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 Jiangbei school
The branch active north of the Songhua in Harbin, devoted like the south-city branch to long tales of the Hu and Xue families.
Works of Xia Xiaohua
Xia Xiaohua, of the Heilongjiang Provincial Mass Art Centre, sings with equal force and tenderness; her works include the Hu Family Generals and Du Shiniang.
Qiu Shuhua's new tunes
Qiu Shuhua draws on northeast folk songs to create new tune labels that sharpen characterisation, with some eighty arias to her name.
Thirteen training sessions
Since June 2006 Qiu Shuhua and her teacher Xia Xiaohua have run thirteen training sessions for inheritors.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Heilongjiang line is centred on Harbin; in the middle of the twentieth century it was known as the 'Jiangbei school', was active in the area north of the Songhua River, and had representative performers such as Liu Tongxi, singing mostly long narrative works such as Hujia Jiang and Xuejia Jiang. The Heilongjiang Provincial Mass Art Centre bears the protective responsibility for it; Xia Xiaohua and her disciple Qiu Shuhua have held thirteen sessions of an inheritor training class since 2006.
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. Xia Xiaohua (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han nationality, born in 1954, native of Yushu, Jilin Province. She is now director of the quyi department and a researcher at the Heilongjiang Provincial Mass Art Centre. Her singing is full of feeling and combines firmness with tenderness, her work on drum and clappers is precise, and her performance is delicate. Her representative works include Hujia Jiang and Du Shiniang. She is a representative inheritor of Dongbei Dagu of the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items. Qiu Shuhua (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han nationality, born in May 1976, native of Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province. She went on stage to sing at the age of 12, is skilled both in singing and in instrumental accompaniment, and has many years of stage experience. She attaches importance to drawing nourishment from northeastern folk songs and local minor tunes and then composing new tune patterns, so as to bring out the characters' personalities and make up for the monotony of the tune patterns. Her representative works include eighty aria sections such as Yizhenfei, You Hu Jie San (Borrowing an Umbrella on a Lake) and Daiyu Bei Qiu (Daiyu Lamenting in Autumn), as well as long works such as Xia Yi Zhong Bao Guo (Loyalty and Righteousness in Defence of the State) and Yangjia Jiang. She is a representative inheritor of Dongbei Dagu of the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items. Beginning in June 2006, she has worked together with her teacher Xia Xiaohua to hold thirteen sessions of an inheritor training class, carrying out protection and transmission work for Dongbei Dagu.
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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。