Daoist Music (Mount Heng Daoist Music)

Mount Heng Daoist music, also called 'ritual-altar music,' is the Daoist liturgical music of the Mount Heng region. It descends from the 'Northern Celestial Masters' tradition founded in the Eastern Han, absorbing over time elements of Han-Wei wind-and-percussion music and Tang-Song ritual melodies to form its own school and system; organized music troupes can be traced to the Jiaqing reign of the Qing.

The repertoire falls mainly into three parts — hymns of praise, suites and accompanying pieces — performed on instruments including the guanzi reed pipe, sheng mouth-organ, flute, conch, drums, cymbals, cloud-gongs, bronze chimes, wooden fish and ritual bells, chiefly for Daoist purification and offering rites.

In 2008, Mount Heng Daoist music was inscribed on the second national list of intangible cultural heritage (item no. II-139). Its ancient pieces and complete repertoire are a living relic of traditional music with value for musicology, opera studies and local history; today it faces a shortage of successors and an urgent need for protection.

Mount Heng Daoist music is transmitted around Yanggao in Shanxi and the Mount Heng area, reaching into neighboring parts of Hebei and Inner Mongolia, bound up with the Daoist culture of the Northern Sacred Peak.