(b Jiaxian county, Shandong, 1926). Chinese Suona (shawm) player. Like several renowned wind players such as Yuan Ziwen and Wei Yongtang, he was brought up in the intensely musical life of shawm-and-percussion bands in south-western Shandong. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ren was ‘discovered’ in 1953 at one of the many regional arts festivals then being organized by the new regime. He went on to make foreign tours, becoming soloist with the Shanghai Opera Academy (Shanghai gejuyuan).
The style of his arrangements of traditional (often Shandong) melodies, and his own compositions, illustrate the grafting of more modern concepts on to the traditional music of his home, conforming to the values of a modernizing cultural policy. Of his arrangements of traditional Shandong suona pieces, best known is Bainiao chaofeng (‘The Hundred Birds Face the Wind’). Ren is also an influential suona teacher for the younger generation of members of professional troupes.
See also China, §IV, 4(i)
Yuan Jingfang: Minzu qiyue xinshang shouce [Handbook for the appreciation of Chinese instrumental music] (Beijing, 1986), 128
Ren Tongxiang: Ren Tongxiang suona quji [Collected suona pieces of Ren Tongxiang] (Shanghai, 1989)
Suona duzou quji: Ren Tongxiang/Suona Solo Album: Ren Tongxiang, Haiwen/Heaven Audio and Video Press HM-13 (c1990)
S. Jones: Folk Music of China: Living Instrumental Traditions (Oxford, 1998, 2/1998 with CD), 173–9
STEPHEN JONES