Master Yuan Jie is the current abbot of Taiping xingguo temple and once lived in Kaifeng Temple, a royal temple. The arrival of Master Yuan Jie, like a clear spring, injected new vitality into Taiping xingguo temple, and finally put the Buddhist activities in the temple on the right track. He said that the formal Buddhist activities in xingguo temple can fully demonstrate the connotation of Buddhist culture. The performance of Buddhist music in the history of Taiping xingguo temple has a very high score, even higher than other monasteries in the Central Plains. He said that without a certain scale and influence, ordinary temples do not have the conditions to form an orchestra. In Henan, apart from Suoguo Temple in Kaifeng and Chaohua Temple in Xinmi, only Taiping xingguo temple in Xun County has a history of playing Buddhist music.
However, due to the age of the old monk in Taiping xingguo temple, the Buddhist music in the temple can no longer be performed normally. In 2008, Master Yuan Jie successfully declared the Buddhist music of Suoguo Temple in Kaifeng as a national intangible cultural heritage. He said that it is urgent to remedy and inherit the Buddhist music of Taiping xingguo temple in Xunxian as soon as possible, which is of great significance to cultural inheritance and intangible cultural heritage protection.
Buddhist music is mainly used in Buddhism and Dojo activities. After the founding of New China, the local government was very concerned about monks and nuns, and did a lot of rescue and excavation of temple music. During the period of 1957, as a Buddhist music group in Anyang area (Xunxian was under the jurisdiction of Anyang at that time), Xunxian monks performed "Ode to Six Sentences" and "The Wind is Like a Songtao" at the third national music and dance concert held in Zhengzhou, and won excellent performance awards. At that time, Henan People's Broadcasting Station also recorded music. Master Yuan Jie has been busy with the restoration of Buddhist music in xingguo temple since he became the abbot of Taiping xingguo temple in Xun County. He tried to find the director of Xunxian Radio and Television Bureau and Anyang Radio Station, but failed to find the recording of the performance at that time. Fortunately, there is still music left in the world!
Playing music was once the specialty of monks and nuns in Taiping xingguo temple. The score of percussion music is Miyachi notation, and its name is: boarding 156 reverse train. The treble is called "sharp" and the bass is called "flat". Most monks and nuns used to become monks when they were young. After becoming a monk, the first thing to learn is music, that is, playing musical instruments. Playing musical instruments include pipe, sheng and flute; Percussion instruments include drums, gongs, cymbals and bells. The titles of the songs played are: Lock Nanzhi, I lament today, Xiao Qingyang, Liu Hanyan, Xiao Kaimen, Caoxihe, five Buddhist sounds, three hymns, sword soldiers, six hymns, the wind is as loose, hymns.
At that time, Xunxian monks were divided into civil and military, and literati mainly recited scriptures and played music; Monks mainly practice martial arts and master acrobatic skills. In the old society, whenever there was a festival or funeral, they had to perform various programs along the way or at the venue, which was called "playing cymbals". The performance on the venue is called "field cymbals"; Walking and playing along the way called "Lu cymbals". Playing cymbals with music is a form of folk social fire party, which shows the characteristics of ancient juggling and unique religious art. This ancient and unique artistic activity has always been kept in the hands of monks. In addition to the urban and rural areas of Xun County, their activity areas also extend to hua county, Neihuang, Tangyin, Qixian, Weihui, Fengqiu, Changyuan and other surrounding counties and cities, and the reputation of "playing cymbals" has also been spread by the masses in the footsteps of monks.
Monks call "playing cymbals" martial arts, and its posture, whether kicking, shooting or posture, shows Shaolin's martial arts style. Musicians who used to play cymbals all wore robes and played in awe, and walked in two teams. Among them, the performers wear short robes, long white socks and cloud shoes, which is very Tang style. During the performance, they all listened to the drums of tambourines. In the field of "Lu cymbals", qigong, magic and martial arts are mixed. The contents of the program mainly include: playing flying cymbals, flying knives, playing missiles, playing vegetables, playing water ropes, playing fire ropes and so on. The postures are: Su Qin carries a sword, Kuixing carries a bucket, cleans up an isolated tree, Zhang Fei deceives a horse, a phoenix grabs a lie, a lion wags its tail, a black dog leaps across its hip, and holds the moon. Some of these programs are performed during the day and some at night, but all of them are performed by Buddhist bands, and before each program is performed, a Zen talk is said, mostly seven or five ancient poems or rhymes. For example, playing with cymbals, you will say, "A small copper fork can be made by a skilled craftsman. "I am in my hands today, and I am playing all around." For another example, when playing missiles, you will say, "Small missiles are hydrangeas, fly to the sky and have a swim. Make a gift before the Buddha and turn it into a treasure on my head. "
These acrobatic skills were adhered to by Xunxian monks until the early days of the founding of New China. Later, with the development of agricultural cooperation, monks joined the production team to participate in agricultural labor, giving up the training of basic skills and the performance of artistic activities, and these juggling activities were interrupted.