A Study Of Daoqing In Hedong

Located in the southwest of Shanxi, Yuncheng which in ancient times was also known as Hedong, is the cradle of Chinese civilization. The cultural heritage of Hedong provides scholars and researchers with abundant materials for their studies of Chinese arts and cultures. Hedong Daoqing as one of the most precious art treasures is well preserved and developed in this region.It is hard to trace back when Hedong Daoqing art style was produced. But based on the data and materials contemporary scholars could obtain, Hedong Daoqing had been prevailing in the early years of Emperor Qianlong (1736) of the Qing Dynasty and had become an important part of people’s daily life.The so called Taoist tunes and songs are the raps of Taoist priests. Its purpose is to spread Taoism and this ballad singing art style is considered to be the origin of Hedong Daoqing.Hedong Daoqing is well developed in Yuncheng especially in Yanhu and Yongji districts. Therefore at the two districts it is also named as "Yuncheng Daoqing", "Yongji Daoqing". This kind of art style can often be seen in different folk activities, such as the celebrations for a baby’s completion of its first month of life, young couple’s wedding ceremony or the birthday feast of the aged. In 2006 Hedong Daoqing was recognized as "Shanxi Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage".The paper consists of three parts-the exordium, the main part and the conclusion. The main part opens with a summary of previous researches on Daoqing and then through the investigation of its tune, tune name (musical form), and its instrumental accompaniment the author compared the Hedong Daoqing with other Daoqing art styles in south Shanxi and pointed out the cultural value of the studies on Hedong Daoqing. Therefore the significance of the paper lies in 1) the study of new materials offers supplementary information on local folk music knowledge.2) the investigation reminds us it is urgent to consider how to attract people’s attention and to protect the art style.3) the study makes some significant recommendations on the development of the Hedong Daoqing.4) the sorting and researching of new materials of Hedong Daoqing has great significance for the studies of local traditional music and folk music.