More than 60 monks from the Chinese mainland left Xiamen Sunday for Taiwan.

They will perform Chinese Buddhist music together with their counterparts in the island province and embark on a tour to perform the seemingly mysterious but enchanting music to both a religious and secular audience in China and other countries.

This will be the first time for Buddhist monks across the Taiwan Straits to jointly set up a troupe to perform the Chinese Buddhist music worldwide, indicating a closer relationship between them.

The troupe will stage three performances in Taiwan before flying to Macao and Hong Kong as well as to Los Angeles and San Francisco of the United States and Vancouver of Canada.

The 100-odd monks of the troupe come from prestigious Buddhist temples including Mount Foguangshan in Taiwan, Wutai Temple in north China's Shanxi Province and Shaolin Temple in central Henan Province, representing the three branches of Buddhism in China, namely, Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Pali Buddhism.

Buddhist music, which originated from ancient India, found its way into China some 2,000 years ago, and after absorbing elements of traditional Chinese folk music, court music and other religious music, a unique form which is now call Chinese Buddhist music came into being, although it has different genres.

"The Buddhist music on the Chinese mainland has a more traditional flavor, while that in Taiwan is more appealing to a secular audience," said Tian Qing, an art director of the troupe and professor with the Chinese Art Institute.

Tian explained that this was because the Buddhist music in Taiwan has also combined chanting and dancing after it arrived there from the Chinese mainland, and he added that he was confident that the joint performance would be fascinating as all genres of the Chinese Buddhist music were to be exhibited, including the renowned Shaolin martial arts.

"Both the Buddhism and the Buddhist music on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have the same root although they differ a little bit in form," said Rev. Sheng Hui, vice president of the Chinese Buddhism Association (CBA), and head of the troupe.

"I hope the joint performance will further enhance ties between Buddhism followers and people across the Taiwan Straits and bring peace and prosperity to the region and the world through Buddhist praying for tolerance, peace and harmony," said Sheng, who is also master of the Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen, a major port city across the Taiwan Straits.

The joint performance was co-sponsored by CBA and Mount Buddha's Light. Monks from the Chinese mainland had been rehearsing in Nanputuo since Feb. 8.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2004)