It's the sound of music from Mount Wutai

Buddhist orchestra on stage, at Mount Wutai. [Photo/wutaishan.city.sohu.com]

Shanxi province's Performing Arts Association will hold a special concert at the Shanxi Theatre, in the city of Taiyuan, Feb 6 - 7, just for the music of Buddhist monks up on Mount Wutai, with help from the cultural heritage committee.

Mount Wutai's Buddhism goes back to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-557AD) making it one of China's most famous holy sites. The music there has borrowed from traditional Han Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism over the years and gradually formed its own style, which spread to neighboring Wuzhai, Zuoquan, Hongdong, Xiangfen, Fanzhi, Daixian, and Yuanping counties, as well as Taiyuan.

Chinese Buddhist music has two main forms -- South and North -- with the first conveying a gentle, delicate sound and the latter, similar to classical Indian music, a more solemn, serious air. Wutai's Buddhist music belongs to the northern genre, with variations, and shows its power, with some local folk characteristics. Both the Han and Tibetan versions use basically the same musical instruments, for percussion and wind instruments.

For more information on the Spring Festival concert:

Host organization: cultural heritage committee, Shanxi Performing Arts Assoc.

Performance: Buddhist music orchestra of Mount Wutai

Time: 7:20 pm —9:00 pm, Feb 6-7, 2015

Address: Shanxi Theatre, Taiyuan, Shanxi province

Ticket hotline: 0351—721-3379