Sacred Performance

This dissertation is a musical ethnography based on an experimental fieldwork. The Taoist rites Zhaijiao keyi(斋醮科仪)in the city of Wenzhou share a commonality of traits with the general Taoist system but, at the same time, display typically local features. They include the form of ritual performances and their musical style. By acting as a formal Taoist cleric (Daoshi道士),the author had the chance of a full immersion in a series of Zhaijiao keyi held by a Taoist music ensemble in the Wenzhou city. Thus, this case study provides local knowledge of great significance.The methodological choice of writing an ethnographic account was determined by the fact that during fieldwork the author assumed the role of ritual performer. This position allowed him to gain emic experience and observation. At the same time, being an ethnomusicologist, the author had also different identity and perspective, which allowed him to acquire an etic'experience of their experience', and an etic'observation of their observations'. Such a method demanded a continuous switching back and forth between the identity of participant performer and that of observer and analyzer. This study can then be considered both a practical fieldwork experience, and a probe into theoretical assumptions. Its objectives were those of gaining a complete experience of the behavior and an accurate observation of the events so as to offer a reliable self interpretation of culture and a reinterpretation of theoretical issues that for a long time have been under ethnomusicological (and anthropological) scrutiny.The conclusion of this study accounts for the stable transmission, continuity and revival of the Zhaijiao Keyi through the notion of "exchange" between the believers' spiritual requests and the material needs of the Taoist ritual specialists. Through this study a meaningful interpretation has been offered about the double nature of the ceremonial space (i.e. real and virtual space), the performance of the set of symbolic rituals and the "exchange" occurring among the different targets of the rite. The rites reach their purpose when Taoist ritual specialists earn their reward and the faithful (those who commission the rite) receive the spiritual or psychological "effects" of the rite.In this context, music and dance have important functions:they supply a symbolic externalization and create a sacred virtual space, while in the real space they provide purely artistic entertainment to the participants. These aspects illuminate the choice for the title of this dissertation:"Sacred performance" implies the coexistence in the Zhaijiao Keyi of both a religious and an entertaining dimension...