Qin Dexiang
01 · Lineage & Regional School
From 1990 onward he collected and recorded materials on Changzhou chanting, documenting thirty-two bearers of the tradition and accumulating more than six hundred audio and video recordings. He acquired a comprehensive and systematic command of the chant melodies of every bearer of Changzhou chanting, was proficient in many of its melodic modes, and combined chanting practice with theoretical research. He founded the Changzhou Chanting Transmission Institute together with several transmission bases, carried out a series of teaching activities for passing on the art along with exchanges and promotional work in China and abroad, and trained a group of successors to Changzhou chanting. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yinsongdiao in Changzhou, Jiangsu: Chanting tunes are transmitted very widely in China, found in every region, and because dialects differ they have formed a number of schools. Changzhou chanting is a traditional art form in which chanting is done in the Changzhou dialect. Its main area of transmission is the urban districts of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, but the chanting performers are spread more widely: besides local Changzhou residents, they include people of Changzhou origin who live and work elsewhere and can chant poetry and prose in the Changzhou dialect. The chanting of classical poetry and prose is a folk art with a long history; the “Wu chanting” for which documentary evidence exists can be traced back to the Warring States period. Since the May Fourth movement the fashion for chanting gradually declined, and in the first half of the twentieth century the chanting of classical poetry and prose almost became a “lost art”.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
From childhood he was fond of music and literature. For many years he worked in music education and in research on the theory of traditional Chinese music, focusing on music theory, the chanting of poetry and Buddhist fanbai chant. He compiled and edited six volumes in the Changzhou Chanting series, including Three Hundred Examples of Changzhou Chanting (Changzhou Yinsong Sanbai Li) and Probing the Subtleties of a Vanishing Art (Juexue Tanwei). Within the documented technical tradition of Yinsongdiao in Changzhou, Jiangsu: Chanting means reading classical poetry and prose aloud in a musical fashion. Considered as a musical form, “yin” uses a drawn-out phrase made up of one long note or several linked notes to “read” a single character, so its rhythm is comparatively broad and slow; “song” gives one or two shorter notes to each character, so its rhythm is comparatively tight. In the course of chanting, “yin” and “song” are often combined and alternate, and since “yin” is the basic mode of the chanting art, chanting is often abbreviated simply to “yin”. Japan, South Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia, all deeply influenced by Han culture, have played a major part in learning and disseminating traditional Chinese culture, and chanting has also had a certain influence in these countries and regions. Compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese often use the chanting of poetry and prose to express their love of country and longing for home; from this it can be seen that, to some extent, chanting tunes help to strengthen the cultural identity of Chinese people at home and abroad. Changzhou chanting is basically an individual performance, with the nature of self-appreciation and self-amusement; the text is improvised orally on the spot by the chanter, with no score to follow. Each chanter has “one person, one tune”, and they are not all the same, but overall they share the characteristics of Jiangnan folk music. The repertory of Changzhou chanting is very rich. Poetry may be chanted, including regulated verse such as the seven-character regulated poem, the seven-character quatrain, the five-character regulated poem and the five-character quatrain, as well as ancient-style verse such as the Shijing, the Chuci, yuefu poems and free-form poems; ci and classical prose may also be chanted. In addition, the intonation used by schoolchildren reading in former times and the intonation used by housewives telling stories for leisure in former times can also be brought within Changzhou chanting. Changzhou dialect preserves the entering-tone characters and some ancient pronunciations, and is close to Middle Chinese pronunciation; it has clear artistic features of rise and fall and of stressed and unstressed articulation, and can convey well the sound and rhythm of classical literary works such as Tang poems and Song ci. As a special form of expression of traditional Chinese culture, Changzhou chanting can also arouse overseas Chinese’s attachment to their home country, strengthen their cultural identity, and play a positive part in promoting the unity and cooperation of Chinese people everywhere in the world. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Regulated verse chanting": One of the categories of poetry chanted in Changzhou chanting, including regulated verse such as the seven-character regulated poem, the seven-character quatrain, the five-character regulated poem and the five-character quatrain. "Ancient-style verse chanting": One of the categories of poetry chanted in Changzhou chanting, including ancient-style verse such as the Shijing, the Chuci, yuefu poems and free-form poems. "Ci and classical prose chanting": Besides chanting poetry, Changzhou chanting can also chant ci and classical prose; in addition, the intonation used by schoolchildren reading in former times and the intonation used by housewives telling stories for leisure in former times may also be brought within it. "Individual improvised chanting": Changzhou chanting is basically an individual performance, with the nature of self-appreciation and self-amusement; the text is improvised orally on the spot by the chanter, with no score to follow. Each chanter has “one person, one tune”, and they are not all the same, but overall they share the characteristics of Jiangnan folk music.
Regulated verse chanting
One of the categories of poetry chanted in Changzhou chanting, including regulated verse such as the seven-character regulated poem, the seven-character quatrain, the five-character regulated poem and the five-character quatrain.
Ancient-style verse chanting
One of the categories of poetry chanted in Changzhou chanting, including ancient-style verse such as the Shijing, the Chuci, yuefu poems and free-form poems.
Ci and classical prose chanting
Besides chanting poetry, Changzhou chanting can also chant ci and classical prose; in addition, the intonation used by schoolchildren reading in former times and the intonation used by housewives telling stories for leisure in former times may also be brought within it.
Individual improvised chanting
Changzhou chanting is basically an individual performance, with the nature of self-appreciation and self-amusement; the text is improvised orally on the spot by the chanter, with no score to follow. Each chanter has “one person, one tune”, and they are not all the same, but overall they share the characteristics of Jiangnan folk music.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
Male, of Han ethnicity, born in May 1939 and deceased in September 2016, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. National representative bearer of Yinsongdiao (Changzhou Chanting), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The chanting of classical poetry and prose is a folk art with a long history; the “Wu chanting” for which documentary evidence exists can be traced back to the Warring States period. Since the May Fourth movement the fashion for chanting gradually declined, and in the first half of the twentieth century the chanting of classical poetry and prose almost became a “lost art”.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qin Dexiang | Changzhou, Jiangsu | 04-1534 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。