The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China

All rights remain with the authors under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Proc. of the 17th Int. Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research, London, United Kingdom, 2025 The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China Yuling Chen PrNanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China [email protected] Abstract. Originating in the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Xichuiting (细吹亭) ritual has continued into the present as a distinctive local tradition in Linhai, Zhejiang. Performed as the finale of the Lantern Festival celebrations, this procession features a silk-and-bamboo ensemble housed in a mobile pavilion that traverses the old city along a fixed route. This study examines how the ritual ’ s mobile soundscape shapes a sense of place, conveys symbolic meaning, and anchors collective memory. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, the research addresses three questions: how the music interacts with urban space and festive timing, how it is perceived and embodied by local residents, and how it becomes a symbol of community identity. Rather than treating the music simply as performance, the analysis highlights sound as a spatial and emotional medium that carries cultural significance. The findings show that the sounds of Xichuiting –as heard, remembered, and cherished by residents –serve as an auditory marker of place identity and an emotional touchstone. This case thus offers a fresh contribution to soundscape studies in ethnomusicology by providing a situated, mobile perspective from a Chinese urban context. Keywords: Xichuiting, Soundscape, Memory Site, Place Identity, mobile ritual, Festive sound. 1 Introduction The Xichuiting (细吹亭) of Linhai, located in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province on China’s southeastern coast, is a ritual procession performed on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, marking the final segment of the Lantern Festival. The ritual features a silk-and-bamboo instrumental ensemble housed in a mobile pavilion, which parades along a fixed route through the city’s old town. It draws on Linhai’s local narrative-singing tradition known as ci-diao (词调)–a genre influenced by Kunqu opera, Southern Opera (Nanxi), and local folk music, performed in the Linhai dialect and noted for its graceful melodic style. The name Xichuiting reflects both the Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1016 Y. Chen finely crafted appearance of the wheeled structure and the clear, lyrical quality of the accompanying music. The ritual was formally established during the Jiaqing reign by local gentry members who sought to promote the regional ci-diao tune patterns. It gained popularity and became a regular part of Linhai’s Lantern Festival festivities by the late Republican period (early 20th century). The procession was suspended during the Cultural Revolution and revived in 1980. In 2006, Xichuiting was designated as a representative item of Linhai ’ s intangible cultural heritage. Today, it remains a highlight of the city’s annual Lantern Festival. The concept of the “ soundscape ” was first proposed by R. Murray Schafer[1], referring to the acoustic environment as perceived by people. Since Schafer’s seminal work in the 1970s, soundscape studies have influenced ethnomusicology worldwide. In China, soundscape theory began to gain traction in the early 21st century. Scholars have applied it to the study of Chinese ritual music, exploring how traditional sounds interact with their environments. Ethnomusicologist Xue Yibing, integrating soundscape with music geography, even coined the term “ flowing soundscape ” to describe the dynamic interaction of music and spatial movement in rituals[6]. These theoretical perspectives provide a framework for examining how the sounds of Xichuiting operate within space and society, and they lay the groundwork for this study’s focus on sound, mobility, and local identity. Building on these theoretical insights, this paper observes that soundscape research often overlaps with the study of place identity, yet the precise link between sound and identity remains complex. Based on the author’s fieldwork, I argue that the mobility of the Xichuiting ritual across urban space and time is more than a performative feature of the event. It serves as a medium through which shared community emotions and attachments are continuously enacted. Rather than treating the Xichuiting soundscape as a neutral acoustic backdrop, this study frames it as a mobile, affective construct through which local identity is actively shaped. In its interaction with the city’s streets and the seasonal rhythm of the New Year, the ritual offers a compelling case to explore how moving musical sound contributes to the social production of locality. Accordingly, this study poses three core questions: (1) How does the music of Xichuiting interact with Linhai’s urban geography and Lantern Festival atmosphere to create a distinctive soundscape? (2) In what ways is this soundscape perceived, embodied, and experienced by the local community? (3) How does this festive soundscape become a symbolic marker of Linhai’s culture and serve as an emotional anchor for local residents? The central argument of this paper is threefold: (1) The Xichuiting soundscape emerges from a dynamic interplay between the ritual performance and the spatial environment, continually evolving as the procession moves through the city. (2) Through annual repetition, the sounds of Xichuiting become ingrained in the community ’ s collective festive memory. (3) By linking soundscape with shared memory, Xichuiting functions as both a symbolic representation of local culture and an emotional nexus for the community. These three points collectively illustrate how Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1017 The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China a moving ritual soundscape can help reconstruct place-based identity amid broader social change. In terms of research methodology, the author is both a researcher and a native resident of Linhai. Having observed the Xichuiting ritual during the Lantern Festival since childhood, I have accumulated long-standing emotional memories and lived experiences of this ritual. Building on this foundation, in 2025 I conducted systematic fieldwork, which included on-site observation and audio-visual documentation of the entire procession route, as well as multiple semi-structured interviews. The interviewees comprised five residents who watched the ritual along the streets and three musicians who have long participated in its performance. The combination of lived experience and systematic investigation provides a solid foundation for the present analysis of how the soundscape of Xichuiting is generated and experienced. Following this introduction, the paper is structured in three main parts: The first section provides a detailed account of Xichuiting’s soundscape as experienced during the procession. The second section applies Schafer ’ s soundscape framework to analyze the types of sounds present in the event. The third section discusses how the ritual’s sounds carry emotional and symbolic significance for residents, reinforcing a sense of place identity. And this paper concludes with a summary of findings and their implications. 2 Constructing a Flowing Soundscape The most distinctive feature of Linhai ’s Xichuiting (临海细吹亭) is its mobility. Unlike performances in a fixed location, the Xichuiting procession moves through the entire neighbourhood along a clearly defined route, thereby creating a mobile soundscape throughout the city’s streets and alleys. This mobility refers not only to movement through physical space but also to real-time changes in the music ’ s acoustics in response to the surroundings. As the procession unfolds, the sound continually transforms – reflecting the shapes of streets and buildings, the positions of listeners, and the progression of the ritual from opening to climax to conclusion. Each year on the night before the Lantern Festival (the fourteenth day of the first lunar month), the Xichuiting procession departs from the historic military training ground of the Dao Division Office (now Zheshang Primary School). It proceeds along Ziyang Street, passes Lanxiu Tower, and concludes beneath the archway of Xingshan Gate[1] – covering a route of approximately 1,080 metres[2]. This path follows the central axis of Linhai’s old city, a densely populated historic neighbourhood where [1]Note: Xingshan Gate(xingshanmen, 兴善门) is part of the Jiangnan Great Wall in Linhai. Historically, it served both military and hydraulic functions –defending against external invasions and preventing floods. [2] Note: Unless otherwise specified, all information and data related to Linhai cultural tourism cited below are sourced from the official website of Linhai Culture and Tourism (http://www.lhtzfc.com). Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1018 Y. Chen buildings stand closely together (a condition that is especially apparent during festival time). As the procession moves, the soundscape accordingly transitions through different urban settings: it begins in an open square, presses into narrow alleyways, passes under several ceremonial paifang archways, resonates beneath a vaulted city gate, and finally emerges into an open plaza outside the old city. In other words, the music undergoes a spatial journey from “openness” to “density” to “resonance” to “diffusion”. In Linhai’s narrow alleys, the confined space amplifies the impact of Xichuiting’s music –residents often hear it before they see it. Ziyang Street, for instance, is only about 4–5 metres wide. As the ensemble makes its way down this lane, the twoand three-story wooden buildings on either side form natural echo chambers. These closely spaced structures reflect the music, allowing the silk-and-bamboo instruments to sound rich and penetrating, carrying through the alley without quickly fading. Meanwhile, the crisp strikes of the pengzhong (bronze clapper) crack sharply off the walls, heightening the listener’s anticipation as the procession approaches. The route’s archways create dramatic sound boosts that punctuate the procession. Along Ziyang Street there are Five brick archways[3] are distributed along Ziyang Street(ziyangjie, 紫阳街), each roughly 10 metres high with a vaulted opening about 3.3 metres tall, spaced around 200 metres apart. As the ensemble passes through each arch, the sound is briefly confined within the archway, causing a sudden spike in volume. These rhythmic acoustic surges enrich the overall texture of the music and intensify the procession’s sense of momentum. In effect, the music gains a burst of energy at each gateway, propelling the soundscape forward. This showcases a dynamic interaction between the ritual music and the city’s architecture: the design of the urban space actively shapes the sonic experience. As the parade reaches its final destination, two contrasting sound effects signal the ritual’s closure. When the music enters the stone passage of Xingshan Gate (about 8 m long), the archway acts as a natural echo chamber – the reverberation swells, pushing the music to its most powerful peak. This heightened resonance not only amplifies the musical climax but also symbolically marks the ritual’s conclusion. In that moment, the lingering notes of the ensemble swirl around the moving pavilion while the massive gate stands silent and still – a striking sonic interplay of movement versus stillness, concentration versus diffusion. Once the performers emerge from under Xingshan Gate into the open plaza outside the city wall, the soundscape changes abruptly: without the enclosure of walls, the music grows noticeably lighter and thinner. This is not due to any loss of skill, but rather a deliberate acoustic denouement. Like a gentle diminuendo at the end of a composition, the sound gradually tapers off, releasing the festive energy and placing an auditory full stop on the Lantern Festival celebrations. The Xichuiting soundscape is shaped not only by the city’s acoustics but also by the configuration of the ensemble itself. According to the local history Tune Patterns of Linhai (linhai cidiao, 临海词调)[5], a standard Xichuiting ensemble consists of [3] Note: Originating in the Warring States period, such structures were traditionally used to demarcate urban zones or prevent fire spread. Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1019 The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China about 18 performers. The pavilion is carried on the shoulders of four men (sometimes eight), and the musicians arrange themselves in a set order around and behind this moving platform. The ensemble typically includes four erhu (two-string fiddles), four jinghu (high-pitched fiddles), two sheng (mouth organs), two dizi (transverse bamboo flutes), two xiao (vertical flutes), two pairs of pengzhong (bronze hand-bells), one pipa (lute), one yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and two sanxian (three-string fretless lutes, 三弦). Field observations and video recordings show that the ensemble plays continuously as it marches through the streets. The musicians are arranged in a deliberate order. At the very front, two pengzhong (hand-bell) players lead the way, providing a steady rhythmic anchor. They are followed by the group of erhu players. The pavilion occupies the center of the formation, with the dizi and pipa players flanking it on either side. Immediately behind the pavilion is the yangqin player, who performs on a portable hammered dulcimer as it is pushed along. Bringing up the rear are the sheng and sanxian players, rounding out the procession’s sound. This spatial arrangement is intended to facilitate tight ensemble coordination, ensuring each section can hear and respond to the others. At the same time, it creates a dynamic sound field: because different instruments (with different timbres) are stationed at distinct positions, listeners along the route experience the music in layers –the sharp rhythm at the front, melodies in the middle, and rich harmonic tones at the back. Thanks to this layout, listeners standing at different points along the route hear distinct mixes of the music: the front of the procession is rhythm-driven, the middle emphasizes intertwining melodies, and the rear offers sustained harmonies and bass tones. In fact, this spatial layering of sound mirrors the three-part form of a symphony (with a beginning, middle, and concluding section). The experience of listening is thus shaped by both the musical structure and one’s physical location –a fusion of composition and geography. In effect, the Xichuiting soundscape is not only something one hears; it is also something one perceives dynamically while moving or standing in the path of the music. In sum, it is this “sound-in-motion” that makes Xichuiting more than just a musical ritual，it becomes a multisensory spectacle of sight, sound, and space. The moving pavilion and its musicians create a mobile sound field, centred on the procession itself, modulated by each listener ’ s position, and shaped by the surrounding architecture. All these factors interact to weave a directional, layered soundscape into the fabric of the city. Crucially, the mobility of this sonic experience is what makes festival time both felt and remembered. This moving soundscape becomes part of the festival memory for residents, setting the stage for how they recall and cherish the Lantern Festival each year. 3 Analysing Xichuiting through Schafer's Framework To appreciate Xichuiting’s role in local memory, it is important to situate it within the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao Jie, 元宵节), one of China’s oldest celebrations marking Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1020 Y. Chen the close of the New Year season on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Often likened to a Chinese form of “ carnival, ” the festival features lantern displays, fireworks, and vibrant lion and dragon dances that create a heightened atmosphere of collective joy. In this festive context, sound plays a dual role. On one hand, it helps construct the celebratory atmosphere; on the other, it serves as a temporal cue and a trigger for both personal and collective memory. Xichuiting, as a local folk musical ritual, holds a unique symbolic place in Linhai’s Lantern Festival – it is the final act that concludes the holiday’s celebrations. The performance usually begins late at night, after all other festival activities have ended. At this liminal moment, the Xichuiting procession winds slowly through the city’s main streets, its music gently accompanying residents into the darkness. In doing so, it ceremonially closes the Lantern Festival and, by extension, the entire New Year season. To analyze how Xichuiting’s sounds are perceived and given meaning during the festival, this study applies R. Murray Schafer ’ s classic soundscape framework. Schafer divides the sonic environment into three categories: keynote sounds, signal sounds, and soundmarks[4]. This classification helps clarify the distinct roles different sounds play in the Xichuiting ritual. Firstly, the keynote sounds form the festival’s sonic backdrop. They establish the celebratory atmosphere and lay the groundwork for Xichuiting ’ s entrance. Throughout Lantern Festival day in Linhai, the city is filled with noise. Firecrackers crackle constantly, crowds chatter and bustle, and even after the lion dances or lantern shows finish, their echoes linger in the air. These omnipresent noises are the keynote of the festival soundscape –a continuous background din that makes the moment of silence before Xichuiting ’ s arrival especially stark. As night falls and the crowds begin to disperse, the ambient sounds gradually fade away, clearing an acoustic space for the delicate tones of the Xichuiting ensemble. This shift –from the day’s noisy excitement to the late-night calm –sets the stage for the ritual, giving it a heightened sense of ceremony. Secondly, signal sounds function as cues that grab attention and heighten anticipation. In the case of Xichuiting, the signature signal is the crisp tolling of the two pengzhong hand-bells at the head of the procession. Their clear, resonant clang cuts through the late-night hush, immediately standing out in the darkness. This deliberate ringing is a classic signal: it announces that the procession is approaching, and it stirs excitement in everyone who hears it. Many residents say that as soon as the pengzhong reverberates through the streets, they know instantly that Xichuiting is [4] Note: The classification of sounds is derived from R. Murray Schafer’s influential work The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Schafer ’ s taxonomy distinguishes three primary categories: Keynote sounds, which denote background sounds emanating from the natural environment –such as the sounds of water, wind, birds, and insects; Signal sounds, which are typically intentional aural signals produced by humans and serve communicative or alerting functions, for example, whistles or sirens; and Soundmarks, a term adapted from landmarks, referring to distinctive sounds that are characteristic of a particular locale and function as aural identifiers within that spatial context. Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1021 The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China coming. In this way, the bell sound triggers a wave of shared emotion and marks a pivotal turning point in the night’s atmosphere. Finally, soundmarks are those distinctive sounds that become symbols of a place through repetition and familiarity. As the Xichuiting procession moves along, the ensemble plays certain traditional ci-diao tune patterns unique to Linhai’s repertoire –for example, a melody called “General’s Order” (将军令)[5]that is reserved for this night. These tunes are instantly recognizable to locals and carry a style that is distinctly Linhai. Over the years, such melodies have become soundmarks of the Lantern Festival: they signify Xichuiting ’ s identity and embody the city ’ s aural memory of the holiday. As one resident recalled, “Every Lantern Festival night, just before going to bed, hearing the sound of Xichuiting tells me that the year is truly over.”[6]In other words, the music of Xichuiting delivers not only auditory enjoyment but also a flood of collective memories –it evokes the mood of the festival, the feel of one’s hometown, and the nostalgia of past celebrations. For local residents, Xichuiting is more than an elegant musical performance –it sparks deep memories of the Lantern Festival in Linhai. Because Xichuiting always takes place at a fixed time each year, follows the same route, and plays the same repertoire, people develop a kind of conditioned reflex that ties its soundscape to the rhythm of the festival. From the background keynotes of the festive streets, to the ringing signal of the hand-bells, to the familiar soundmark melodies that everyone knows, all these sounds together form an auditory pathway through which people experience the Lantern Festival. By following this sonic pathway year after year, Linhai residents continually reaffirm their sense of place and community identity. Indeed, as Schafer noted, once a sound becomes woven into the everyday rhythms of life, it is no longer merely a “sound” –it becomes a symbol of lived experience and an echo of emotion[1]. 4 Reinforcing Place Identity through Ritual Sound Xichuiting has become a powerful cultural symbol for the people of Linhai, as well as an emotional touchstone of local identity. This special status is inseparable from the ritual’s distinctive soundscape and its unique performance practice. First and foremost, Xichuiting’s soundscape has become a temporal marker –it signals the end of the Spring Festival (New Year) season. As the boisterous Lantern Festival festivities draw to a close, Xichuiting’s music emerges quietly in the dead of night, like a musical elegy bidding farewell to the holiday. It gently ushers residents from the carnival atmosphere of the New Year back to the normal rhythm of everyday life. One interviewee, Guo Senjiao, recalled, “Every year, once we hear the sound of Xichuiting, we know the New Year is over and it’s time to get back to work.” For the community, this yearly sound carries a deeply internalized sense of time. Xichuiting [5]Note: Jiangjunling( 将军令) is a tune pattern (cidiao) from the Linhai local repertoire, specifically performed within the Xichuiting ritual. [6]Interview with Zecheng Ye, Linhai resident, 23 April 2025. Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1022 Y. Chen has become a sonic symbol of transition –the sound that tells everyone the festivities are over and it is time to resume ordinary life. The uniqueness of Xichuiting ’ s soundscape also lies in how it interacts with Linhai’s physical landmarks. The parade route winds through the heart of the old city, passing a series of historic sites –from Ziyang Street to the city’s Xingshan Gate, along the ancient city wall. As the procession moves, the music engages with the built environment at every step: echoes ring out under stone archways, reverberations bounce through narrow alleys, and notes reflect off courtyard walls, giving each location its own sonic character. One interviewee vividly noted, “The best moment is when Xichuiting reaches Ziyang Street –the sound drifts in from a distance just as the performance hits its climax. When I think of Xichuiting, I can picture the city of Linhai in my mind.” Such aural memories are not merely sensory; they effectively draw a “sound map” of the city in people’s minds. Thus, Xichuiting’s music is woven into the city’s very spaces, and by extension into residents’ daily lives. It has become one of the key ways that locals perceive their city and emotionally connect with their hometown. More critically, Xichuiting is not just a festive performance –it functions as a potent symbol of Linhai ’ s place identity. Its uniqueness rests on three key factors. First, the ritual has a continuous history of over two hundred years, stretching back to the late 18th century. Second, its musical repertoire draws entirely from local ci-diao tune patterns, the traditional melodies of Linhai. Third, the procession’s route through the city has remained virtually unchanged across generations. This combination of long history, localized music, and fixed spatial tradition makes Xichuiting a truly unique ritual –an emblem of Linhai’s culture that cannot be replicated elsewhere. This strong sense of local pride is evident in how residents talk about Xichuiting. For example, one interviewee, Ye Zecheng, proudly remarked, “ Xichuiting is a unique art of Linhai –one of the most precious treasures we have. ” [7] Such sentiments suggest that Xichuiting is not just an entertainment or show, but a vessel of collective memory and cultural belonging. It carries memories across generations: anyone who grew up hearing Xichuiting has, in a sense, woven the sound into their very idea of home. As another participant described it, “Xichuiting is the background music of our hometown.” In other words, it is a sonic emblem of Linhai –a sound that forges emotional connections and conjures an audible image of the city in people’ s minds. Despite its deep emotional roots, Xichuiting now faces new challenges amid rapid modernization. Social change and urban redevelopment have weakened the traditional bond between the ritual’s sound and a sense of place. After being suspended during the Cultural Revolution, Xichuiting was eventually revived as part of Linhai’s cultural tourism promotions. However, in the process, its form and soundscape have been significantly altered. For instance, its once-symbolic midnight appearance –which used to mark the very end of the New Year cycle –has been pushed to much earlier time slots, sometimes even to the early evening. This shift has undeniably weakened [7]Interview with Zecheng Ye, Linhai resident, 23 April 2025. Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1023 The Moving Soundscape of Xichuiting: Ritual Sound and Place Identity in Linhai, China Xichuiting’s role as the ritual “finale.” Furthermore, in recent years, concerns over safety and crowd control have led organizers to move some Xichuiting performances onto fixed stages in tourist zones. This change strips away the ritual ’ s hallmark mobility and its close neighbourhood interactions that once defined the experience. The music that formerly roamed freely through alleyways, spilling into people ’ s doorways, is now confined to curated performance spaces. As a result, the ritual essence of Xichuiting has been diluted, remaking it into more of a “cultural show.” “Nowadays Xichuiting is just performance for the sake of performance,”[8] one local resident lamented. The cherished scenes of listening from one’s doorstep or waiting with family have begun to fade, and the tradition ’ s emotional resonance has diminished. Nevertheless, local cultural authorities and community groups have been making efforts to restore Xichuiting’s social function as a carrier of local identity. In recent years, with support from the municipal government and grassroots organizers, true nighttime street processions have gradually resumed. Some performances have even returned to the traditional route along Ziyang Street. The 2022 street parade, for instance, sparked an outpouring of emotion among older residents who remembered the real Xichuiting of decades past. Even though the format of Xichuiting has been adapted for new circumstances, its soundscape continues to serve as a vital medium of local identity –a living bridge between memory and emotion. In essence, the ritual’s sound is still negotiating its place in the ever-evolving city. It reminds the people of Linhai who they are and where they come from, even as the city around them changes. 5 Conclusion In conclusion, Xichuiting has grown from a simple Lantern Festival ritual into a symbolic sonic marker of place identity in Linhai. Its soundscape –from the final bell signals marking the close of the New Year to the melodies echoing through the old city streets –has embedded itself in the community ’ s festive memories and everyday emotional life. This sense of place, cultivated over generations through collective listening, is continuously reconstructed even as the social and physical landscape changes. Institutional and societal shifts have no doubt altered Xichuiting’s outward form (for example, shifting a midnight street procession to an early-evening staged show). Yet the emotional core of Xichuiting endures. Its sound remains a vital thread tying the people of Linhai to their city, to their annual rituals, and to a shared cultural belonging. Beyond documenting and describing local tradition, this study seeks to highlight the social role of ritual soundscapes in contemporary society. The case of Xichuiting demonstrates that moving soundscapes are not only part of the festive atmosphere but also actively contribute to the construction of social space and collective temporality: they help people move from festival back to daily life, strengthen residents’ emotional [8]Interview with Zecheng Ye, Linhai resident, 23 April 2025. Proc. of the 17th International Symposium on CMMR, London, UK, Nov. 3-7, 2025 1024