Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry
01 · Historical Records
Dongbei Dagu is a form of quyi drum narrative singing and drum tune that circulates chiefly in northeast China, that is, in the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Because it was once in vogue in Shenyang, and Shenyang had been the seat of Fengtian Prefecture in the late Qing dynasty, it was once also known as 'Fengtian Dagu'. In the eighteenth year of the Republic (1929), when Fengtian Province was renamed Liaoning Province, it was also known as 'Liaoning Dagu'. Dongbei Dagu is generally thought to have formed around the middle of the Qing dynasty. Its earliest form of performance had a single performer speak and sing while accompanying himself on a small sanxian and beating time with 'jieziban' clappers tied to his legs; it was also called 'xianzishu'. Towards the end of the nineteenth century Dongbei Dagu entered the cities, where it chiefly sang short pieces, and some zidi book (bannermen's story-song) texts were transplanted into its repertory. The 'Zhu family troupe', headed by the sisters Zhu Xizhen and Zhu Shixi, who were known as the 'twin blossoms of the storytelling world', performed in Tianjin in the 1930s, and Zhu Xizhen was honoured there as the 'Queen of Liaoning Dagu'; the 'Fu family troupe', headed by Fu Lingge and his four daughters Fu Fengyun, Fu Cuiyun, Fu Guiyun and Fu Huiyun, carried Dongbei Dagu to Beijing. In the course of its long transmission Dongbei Dagu formed different artistic schools, such as the 'Fengdiao', the 'Dongcheng diao', the 'Jiangbei school', the 'Nancheng diao' and the 'Xicheng diao' that appeared in the middle of the twentieth century; each school has its own traditional repertoire.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It later developed into a form in which one performer beats the story drum and wooden clappers himself, while another accompanies on the large sanxian and similar instruments, and the speak-singing performance uses the northeastern accent. Dongbei Dagu circulated chiefly in the villages in its early days, and was popularly known as 'tun Dagu', the village big drum. The tunes sung are the rustic melodies familiar to local people, and the words are not much refined. Many performers, while on stage, would even turn the libretto openly and recite straight from the text, a practice popularly called 'baduo storytelling', telling from the stack of books. The pieces performed are chiefly of middle length, such as Huibei Ji (Tale of the Returning Cup), Wagang Zhai, Caiyun Qiu, Simatou Tang and Baiyu Lou. Well-known performers include Che Debao, Men Zhenbang, Wang Desheng, Zhang Wansheng and others. In the early twentieth century large numbers of women performers entered the ranks of Dongbei Dagu, while the men performers withdrew to accompaniment. The women performers well known at the time include Liu Wenxia, Jin Hudie, Yin Lianfu and Hou Liangui, among whom Liu Wenxia was awarded the title of 'Drum King of Fengtian Dagu'. The 'Fengdiao' is centred on Shenyang; its vocal style is slow and restrained and it is good at expressing feeling, and it performs short pieces transplanted from zidi book texts such as Lulei Yuan (A Bond of Shed Tears) and Yizhenfei (Recalling Zhenfei); its representative performers include Huo Shutang. The 'Dongcheng diao' is centred on Jilin and sings chiefly pieces drawn from the subject matter of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dream of the Red Chamber; its representative performers include Ren Zhankui. The 'Jiangbei school' is centred on the area north of the Songhua River in Harbin; its representative performers include Liu Tongxi. The 'Nancheng diao' is centred on Yingkou in Liaoning; its representative performers include Xu Xiangjiu. The 'Jiangbei school' and the 'Nancheng diao' share one characteristic: the pieces they perform are mostly long narrative works such as Hujia Jiang and Xuejia Jiang. The 'Xicheng diao' is centred on Jinzhou and is good at performing tragic stories such as Luocheng Jiao Guan; its representative performers include Chen Qingyuan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dongbei Dagu produced a good number of new pieces reflecting real life; the important new pieces adapted from literary works include the long narrative works Liehuo Jingang, Hongyan and Jie Zhenguo, and short aria sections such as Yang Jingyu Da Bai Kou Dai Zhen (Yang Jingyu Deploys the Pocket Array), Bethune, Yufu Hen (The Fisherman's Grudge), Chairman Mao Arrives at the Ming Tombs and The Wedding at the Execution Ground. Dongbei Dagu occupies an important place in the recreational life of the people wherever it circulates, and its texts and music have also influenced other arts: Yizhenfei, for instance, has been transplanted by a number of drum-tune genres, and the vocal tune pattern [Man Xicheng] has been absorbed by errenzhuan, and so on.
The Feng school
The Shenyang-centred branch, slow and lyrical, devoted to short pieces adapted from bannermen's story-songs.
String book and leg clappers
The genre began with a singer accompanying himself on the small sanxian and beating leg clappers, later becoming a drum-and-clapper solo with a sanxian accompanist.
Village drum and reading from the book
Its early village nickname and the practice of reading straight from the libretto while performing.
The Zhu and Fu troupes
The Zhu sisters' troupe took the art to Tianjin in the 1930s, while the Fu family troupe carried it to Beijing.
Huo Dashun's Three Kingdoms pieces
Huo Dashun's heroic repertoire of Three Kingdoms arias, bannermen's story-songs and modern pieces.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shenyang is the centre of activity of the 'Fengdiao' school of Dongbei Dagu; its vocal style is slow and restrained and good at expressing feeling, and it performs short pieces transplanted from zidi book texts such as Lulei Yuan and Yizhenfei, with representative performers such as Huo Shutang. Huo Dashun entered the trainee class of the Shenyang Quyi Troupe at the age of 13 to study, and at the age of 22 became a disciple of Huo Shutang's accompanist He Fuquan, so that the lineage was unbroken.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry · Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry · Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry · Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry · Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry · Dongbei Dagu Drum Balladry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
But since the end of the twentieth century the audience of Dongbei Dagu has shifted away in large numbers, transmission and performance have met with serious difficulties, and the art has fallen into a crisis of survival; in this situation, protecting and developing Dongbei Dagu cannot wait. Huo Dashun (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in July 1948, native of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. He entered the trainee class of the Shenyang Quyi Troupe at the age of 13 to study, and at the age of 22 became a disciple of Huo Shutang's accompanist He Fuquan. His voice is high, resonant and full, his vocal style firm with an admixture of tenderness, and he is good at portraying heroic figures. His representative pieces include the Three Kingdoms sections Cao Chuan Jie Jian (Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats), Fengyi Ting, Changban Po and Ganlu Si, the zidi book Yizhenfei, and modern pieces such as Yang Jingyu Da Bai Kou Dai Zhen and Yi Quan Jiu Zhu (The Faithful Dog Saves Its Master). He is a representative inheritor of Dongbei Dagu (Shenyang Dongbei Dagu) of the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xia Xiaohua 02-0716
- Chen Lijie 04-1702
- Huo Dashun 05-2478
- Chen Shifang 05-2479
- Wang Lianke 05-2480
- Qiu Shuhua 05-2481
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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