會寧縣地處甘肅省中部，從縣內出土文物看，有較長時間的人類居住史。 2009年 4月 20至 27日，該縣丁溝鄉南門村徐川社舉行了徐進賢的葬禮，筆者參加了本次葬禮，並記錄了全部過程。當地喪葬儀式的程序與中國境內漢族喪葬儀式程式大同小異，喪葬習俗與周邊各縣亦大致相同。儀式的主持者是「陰陽」（又稱「藝人」）；儀式音樂可分為兩類，一類是陰陽在除殃等儀式中使用的，以招魂、驅逐殃煞為主要目的，具有巫術色彩的誦經音樂；一類是樂工提供的具有禮儀性質的，以嗩吶、竹笛、小鼓、鈸等樂器合奏的器樂曲，前者吟誦〈慈悲教主天尊〉、〈降魔護道天尊〉等佛道經文；後者演奏的曲牌有【大開門】、【朝天子】、【祭靈】等。

Huining is located in the central part of Gansu Province. From the objects unearthed within the county by archaeologists, there has been a long history of human habitation in this area. From the 20th to the 27th of April, 2009, a funeral was held for Xu Jinxian in Xuchuan Community in the administrative village of Nanmen in Huining County. The author attended the funeral, and recorded the entire process. Funerals in this area are similar in procedure to those of Han Chinese funerals elsewhere; burial customs are almost the same as in surrounding counties. The person presiding over the ceremony is called yinyang (also known as yiren “artist”). The ritual music can be divided into two categories: one is the music used in the Expulsion of Calamity ritual, which has as its main functions calling back the soul of the dead and expelling the evil spirits of calamity; this music has direct ritual functions and accompanies the chanting of ritual texts by the yinyang. The other is the music provided by the yuegong of a ceremonial nature, with musical instruments including the shawm (suona), flute, small drum, and cymbals. The former includes the chants “Cibei jiaozhu tianzun,” “Xiangmo hudao tianzun” and other Buddhist scriptures; the main pieces performed in the latter are Dakaimen, Chaotianzi, Jiling and so on.