Shandong Qinshu Balladry
01 · Historical Records
The southern line was the earliest of the three, popular in southwestern Shandong; its most representative figures are Ru Xingli and the "Ru school" he founded. The singing of this line avoids florid coloratura and ornamented melodies, the vocal line is deep and resonant, the diction precise and heartfelt, and most of its pieces are works of protest against the world. The northern line is centred on Jinan and is widely popular in northwestern Shandong; its most representative figures are Deng Jiuru and the "Deng school" he founded. Its performance makes free use of local dialect and colloquial speech, revealing humour within plainness and seeking resonance within simplicity. The eastern line is centred on Guangrao and Boxing and is popular throughout the Jiaodong area; its most representative figures are the couple Shang Yexing and Guan Yunxia and the "Shang school" they founded, whose vocal style is beautiful and pleasing and rich in variety.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shandong Qinshu Balladry is an important local quyi (narrative performing art) genre of Shandong, also called "chang yangqin" ("singing to the yangqin") or "Shandong yangqin". It grew out of "zhuangjia shua", a form of amateur self-entertainment singing of folk little melodies that arose in the mid-Ming period in the Heze area (ancient Caozhou) of southwestern Shandong, also called "wanju". By the mid-Qing period, the guqin and guzheng originally used to accompany the singing had been replaced by the yangqin (also called the "butterfly zither"), the sihu, the guzheng, the pipa, the jianban clapper boards and the small cymbals; several performers each took a different instrument and accompanied themselves, sitting in a circle by role type, with singing as the main body and spoken narration or dialogue interspersed. Shandong Qinshu Balladry is performed in the Shandong regional pronunciation; because it emerged from the linked singing of folk "xiaoquzi" (little melodies), the vocal styles and melodies it uses are extremely rich, numbering more than two hundred tune patterns (qupai). After it developed into the narrative form known as qinshu shuochan, the melodies actually used gradually concentrated on the so-called "six principal old-school tunes" — Shanghe Diao, Fengyang Ge, Dieduanqiao, Hankou Duo, Duoziban and Meihualuo — of which these six were the most common. Since the late Qing and early Republican period it further developed into a musical system centred on Fengyang Ge and Duoziban, with a small amount of little melodies interspersed for narration and singing; its repertoire likewise came to be dominated by medium-form and long-form story pieces, with short passages performed as well. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shandong Qinshu Balladry saw new development and its range of circulation extended beyond the borders of Shandong Province. Outstanding traditional pieces that were processed and tidied up, such as "Liang Zhu Descends the Mountain" and "Water Floods Jinshan Hill", together with newly created works — the medium-form "Seizing the Seal" and the short pieces "Ten Women Praising Their Husbands", "The Girl's Wish", "Da Lin Returns Home" and "The Mended Basin" — have all exerted an important influence.
Peasant play and playing sessions
The genre's origin in mid-Ming amateur singing parties of southwestern Shandong, later re-instrumented with yangqin, sihu and clappers.
The six principal tunes
The six principal tunes that emerged as the linked folk songs became storytelling, later centred on Fengyang Song and Duozi Board.
The three schools
The three regional schools: Ru of the south, Deng of the north and Shang of the east, each with its own vocal character.
The instrument set
The principal instruments, which replaced the old qin and zheng in the mid-Qing: yangqin, sihu, zheng, pipa, clappers and saucer.
Liang Shanbo and the Flooding of Jinshan
Two of the polished traditional titles, alongside medium-length and short new pieces of the 1950s and after.
The parent of Lü opera
Shandong qinshu was the direct parent of Lü opera, whose tunes and plays grew out of its titles and melodies.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shandong Qinshu Balladry circulates in three lines — southern, northern and eastern — each of which has its own representative performers and schools.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Shandong Qinshu Balladry · Shandong Qinshu Balladry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Shandong Qinshu Balladry has many traditional representative pieces: the long-form works include "The White Snake", "Autumn River" and transferred titles such as "The Generals of the Yang Family", "Cases of Lord Bao" and "The Crimson Robe", while the medium-form works run to seventy or eighty titles, among them "Wang Dingbao Borrows a Pawnshop", "Three Birthday Offerings" and "The Record of the Marriage of Liang Zhu"; most of the short passages are classics handed down from the early xiaoquzi repertoire. Shandong Qinshu Balladry has a rich cultural deposit; it exerted a major influence on the emergence and development of Lüju and is the direct parent of Shandong Lüju, so its historical and cultural value is a distinctive one. Today its development faces unprecedented difficulties, and it is in urgent need of protection and support. Li Xiangyun (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in 1939, native of Jining, Shandong. She learned the southern line of Shandong Qinshu Balladry from her father as a child, went on stage at the age of eight, and by twelve was already famous in the Jining quyi circles, winning the reputation of "little red shoes". In 1951 she entered the Jining Municipal Quyi Troupe; in 1960 she became a leading performer of the Shandong Provincial Quyi Troupe; in 1978 she was transferred to the Shandong Provincial Theatre School as principal teacher of southern-line qinshu; in 1981 she was transferred to the Shandong Provincial Art Museum to work on quyi research; after retiring in 1994 she devoted herself to social education. Her singing inherits the jaunty manner and sweet, crisp timbre characteristic of the Li school, and she is well versed in the traditional repertoire. Representative works include "Water Floods Jinshan Hill" and "Stealing the Lingzhi". Representative inheritor of Shandong Qinshu Balladry, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national-level batch. Yao Zhongxian (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1941, native of Jinan, Shandong. In 1957 he joined the Jinan Municipal Quyi Troupe together with Deng Jiuru, and in 1977 he entered the Jinan Municipal Quyi Troupe, where he has remained ever since. His timbre is beautiful and refined, his vocal style high and stirring yet nuanced, his performance relaxed and humorous, and his manner free and open. Representative works include "Liang Zhu Descends the Mountain" and "Meeting at the Broken Bridge". Representative inheritor of Shandong Qinshu Balladry, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national-level batch, and a first-class performer.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Xiangyun 02-0732
- Yao Zhongxian 02-0733
- Liu Shifu 04-1706
- Zhu Lihua 04-1707
- Wang Zhengang 05-2490
- He Shuling 05-2491
- Hu Huashan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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