Jingdong Dagu Drum Balladry
01 · Historical Records
It first arose in the mid-Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty in the rural districts of Sanhe, Baodi and Xianghe in eastern Jidong, and later became widely current in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In performance one person stands and sings, striking the clappers with the left hand and beating the drum with the right hand to mark the rhythm, with accompanists playing alongside. Its vocal style adopts the banqiang system in structure, and the ban patterns most commonly used include the touban (head ban), erban (second ban), kuaiban (quick ban) and suoban (lock ban). Jingdong Dagu has some one hundred and more traditional works in its repertoire. These include more than thirty long works such as Shi Gong An, Yang Jia Jiang and Da Ba Yi; more than twenty medium-length works such as Shui Lao Shuang He Yin, San Quan Zhen and Luo Tong Sao Bei; short sung pieces such as Xia Zi Guang Deng, Wang Er Jie Si Fu and Wang San Jie Wan Cai together with more than forty spoken-only works with no singing, such as Wang Po Ma Ji, Yang Ba Jie Bai Shou and Bian Da Lu Hua; in addition there are nearly twenty shumao (opening formulas), among them Liang Tou Mang, Shi San Yue Gu Ren Ming and Lao Hu Chi Mao.
Board patterns
Its metrical system uses opening, second, fast and locking boards, with one singer standing to strike clappers and drum.
Long works
Some thirty long works from a repertoire of over a hundred, with twenty-odd medium-length pieces besides.
Spoken-only pieces
Over forty spoken-only pieces such as Old Mother Wang Curses the Chickens, alongside short sung lyrics.
Preludes
Some twenty short opening preludes including Busy at Both Ends and Ancients of the Thirteen Months.
Composing and accompanying oneself
Cui Jichang writes, performs and accompanies himself, with a fervent yet smooth delivery and over twenty prize-winning works.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jingdong Dagu is a drum ballad sung in the Beijing dialect. In different periods and in different areas of circulation it has successively borne the names “Pinggu diao dagu”, “Leting diao dagu”, “Siping diao dagu”, “tiepian dagu” and “tieban dagu”. In Langfang its circulation centres on Sanhe, Xianghe, Dachang and Anci. It first arose in the mid-Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty in the rural districts of Sanhe, Baodi and Xianghe in eastern Jidong, and later became current throughout Beijing, Tianjin and all parts of Hebei. The Langfang Municipal Mass Art Centre is the protecting unit. As a child Cui Jichang was influenced by local Jingdong Dagu artists and taught himself to compose and sing his own material; he joined the army in 1969, where singing Jingdong Dagu made him a cultural and artistic backbone of his company; in 1984 he became a pupil of Dong Xiangkun; in 1986 he was demobilized to the Sanhe City Cultural Centre, and in 1990 he formed a youth art troupe to train new performers. Local performance has one person standing and singing, striking the clappers with the left hand and beating the drum with the right hand to mark the rhythm, with accompanists playing alongside, and the vocal style adopts the banqiang system in structure, the ban patterns most commonly used including the touban (head ban), erban (second ban), kuaiban (quick ban) and suoban (lock ban).
Other submitting regions for the same item: Jingdong Dagu Drum Balladry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Jingdong Dagu reflects the characteristics of the folk culture of the Beijing-Tianjin and Hebei region, and has important reference value for research in folklore, linguistics, art, history and culture. This precious folk drum-ballad art now has no successor and is on the verge of being lost, and it urgently needs protection and transmission. Cui Jichang (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in May 1952, a native of Sanhe City, Hebei Province. Even as a child he showed a talent for singing, and, influenced by local Jingdong Dagu artists, he taught himself to compose and sing his own material. He joined the army in 1969, and the Jingdong Dagu he sang was warmly received by the officers and soldiers of the unit, who made him a cultural and artistic backbone of the company. At the end of 1986 he was demobilized to the Sanhe City Cultural Centre, where he became a leading actor; he later served successively as director of the Sanhe City Cultural Centre and as head of the Sanhe City Pingju Opera Troupe. He is skilled in composing and performing his own pieces, accompanying himself and singing his own material. His vocal style is stirring yet rounded, his articulation returns fully to the correct sound, his tone is accurate and round, each link follows tightly on the last, and each step goes deeper. Representative inheritor of Jingdong Dagu in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. He took part in thirteen army performance tours, was named an outstanding actor on each occasion, and more than twenty of his works won prizes. In 1984 he became a pupil of Dong Xiangkun, an inheritor of Jingdong Dagu. He attaches importance to training new performers: while working at the Cultural Centre he held several training classes, and in 1990 he formed a youth art troupe, bringing up a large number of outstanding talents.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dong Xiangkun 03-1160
- Ni Wanzhu 05-2484
- Cui Jichang 05-2485
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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