DESCRIPTION:
A film about Chengde Qingyin Hui (承德清音会, Chengde Qing Music Society), the revived tradition of palace entertainment music from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), China's last imperial dynasty, which survives to the present day. The musical group featured in the film is the Chengde Mountain Resort Palace Music Society (Bishu Shanzhuang Gongting Yueshe, 避暑山庄宫廷乐社), a large orchestra of traditional instruments, including many that are typical of the Qing Dynasty.

Filmed at the Chengde Mountain Resort (Bishu Shanzhuang, 避暑山庄) in Chengde (承德市), northeastern Hebei province, northern China. Chengde is located 139 miles (224 km) northeast of Beijing and borders Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Beijing, and Tianjin. It is also located near Qinhuangdao and Tangshan on the Bohai Gulf, as well as landlocked Zhangjiakou. Video released by the Chengde Qing Music Research Association (承德清音研究会) on June 1, 2010.

Built between 1703 and 1792, the resort, a vast complex of palaces and administrative and ceremonial buildings covering a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 square km), took 89 years to complete. The Kangxi, Qianlong, and Jiaqing emperors often spent several months of each year here to escape the summer heat in the capital city of Beijing, and the palace zone in the southern part of the resort was therefore designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consists of two parts: a court in front, where the emperor received high officials, nobles of various minority nationalities, and foreign envoys; and bedchambers in the rear, which were the imperial family's living quarters. For all intents and purposes, Chengde served as the Qing empire's second political and cultural center.

When the Qing Dynasty fell in 1912, almost all of the imperial court musicians were dismissed from their positions and many suffered penury upon their return to society. Tang Xifu (唐锡福), a sihu (四胡) player and percussionist who had been one of the principal musicians in the palace orchestra, in 1920 revived the Qing court entertainment music called Qingyin shifan (清音十番), forming the reconstituted "Chengde Qing Music Society" (承德清音会). This group used handwritten scores in gongche notation (工尺谱) for 23 pieces, which had been collected from musicians who had been in the court orchestra. This ensemble, which used some of the very same musical instruments that had been used in the palace banquet orchestra (yanxiang yuedui, 宴享乐队), performed mainly for the performers' own enjoyment, but also participated in life cycle events of the area's elite residents, whose enthusiasm for this musical tradition had led to its revival. Performing for weddings and funerals in the courtyards of wealthy families that had formerly been associated with the Qing court, these musicians' efforts were at this time usually rewarded by nothing more than a meal. By the late 1930s the society's roster included 32 people, and for some of its activities up to 40 people participated. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) the palace scores were lost, but, miraculously, handwritten copies of the scores for 16 pieces were later found to have been retained in the private collections of some elderly performers, and the tradition was again brought back to life in 1982.

Chengde Qingyin Hui was included as one of 130 traditions in the First Batch of the Hebei Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List (河北省第一批省级非物质文化遗产名录), announced on June 6, 2006. On May 18, 2010 Chengde Qingyin Hui was one of 15 traditions from Hebei province included in the List of Recommended Projects for the Third Batch of the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China (第三批国家级非物质文化遗产名录推荐项目名单), although it was not subsequently selected for inclusion in the third batch of the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2011.

More information:
http://fy.folkw.com/view.asp?id=2422
http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E6%89%BF%E5%BE%B7%E6%B8%85%E9%9F%B3%E4%BC%9A
http://news.sjzcity.com/2010/17584.shtml
http://www.b181.com/chuantonwenhua/fwzwhyc/fwzwhyc-1240.html
http://www.chinanews.com/cul/news/2010/03-05/2154697.shtml

避暑山庄游记 承德清音会