Preliminary Research On Liancheng Taoist Ceremonial Music

As a Hakka-inhabited county in the west of Fujian Province, Liancheng features varieties of dialects and splendid traditional cultural activities. Liancheng Taoist music depends on various unique folk traditional cultural events, embodies the intrinsic characteristics of hakka traditions and culture, and hence representatively reflects the pluralistic cultural features of the hakka people. This thesis applies the method of case study in Ethnomusicology, taking the Taoist ceremonial music in Liancheng County as an example, attempts to expound the features of the Taoist ceremony and the specific application of music in the ceremonies through the detailed exposition of the cultural background, the occasion and arrangements and process of the ceremonies, of the hierarchical levels of those present the ceremonies based on the first-hand information collected through on-the-spot investigation. Furthermore, the thesis aims to unveil the pattern and application features of the Taoist ceremonial music through the detailed analyses of the fundamental elements, melody and rhythm and structure patterns on the base of the musicon-the-spot. Finally, through the comparison between Liancheng Taoist ceremonial music and hakka folk songs and Tianshi Taoist music of Longhu Mountain in Jiangxi Province, the thesis discusses the regional style and the features beyond the regional style. The thesis concludes that Liancheng Taoist music is the fruit of the merge of the Taoist music in Longhu Mountain and the folk music in hakka region, hence it boasts the rich and unique regional features shared by the Taoist music.