Traditional Daoist Music
Chinese Taoism/Daoism
Over the past twenty years, Chinese Taoism has been developed in an all-round way. Taoism in Shanghai has also undergone great development and changes, the biggest of which is that a large number of young Taoists, after being educated in the Shanghai Taoist College and instructed by the elder Taoists, have taken up the Taoist posts and taken on the important tasks of practicing, spreading and preaching the Tao.
The City God Temple in Shanghai
The City God Temple is one of the main Taoist temples of the Shanghai Zhengyi School of Taoism. It originated as the Jinshan God Temple, dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan or “Gold Mountain”. During the Ming Dynasty it was converted into the City God Temple. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt many times. Today’s temple was constructed in 1926. During the Cultural Revolution it was closed down and used for other purposes. In 1994 it was restored to its former use as a temple.
The Taoist Music Orchestra of the Shanghai City God Temple
Taoist Music Orchestra of the Shanghai City God Temple has been trained in the past twenty years. They try to present an intact Taoist musical tradition in their performance
and display the simplicity, solemnity, delicacy and softness of Shanghai Taoist music.
The orchestra was founded in 2003. Carefully trained by the professors of the Folk Music Department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the members of the orchestra have mastered the skills in playing traditional music instruments, including plucked instruments, stringed instruments, wind instruments such as sheng and dizi (Chinese bamboo flute), and Chinese wind and percussion instruments such as suona, and the style of playing Shanghai Taoist music that has distinct characteristics of the south of the Yangtze River. This will be the first time for the Shanghai City God temple to bring this precious Daoist heritage to the UK and receive international exposure.
