Shaoxing Pinghudiao
01 · Historical Records
According to legend, this form of quyi was first created in the early Ming dynasty and took shape in the early Qing dynasty. Shaoxing Pinghu diao has refined literary language, beautiful tunes, rich melodic variety and a distinctive style; it is highly literary, musical and artistic. It is the inheritance and development in Shaoxing of the singing art of Ming-Qing Jiangnan quyi, and it plays a very important part in cultivating and raising the cultural literacy of the people of the area where it is transmitted.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shaoxing Pinghu diao is also called 'Yuejun nanci' and is abbreviated as 'Shaoxing pingdiao'; it is a form of quyi popular in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and the surrounding area, and it takes its name from the fact that the principal tune sung is the 'Pinghu diao'. Shaoxing Pinghu diao is performed by one person accompanying his own singing on a sanxian, with singing as the main element and occasional spoken passages interspersed. There are also two-person, four-person or six-person accompaniment groups, called the 'three ranks', 'five ranks' or 'seven ranks'. The principal vocal style and tune is the 'Pinghu diao', which is further divided into two kinds, the 'suoyi pu' and the 'xi diao'. Its programmes fall into two kinds, 'jie shi' (metrical verse) and 'hui shu' (book returns); the 'jie shi' are short sung pieces, while the 'hui shu' are of medium or long length. The traditional programmes of Shaoxing Pinghu diao include Ganluo Ji, Guyu Bei, Shuangyu Zhui, Shuangzhu Feng, Bai She Zhuan, Yu Qingting and Shimei Tu. Pinghu diao takes the 'Pinghu diao' as its principal mode; in singing, the melodic line follows the 'suoyi pu' or the 'xi diao', with few words and long drawn notes, and the places where a note is drawn out call for control of the breath and of its release and closure; there is little spoken text, and it is delivered in the Shaoxing accent in an unhurried tone. The singer holds the sanxian in his arms and accompanies himself, and besides plucking the strings with the right hand and stopping the notes with the left he must also keep the beat patterns, while the accompanists answer on the xiao, the flute, the erhu, the yangqin, the pipa and other instruments, the lead singer and the accompaniment responding to each other through tacit understanding rather than through any conductor's direction. The scores are refined, drawing material mainly from romances, novels and folk tales, and paying attention to the correspondence between literary wording and musical rhythm.
Section poems and returning tales
The repertory divides into short section poems and long returning tales sung in nightly instalments.
The two tune variants
The two subdivisions of the principal Pinghu tune, distinguished by their long drawn-out cadences.
The three ranks of accompaniment
The names for accompaniment forces: two, four or six players beside the singer, called three, five and seven grades.
Remembering the Pear Blossoms
A signature piece shared by the inheritors Zheng Guanfu and Wang Yuying.
Four traditional titles
Traditional titles of the genre, alongside The White Snake, The Jade Dragonfly and Ten Beauties.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The centre of activity for Shaoxing Pinghu diao was the city of Shaoxing prefecture and the water-town market towns of Keqiao, Anchang, Dongpu and Gaobu; those who took part were mostly private tutors, bookkeepers, shop assistants and the sons of the gentry, who made friends through nanci without making a living by it. Nanci societies would often keep in touch by singing antiphonally the same hui from the same book, each bringing its own copy and instruments, and after a performance they would appraise one another's choice of words, vocal patterns and sanxian fingering. In the old days of Shaoxing the restaurants, teahouses and private household gatherings (tang hui) of wealthy families would all invite nanci societies to attend: weddings, birthdays and other celebrations called for the short 'jie shi', while long 'hui shu' were sung hui by hui in succession, one or two hui in an evening, over a stretch of ten days or more. After the 1950s, the Shaoxing City Cultural Centre organised elderly performers to record their singing and collate the scores, writing down the 'suoyi pu' and 'xi diao' pieces that had been scattered among the nanci societies.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Today Shaoxing Pinghu diao lacks successors and is on the verge of disappearing, so it urgently needs attention and protection. Zheng Guanfu (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in 1945, native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He is skilled in blowing, string playing, instrumental accompaniment and singing, and has mastered the basic scores, tune patterns and vocal styles of 'Pinghu diao'; his representative work is Zengji Lihua. Representative inheritor of Shaoxing Pinghu diao under the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. Wang Yuying (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han nationality, born in 1945, native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. Her narrative singing is clear in diction and round in vocal style, lingering upon a single phrase and deep in feeling. Her representative works are Zengji Lihua, Bai She Zhuan and others. Representative inheritor of Shaoxing Pinghu diao under the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zheng Guanfu 02-0728
- Wang Yuying 02-0729
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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