Tianjin Shidiao
01 · Historical Records
Tianjin shidiao derives from the xiaoqu of the Ming and Qing dynasties; it took shape in the late Qing and early Republican period and became current in the urban area of Tianjin. Tianjin shidiao was at first mainly current in the quyi performance venues of Nanshi, of Hedong Didaowai, of Niaoshi in Hongqiao District, of Heping District and other places where the lower-class citizens of Tianjin gathered, and it gradually declined during the 1930s and 1940s.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Tianjin shidiao is a comparatively representative shidiao xiaoqu genre of northern China. Its performance form is standing singing by one or two people who hold the jiezi ban (beat-board clappers), with others accompanying on the large sanxian and the sihu and the like. Its tunes are very rich, embracing many local Tianjin folk ditties as well as tunes that flowed into Tianjin from elsewhere: [Kaoshan diao], [Yuanyang diao] and [Dashu zi] are popular in Tianjin itself, while [Laha diao], [Qinlou beiqiu], [Qie wugeng], [Houniang da haizi], [Chagan jieyu], [Duihua] and [Shibei jiu] are folk ditties that came in from outside and were localized in Tianjin; the genre has a strong flavour of local life. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, [Kaoshan diao] and the like were successfully reformed and made into the principal sung tunes, and many fine programmes were created. In the early years of the Cultural Revolution Tianjin shidiao fell into crisis once again; after the reform and opening-up it regained its vitality and gradually revived, and a number of traditional tunes and pieces were put back on the stage. Shidiao singing is good at short narrative passages that alternate speech and song; spoken lines are inserted into the singing, the language is close to the colloquial speech of Tianjin's streets and lanes, and humorous, playful wording is used with skill. The jiezi ban is beaten by the singer himself, the opening and closing beats agree with the metre of the vocal line, the sanxian and sihu play along in support of the voice, and ornamental runs are added at the interludes. The sung texts are mostly in seven-syllable and ten-syllable lines, with long and short lines alternating; there are both texts that rhyme all the way through and texts that change rhyme midway. The tunes include [Kaoshan diao], [Yuanyang diao] and [Dashu zi] popular in Tianjin itself.
The Kaoshan tune
The genre's principal melody, successfully reformed after 1949 and made the main vehicle of new pieces.
The Yuanyang and Dashuzi tunes
Local tunes current in Tianjin beside Kaoshan, together with naturalised melodies from elsewhere.
Shuttlecock Kicking and the Seventh Night
The best-loved items of the artist Wang Yubao, alongside her adapted pieces such as Smashing the Watermelon.
The clapper and the bass sanxian
The chief instruments: a clapper held by the standing singer, with bass sanxian and sihu in accompaniment.
The variety theatres of Nanshi and the bird market
The variety houses of Nanshi and the bird market, the genre's earliest venues, where it declined in the 1930s and 40s.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Tianjin shidiao is centred on the urban area of Tianjin, concentrated in the teahouses, the shutang (storytelling venues) and the zashua gardens (variety show gardens) around Nanshi, Hedong Didaowai, Niaoshi in Hongqiao District and Heping District. These places were mostly where lower-class citizens went to hear tunes for amusement; on the mixed bills of the zashua entertainments the artists were placed in the middle or brought on last, sharing the stage with Jingyun daggu, danxian, xiangsheng and the like. Because the audiences were of mixed accent, the sung texts mostly use the Tianjin dialect, and the genre also absorbed a good many folk ditties that flowed in from elsewhere and were localized in Tianjin, such as [Laha diao], [Qie wugeng], [Houniang da haizi], [Chagan jieyu], [Duihua] and [Shibei jiu].
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years, however, the development of Tianjin shidiao has again faced a severe test; a survival crisis has appeared to some degree, and it urgently needs support and rescue. Wang Yubao (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han nationality, born in 1926, a native of Tianjin. She studied Jingyun daggu, danxian and Kaoshan diao with her father from childhood; in 1953 she entered the Tianjin Broadcasting Quyi Troupe and specialized in singing Tianjin shidiao. Her voice is excellent and her singing is fresh and unaffected; she is a noted Tianjin shidiao performing artist known throughout the country. Her most popular pieces include Ti Jian (Kicking the Shuttle), Qi Yue Qi (Festival of the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month) and Qin (Qing) Lou Bei Qiu; adapted pieces include Shuai Xi Gua (Smashing the Watermelon), Fan Jiang Dao Hai (Turning Rivers and Seas Upside Down) and Chairman Mao Came to Our Village. Representative inheritor of Tianjin shidiao in the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects; a first-class performer. In 2000 her performance of Xi Rong Gui (Joyful Return) won the China Quyi Peony Award; in 2003 she received the China Golden Record Award for performers; in 2008 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the China Quyi Peony Award.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Yubao 02-0742
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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