It was not as grand a performance as the Dream of the Great Tang （梦回大唐） – a resplendent musical cum cultural troupe that came from Xian （西安）- that was held at the Esplanade last year, but the performance at Telok Ayer Street nevertheless has traveled an equally long journey be it in distance or in time. It is a pedigree of music that is truer in its essence and form to the original Tang version. And further it is closer to our hearts as it was inherited from our folks who brought along the music with them when they came to this shore.Most of us would have heard of the Tang Quartet, if we have yet to watch them performing, at least we have read of them often in the local daily. However what of the Xiang Ling Musical Ensemble (湘灵音乐社)? Is it another Wayang (Drama) troupe that performs in the street corner to celebrate the deity birthday, you may ask.
Well, no. The Xiang Ling Musical Ensemble plays a genre of classical Chinese music known as the Nanyin （南音）or Nanguan（南管 ）. Literary it means the southern musical sound or the southern wind instrument. Historically Nanyin music is directly descended from the music of the Tang Dynasty & it has retained its originality in its musical score and in the composition and formation of the musical ensemble.
The musical ensemble consists of string, wind and percussion instruments. In the typical Nanying style, during the performance the pipa （琵琶）a string instrument, it is held slanted as in the same manner of holding a guitar, instead of holding it upright as what it is now. This style of holding the pipa is depicted in the painting of the court ladies of the Tang Dynasty playing the instrument. The Nanyin music is more mellow and soothing then the typical score of the Chinese orchestra music.When the Tang Dynasty (618-960AD) ended after a reign of 342 years, this music continues to survive in the remote corners of the great empire. This music is nowadays found mainly in southern China in Fujian (福建) Province， Quanzhou, （泉州） and further south in Yunnan （云南）Province in the LiJiang （漓江）area.
Away from their native land, the Nanyin music is now found in areas where there are Fujian, Quanzhou migrants & mainly in Taiwan and South-east Asia. The early traders and migrant brought the music along with them to the far corners of the world where they made their new home.
The Xiang Ling Ensemble performed in front of the Fujian Association at Telok Ayer Street last Sunday night, 04March, the first full moon day of the first month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, aka Yuan Xiao （ 元宵）. The musical group was formed 70years ago. It was a cultural feast of sort on that night and was the first time that I watched a Nanyin performance though I have read of it before.
In order to imbibe in the full cultural and historic glory of the humble music, one has to know a bit of its historic origin as well as the story behind some of the musical pieces that the ensemble played or the arias sung that night,, such as The Night of the Lantern Festival (元宵十五)，and the story of the Han Dynasty beauty Wang Zhaojun（ 王昭君） leaving for the frontier. The MC did a great job in introducing the history of the music to the audience, albeit in Mandarin.
It’s not only the short history of 188 odd years that we find in Telok Ayer that links us back to the beginning of the founding of this city port in 1819 . Looking beyond the sight and deeper down, I hear the sound and felt the spirit of the cultural Tang in our streets. It’s only if we care to find…
.
Post-script:
1. According to the MC the next performance of the Nanying musical ensemble will be in the evening of April 6th at the Tian Fu Gong (天福宫) Temple, Telok Ayer Street. It is Good Friday, which coincides with the birthday of Goddess of Mercy (观音诞), yet another cultural fest.
2. Yuan Xiao (元宵) is also known as Lantern Festival in many parts of China. It is the first full moon night of the Lunar New Year. It’s more commonly know as Chap Goh Meh (十五夜), in the local Fujian （福建）/ Hokkien dialect among the local population. Whereas the other dialect groups such as the Cantonese or the Hakka would call it Yuan Xiao Jie （元宵节）or Yuan Xiao Festival.
It is the Chinese Valentine's day, where maiden would toss oranges into the rivers while making a wish for a good husband. It seems that Penang has revived this practise where locals and tourists alike would toss oranges to the sea, making a wish.
How about the Lion City reviving this age old practise too - tossing oranges into the Singapore River during Yuan Xiao Festival - adding another event into the river calendar of festivities.
3. In China especially, Yuan Xiao Festival is celebrated with lighting lanterns at night. However custom seems not to have been continued over here. Locally lanterns are lit on the Moon Cake Festival which falls on the full moon night of the 8th lunar calendar, which is also the Autumn Festival.
4. The Chinese festivals if one care to note, usually occurs during the lunar-solar solstices. It had its roots millenniums ago in an agrarian society. It is a celebration of the seasons and not particularly of any religious origin. The Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival (春节), for that matter.
5. In the olden days, during the Yuan Xiao Festival ( 元宵 节), family which has given birth to a baby boy would proceed to the ancestral temple （宗祠）to light lantern and hang it on the temple beam, one for each male born the year before.
Thus during the new year, it was customary to greet newly wedded couples, 添丁发财 (Tian Ding Fa Cai ) , meaning May you have a new baby boy and be prosperous.
In this age when the birth rate is less than desirable to replenish the population,, we may need to re-popularize this greeting again, albeit with a touch of equality for the gender.
-//-
