Jiancheya

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Jiancheya, Male, Qiang, from Songpan, Sichuan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Polyphonic Folk Songs (Ⅱ-30). The tradition is documented in Songpan, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Songpan, Sichuan: The Qiang multi-part folk song survives only in a few Qiang mountain stockades of Xiaoxing township and Zhenping township in Songpan county, Sichuan, and has been transmitted from generation to generation among the local Qiang. It is always made up of two parts and, seen from the angle of singing occasion and social function, may be divided roughly into five kinds: the mountain song, the work song, the wine song, the custom song and the dance song. Xiaoxing township of Songpan county, where the Qiang multi-part folk song circulates, adjoins the Tibetan area of Hongyuan; the life of the local people is influenced by Tibetan culture, so that every aspect shows the features of a blending of Tibetan and Qiang culture. Understanding the Qiang multi-part folk song against this background also provides a useful reference for the study of the multi-part folk songs of other Tibeto-Burman nationalities. The Qiang multi-part folk song originated in the collective labour and sacrificial activity of the Qiang forebears and is closely bound up with the ancient farming and herding life and the polytheistic beliefs of the Qiang. The Qiang have no script of their own, and their folk songs are transmitted wholly by word of mouth. The Songpan area on the upper reaches of the Minjiang has been an area of Qiang settlement since ancient times, and in local folk activities of marriage, mourning, sacrifice and festival the manner of two-part choral singing has long been preserved, forming and carrying on a relatively stable tradition of multi-part singing.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Jiancheya is anchored in the documented technical standards of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Songpan, Sichuan. Within the documented technical tradition of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Songpan, Sichuan: Multi-part folk song refers to folk songs whose texture and structure take a multi-part form; China's multi-part folk songs are concentrated chiefly among the dozen or so minority nationalities of the Zhuang, Dong, Bouyei, Gaoshan, Maonan, Qiang, Miao and Yi, most of them adopting the two-part form and a small number being three-part and four-part art. The Qiang multi-part folk song is a representative of the multi-part music of the minority nationalities of the Tibeto-Burman language family; its melody is mostly pentatonic, generally begun by a lead singer, with the following part overlapping the lead part at an interval of one or several beats and joining it in unison at the end of the phrase. In this kind of two-part singing there frequently occur vertical combinations of fourths, fifths and major seconds, the following part surpassing the lead part, and there is still more a slow, wide-range vibrato singing rare in other parts of China, revealing a distinctly Qiang cultural character. Representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song include Hayi Hala, Halu Layi and Samu. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Hayi Hala": One of the representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song. "Halu Layi": One of the representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song. "The Five Kinds: Mountain Song, Work Song, Wine Song, Custom Song and Dance Song": The division by genre of the Qiang multi-part folk song, seen from the angle of singing occasion and social function.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Jiancheya was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Polyphonic Folk Songs, with Songpan, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Songpan, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Songpan, Sichuan as its declared area, and Songpan County Cultural Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

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.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Jiancheya (Songpan, Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Jiancheya · China ICH Official Archive