Xi'an Drum Music - The Living Fossil of Chinese music
The drum music of Xi'an has its ancient lineage in the court music of the Sui and Tang dynasties (581 - 907 CE). It is therefore considered a 'living fossil' of Chinese music culture. For more than a thousand years, this type of court music has been in existence in the city of Xi'an, or Chang'an as it was called at that time. The fact that it has enjoyed such longevity is due to the numerous generations of artists who passed on the musical tradition by word of mouth and person-to-person teaching. For the amazing length of history, it is an amazing feat. As it first emerged in the Han, prospered in the Tang, reached its heyday in the Tang, and evolved during the Song, Xi'an music has to be the most representative type of Chinese music among all others.

The 'Western Region' of the Han Dynasty, which is Xinjiang and Central Asia of today, was not only the beginning of the Silk Road but also the route of the 'Music Road'. The 'hu', or 'foreign', music of Qiuci was introduced to China via the Silk Road and buffeted the ' stone (chimes) and metal (gongs) music' of the Central Plains. The Han and Tang regimes represented the zenith of political prowess of ancient China. Their governments welcomed other cultures with open arms, and the music genres of the Central Plains and the Western Region assimilated, interchanged and reciprocated each other to form hybrids that grew to maturity during the Sui period and culminated in the high Tang. Emperor Ming of the Tang, whose family name was Li Longji, was not only an open-minded ruler, but also a musician himself. He played the drums, composed music, founded the imperial music workshops, and oversaw that all institutionalised systems were perfected. Under him, Han music and hu music merged to become yanyue, the banquet music at the imperial courts. Whether in terms of instrumentation or architecture of the musical forms, Chinese music saw the height of performing formats at the time. Ensemble music that was performed outside the palace grounds, such as for processions, parades and Buddhist rituals, was played by the 'standing musicians', while celebratory music for victorious generals, music for banquets, or chamber performances to honour and award the deserving were played by the 'seated musicians'. Many famous poets of the Tang period had described the ceremonious pomp of 'yanyue' (banquet music). But after the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellion, the monarchy lost power and the musicians formerly in the imperial palaces were dispersed. They went to different parts of the country, thus forming the source of musical knowledge for the plebian world. They taught, by word of mouth and by person-to-person, the playing techniques, musical scores etc. to the world outside the palaces. Furthermore, since the former imperial music workshops recruited folk artists, the repertoire and instrumental practices had their folk origins. Now reverted to their humble origins, the 'banquet music' of the Tang easily became widespread and popular among folk artists. It also found its way into monastic circles, finally evolving into a tradition upheld by the Buddhist and Taoist monks. This is also the source for the Xi'an drum music legacy as we know today. The music of Shanxi, Hebei and the Naxi drum music of Yunnan are the remnant branches of Xi'an drum music. Throughout its evolution and spread of more than a thousand years, the 'banquet music' genre is now broadly categorized into three streams: that of the Buddhist monk, the Taoist monk, and the secular (or popular) schools. They are distinguished by their characteristic sounds: the Buddhist monk school is poignantly solemn, the Taoist monk school is airy and elegant, while the secular school is joyful and lighthearted.

The drum music of Xi'an follows the Sui and Tang lineage, and having been buffeted by the sung music of the Song and Yuan dynasties, it has to show considerable changes. It was restrained from non-religious occasions such as weddings, funerals, ancestral hall gatherings etc.. It was only played on the 1^st day of the Sixth Lunar Month for paying respects to the Buddha and for pilgrims going to the religious grounds on the mountains, or in early Seventh Lunar Month for temple fairs when festive activities were held to celebrate a bumper harvest, and to pray for peace and prosperity throughout the land. The temple fairs lasted for seven days, during which the drum music societies would send out reciprocal invitations to join together to play music. The sound of drum music could be heard all over the city.

The Xi'an drum music (also known as 'Shaanxi drum music') as we know it today is a type of wind-and-percussion music popularly found in the Xi'an area. The music is structurally close to the daqu ('long works') of the Tang. The music scores used also showed traces of the 'abbreviated tablatures' of yanyue that were popular during the Tang and the Sui period.

This type of drum music uses the drum as the leading instrument. It is performed in two formats: the zuoyue (chamber) group and the xingyue (processional) group. The zuoyue group comprises wind instruments such as the dizi, sheng and guan, the percussion instruments such as the various types of drums (zuogu, zhangu, yuegu and dugu), cymbals and gongs of various sizes and held in different ways, clappers, as well as the set of chime gongs called yunluo. A zuoyue (chamber) group is subdivided into two types, one that performs an 'eight-beat drum section' in the first three passages, and another that uses large-sized percussion instruments to produce awe-inspiring sounds and robust moods.

A xingyue (processional) group is also subdivided into two forms: one consists of the wind instruments of dizi and sheng, the percussion instruments such as the yunluo set of chime gongs, xiao jiaoluo, gongluo, jiaozi, clappers etc., with music that is slow and elegant; the other consists of the same wind instruments of dizi and sheng, as well as the yunluo chime gongs, but it also features the single-headed drum in the lead. The musical repertoire is diverse, and includes folk tunes, folk instrumental music etc.. The songs tend to be short and have more lyrical appeal.

The 'East Granary' Drum Music Society of the Tang Paradise
The 'East Granary' Drum Music Society is one of the most famous establishments of its kind in Xi'an. It dates back to the 17th Century during the transitional years of the Ming and Qing regimes, when it was known as the 'East Granary of the Jinglu Imperial Storehouses'. In those days, it was one of the few drum music societies operated under the imperial banner and on the official payroll in the city of Xi'an. The earliest traceable record related to the Society is the ancient scores passed down by word of mouth by Abbot Mao to the members of the East Granary during 1792 - 1821. The same verbatim teaching process was re-enacted during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 - 1908) by Abbot Yuan. As a result, the Society established itself firmly as a music group in the monastic school. During the early 1910's, drum music went on a decline. The artists of the East Granary Society went in search of the drum master, Zhu Tong. They conducted the search diligently on foot, going from street to street and from to wn to town. They could barely make ends meet, and had to sell vegetables such as winter chives to support their mission. When they finally found the master in Sanyuan, they carried him in a sedan chair to Xi’an City, and ceremoniously installed him as their live-in adviser. Master Zhu taught them the art by personal coaching, and the Society became the most distinguished in the genre. Some of the outstanding figures coming out of this training included Liang Zhenyuan, Cheng Tianxiang, Zhao Gengchen etc..

When the Cultural Revolution was finally over, Fan Bingnan, the first disciple of Zhao Gengchen, assisted his teacher as well as Qu Zhiming and Gou Chengxin in reviving the ailing East Granary Drum Music Society. Today, with the financial support of Fan, the group is able to leave its home base and bring the mystic sounds of the ancient chamber music of the Tang and Song imperial courts to the world outside.