Wenzhou Guci Balladry
01 · Historical Records
According to the Pingyang County Gazetteer and the Compendium of Wenzhou Quayi Music, Wenzhou drum words began in the Ming dynasty, formed by merging the lane-and-alley song lyrics of Hengyang (present-day Pingyang) with sung texts; they later took on the mantle of operatic percussion music and absorbed folk tunes as they developed.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wenzhou drum words are a form of folk narrative singing performed in the Wenzhou dialect. They are one of the principal quyi genres of Zhejiang and of the East China region; their most distinctive instrument, the niujin qin, is unique of its kind, and the genre has a strong local flavour and a distinctive artistic style. The woodblock edition of the Wenzhou Zhuzhici (Bamboo Branch Lyrics of Wenzhou) of the eleventh year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty (1872) includes these verses by Fang Dingrui: 'Village opinion is bound to clash, all mouths talking yellow; to perform Jingchai only breaks the heart in vain. This day beneath the bean trellis all sit together, while blind words and the village drum sing of the goddess.' It can be seen that by the middle of the Qing dynasty Wenzhou drum words were already very widespread. Wenzhou drum words are divided into da ci (great words) and ping ci (plain words). Da ci are also called 'lingjing' and popularly 'niangniang ci' (words of the goddess), because their content praises the merits of Lady Chen Shi fourteen in subduing demons and removing evils for the people; the folk belief ceremonies at which these words are sung are exceedingly grand, and hence they are called 'great words'. Ping ci mainly narrate stories of chivalry and righteousness, legends and novelistic works. Wenzhou drum words combine singing with speaking, with singing as the principal element. Its basic melodic modes include the slow metre, the flowing metre, the quick metre and dozens of other ban formulas. Because Wenzhou drum words are sung in the Wenzhou dialect, and pronunciation differs from place to place, the vocal styles of each locality also have their own character. Its syntactic structure is basically the seven-syllable line, and at times it also makes use of five-syllable lines and such forms as repeated lines. The principal instruments used in performing Wenzhou drum words are the flat drum, the niujin qin, the sanliban (three-grain clapper) and the small baoyue (half-moon drum); the most important of them, the niujin qin, was created by the famous late-Qing sung-text master of Pingyang, Chen Changpai. The appearance of the niujin qin brought about an enormous reformative and promoting effect on the development of Wenzhou drum words.
Da ci, the great text
One of the two great divisions of Wenzhou guci, also called lingjing or the goddess text, sung for days in votive rites honouring Lady Chen Shisi.
Ping ci, the plain text
The counterpart of the great text, performing chivalric tales, legends and novels in instalments at fairs, halls and tea houses.
Niujin qin, the ox-sinew zither
The signature instrument of the genre, created by the late-Qing Pingyang master Chen Changpai, which greatly advanced the art.
The rhythmic schemes
The basic tunes of the genre, several dozen rhythmic schemes ranging from slow to fast, set largely to seven-character lines.
The Thorn Hairpin
A Wenzhou bamboo-branch lyric of 1872 records the singing of The Thorn Hairpin, evidence that the genre was already popular by the mid-Qing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Wenzhou drum words take Pingyang as their centre and spread through Rui'an, Cangnan, Yueqing, Yongjia, Taishun, Wencheng and the present urban districts of Wenzhou city; they are the principal form of narrative singing in the dialect area on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Ou River. In recent times Pingyang and Rui'an counties have had the largest number of sung-text masters, and those who worked in the art were mostly blind people; after taking a master they would be led by him from village to village, and locally the artists are called sung-text masters or 'gentlemen'. Because pronunciation varies considerably within the Wenzhou dialect, the vocal styles of Pingyang, Rui'an and the urban area differ from one another in word tones and in the way melodies fall; the same passage of sung text, sung by masters from different localities, does not carry the same flavour. The occasions of performance are closely tied to local customs: ping ci are usually sung and spoken at temple fairs, markets, in the main hall of a household and in the storytelling teahouses of the market towns, long works being divided into chapters with one portion sung each evening; da ci, on the other hand, are used for folk belief ceremonies such as the fulfilment of a vow, prayers for children and the warding off of calamity, on occasions of great pomp and often sung continuously for several days. In the Pingyang area to this day there are still artists who perform on the strength of the storytelling teahouses and folk activities, and the art has also entered schools and communities for teaching and practice.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wenzhou Guci Balladry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In Pingyang today there are still more than forty drum-word artists singing on both sides of the Ou River. Wenzhou drum words stand out for their distinctive regional cultural character and hold research value for the study of folk literary arts and social customs.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ruan Shichi 02-0722
- Fang Keduo 02-0723
- Chen Zhixiong 04-1704
- Wang Hanhua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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