ABSTRACT
Hengshan, the northern peak of the numinous 'five marchmonts', though patronized by Qing emperors, was less prestigious and significant than either its Buddhist neighbour Wutaishan or other Daoist mountains. According to a local account, temples were damaged during a major battle here in 1926 between the warlord armies of Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan; in 1933 they were restored by the donations of local gentry. By the 1990s, Buddhists were occasionally invited for folk funerals, but they didn't play shengguan music, so perhaps they mainly recited scriptures rather than performing the more popular public rituals. Along with Buddhist monks and even shawm-band musicians, they were 'struggled' as 'ox demons and snake spirits' during the Cultural Revolution. The Liu tradition declined in the republican period, leaving the Zhangs, based in the adjacent Wangyao and Hexitou villages in Lancun district; Daoists from nearby North Zhao village also took part in the restoration after the Cultural Revolution.
