Exploring The Funeral Ceremony Music In Yu-Xiang BorderArea

Wu Nuo culture is pervasive in the remote border area of Chongqing and Hunan since the ancient times.The Tujia and Miao there continue the primitive Wu Nuo culture sacrifice and ancestor worship now.Since Southern Song Dynasty,Buddhism and Taoism were introduced into the two places.Buddhism and Taoism were popular during Ming and Qing Dynasties while they faded at the end of Qing Dynasty.The monks and Taoists from temples and Taoist abbeys wandered around among people and continued their cause of misfortune relief and blessing for people in the mundane world.In the long history,the local culture,Buddhist culture and Taoist culture in the border area of Chongqing and Hunan naturally mutually absorbed and integrated,which was mainly manifested in the last great rite in life of Tujia and Miao,funeral.Since Qing Dynasty,there are a great number of bands in the funerals in the border area of Chongqing and Hunan which is named as Tanmen.There are fifteen Tanmen with the history of more than 100 years.Tanmen is named as Caodong Sect and Linji Sect based on Zen Buddhism and their inheritance relationship.In the same Tanen,named after Wen Sect and Wu Sect of Taoist Zheng Yi Sect,they are divided into three sects,namely Wen Sect,Wu Sect and Wen&Wu Sect,according to the different scopes of rite holding.During the rites,ancestors,Nuo god and goddess,Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,Jade Emperor,Sanyuan immortals and many other primitive beliefs,Buddhist and Taoist gods jointly constitute the enormous god system in funerals in the border area of Chongqing and Hunan.While paving the way for the dead,the different singing,gongs,funeral dances and other audio behaviors of different sects are also enriching the spiritual world of Tujia,Miao and Han in the border area of Chongqing and Hunan.The two sects are competing with their emphases,differences and integration so that different cultures continue to evolve,develop and inherit in this land.In this paper,with the funerals and music of Qu’s Tanmen of Caodong Sect in Chongqing with the history of over two hundred years and Tian’s Tan Men of Lingji Sect in the west of Hunan with the history of over one hundred years as research objects,combined with the funerals and music of other Tanmen,such as Zhou’s Tanmen of Caodong Sect in Chongqing and Yang’s Tanmen of Lin Ji Sect in the west of Hunan,the historical development context of different Tanmen in the border area of Chongqing and Hunan will be studied.Meanwhile,the auther using the overall research method of Ethnomusicology,put the ritual music into the historical and cultural background of the border area of Chongqing and Hunan.Combined with funeral cases,with rite time as the axis,the funerals hosted by the two sects are simultaneously rearranged while the differences and similarities in gongs,singing melody,singing texts and ritual beliefs are fixed.Finally,the relationship between funerals of this area and Buddhism and Taoism,and the current ecological environment and survival status of funerals are investigated to record the funerals and music in the juncture area of Chongqing and Hunan where multiple sects were combined during this period.