This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
Recently I read an article about ancient hermits who met their friends through 啸 (xiào, transcendental whistling), and it suddenly reminded me that, when looking through materials in the past, I had learned that 啸 was actually a divinely imparted way of producing sound. I did not pay attention to it then; now that I recall it, I would like to share it with everyone. 啸 was a common way of producing sound among the ancient Chinese. As early as the Book of Songs there are records such as “whistling and singing, grieving at heart,” “long is her whistling” and “she whistles and sings,” proving that 啸 had appeared at least by the Spring and Autumn period. How long 啸 has existed and who passed it on can no longer be verified by people today.
However, the book Xiao Zhi (The Principles of Whistling) by Sun Guang of the Tang dynasty states clearly that 啸 is a divinely imparted way of producing sound, and even names those who first passed it on: “When breath is driven in the throat and is turbid, it is called speech; when it is driven by the tongue and is clear, it is called whistling. The turbidity of speech can communicate human affairs and convey feelings; the clarity of whistling can move ghosts and spirits and bring about deathlessness. For if one’s speech is good, it is answered from a thousand li away; if one’s whistling is good, all spirits take up their duties. Such were the students of the Dao in ancient times! Laojun transmitted it to the Queen Mother; the Queen Mother transmitted it to the Perfected One of the South Pole; the Perfected One transmitted it to Guangchengzi; Guangchengzi transmitted it to Feng Hou; Feng Hou transmitted it to Xiao Fu; Xiao Fu transmitted it to Wu Guang; Wu Guang transmitted it to Yao; Yao transmitted it to Shun; Shun developed it into the qin and passed it to Yu, after which it fell into disuse. Later the Immortal Lord Gongsun of Mount Taihang in the Jin obtained it, and he attained the Dao and departed, without transmitting it to anyone. Ruan Sizong obtained a small part of it; after that it vanished and was heard of no more.”
So 啸 is a unique way of producing sound, “driven by the tongue and clear”; having received its true transmission, one who cultivates to a certain level can attain the effects of “moving ghosts and spirits and bringing about deathlessness” and “all spirits taking up their duties.” It was first passed on among students of the Dao. The one who first transmitted it was the Daoist deity Taishang Laojun (the Supreme Lord Lao). Daoism holds that Taishang Laojun is a god who has existed in the universe since the very distant past, and that Laozi of two thousand five hundred years ago simply became Taishang Laojun through cultivation — not, as atheists believe, that first there was Laozi, then people made myths about Laozi, and so Taishang Laojun came about. As for the true transmission of 啸, it was handed down from Taishang Laojun to the Queen Mother, the Perfected One of the South Pole, Guangchengzi, Feng Hou, Xiao Fu, Wu Guang, Yao, Shun and Yu the Great, and then intermittently until Ruan Ji (courtesy name Sizong) of the Jin finally obtained a little of it. In the view of Sun Guang of the Tang, its true transmission had been completely lost, and the various forms of 啸 still found among the people at that time had none of them received the true transmission.
Perhaps because the true transmission was cut off, this special way of producing sound appeared less and less in later historical materials, and after the Yuan dynasty it is hardly seen at all. The Qing writer Zhang Chao, courtesy name Shanlai (1650–c. 1709), says in his book Youmeng Ying (Shadows of Quiet Dreams): “Of the things of old not handed down to today, there is whistling.” In fact, not only 啸 was divinely imparted; every aspect of Chinese civilization was imparted and taught by the gods. The ancient Chinese nation of five thousand years always devoutly believed in Buddhas, Daos and gods. Only in modern times did the Western spectre of communism take advantage of the low ebb of the ancient Chinese nation’s fortunes to slip in. After the Communist Party gained power, it vigorously promoted atheism, continually destroying Chinese civilization and confusing the hearts of the Chinese people. Judging by its origins and its conduct, the Communist Party is merely the product of the spiritual colonization and brainwashing control of an ancient Eastern nation by Western ideological rubbish. Only without the Communist Party will China be well.
Today, Shen Yun Performing Arts in the United States also uses a divinely imparted singing method; although it is not 啸, it is the bel canto method personally taught by Master Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong. The singing that singers produce with this method is not only incomparably beautiful, but also has the boundless inner meaning and great power of the Fa to save the people of the world. Many listeners have experienced miracles and good fortune after hearing it. If you have the chance to hear it, by all means do not miss it.
Source: Xiao Zhi
Note: Mainland dictionaries explain the character 啸 as: to pucker the lips and make a sound, to whistle. Many scholars do not agree with this explanation. Some think 啸 is the Mongolian “khoomei” (throat singing) technique, but this too is disputed. Personally, I believe 啸 is a divinely imparted way of producing sound that has been lost.
