Buddhist Orchestra - Xiangguo Temple, Kaifeng
The Great Xiangguo Temple in Kaifeng is one of the most famous Buddhist monasteries in China. It was first built in AD 555, and became an important place for exchanging Buddhist culture between China and foreign countries.
The temple had its heyday in the eleventh century, during the Northern Song dynasty. At the time, Kaifeng was the capital of China, and the temple became one of China’s most vibrant centres of arts and calligraphy, a hub for for poets, artists, musicians, and a meeting place for all classes of society. The temple was famous also for its outstanding music. Famous poet, Li Qingzhao, who is featured in ‘The Story of China’, wrote about how she and her husband would visit the temple.
Suo Nan Zhi played by the Buddhist orchestra
Music from Song dynasty - Suo Nan Zhi played by the Buddhist orchestra.
The temple was damaged many times over the centuries through war and flood - the site is very close to the flood-prone Yellow River. It was ransacked in 1927, when a local warlord ordered his soldiers to expel the monks. In the 1980s, when Michael Wood first visited, the temple complex was a street food market and even housed a kids amusement park!
In 1992, the temple was restored, and ten years later an 80-year-old Buddhist monk, Master Longjiang, re-established the Buddhist orchestra with 22 young monks. Master Longjiang was the only monk who knew how to play certain musical instruments and read the musical scores.
Instruments used by the orchestra today include the ‘bili’, a 20cm-long flute-like tin tube horn, as well as an electronic organ. We had the privilege of filming this orchestra and hearing the music. This piece is called Suo Nan Zhi, and is a type of folk music popularised during the Ming.
