How is it possible that monastic Buddhist musical practice in China, fiercely quashed a few decades ago during the Cultural Revolution, survives, and even thrives today? This dissertation examines how sheng guan wind and percussion music retains elements of tradition vital to its identity as a Buddhist ritual practice while absorbing modern elements that allow it to survive in the context of modern China. An examination of historical data regarding Buddhist music in China provides a basis for comparison of today's musical practice to past traditions. These data include a handful of anecdotes describing Buddhist music performances in the early centuries of the religion's existence in China, mentions of instrumental music in Buddhist sutras, Buddhist iconography and writings by Chinese and Western scholars regarding Buddhism and Buddhist music. Information regarding current practice springs primarily from my field research at Wutai Shan, a Buddhist mountain in Shanxi Province, which involves interviewing monks, pilgrims, government officials, local people and tourists, learning to play the instruments used at the temple, and recording and analyzing rituals involving music. By spending one year engaged in this research, I have gained insight not only into the form and function of ritual musical at Wutai Shan but also into the social, political and economic functions that music plays. Analysis of these various source materials provides insight into how musical notation, instrumentation, teaching methods and performance contexts of temple sheng guan music each maintain elements of tradition while adapting to remain relevant to a new generation of lay and monastic Buddhists in China. Adaptations also allow temples that use sheng guan music to take full advantage of recently relaxed policies toward institutionalized religion and of China's burgeoning market economy. This dissertation contributes to our general understanding of how religious and musical practices adapt to recover from severe disruptions and to remain relevant in rapidly shifting circumstances, and to our understanding of the place of traditional religion in modern China. This work provides a starting point for further Western studies on monastic Chinese ritual music, a topic that has not yet received adequate scholarly attention.
