Wei Guihua
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wei Guihua, Female, Han, from Jiujiang, Jiangxi, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Jiujiang Mountain Songs (Ⅱ-141). The tradition is documented in Jiujiang, Jiangxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jiujiang Mountain Songs in Jiujiang, Jiangxi: Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs are mostly sung antiphonally and improvised during field work, herding and village gatherings; a singer, on seeing a person or a thing, is moved by the scene and breaks into song, and the lyrics are commonly in parallel lines and in the five-line form. In the riverside sandbank areas and the Mufu mountain region the ways of labour differ, so the height of the singing and the length of the drawn-out tones also differ. Jiujiang mountain songs have been sung in Jiujiang for more than a thousand years; the lines “the boatman's words at the hedge root, the fisherman's song at the mouth of the lane” in the Tang poet Bai Juyi's poem “Abundant Rains, Rivers and Lakes in Flood, Gazing Alone in Sorrow, and Hence a Title Written for the North Pavilion” reflect how widely mountain songs were current in Jiujiang at that time. The Ming-dynasty gazetteer of Jiujiang Prefecture records: “Mountain songs were left behind by the ancients; if you do not sing mountain songs you forget your ancestors”. In the Compendium of Chinese Folk Songs, Jiangxi Volume, published in March 1996, fifty Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs had already been included. In 2007 the Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs were entered in the second batch of the Jiangxi provincial-level list of intangible cultural heritage under protection.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Female, Han ethnicity, born in August 1956, a native of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. She has loved singing mountain songs since childhood. When she took part in the county arts festival in 1977, her singing was warmly received by the audience. The following year she was selected and transferred to Jiujiang City for a half-month training course, where she received careful guidance from municipal and county experts. In February 1979 she took part in the provincial folk song showcase; the mountain song Newly Made Treadle Waterwheel with Four Beats, which she sang with Xu Linzhi, won unanimous praise from the experts and was broadcast several times on Jiangxi People's Radio. Later she took part many times in municipal and county artistic performances and in performances for foreign visitors; the mountain song she sang, Newly Made Treadle Waterwheel with Four Beats, was included in Collection of Chinese Folk Songs: Jiangxi Volume and in Collection of Folk Songs of Jiujiang City, and has repeatedly been adapted by composers. Within the documented technical tradition of Jiujiang Mountain Songs in Jiujiang, Jiangxi: Jiujiang mountain songs are a type of mountain song typical for their “three registers” and current in Jiujiang County in the north-west of Jiangxi Province — a county established in the early Han and named “Chaisang”. Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs have a wide range of subjects and rich content, and their main value lies first in the variety of their registers, which are divided into the high register, the plain register and the low register. High-register mountain songs have a high key, wide phrase spans and a long drawn-out vocal line, and are popularly called “beating the narrow tone” and “straining the red face”; plain-register mountain songs have a lower key and even phrase spans, are fine in their delineation and are good at lyrical narrative; low-register mountain songs are weakly toned, and people commonly use low-register mountain songs to chant long stories. Second, they are sung in spoken language, so that one may at any time and any place, on seeing a person or a thing, be moved by the scene and break into song. Third, the genre follows the five-line form of the gong mode with three registers, and the lyrics often use parallel lines. The distinctive style of Jiujiang mountain songs occupies an important place in the folk music of China. “When my heart says sing, I sing; I have more mountain songs than you; by day I take mountain songs as tea and rice, by night I take mountain songs as quilt and bed; singing mountain songs in my mouth makes my heart glad.” “Sung in the plain language of daily life, they voice the feeling for mountain songs that people harbour in their hearts. With its rich imagination, sincere feeling, plain language and ingenious devices, Jiujiang mountain songs give people endless aftertaste. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Xin Da Jiao Che Si Bu Tou": A Jiujiang mountain song sung by Wei Guihua and Xu Lianzhi in 1979, which won unanimous praise from the experts; it was included in the Compendium of Chinese Folk Songs, Jiangxi Volume and in the Compendium of Jiujiang Folk Songs, and was adapted and reworked by musicians many times over. "High, plain and low registers": The Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs vary in register and are divided into the high, the plain and the low: high-register songs have a high key, wide phrase spans and long drawn-out tones, and are popularly called “beating the narrow tone” and “straining the red face”; plain-register songs have a lower key and even phrase spans; low-register songs are weakly toned and are commonly used to chant long stories. "Fifty pieces in the Jiangxi volume": In the Compendium of Chinese Folk Songs, Jiangxi Volume, published in March 1996, fifty Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs had already been included.
Xin Da Jiao Che Si Bu Tou
A Jiujiang mountain song sung by Wei Guihua and Xu Lianzhi in 1979, which won unanimous praise from the experts; it was included in the Compendium of Chinese Folk Songs, Jiangxi Volume and in the Compendium of Jiujiang Folk Songs, and was adapted and reworked by musicians many times over.
High, plain and low registers
The Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs vary in register and are divided into the high, the plain and the low: high-register songs have a high key, wide phrase spans and long drawn-out tones, and are popularly called “beating the narrow tone” and “straining the red face”; plain-register songs have a lower key and even phrase spans; low-register songs are weakly toned and are commonly used to chant long stories.
Fifty pieces in the Jiangxi volume
In the Compendium of Chinese Folk Songs, Jiangxi Volume, published in March 1996, fifty Jiujiang “three-register” mountain songs had already been included.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
National representative bearer of Jiujiang Mountain Songs, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Jiujiang mountain songs have been sung in Jiujiang for more than a thousand years; the lines “the boatman's words at the hedge root, the fisherman's song at the mouth of the lane” in the Tang poet Bai Juyi's poem “Abundant Rains, Rivers and Lakes in Flood, Gazing Alone in Sorrow, and Hence a Title Written for the North Pavilion” reflect how widely mountain songs were current in Jiujiang at that time. The Ming-dynasty gazetteer of Jiujiang Prefecture records: “Mountain songs were left behind by the ancients; if you do not sing mountain songs you forget your ancestors”.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wei Guihua | Jiujiang, Jiangxi | 05-2161 | 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。