80 minutes, in Chinese with English subtitles 

This intimate portrait film explores the life of eighth-generation household Daoist Li Manshan (b.1946), leader of a group of ritual specialists in the poor countryside of Yanggao county in north Shanxi, China. Steve will briefly introduce the film, and respond to any comments afterwards. He has known the group since 1991, and since 2005 has also taken them on several tours of Europe and the USA. He has presented the film all over Europe, and at several screenings in Beijing.  Using footage mainly from the period since 2011 but also from as far back as 1987, the film shows both Li Manshan’s funerary practice as leader of his ritual group and his solo activities—determining the date for the burial, decorating coffins, and even his work in the fields. We are led into the vocal liturgy, percussion, and melodic instrumental music of their magnificent funeral rituals, learning how ritual practice has changed since the 1930s—and even since the 1990s, under challenges such as migration, the modern education system, and the competition at funerals from pop music.   Complementing Steve’s book Daoist priests of the Li family: ritual life in village China (Three Pines Press, 2016), this moving portrait of the diverse activities of Li Manshan and his group serving their local community in a rapidly changing rural China will fascinate anthropologists, scholars of Daoism and folk religion, world-music aficionados, and all those interested in Chinese society.

Biography

Stephen Jones has been documenting living traditions of ritual and music in rural China since 1986, while working a violinist in leading early music ensembles in London. He is author of Folk music of China: living instrumental traditions(OUP 1995/1998), Plucking the winds (CHIME, 2004), two volumes (with DVDs) Ritual and music of north China (Ashgate, 2007, 2009), and In search of the folk Daoists of north China (Ashgate, 2010).  After gaining a 1st in Chinese at Cambridge, he began fieldwork in China in 1986, working closely with the Music Research Institute in Beijing. Co-founder of CHIME, the European Foundation of Chinese Music Research, from 1993 to 2005 he held research fellowships at SOAS. He has helped bring many outstanding groups of Chinese musicians to tour Europe and the USA, making CDs and programmes on Chinese music for BBC Radio 3.  His recent work focuses on the Li family Daoists in Shanxi, whom he has known since 1991, accompanying them since 2005 on tours to the USA and Europe. His 2015 portrait film Li Manshan: portrait of a folk Daoist complements his book Daoist priests of the Li family: ritual life in village China (Three Pines Press, 2016). His website https://stephenjones.blog contains not only a wealth of information on local ritual traditions in China and reflections on fieldwork, but also articles on cultures around the world