The sound of tradition

Music once associated with weddings and funerals is attracting a wider audience, Chen Nan reports.

The glare of stage lights closes in on Gong Yuhong as he sits down with his band, which is about to produce a crescendo of sounds that overwhelms the audience.

The concert hall, located inside the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where they are performing, usually hosts classical musicians playing Beethoven or Mozart, but on Oct 20, Gong and his band played high-pitched, passionate music that seemed to transport audiences to an outdoor wilderness.

The Shanxi Gong Family Wind and Percussion Band is an intangible cultural heritage inheritance project from Lyuliang, Shanxi province. It was originally founded by Gong Quanzhong, and Gong Yuhong is its 10th generation successor.

They performed classical and traditional pieces, such as Huadaoze, Qingtiange and Shuilongyin, music usually performed during weddings, funerals, temple fairs and sacrificial ceremonies.