Changsha Kaifu Temple Bhiksuni Yan Mouth Ceremony And Music

Buddhist music comprises an important part of traditional Chinese music. The Buddhist ceremony known as "yan kou" (literally, "flaming mouth; also known as "hungry ghost") has become widely disseminated within China, All musical structures used in "yan kou" ceremonies are both extremely large and strictly organised, and combine Zan Zhou Jie and instrumental music to form a complete musical which displays a certain narrative structure.The historically significant Kaifu Temple in Changsha city, Hunan Province, is a Buddhist Institute and also Hunan's largest Buddhist nunnery. Today, Kaifu Temple maintains the practice of a considerable number of traditional and complete "yan kou" ceremonies. Kaifu Temple is unusual and differs from the Buddhist institutions that nuns have abandoned "yan kou" practices, besides the role of one monk as "jin gang shang shi", "yan kou" ceremonies are all performed by nuns. This research was conducted according to ethnomusicological research methods, and several "yan kou" ceremonies at Kaifu Temple were observed, recorded and later systematically. The function and distinctive features of Kaifu Temple "yan kou" ceremonies and their particular musical characteristics were also analysed. Research was also conducted through extensive interviews with nuns resident at Kaifu Temple, and by utilising gender analysis methodologies.The five main sections of this paper are as follows:1. An Introduction to Kaifu Temple and Kaifu Temple "yan kou" ceremonies2. Kaifu Temple "yan kou" ceremonies and associated music3. Research into "yan kou" ceremonies4. An Analysis of the music involved in "yan kou" ceremonies5. Research into the nuns of Kaifu Temple...