
"Releasing Flaming Mouth", the shorter and
simpler
"Universal Salvation" rite
of
Mengshan (full title, Mengshan
shishi
niansong shuofa yi)
is
performed
instead.
22 Three-volume "Penitence" texts (of which there are several) are
commonly
used for shorter
Gongde lasting
half a
day
or one
day,
while the ten-volume Penitence
of Emperor Liang
(Lianghuang Baochan) is
frequently performed
for
Gongde lasting longer.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
127
a
range
of ritual
percussion instruments,
can be
broadly
defined as
monophonic
pieces
with
specific
tunes and fixed metre. The recitation
form,
accompanied
on
fewer or no
percussion
instruments,
is often
thought
of as
being
less melodic and
having
a
regular
but non-metric
pulse.23
The
chang category comprises
two
textual
forms,
which we can
conveniently
call
"hymns":
zan
("praise"),
which
are heterometric texts
having unequal
numbers of
syllables
in each line and are
usually eulogistic
in content
matter, andji (a
much modified transliteration of the
Sanskrit
gatha),
which have
equal
numbers of
syllables
in each line. Textual
types
in the nian
(recitation) category
include
jing (canonical text,
sutra in
Sanskrit),
zhou
(incantation,
dharani or
mantra), fohao (names
of
Buddha)
and
baiwen
(unaccompanied,
free-metre announcement
texts).
All these textual
forms are found in the
Gongde,
but the
ensuing
discussion will focus on
zan
as
there is
greater
variation within this
category.
In the
Gongde,
zan
hymns
are
sung
in two
physical
contexts: before the altar
of the Buddha
(foqian)
and before the altar of the soul
(lingqian).
Zan
sung
before the altar of the Buddha
perform
the
primary
functions of
invoking
and
eulogizing
the
pantheon.
Invocation
hymns
are
generally sung
near the
begin-
ning
of a
ritual,
while
eulogizing
ones are
interspersed
between recitation texts.
Zan texts of this
category
are
generally
used in other ritual contexts as well as in
the
Gongde.
Zan
sung
before the altar of the soul are for
consoling
and
prosely-
tizing
the
souls,
bidding
them to
repent
from
past
sins so as to obtain rebirth in
Western Paradise. Ritualists refer to this
category collectively
as
tanwang
zan:
"lamenting
the dead"
hymns.
This
repertoire
of texts is
largely unique
to the
Gongde
context.
As mentioned
above,
the
repertoire
of zan texts
sung
before the altar of the
Buddha is the same as that used in the
daily
lessons and other
regular
rituals.
This
repertoire
has a
corpus
of melodies characterized
by very
slow
tempi
and
melismatic vocal lines. This
style
evolved within several
major
monasteries in
the east-central
provinces
of
Zhejiang
and
Jiangsu,
a
region
which was the hub
of institutional Buddhism. As the monasteries here were
major
and influential
centres for
ordination,
their
singing style
was
widely
disseminated. It
gradually
became the dominant
style adopted by
monasteries and
temples
all over China.
To
Buddhists,
this refined and
dignified style
is
particularly appropriate
for the
daily
lessons and other rituals aimed at
increasing religious piety.
It is known
regionally by
different
names;
in Minnan it is known as
waijiang ("outside
the
river") style, indicating
that it
originated
from outside the
province.
Since this
melodic
style
is
transregional,
I term it the national
style.
In the context of
Gongde
in
Minnan,
aside from this national
style,
this same
repertoire
of texts can also be
performed
to an unrelated set of melodies. This
corpus
of
melodies,
known in Minnan as Fuzhou diao
(Fuzhou style), originated
from
Fuzhou,
the
capital
of
Fujian
to the north of Minnan. I term this the
"regional" style
in contrast to the "national"
style,
since it is characteristic of the
Fujian region
as a whole. On a further level, there are also other melodies which
23
Textual types in nian form may encompass a more complex range of melodic and rhythmic
characteristics than the term
suggests,
as discussed in
my forthcoming
doctoral thesis.
128 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.1 1/i 2002
developed locally
in Minnan to
perform
these same
texts;
in this
paper, only
one
type
linked with the
caigu Vegetarian
Sisters need concern us. I
will,
for the
moment,
use the term "local"
style
when
dealing
with this
type.
Thus in
Minnan,
a shared
corpus
of texts can be matched to three
types
of
singing style
- the
national,
regional
and local. The national
style
is used in the
context of
daily
and
regular
rituals while the
regional
and local
styles appear
to
have
developed
in or for the context of
Gongde. According
to the
caigu, they
generally
use the
regional style
in
Gongde
because these melodies are "faster"
than those in the national
style.
An
elderly caigu
told me that
they might
use the
even "faster" local
style (which they
call
caiyou
-
Vegetarian
Friend -
style)
when
they
are
severely pressed
for time in
Gongde.24 However,
among
the
younger generation
of
caigu,
the local
style
is
hardly
ever used as
they
feel that it
is not sublime
enough.
More will be said about this local
style,
but first let us
examine what the
caigu
mean
by
"faster".
Taking
the
example
of the zan text "The True Incense of Abstention and
Meditation"
(hereafter
abbreviated as the "True Incense"
hymn),
often
sung
to
open
the
morning
or
evening
lesson and the
"Offering"
rite in
Gongde,
let us
compare
the time it takes to
sing
this same text in the national and
regional
styles.
The text of the "True Incense"
hymn
has four
phrases
each of nine
syl-
lables;
each
phrase
can be further divided into two
sub-phrases
of four followed
by
five
syllables.
This
gives
a total of 36
syllables.25
In the national
style
in the
context of a
morning
lesson,
the time taken to
sing
these 36
syllables
was
approximately
4 minutes and 30 seconds
(giving
an
average
rate of
eight syl-
lables
per minute). Looking
at the same text but
sung
in the Fuzhou
style,
let us
compare
two versions: one
sung by
an
elderly
monk
(in
the Fuzhou
dialect) up
in
Fuzhou,
and another
sung
in Minnanese
by
the
caigu
of Minnan. The total time
the Fuzhou monk took was 1'33"
(c.
23
syllables per minute);
while the
caigu
took about 1'22"
(c.
26
syllables per minute) (see
table on
page 130).
This is the
sense in which the
regional
Fuzhou
style
is "faster": it covers the same amount
of text in
significantly
less time
(Figure 1).
In other
words,
the textual
density
(by
this,
I mean the number of
syllables per minute)
is
greater.
Hence in
Gongde,
where the "Penitence" texts
(see
note
19)
are often
long
and the number of sub-
rites
copious,
it is
pragmatic
for ritualists to use the
regional style
rather than the
national
style.
As for the local
style,
since it is
gradually dying
out,
it was
24
When asked if she could
sing
some
hymns
in
caiyou style,
the
caigu, however,
refused as
she dismisses this
style
as the
"droning" by
the
caiyou (Vegetarian Friends)
- male
lay
Buddhists who used to
perform Gongde.
But the number of
caiyou
has dwindled
drastically
in
recent
years
and
they
are now
replaced by
the women
caigu.
25 Zan
hymns sung
in the
opening
of rituals often consist of a
homage
to the
particular
Bohdisattva invoked for that occasion. This
homage, consisting
of the words Namo XX (the
name of
deity) pusa
mohesa
(Homage
to the XX Bodhisattva Mahasattva), is
repeated
three
times. This
appendix
has its own
melody
and can be
appended
to
any
short zan
hymns.
I will
omit this section of the
melody
as it is irrelevant to
my point
here.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
129
Freely (solo) tu=
32
(a)
jie ding
zhen
(a)
() Rubato
tui
=30
=30
(b)
Ru
t
a- a
ai
ta -
eng jin*
S
=51 tuttl
(C)
ga
-
a- i
deng jin
O
xiang
- - - -
(a)
-
fen qi
hyo
- a
ang hong
- (a) ke - e
hyo
-
o
ong
hu
-
un ki
etc
chong
-
tian sha a
-
-ng
etc ..
che
ng ti a
- an saw
-
ong (a)
etc
chio
-
ong ti
-
an
si
-
ong (o)
- - -
c
c-
Cf)
d
t
I
0
ho
H,
E.
Stave
(a)
is in the national
style, sung
in the
morning
lesson
by
the monastic
community
of
Nanputuo-si monastery
in Xiamen. Recorded
by
the author in
July
1997.
Stave
(b)
is in the Fuzhou
style, sung
in the Fuzhou dialect
by
the abbot of
Tianwang temple
in
Changle.
Recorded
by
the author in December 2000.
Stave
(c)
is in the Fuzhou
style, sung
in the Minnan dialect
by
the
caigu (Vegetarian Sisters)
of
Tongfo temple
in
Quanzhou.
Recorded
by
the author in
July
1997.
In
(b)
and
(c)
the transliteration of the two dialects is
approximately phonetic.
The exact
placement
of
syllable-final
nasals is not shown.
*Percussion
patterns (which begin
at the broken bar
line)
reveal that the
syllables
marked with an
asterisk fall on beat 3 of a 4/4
bar;
hence it is clear that the
free-rhythm
rendition of the
previous
syllables occupies
beats
1
and 2
conceptually.
Figure
1
Comparative
scores of
Jieding Zhenxiang (The
True Incense of Abstention and
Meditation)
130 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
difficult to
gather samples
of melodies in that
style.26 Checking
several texts
which have fewer than 40
syllables,
I found that the time taken to
sing
these texts
in the local
caiyou style
took less than one
minute,
thus
confirming
the
caigu's
claim that
hymns
in this
style
are even faster than those in Fuzhou
style.
Time taken to
sing
the "True Incense"
hymn
in different
styles
STYLE AND CONTEXT SYLLABLES IN TEXT TIME SYLLABLES PER MINUTE
National
style
36 4'30" 8
(morning lesson)
National
style (Gongde)
36
1'52" 19
Fuzhou
style sung
36
1'33" 23
by
monk in Fuzhou
Fuzhou
style sung
36
1'22" 26
by caigu
in Minnan
However,
having
said that
Gongde
ritualists who use the
regional style
do so
because it saves
time,
we find that the ordained monks use the national
style
more than the Fuzhou
style
in their
Gongde.
This means that the same national-
style hymn might
be
sung
both in the monks'
daily
lessons in the
temple
for their
own benefit and in
Gongde
for the benefit of others.
They
solve the
problem (of
insufficient
time)
faced
by
the
caigu by singing national-style hymns
at a faster
speed.
Earlier we found that the "True Incense"
hymn sung
in the context of the
morning
lesson took
4'30";
the same
hymn
in the same
style, sung by
monks
from the same
monastery
but now in the context of
Gongde,
took
1'52" (c.
19
syllables per minute).
Since the monks are so accustomed to
singing
this same
piece
for their
daily
lessons,
there is less
divergence
in the
melody
between the
two versions. A more
significant change
in this case is the
quickening
of the
singing speed
and at times the drastic contraction of
long-held
beats to save time.
In other
words,
rather than
dropping
a
large
number of
melody
notes or orna-
ments,
they
save time
by shortening
beats.
Comparing
the melodic contours of
these two
renditions,
the melodic
density
-
that
is,
roughly
the same number of
notes
per
minute
(granting
the
difficulty
of
counting
all ornaments when each
singer may differ)
- is no less in the
Gongde
than in the
morning
lesson
version,
although
there is some
slight change
in melodic ornamentation in the former
(Figure 2).27
26
It was difficult to find ritualists who could
sing
the
caiyou style.
I have
only managed
to
record a few
caiyou
tunes
sung by
an
elderly
Minnanese
monk,
but "The True Incense"
hymn
was not
among
them.
27
Variation occurs
frequently
in Buddhist
hymn-singing.
Melodies are learned
by
strict
imitation, thus, although memory
limitation and other factors
may
result in
variations,
the
melodic outlines are still often discernible.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
131
Freely (solo)
tutti
= 32
(a)-
'
jie -e
- - -
ing*
zhen
-
(a)
-
Freely (solo)
tutti
= 55
(b)
I.,A,,
,
. . . ...F
jie -
e -
ding*
zhen
(a)
xiang (a)
-
(a)
- fen - -
qi
(e)
xiang (a)
-
(a)
-
fen
- -
qi
i- . ,
etc...
chong
- tian - -
shang
- (a)
chong
-
tian - -
shang
-
(a)etc...
chong
tian
shang
- (a)
c
co
C/)
r
a
I
0
Ca
H
Stave
(a)
is as
sung
in the
morning
lesson
by
the monastic
community
of
Nanputuo-si monastery
in Xiamen. Recorded
by
the author in
July
1997.
Stave
(b)
is the same
hymn
in the same
style
but
sung
in a
Gongde by
ten monks from the same
monastery.
Recorded
by
the author in December 2000.
*In both cases
percussion patterns
reveal that the
syllable ding
falls on beat 3 of a 4/4
bar;
hence
it is clear that the
free-rhythm
rendition of the first
syllable occupies
beats
1
and 2
conceptually.
Figure
2
Comparative
scores of
Jieding Zhenxiang ("The
True Incense of Abstention
and
Meditation")
Ordained monks
may
also use the
regional
Fuzhou
style
in their
Gongde.
But
compared
with the women
ritualists, they
know a
relatively
small
repertoire
of
hymns
in the
regional style. Why
is this so?
Today
in
major
monasteries in
Xiamen and
Quanzhou, many
ordained monks are not natives of Minnan or even
of
Fujian.
Some
simply "picked up"
the tunes
by listening
to the
singing
of
others,
whereas some learnt the
style
from the women
caigu
who, being indige-
nous,
know a
large
selection of these
hymns.
In
my opinion,
the monks do not
devote much time or effort to
learning
the
hymn style
used in
Gongde
because,
as mentioned
earlier,
this rite is scorned
by
most institutional Buddhists as mer-
cenary
or even
superstitious.
The
political
stance of
many
institutional monas-
teries also has some influence on this current trend
(see
next
section).
As a
132
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.1 1/i 2002
result,
institutional monks know
only
a handful of
regional-style hymns; they
therefore sometimes alternate those with
national-style hymns
altered to suit the
context.
But if such is the
case,
why
do the monks not use
national-style hymns
throughout
the
Gongde?
For
one,
they
still need to know the
regional style
because there is no national
style
for the lament
hymns sung
before the altar of
the soul.
Although
a local
"Vegetarian
Friend"
style
exists for this
repertoire
of
texts,
the ordained monks are
hardly acquainted
with it. The
remaining
few
elderly
monks of Minnanese
origin
who know this
singing
tradition
rarely
bother
to
pass
it on to the new
generation
of monks because in their
opinion
it is "not
proper" (bu zhenggui)
and "not melodious"
(bu haoting). Probably
influenced
by
the older
generation, younger caigu
also eschew this
style
and dismiss it as infe-
rior to the
regional
Fuzhou
style.
This local
singing style
thus
appears likely
to
die out with the last of the old monks and
caigu.
There are other
practical
reasons for not
using
the
national-style hymns
throughout
a
Gongde.
As the ritual elements are
copious
and the "Penitence"
liturgy lengthy,
it is more
expedient
to use the faster
regional
Fuzhou
style
to
save
time,
particularly
if a
patron pays only
for a
half-day
service.
Furthermore,
some monks have told me that
they sing
in the
regional style
because the local
patrons prefer
it.
Having
felt the need to
purge
their
Gongde
of its
populist,
"superstitious"
elements
(such
as
burning paper houses),
the monks
worry
that
they
risk
losing patronage
if
they
stick to the national
hymn style. They
therefore
feel
obliged
to learn and to
intersperse
some
hymns
in the
regional style
to
please
the local clients.
Thus,
in the minds of the institutional
ritualists,
this Fuzhou
style
is essential as a reinforcement of the
relationship
between themselves and
their
patrons. Ironically, however,
some
Gongde patrons
with whom I talked
gave
me the
impression
that
they generally
cannot tell what
style
the ritualists are
singing
unless
they
are devout Buddhists who
regularly
attend
congregational
rituals in
temples
or monasteries. The
general patrons
do not
really
care about
the
singing style
as
long
as all the
necessary
ritual actions are carried out.
Musical
change
in
Gongde
Music in
Gongde
has not
undergone
a
major
mutation in its
system
since the end
of the
imperial
era:
continuity
of traditional musical forms is still
strong.
But
within this
continuity, changes
have occurred. One is the abandonment of the
local melodic
style,
due to a combination of factors.
Primary among
these is the
diminishing
number of local Minnanese monks in institutional
monasteries;
furthermore,
older
indigenous
monks feel that the local
style
is no
longer digni-
fied
enough
for the
contemporary
"sanitized"
religious context,
making
them
less inclined to
pass
on the
singing
tradition.
Another
change is the
"impoverishment", or
shrinkage,
of the
repertoire of
the
regional Fuzhou
style, particularly among
institutional ritualists.
Conversations with
elderly caigu
revealed that
they
learnt the Fuzhou
style
from
monks. The musician Cai Junchao's
transcriptions
of
Fuzhou-style hymns
were
made from his
recordings
of monks. It seems that in Minnan monks were tradi-
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
133
tionally
the main
proponent
of
Fuzhou-style hymns
and used this
style
in
Gongde
or other
public
rituals. But from the
early
1980s,
monks have increas-
ingly,
it
seems,
avoided
having
to
go through
this
learning process by taking
advantage
of a third
significant change.
This third
change
is the
adaptation
of the national
style by
institutional ritu-
alists for use in
Gongde, brought
about
by singing
the same
hymns
as in their
morning
and
evening
lessons but at a much faster
tempo.
Context is the crucial
variable here. In the
practising
context,
the
national-style hymns
are considered a
vehicle for
attaining spiritual
fulfilment and
accumulating
merit for
oneself;
for
this
reason,
they
are
sung very slowly,
with care and
dignity.
But when trans-
ported
into the
Gongde context,
these same
hymns
are
sung
more
quickly,
in an
apparent
move to save time. One reason for the
hurrying
-
taking
the
cynical
view - is because
Gongde
is for the benefit of others rather than oneself and thus
deserves less care. A more charitable
interpretation
is that what is
important
in
Gongde
is
primarily ensuring
that the
required
ritual elements are
performed,
without
specific
concern
for how or how well
they
are
performed;
we noted ear-
lier that the
patrons generally
take this view.
The contraction of the
regional-style repertoire
has a further
implication:
hymns interspersed
between recitations become more
rigidly
fixed.
Traditionally,
with the
ritualists'
knowledge
of a wide
repertoire
of
hymns,
there was constant
creative
decision-making
in the selection of
hymns;
this allowed for more
variety
both within one
Gongde
and between
performances.28 Now,
with fewer
hymns
at
their
disposal,
we find
increasing
standardization of
hymn
choice.
In
addition,
there is also a
process
of
impoverishment
in melodic detail.
Today, many younger
monks
learn
the
style by just listening
to others and
pick-
ing
it
up. Many
who
perform Gongde
tell me
they
learn
the Fuzhou
style
this
way.
One monk told me he asked some
caigu
to record the Fuzhou
hymns, sung
in Mandarin rather than in
Minnanese,
and then he
learned
by listening
to the
tape recording.
The hiatus
during
the Cultural Revolution has broken down the
traditional
way
of
teaching by elderly
monks.
Previously, although
the
repertoire
was
passed
on
orally, disciples
were made to
repeat
a melodic line over and over
again
until the tunes were
sung "correctly"
and memorized. This
rarely happens
today, partly
because
many elderly
monks who could
sing
the
style
well have
passed away,
and those who are still around are too old to
sing
or do not want to
pass
on the tradition because of the backlash of the Cultural Revolution. As a
result,
the melodic lines of these
hymns
have
gradually
become
simplified.
Political and
ideological
forces
Changes
in music in
Gongde
can be seen to
result,
directly
or
not,
from the re-
interpretation
of
Gongde,
which in
turn
is affected
by ideological
trends in
poli-
tics and Buddhism. The CCP's control and
manipulation
of Buddhism, and
indeed the other four
officially recognized religions (Daoism, Islam, Catholicism
28
The caigu have a more flexible approach to the choice of hymn texts and tunes in their
Gongde.
See
my forthcoming
thesis.
134 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
and
Protestantism),
are the means to an end. What has been the CCP's
political
agenda concerning religion?
In the
years
after
1949,
Mao took a
laissez-faire
attitude towards
religion,
apparently feeling
that
"superstitious"
beliefs would die out
naturally
under
Communist
enlightenment.
Before this could
happen,
a more direct
approach
was taken
during
the Cultural
Revolution,
when
religious
activities were banned
and
widespread
destruction of
religious
artefacts and
persecution
of
religious
personnel
took
place.
From
1982,
realizing
that
religion
was not in fact
going
to
go away,
the CCP
government
instituted a
policy
of freedom of
religious
belief
(note,
not
religious
practice),
while
continuing
to exercise control over this domain of culture.29 The
relevant document states that the CCP's basic tasks in
effecting
this
policy
were
and are to
consolidate and
expand
the
patriotic political
alliance in each ethnic
religious
group;
to
strengthen
education in
patriotism
and Socialism
among
them,
and
to
bring
into
play positive
elements
among
them in order to build a modern
and
powerful
Socialist state and
complete
the
great
task of
unifying
the coun-
try;
and to
oppose
the
hegemonism
and strive
together
to
protect
and
preserve
world
peace.
(MacInnis 1989:13)
Another
policy
document
predicated
the
right
and the
duty
of the state to
protect
"normal"
religious
activities. There is no clear definition in the
policy
documents
of what "normal"
really
means,
nor for that matter of
"protect".
In a textbook for
young people explaining religion
and
religious policy,
a
vague listing
of "nor-
mal"
religious
activities included
worship, prayers
and
preaching (MacInnis
1989:92).
Ancestor
worship
and belief in
ghosts
and deities are
omitted,
as
they
are still seen
by
the CCP as
superstition; yet
as
long
as the related rituals are
per-
formed
by government-sanctioned religious personnel
and do not
disrupt politi-
cal or economic activities or harbour
anti-revolutionary
intent,
they
are not
prohibited.
In the
early stages
of
implementation,
monks or nuns were not
allowed to
perform Gongde
in
private
homes
(MacInnis 1989). By
the late
1990s,
the
picture
I saw in Minnan was
quite
different:
inviting
ordained monks
to officiate at
Gongde
in the home was
becoming
more common.30 Since the
mid-1990s,
some monasteries have
begun
to hold annual
large-scale
"Water and
Land
Plenary Masses",
which often attract thousands of devotees. Such an
event,
despite
its
tendency
to attract
large
numbers of
people,
is
accepted
as a
legitimate
activity
since Buddhism is a
protected
official
religion.
Are these cases an indi-
cation of the CCP's relaxation of control on
religion?
I would
argue
that the CCP
no
longer
feels threatened
by
institutional Buddhism as the
religion today
is seen
to
fully support
the
government's policy
of
realizing
modernization and
building
a
strong
nation.
29 For a complete translation of the relevant policy document, see MacInnis
(1989:10-26).
I
was told
by
monks in several monasteries in Xiamen that
they quite
often
perform Gongde
in
private
homes.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
135
The CCP's
regularization (guifanhua)
of
religious
institutions,
put
in
place
since the
implementation
of the
religious policy,
is now
firmly
established.
Religious places
of
worship, large
or
small,
and
religious organizations
must
apply
for authorization and be
registered
with the RAB
(Religious
Affairs
Bureau),
the state
organ
for
implementing
this
policy.31 Regular inspections
of
registered religious organizations
are carried out
by
the RAB.
Organized
reli-
gious
activities, especially large-scale
events,
are still
tightly
monitored and con-
trolled
(Spiegel 1997).
The Buddhist Association of China
(BAC)
and its
provincial
and
municipal
branches are the links between Buddhists and the
RAB.32 This hierarchical administrative framework enables the CCP to
super-
vise and control
religious
bodies without the need for direct sanction.
Today many
abbots of institutional monasteries hold
important posts
in the
national or
regional
BACs,
and some are
representatives
to the National
People's
Congress (NPC)
or the Chinese
People's
Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC).
In an interview
by
MacInnis (1989:144)
a member of the Buddhist
clergy
said,
"Before
Liberation,
monks did not
participate
in
political
affairs,
nor
did
they join
in
any
other activities in
society.
After Liberation this
changed".
The abbot of
Nanputuo-si
is,
for
example,
the
vice-president
of the national
Buddhist Association of China and also a
representative
to the NPC and CPPCC.
Indeed,
the
religion's slogan,
"Love the
country,
love the
religion" (aiguo aijiao),
serves to
guide
Buddhism to the
goals
of socialism.33 The other roles of modem
Buddhism that are cited often in
public speeches by
Buddhist clerics include
pro-
moting
world
peace, propagating
the Buddhist
ideology
of
compassion
and
equality
and
purifying
hearts and
minds,
defeating
heretical
religious
movements
by promoting
"correct" Buddhism
(zhengxin fojiao),
and
building
a humanistic
pure
land
(renjian jingtu) (Shi 2000).
These
patriotic
undertones are a reflection of the success of the CCP's control
and
co-option
of Buddhism. Buddhism is now a
positive
force in nation-state
building
because it
encourages patriotism among
its believers.
Also,
the CCP can
benefit from Buddhism's
international
contacts as one of the world
religions.
But
if Buddhism is to be seen
upholding
this
patriotic image
and
contributing
to
socialist
nation-building,
it must rid itself of its old
image
as a
religion
for the
dead in order to
dispel
the view that Buddhism is adulterated with
superstitious
elements. While
they
are
impelled
on the one hand
by
state
policy,
some
Buddhists also see this new era as an
opportune
moment for
reinforcing
and
modernizing
their doctrinal
ideologies. Gongde,
with its numerous sub-rites that
were not
compatible
with Buddhist
doctrine,
is therefore abolished
or,
if still
per-
formed,
must be
reinterpreted
in the
light
of
modem
Buddhism.
31
This applies to non-institutional
groups
such as the women
caigu
and indeed the
lay pro-
fessional
xianghua (Incense-flower) ritualists. See
my forthcoming
thesis.
32
For the functions of Buddhist Associations
according
to CCP documents, see
MacInnis
(1989:148-52). See also Pas (1989) on the role of the BAC.
33
This
slogan
often
appears
in
publications by regional
or local Buddhist Associations, and in
speeches by clergy.
See for
example Fujian fojiao
2000/3. The
slogan
sometimes extends to
"loving
the
people" (aimin) as well.
136
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.1 1/i 2002
This Buddhist
promulgation
of "correct" Buddhism and a "humanistic
pure
land",
in
my view,
did not
emerge
after the establishment of the PRC but is a
per-
petuation
of Buddhist reform manifested in an intellectual movement of the late
nineteenth and
early
twentieth centuries.34
Among
Chinese Buddhist
reformers,
the monk Taixu is seen as the central
figure
in the
quest
for modem Buddhism.
The Buddhist reform and Taixu's influence have been
adequately
dealt with and
need no further reiteration. Here I will focus instead on his influence in Minnan
as
gleaned
from
my
field research.
Briefly,
Taixu advocated two main
develop-
ments in Buddhism. The first was a radical reform in doctrinal
ideology:
to
liberate Buddhism from
being
a
religion
"for the dead" and to turn the focus of
Buddhism to
dealing
with realistic humanistic
problems, suggesting
that
enlight-
enment will follow if one first succeeds as a
good
human. Taixu felt that
Buddhism should be for the
living,
not the dead. He coined the term
rensheng
fojiao ("human
life
Buddhism")
to
express
this ideal. He felt that the main cause
of Buddhism's
degeneration
was the lack of education
among
monks: the num-
ber who could
expound
the dharma was low in
comparison
with those who
per-
formed rites for the dead. He
thought
that if monks were better educated in the
scriptures they
would be better
placed
to
spread
the "correct" dharma
(zhengfa).35
He therefore founded several Buddhist
colleges (foxueyuan)
and
advocated modem education for monks.36
In
1924,
Huiquan,
the first abbot of
Nanputuo-si,
founded the Xiamen
Buddhist
College.
Later,
Taixu was invited to be director of the
college. During
Taixu's time in Xiamen he influenced
many
Minnanese monks who were to
gain
prominence
later in Taiwan and in southeast Asian countries. From the mid-
1920s to the
1940s,
these
young
Minnanese monks held numerous lectures on
Buddhism,
published
Buddhist
journals,
established Buddhist
youth
societies to
attract the
young,
held
congregational rituals,
organized charity
work,
and so on.
Movements to
propagate
the elimination of
"superstitious"
customs were wide-
spread (Xiamenfojiao zhi, manuscript).
That these efforts met with some success
in Minnan is evident in a comment to me in 1999
by
an
85-year-old
monk
living
in
Nanputuo-si.
He said that in the 1920s eminent monks
including Zhuanfeng
and
Huiquan
lamented that Buddhism had assimilated too
many popular prac-
tices.37
They
not
only
voiced their
disapproval
but also took
steps
to
discourage
34 The
genesis
of twentieth
century
Buddhist reform is dealt with
extensively
in earlier studies
(see
Welch
1968);
for more recent
studies,
see Pittman
(2001).
For a
study
of Buddhism and
the intellectual movement in late
imperial China,
see Chan
(1985).
35 Dharma are the words of the Buddha's
teaching
-
that
is,
doctrines and
scriptures.
36
At the end of
imperial rule,
the old
imperial
examination
system
was abolished. Modem
classroom-style
education was introduced
by
Western missionaries and
rapidly began
to
spread.
Buddhist
colleges
were modelled on this
(ironically Christian-derived) modem
edu-
cation system, and general education was introduced in the curriculum.
Traditionally, monks
were trained
differently
in
large learning
monasteries in Baohuashan, Qixiashan, etc.
37 Zhuanfeng
was the last head monk
(zhuchi heshang)
of
Nanputuo-si
when it was a heredi-
tary temple.
In 1924 in the wave of Buddhist reform initiated
by Taixu, Zhuangfeng
volun-
teered to turn
Nanputuo-si
into an institutional
monastery (shifang conglin). Huiquan
was
subsequently
elected as its first abbot.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
137
the
practice
of
performing
death rituals.
Already by
the 1930s it was rare for
ordained monks to
perform "Breaking
Hell",
the enactment of the
story
of
Mulian and his
mother;
this rite was instead
performed by lay professional
ritual
specialists. By
that
time,
the rite of
"Breaking
the Blood Pond" was also
rarely
performed by monks,
but
"Turning
the Wheel" was still
quite
common. From
what the
elderly
monk told
me,
I surmise that
"Turning
the Wheel" became a
separate
rite of its
own,
probably
because the ordained clerics found it less con-
tentious than
"Breaking
the Blood Pond".
Today,
in some
temples, "Turning
the
Wheel"
may
be
performed
if
patrons specifically request
it.38
Indeed,
although
this rite is not
performed
at all in
Nanputuo-si,
when the same monks
perform
Gongde
outside the
monastery
in
private
homes
they
are
quite willing
to admin-
ister it if
patrons pay
for it. When asked
why,
the monks
explained
that some
local Minnanese still hold on to the belief that their dead
might
be
suffering
in
hell;
by performing
this rite the
patrons
feel that their dead have been saved from
such
suffering.
In
Nanputuo-si
the
burning
of
paper
houses and
money
is no
longer part
of the ritual and is not
encouraged,
but monks in some other
temples
will conduct these rites if
patrons
wish. The
monks,
speaking consciously
or sub-
consciously
in the
language
of the Communist
government, opine
that
they
can-
not
yet
liberate the
people
from these old ideas and therefore take the
pragmatic
view that as the
patrons
are
paying
for it
they
are
happy
to
oblige.
The
monks,
however,
do stress that
they
do not
perform "Breaking
the Blood Pond" or
"Breaking
Hell" as
they
feel that these are
particularly superstitious
beliefs unre-
lated to Buddhist
ideology.
Taixu's efforts were met with some resistance from the more conservative
Buddhists as well as
by
non-Buddhist intellectuals
(Welch 1968;
Pittman
2001).
There is no
doubt, however,
that some of his
teachings
and ideals were
already
taking
effect in
pre-Communist
China,
particularly
in Minnan.
Modem
Buddhists
in China accredit Taixu's influence for their
promotion
of "correct" Buddhism.
Yet,
in
my opinion, today's changes
in Chinese institutional Buddhism are not a
straightforward postscript
to Taixu's
reform,
since his ideas were not further
developed
before
being
curtailed after 1949. His Buddhist reform
was, however,
the
precursor
of a movement called
renjian fojiao
- Humanistic Buddhism - a
term which has
only
come to the fore in the
past
20
years.39
While Buddhism
struggled
to survive in Maoist
China,
Taiwan became the
nurturing
bed for
Taixu's ideals. From the mid-1960s
onward,
some radical monks who had taken
refuge
in Taiwan after the Communist takeover
gradually reshaped
Taixu's ideals
into Humanistic
Buddhism;
leading figures
include Taixu's student Yinshun
(b.
1906), Shengyan (b. 1930)
and
Hsing
Yun
(b. 1927). Among
them,
Hsing
Yun's
influence
today
is the most
widespread: Foguangshan monastery
and its
affiliated Buddha's
Light
Association
consisting
of
lay
Buddhists,
both founded
38
I refer here to what were
hereditary temples,
but this term is no
longer
valid as
temples
are no
longer privately
owned
owing
to CCP control. I therefore use the term "less
institutionalized".
39
This term is a
rephrasing
of Taixu's earlier
rensheng fojiao by Yinshun, a follower of
Taixu's ideals who went to Taiwan in 1952 and is
regarded
as one of the
progenitors
of
Humanistic Buddhism (see Jones 1999:124-35).
138
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.1 1/i 2002
by
him,
now have branches worldwide.41 There is no room for detailed discussion
of
Hsing
Yun's success in
promoting
Humanistic
Buddhism,
but it is fair to
say
that this strand of Buddhism
appears
to be a
very
influential trend in
modem
Buddhism
today, particularly
in other Asian countries.
In
Minnan,
Hsing
Yun's influence could be
strongly
felt
among younger
monks
(and
indeed
among
the
caigu Vegetarian Sisters), although
some conser-
vative older monks find him to be too radical. Political control and the CCP's
suspicion
of
Hsing
Yun
prohibits
his model from
flourishing
in
China;42
never-
theless,
the
vocabulary
and some
practices
now
adopted officially by
Buddhists
on the mainland reveal its influences. The
changes
in institutional Buddhism in
China are in some
ways
a
response
to this.
Conclusion
The
Gongde represents
an
interesting
case
study
for
religious change
and its sub-
sequent impact
on its music. On the one
hand,
state
policy
has
played
a
major
role in
fostering
a
symbiotic relationship
between
religion
and
nationalism,
but
on the
other,
the actualization of Taixu's Buddhist reform in Taiwan has
pre-
sented Buddhists in socialist China with a
perfect paradigm
for
modernizing
their
religion.
In Minnan
today,
we see diverse
processes
at work in
rebuilding
Buddhist tradition. These serve to
legitimize
a ritual that had been seen
by
Buddhist clerics as an embarrassment to the
religion
and
by
the
government
as a
challenge
to its
political ideology.
Yet,
even in urban
China,
the
process
of
change
in
Gongde
is far from
homogeneous
and
complete.
At one end of the
continuum,
some institutional monasteries ban its
performance completely,
while
at the
other,
some continue to
perform
it but in an
expurgated
form;
intermediate
practices
determined
by patron
demands also occur. Political and
ideological
propagandizing
in modern cities
may
have
implanted
a new set of values affect-
ing
the
way
some urban dwellers commemorate their
dead,
but there is also
evidence that their effect on the common
people's
attitudes is still limited. With
continued state-dominated discourse of nationalism and
modernization,
aided
by
the Buddhists' own desire to
purge Gongde
of
superstitious
elements,
the insti-
tutional Buddhists
might
further succeed in
hegemonizing
a ritual
practice
deeply
embedded in
paradoxical ideology.
But at the same
time,
the tenacious
desire to
cling
to tradition and
popular
beliefs
by
some
amongst
the
population
continues to create tension between Buddhists who wish to
keep Gongde
free of
undesirable elements and those
willing
to
compromise
for commercial benefit.
Music in
Gongde
has reacted to the flux of recent
economic, socio-cultural,
political
and
ideological change.
But amidst the
uncertainty
of
continuing
change
in
religious ideologies
and
practices,
will music be further affected? If
so,
how? There are no immediate answers to these
questions; only
time will tell.
41 Jones (1999) discusses Buddhism and the state in Taiwan from
Qing
to modern times. On
pp.
185-98 he describes
Hsing
Yun's contributions and
(briefly)
the
Foguangshan system.
See
also Pittman (2001, chap. 6).
42 The CCP has an ambivalent attitude towards
Hsing
Yun because of his worldwide network
and influence
among
Chinese Buddhists outside China.
TAN Music and
ideology
in the
Gongde
ritual of merit in
Fujian
139
Bibliography
Addison,
James
Thayer (1925)
Chinese ancestor
worship:
a
study of
its
meaning
and its relations with
Christianity.
The Church Literature Committee of the
Chung
hua
Sheng Kung
Hui.
Cai,
Junchao
(1998)
Chanlin
zanji [A
collection of Buddhist
hymns].
Taibei shi:
Xinwenfeng
chuaban
gongsi [Taipei: Xinwenfeng Publishing Co.]
Chan,
Sin-Wai
(1985)
Buddhism in late
Ch'ing political thought. Hong Kong:
The Chinese
University
Press.
Day,
Clarence Burton
(1940)
Chinese
peasant
cults:
being
a
study of
Chinese
paper gods. Shanghai/Hong Kong/Singapore: Kelly
and Walsh Ltd.
Dean,
Kenneth
(1988)
"Funerals in
Fujian."
Cahiers
d'Extreme-Asie
4:19-78.
-(1989)
"Revival of
religious practices
in
Fujian:
a case
study."
In Julian Pas
(ed.) Turning of
the tide:
religion
in China
today,
51-77.
Hong Kong:
Oxford
University
Press.
(1993)
Taoist ritual and
popular
cults
of
Southeast China. Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press.
De
Groot,
J. J. M.
(1885)
Buddhist masses
for
the dead at
Amoy.
Leiden:
E.
J.
Brill.
Dore,
Henry (1987)
Chinese customs. Transl. from the French
by
M.
Kennelly.
Singapore:
Graham Brash Publishers.
Doolittle,
Justus
(1866)
Social
life of
the Chinese. London:
Sampson
Low, Son,
and Marston.
Fitch,
Robert F.
(1929)
Pootoo itineraries.
Shanghai: Kelly
and Walsh Ltd.
Hsu,
Francis L. K.
(1971)
Under the ancestors'shadow:
kinship, personality
and
social
mobility
in China. Stanford: Stanford
University
Press.
Johnson, David,
ed.
(1989)
Ritual
opera, operatic
ritual: "Mu-lien rescues his
mother" in Chinese
popular
culture.
Berkeley: University
of
California,
Institute of East Asian Studies.
Jones,
Charles Brewer
(1999)
Buddhism in Taiwan:
religion
and the
state,
1660-1990. Honolulu:
University
of Hawaii Press.
Lagerwey,
John
(1987)
Taoist ritual in Chinese
society
and
history.
New York:
MacMillan.
Luo,
Zhufeng,
ed.
(1991) Religion
under socialism in China. Transl. Donald E.
MacInnis
and
Zheng
Xi'an. New York/London: M.
E.
Sharpe.
MacInnis,
Donald E.
(1989) Religion
in China
today: policy
and
practice.
Maryknoll,
New York: Orbis Books.
Pas,
Julian
E (1989)
The
Turning of
the tide:
religion
in China
today. Hong
Kong:
Oxford
University
Press.
Perry,
Elizabeth J. and Mark
Selden,
eds
(2000)
Chinese
society: change,
con-
flict
and resistance. London/New York:
Routledge.
Pittman, Don A.
(2001)
Toward a modern Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu:
University
of Hawai'i Press.
Reichelt, Karl L.
(1927)
Truth and tradition in Chinese Buddhism: a
study of
Chinese
Mahayana
Buddhism. Translated from the
Norwegian by
Kathrina
van
Wagenen Bugge. Shanghai,
China: The Commercial Press, Ltd.
140 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.11/i 2002
(1951) Religion
in Chinese
garment.
Transl.
Joseph
Tetlie. London:
Lutterworth Press.
Shi,
Shenghui (2000) "Fayang fojiao chuantong,
weihu
shijie heping" ["Promote
Buddhist
traditions,
protect peace
in the world" - a
speech presented
at the
Conference on the
question
of
peace
in Chinese
Buddhism].
In
Fujianfojiao
[Buddhism
in
Fujian]. Sept.,
no. 3:5.
Fujiansheng fojiao
xiehui
[Buddhist
Association of
Fujian province].
Siu,
Helen
(1989) "Recycling
rituals:
politics
and
popular
culture in
contempo-
rary
rural China." In
Perry
Link,
Richard Madsen & Paul G. Pickowicz
(eds)
Unofficial
China:
popular
culture and
thought
in the
People's Republic.
Boulder, Colo.;
London: Westview Press.
Spiegel, Mickey (1997)
China: state control
of religion.
New York/London:
Human
Rights
Watch.
Tan,
Hwee-San
(forthcoming) "Journey through
the underworld: music and
meaning
in a folk Buddhist ritual for the dead." In L. Galliano
(ed.)
Power
and
beauty:
ten studies on Chinese music. Firenze:
Olshki.
Teiser,
Stephen (1994)
The
scripture
on the ten
kings
and the
making of purga-
tory
in medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu:
University
of Hawaii Press.
Wang Rongguo (1997) Fujian fojiao
shi
[History
of Buddhism in
Fujian].
Xiamen: Xiamen daxue chubanshe
[Xiamen University Press].
Watson,
James
L.,
and
Rawski,
Evelyn
S.,
eds
(1988)
Death ritual in late
impe-
rial and modern China.
Berkeley
and Los
Angeles,
Calif.: California
University
Press.
Welch,
Holmes
(1967)
The
practice of
Chinese Buddhism 1900-1950.
Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard
University
Press.
(1968)
The Buddhist Revival In China.
Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard
University
Press.
Xiamenfojiaozhi [Buddhist
Gazette of
Xiamen]. Unpublished.
Yung,
Bell,
Evelyn
S. Rawski and Rubie
Watson,
eds
(1996) Harmony
and coun-
terpoint:
ritual music in Chinese context. Stanford: Stanford
University
Press.
Note on the author
Hwee-San Tan is
currently completing
her Ph.D. thesis at
SOAS,
University
of
London,
where she is
writing
on
liturgical
music in Chinese Buddhist rites for
the dead in
Minnan,
Fujian province. During
2001-2 she was a lecturer in
ethnomusicology
at the
University
of Durham. She has
recently
been awarded a
post-doctoral fellowship by
the
Chiang Ching-kuo
Foundation, Taiwan,
to be
held at
SOAS,
for
comparative
research on Buddhist music in
Fujian
and
Taiwan. Address:
Department
of
Music, SOAS,
Thornhaugh
Street,
London
WC1H OXG, UK; e-mail: hstan@soas.ac.uk.