Every Saturday at 4 am, Wang Qian wakes and prepares for the one-hour subway commute from her home in Shunyi district to Guanghua Temple, Xicheng district.
Buddhist music has been around for centuries in China,
although has only enjoyed a revival over the past 30 years. Photo: CFP
Wang, 36, is a member of the Beijing Buddhist Music Group (BBMG). Founded in 1986, the ensemble boasts more than 50 singers and musicians who worship Guanyin, a deity known in English as the Mercy Goddess.
Away from scripture-chanting monks and regular Buddhist worshipers, the group gathers in the temple's Dizang Hall. Over the next three hours, incense-filled air is overtaken by the sounds of singing, clanging bells, plucked guzheng (Chinese zither) strings and the steady rhythmic tapping of the wooden fish, or Chinese temple block.
Singing is slow and simple. Reading from sheets with numbered musical notation in an almost meditative state, it's clear that to the singers the rehearsal completely revolves around harmony - both musical and spiritual.
One of the all-layperson choir's signature songs practiced is a rearrangement of Jinchuanliu, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Buddhist hymn.
Guanyin goes to the altar/Eliminating the three calamities/Helping people get rid of eight disasters/Bringing the world good luck, the choir half-sings, half-chants.
We're preserving civilization and tradition. Nobody else sings this song nowadays, so we need to protect it, explains Guo Qing, BBMG's choir master.
Wang, who converted to Buddhism eight years ago, joined the choir around two months ago when they first began practicing the hymn.
The singing itself is hard, but I try to inject emotion when I sing, says Wang. Though I've been a Buddhist for quite some time now, sometimes I feel I want to quit. Singing Buddhist music helps me to better understand and hold onto my faith.
Suppressed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), over the past 30 years Buddhist music has made a modest revival in China.
It is unknown how faithful the BBMG's rendition of Jinchuanliu is to the original 400-year-old version because of the absence of audio recordings and changing musical scores. Even over the past two months, the choir's singers have had to adapt to several arrangement changes made by musicians.
Not everyone can guarantee they will visit every Saturday, thus affecting our performance consistency, says Guo.
Unlike Buddhist music in Southeast Asia that is often sung in Sanskrit, the religion's scholarly language, all songs by the BBMG and other homegrown ensembles are sung in Chinese.
However, their music remains rooted in fanbei, or Buddhist chanting, dating back to the reign of the Emperor Wei Wendi (187-226).
Singing is a good way for people to accept and spread the ancient culture of Buddhism in an increasingly impulsive world, Guo says.
Dong Xianghong, a 22-year-old actress, told Metropolitan that singing ancient Buddhist hymns in modern society helps cleanse people's souls.
Show business is a vanity fair. Singing Buddhist music helps me to remain sincere and not get addicted to fame and money, says Dong, who has starred in a series of TV advertisements and soap operas including Fifty Roses.
The music is beautiful. Sometimes when I chant fanbei, I feel that I'm flying in the sky and into memories from my past life.