Shaolin Zen Music Ritual

Shaolin Zen Music Ritual, performed in Daixian Gorge of Songshan Mountain, 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of Dengfeng City, 7 kilometers (4 miles) southeast of Shaolin Temple, Henan Province, is world’s largest-scale outdoor performance in mountains. It skillfully combines Zen Buddhism music played by 88 Guzheng (a kind of Chinese stringed plucked instrument similar to zither) and wood block, martial arts displayed by about 600 shaolin monks, and dance of local shepherdesses with modern sound and light technologies, offering a feast to the eyes and ears. It altogether has five movements, mainly showing the Zen Buddhism concepts.  
 The stage of Shaolin Zen Music Ritual is set in a canyon with Songshan Mountain as background. There are streams, trees and stone bridges around, making the stage more attracting. The entire performance area is nearly 3 square kilometers (1 square mile), with a biggest height of 1,400 meters (4,600 feet), making it the world's largest outdoor performance stage. The auditorium consists of zigzag wooden corridors and temple-like buildings, which are in harmony with the surrounding natural landscapes. The audience will sit on a rush cushion to watch the performance, which is also a feature of Shaolin Zen Music Ritual to enhance the atmosphere. 
 

This chapter mainly tells the Buddhism behind the classic Chinese landscape painting “Travelers among Mountains and Streams”. The rain and the stream, the moonlight and the temple, the monks and the peasant family, the Buddhist Poetry and the chant, form of a harmonious and perfect picture of human life.
 

In this movement, the shaolin monks use the wood blocks to tell their life story: the capricious young ages, the strong middle ages and experienced old ages. Among the steady sounds of wood blocks, shepherdesses come singing, bringing the beauty of the world to the pure land of Buddha. The wood block is originally a musical instrument used in Buddhism ceremonies, but the composer adds it into this Shaolin Zen Music Ritual, showing the special charming of Buddhism music.  
 

By playing martial arts including wind box and wind sticks to Guzhen music, Shaolin monks tell a legendary story about Shaolin Temple. It begins with the plot "Dharma Faces the Wall and Mediatates" and aims to show the inheritance of this old temple. 
 

With the change of lights, snow, forest, pagoda, and the eminent monk come out one after another and the life scenes of Buddha and common people overlap. This chapter tells the truth of life and shows the respect to life.
 

Stone Music is the odd part of Shaolin Zen Music Ritual. The instruments used are made from ancient stones with the age of over 3.6 billion years from Song Mountain. The singing from the shaolin monks are solemn and soothing, bringing this music ritual to the climax. 
 

Take a long-distance bus from Zhengzhou Central Long-distance Bus Station next to the East Square of Zhengzhou Railway Station to Dengfeng which takes about CNY 30 and an hour. The bus leaves every 0.5-1 hour from around 06:00 to 20:00. Then take a taxi which takes about CNY 20 and 20 minutes to get there.
 

Get on a long-distance bus From Luoyang Long-distance Bus to Dengfeng. The bus station is to the southeast of Luoyang Railway Station and the bus departs from around 06:00 to 18:00 every 20 minutes to 2 hours based on passenger flow. Duration is about 1.5 hours and ticket fare is CNY25. After getting off, take a taxi to the venue.