Picking up the pieces

At Xi'an's Chenghuang Temple monks are reviving a kind of music that had almost vanished. The ensemble uses instruments that create a clanging, wailing sound that people who lived during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) would recognize.

"Originally, this music was played for Tang royalty," says Wang Qinghua, a senior Taoist monk. "Then, during times of revolution, the musicians sought refuge in the temples and the music continued to evolve in Taoist and Buddhist temples. Now we're starting to play this music in the temples, and we'll play it on the opera stage of the temple once the restoration is complete."

The temple has only recently re-emerged from long years of depredations. In 1966 the "red guards" smashed religious icons in the temple and turned over the grounds to a flea market. The government returned the temple to Chinese Taoist Association in 2004, and now it's a bustling temple and prime tourist attraction.