Xihe Dagu Drum Balladry
01 · Historical Records
Xihe dagu originated in the rural areas of central Hebei Province in the middle of the Qing dynasty, and became popular in Tianjin, Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and parts of the northeast and northwest. In the early 20th century more performers came to Tianjin.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xihe dagu is a comparatively canonical drum ballad form of the north; it is also known as 'Xihe diao' and 'Hejian dagu'. Xihe dagu flourished in Tianjin City. Historically there came into being the Hao school represented by Hao Yingji, the Tian school represented by Tian Yinting and the Yan school represented by Yan Guirong; there are more than 150 medium and long works such as Yangjia Jiang (The Generals of the Yang Family) and Hujia Jiang (The Generals of the Hu Family), and over 370 short passages and shumao pieces such as Raokouling (Tongue Twisters), Nao Tiangong (The Uproar in Heaven) and Xiaoguxian (The Wise Sister-in-Law). Among them, the Hao school specialises in long drum ballads: its passages are vivid and tightly packed, it both speaks and sings 'kouzi' (set pieces), and it uses suspense skilfully to hold the audience closely. In performance it not only excels in both speech and song but also employs vocal effects such as kouji, which gives the performance extremely strong expressive power; its vocal style is noted for the abundance of ornate florid tunes and turns. The vocal style of the Tian school of Xihe dagu is based essentially on the natural tones and inflections of the Jizhong (central Hebei) speech, and its language expression keeps the original flavour of Xihe dagu. It suits content of warfare in armour and on horseback, yet at the same time does not lose the speech-and-song manner combined in Xihe dagu; its narration flows like a moving cloud, smooth and continuous. In the Yan school of Xihe dagu, the singing voice is firm and ringing and clear, the range wide, the melodic line rounded and supple, spacious and unforced, blending hardness and gentleness; the diction is clear, the delivery bold and sweeping, ringing and forceful, words and vocal line well matched, the 'pen' and 'beng' techniques properly handled, the counting narration bright and clear, and the metrical accents accurate. The character of Xihe dagu lies in the richness and variety of its repertoire and the breadth of its subject matter; performers not only narrate and sing 'dagu shu' works, but pay particular attention to the creation and performance of the 'dagu qu' (drum tune) class of works, so that the development of Xihe dagu has taken on a distinctive style of its own.
The Hao school
The Tianjin school of Hao Yingji, master of the long drum tale, famed for suspense, vocal mimicry and a florid melodic line.
The Tian school
The school of Tian Yinting, built on the natural tones of central Hebei speech and suited to martial narratives.
The Yan school
The school of Yan Guirong, marked by a bright wide-ranging voice, clear articulation and exact rhythm.
Iron plates and large sanxian
In the Daoguang reign Ma Sanfeng replaced the wooden boards with iron ploughshare plates and adopted the large sanxian, establishing the genre's musical system.
Short pieces and preludes
Short pieces and preludes performed in Tianjin alongside the great long tales of the Yang and Hu families.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xihe dagu is one of the more influential forms of quyi performing art in the Tianjin region. On the colourful stage of Tianjin quyi it has a glorious history and a broad popular basis; it has made an indelible contribution to the development of Tianjin quyi and has played an undeniable role in transmitting local culture, enriching the cultural life of the masses and building a harmonious society.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xihe Dagu Drum Balladry · Xihe Dagu Drum Balladry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This skill is generally transmitted from master to apprentice. Hao Xiejie (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Manchu ethnicity, born in July 1958, a native of Jin County, Liaoning Province. At the age of 15 she was admitted to the Art Troupe of the Political Department of the Engineering Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. After being demobilised in 1979, she was admitted to the Tianjin Quyi Troupe. Her voice is rich, clear and sweet, her command of the traditional art of narrating and singing is solid, her diction is clear, her vocal style stirring and uninhibited, and she attaches importance to combining language with music. Representative inheritor of Xihe dagu, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wu Zhenying 02-0714
- Zhang Lingdi 02-0715
- Hao Xiujie 05-2477
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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