Abstract: The subject of the research is the music of Chinese Taoism, which was formed as an integral part of religious rituals in Taoist monasteries. In the depths of the ancient culture of Taoist monasticism, a stable system of genres, a stable circle of melodies and a set of ritual instruments has developed. The purpose of the study is to consider Taoist music in the context of the centuries-old spiritual practice of Chinese Taoism. The object of the study is the music that voices the rituals and ceremonies of Taoism as an integral religious system. The ideas of Taoism as a philosophical system are touched upon indirectly. For the first time in Russian-language musicology, a periodization of Taoist musical culture has been developed, two levels of interaction between music and ritual, determined by the type of worship, have been identified and analyzed, varieties of vocal intonation of Taoist prayers have been identified, and the connection between Taoist music and local folklore traditions of China has been substantiated. The main conclusions of the study: in the history of Taoist music, five periods can be distinguished, the change of which is due to the development and complication of the ritual practice of Taoism, the expansion of instruments, the spread of liturgical tunes outside the monasteries; the religious traditions of Taoism predetermined the selection of temple instruments, among which the timbres of percussion and wind instruments predominate; the functioning of music in spiritual rites is determined by the internal (in the monastic circle) or external (in the secular environment) type of ritual; in the musical practice of Chinese Taoism, four types of vocal intonation can be distinguished - chanting, scan, recitation, vocalized speech; Taoist music is closely connected with the folklore culture of various provinces of the country.

Keywords: ritual Taoist music, emptiness, Tao, Chinese folklore, Chinese traditional culture, Taoist music, Taoism, Taoist chants, music of Taoist monasteries, Taoist prayers

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