On May 5, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs republished on its WeChat account an article titled "Exploration of Sinicized Christian Music in Contemporary China," which was originally published in the fifth issue of the China Religion Magazine in 2023. The author was Xu Ying, a lecturer at the School of Music, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities.
Xu Ying believes that the modern exploration of sinicized Christian music involves two main aspects: firstly, creating many Christian music works that reflect Chinese theological thoughts and fit Chinese aesthetic taste in music. Secondly, gospel songs are played with Chinese-style performance techniques.
She also reviews several aspects of exploration by older generations of musicians in the Chinese Christian community regarding the sinicization of Christian music: some translated hymns into vernacular Chinese understandable or directly into minority languages according to Chinese tonal rules; some created related lyrics and compositions for hymns played by common styles of Chinese music; in addition to Western staff notation, some used Gongche notation to facilitate the performance of traditional Chinese instruments.
For example, in the Chinese New Hymnal published in 1985, many contemporary Christian music songs express the desire of Chinese Christians to run Chinese churches using the three self principles (self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation), such as "Self-Governing Our Church Endeavors for," "God Our Father, Lead Our Church On," and "Church of China, Arise and Stand." Some works are composed using the Chinese pentatonic and heptatonic scales, such as "Gracious God, Our Father," "Crystal Night, Stilly Night," and "Joy in Serving," with a high level of composition; in addition, some poems, such as "Respect for Elders," reflect Chinese traditional culture from different perspectives.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Fujian CC&TSPM has published the "Excellent Original Sacred Music Works Album of Sinicized Christianity in Fujian Province," mainly written by Christian believers, with local dialects as auxiliary languages. Most of the music scores adopted the melodies of Chinese traditional folk songs, with some works using Min (Fujian) opera. Chords were used in some songs to "reflect national features and local characteristics." The original music works presented in the concert themed "Love Fulfills Hunan" held by Hunan CC&TSPM in 2022 used Hunan folk song melodies, "embodying traditional Chinese virtues, such as self-improvement, dedication, righteousness, and filial piety, as well as respecting work and enjoying company."
In some ethnic minority areas, Christian hymns are combined with ethnic music. For example, in Inner Mongolia, Christian musicians have created hymns with Mongolian long tunes and Mongolian short tunes, accompanied by traditional Mongolian instruments such as the horse-head fiddle.
In terms of instrument usage and playing styles, it is common practice to widely use Chinese ethnic musical instruments and traditional performance forms. For example, the Agape Folk Orchestra of Hefei Church in Anhui Province has explored the incorporation of more than ten kinds of ethnic musical instruments such as erhu, flute, pipa, yangqin, guzheng, and suona (a double-reed instrument) into Christian rituals. For more than 20 years since its establishment, the orchestra has created or adapted more than 30 representative pieces, such as "Sweet and Holy Jesus' Name" and "God, Our Father, Lead Our Church On."
In addition, attempts have been made to integrate Chinese traditional arts into the performance process. For example, the Chinese-style sacred music exchange concert held by Ningbo CC&TSPM, Zhejiang Province, in 2017 featured ensemble performances of traditional Chinese instruments and solo performances of flutes and guzhengs, with couplets in calligraphy displayed under the gentle accompaniment of the guqin. In a large-scale Christian music concert featuring the sinicization of Christianity jointly organized by CC&TSPMs of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei in 2018, not only were the selected poems original or adapted from traditional folk songs, including Inner Mongolian long tunes, Shaanbei dialect tones, and Yunnan folk songs, but there were also many innovations in performance forms. Accompanied by classical dance, a drum dance named "Amazing Grace in China" absorbed the variation and extension of Chinese drum music. The choral dance "Praise the Great Glory" incorporated ethnic minority dances. Accompanied by recitation, chorus, and dance, the hymn "God's Love for China" combined traditional Tianjin tunes with modern ethnic dances.
Xu continues, "During the process of exploring how to sinicize Christian music in contemporary times, we find that people attach importance to the cultivation of music talents." Currently, besides academic programs conducted by religious colleges, training classes, seminars, exchange meetings, and work collections are organized by CC&TSPMs across the country to train talents. For example, since 2013, Hunan Provincial CC&TSPM has adopted the strategy of combining seminars, work, training, and singing for talent cultivation.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
5月5日，微言宗教转载一篇名为《基督教音乐中国化在当代的探索》的文章，作者为内蒙古民族大学音乐学院讲师徐颖，文章原载于《中国宗教》杂志2023年第5期。
徐颖认为，当代的基督教音乐中国化的探索一是在内容上创作出很多反映中国基督教神学思想又能适合中国人音乐审美的基督教音乐作品。二是在基督教音乐表达方式上的中国化，通过使用中国化的表演方式来表现基督教音乐。
她也回顾了中国基督教界的老一辈音乐家们在基督教音乐中国化方面做出以下几个方面的探索：按照中文音律规则，将赞美诗译成通俗易懂的白话汉语，或者直接译成少数民族语言；在赞美诗创作上，有一部分采用中国传统音乐的形式作词、谱曲；在记谱方式上，除了使用西方音乐的五线谱之外，还使用中国工尺谱，以便于中国传统乐器的演奏。
例如，在1985年印行的《赞美诗（新编）》中，收录的很多当代基督教音乐作品（例如《教会三自歌》《我爱中国教会歌》《中华教会自立歌》），就表达了中国基督徒希望以“自治、自养、自传”为原则，独立自主办好中国教会的强烈愿望；有很多运用中国传统的五声音阶以及七声音阶创作的作品（例如《慈父上帝歌》《圣夜静歌》《欢乐服务歌》），创作水平较高；此外，还有些诗歌从不同侧面反映了中华传统文化，如《敬老尊长歌》。
进入21世纪以来，福建基督教两会出版的《八闽齐颂赞——福建省基督教中国化原创圣乐优秀作品专辑》，作词都以基督教信徒自行编写为主，以地方方言为辅；曲谱大多采用中国传统民歌乐调，有些作品还采用福建特色的戏曲唱腔。作品的和声多采用中国民族性强的和弦，“反映民族特性和地方属性”。2022年湖南省基督教两会举办的“爱满潇湘”音乐会中的原创音乐作品，采用湖南民歌曲调，“蕴含自强不息、敬业乐群、见义勇为、孝老爱亲等中华传统文化的精神气质”。
而在一些少数民族地区，基督教赞美诗与民族音乐结合起来。例如，内蒙古地区基督教界创作带有蒙古族长调、蒙汉族短调音乐元素的赞美诗，并且使用马头琴等蒙古族传统乐器伴奏。
在乐器使用以及表演形式方面，广泛使用中国民族乐器以及中国传统的演奏形式就是一种普遍的做法。例如，安徽省合肥市基督教堂圣爱民乐团探索将二胡、笛子、琵琶、扬琴、古筝、唢呐等十余种民族乐器引入基督教的礼仪之中。乐团成立20余年来，自行创作或改编了《南腔北调赞美主》《耶稣美名》《我爱中国教会歌》等30余首具有代表性的曲目。
除此之外，在表演形式上还尝试将中国传统艺术融合在演奏过程中。例如，2017年浙江省宁波市基督教两会举办的“圣乐交流‘中国风’音乐会”，在乐器方面与演奏形式上有民乐合奏、笛子独奏、古筝独奏，并且书法作品在古琴的轻柔伴唱、伴奏下展示出来。2018年京津冀基督教两会联合举办的“基督教中国化‘一件新事’大型音乐赞美会”中，不但所选用的诗歌为原创或改编自传统民歌，包含内蒙古长调、陕北方言声调、云南民歌等丰富多彩的曲调；而且在表演形式上也有很多的创新探索，鼓 舞《奇异恩典中华情》加入了中国鼓的变奏和延伸，并配之以古典舞蹈。合唱舞蹈《赞美大荣光》将少数民族舞蹈融入其中；《主爱中华》集朗诵、合唱、舞蹈为一体，融合了传统的天津时调和现代民族舞蹈。
徐继续写道，“基督教音乐中国化在当代的探索，还体现在对于音乐人才的培养方面。”目前，除了宗教院校进行的专门的人才培养之外，主要是通过各地基督教两会举办各种培训班、研讨会、交流会、作品征集等活动来培养人才。例如，自2013年以来，湖南省基督教两会就以“研讨会+作品+培训+传唱”为思路来培养。
音乐讲师：基督教音乐中国化在当代的探索
On May 5, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs republished on its WeChat account an article titled "Exploration of Sinicized Christian Music in Contemporary China," which was originally published in the fifth issue of the China Religion Magazine in 2023. The author was Xu Ying, a lecturer at the School of Music, Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities.
Xu Ying believes that the modern exploration of sinicized Christian music involves two main aspects: firstly, creating many Christian music works that reflect Chinese theological thoughts and fit Chinese aesthetic taste in music. Secondly, gospel songs are played with Chinese-style performance techniques.
She also reviews several aspects of exploration by older generations of musicians in the Chinese Christian community regarding the sinicization of Christian music: some translated hymns into vernacular Chinese understandable or directly into minority languages according to Chinese tonal rules; some created related lyrics and compositions for hymns played by common styles of Chinese music; in addition to Western staff notation, some used Gongche notation to facilitate the performance of traditional Chinese instruments.
For example, in the Chinese New Hymnal published in 1985, many contemporary Christian music songs express the desire of Chinese Christians to run Chinese churches using the three self principles (self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation), such as "Self-Governing Our Church Endeavors for," "God Our Father, Lead Our Church On," and "Church of China, Arise and Stand." Some works are composed using the Chinese pentatonic and heptatonic scales, such as "Gracious God, Our Father," "Crystal Night, Stilly Night," and "Joy in Serving," with a high level of composition; in addition, some poems, such as "Respect for Elders," reflect Chinese traditional culture from different perspectives.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Fujian CC&TSPM has published the "Excellent Original Sacred Music Works Album of Sinicized Christianity in Fujian Province," mainly written by Christian believers, with local dialects as auxiliary languages. Most of the music scores adopted the melodies of Chinese traditional folk songs, with some works using Min (Fujian) opera. Chords were used in some songs to "reflect national features and local characteristics." The original music works presented in the concert themed "Love Fulfills Hunan" held by Hunan CC&TSPM in 2022 used Hunan folk song melodies, "embodying traditional Chinese virtues, such as self-improvement, dedication, righteousness, and filial piety, as well as respecting work and enjoying company."
In some ethnic minority areas, Christian hymns are combined with ethnic music. For example, in Inner Mongolia, Christian musicians have created hymns with Mongolian long tunes and Mongolian short tunes, accompanied by traditional Mongolian instruments such as the horse-head fiddle.
In terms of instrument usage and playing styles, it is common practice to widely use Chinese ethnic musical instruments and traditional performance forms. For example, the Agape Folk Orchestra of Hefei Church in Anhui Province has explored the incorporation of more than ten kinds of ethnic musical instruments such as erhu, flute, pipa, yangqin, guzheng, and suona (a double-reed instrument) into Christian rituals. For more than 20 years since its establishment, the orchestra has created or adapted more than 30 representative pieces, such as "Sweet and Holy Jesus' Name" and "God, Our Father, Lead Our Church On."
In addition, attempts have been made to integrate Chinese traditional arts into the performance process. For example, the Chinese-style sacred music exchange concert held by Ningbo CC&TSPM, Zhejiang Province, in 2017 featured ensemble performances of traditional Chinese instruments and solo performances of flutes and guzhengs, with couplets in calligraphy displayed under the gentle accompaniment of the guqin. In a large-scale Christian music concert featuring the sinicization of Christianity jointly organized by CC&TSPMs of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei in 2018, not only were the selected poems original or adapted from traditional folk songs, including Inner Mongolian long tunes, Shaanbei dialect tones, and Yunnan folk songs, but there were also many innovations in performance forms. Accompanied by classical dance, a drum dance named "Amazing Grace in China" absorbed the variation and extension of Chinese drum music. The choral dance "Praise the Great Glory" incorporated ethnic minority dances. Accompanied by recitation, chorus, and dance, the hymn "God's Love for China" combined traditional Tianjin tunes with modern ethnic dances.
Xu continues, "During the process of exploring how to sinicize Christian music in contemporary times, we find that people attach importance to the cultivation of music talents." Currently, besides academic programs conducted by religious colleges, training classes, seminars, exchange meetings, and work collections are organized by CC&TSPMs across the country to train talents. For example, since 2013, Hunan Provincial CC&TSPM has adopted the strategy of combining seminars, work, training, and singing for talent cultivation.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Music Lecturer: Exploration of Sinicized Christian Music in Contemporary China
