Jingyun Dagu Drum Balladry

01 · Historical Records

In the late Qing and the early Republican period, drum-book artists Hu Jintang (stage name “Hu Shi”), Huo Mingliang, Song Yukun (stage name “Song Wu”) and later Liu Baoquan and others reformed the wooden-clapper dagu of the Hejian area of Hebei. They added the sihu and the pipa to the original sanxian to form the accompaniment, at the same time changing the Hejian dialect used for singing into Beijing pronunciation, and further absorbing the diction techniques and part of the vocal styles of Beijing opera, making extensive use of the “qingyin zidishu” script books that had circulated among the sons of the Eight Banners in the Qing dynasty. Out of this reform Jingyun dagu came into being with its distinctive flavour.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Jingyun dagu is mainly popular in Beijing, Tianjin, northern China and the Northeast; in the course of history it has also borne such names as “Jingyin dagu” and “Xiaokou dagu”. Jingyun dagu combines speech and song, with speech inside the singing and singing inside the speech, so that refined and popular taste are both satisfied. A single vocal style is often used for many different pieces, and the performance lays stress on rendering the spirit and the mood. As soon as it appeared it quickly won over its audience with a style that joins the firm to the gentle. Over the following decades the genre kept maturing, and important performance schools appeared one after another, among them the “Bai school” founded by Bai Yunpeng and the “Luo school” founded by Luo Yusheng (stage name “Xiaocaiwu”). The sung texts of Jingyun dagu basically take seven-syllable lines, and from time to time inserted syllables, padding syllables and piled-up short lines are worked into a line; each set of sung texts runs to roughly a hundred and fifty lines. Its rhyme-shifting follows the thirteen rhyme categories of Beijing pronunciation, and a sung passage is generally carried on one rhyme from beginning to end. Rhymed speech lays stress on intonation and flavour, half spoken and half sung, and joins the vocal style with great naturalness. In performance one performer stands and sings and strikes the clappers to keep the rhythm, and at the side there are generally three accompanists on the large sanxian, the sihu and the pipa, sometimes with a low-register hu added. Jingyun dagu lays stress on singing; its vocal styles belong to the clapper-based system, and it is used exclusively to sing short works. Its repertoire consists mainly of more than a hundred traditional narrative pieces such as “The Single Sword Meeting”, “The Battle of Changsha”, “White Emperor City”, “The Killing of Tang Qin”, “Visiting Qingwen”, “Daiyu Burns Her Drafts” and “Homeward by Boat in Wind and Rain”, together with short pieces that describe scenery and express feeling, and newly composed works on modern and historical subjects.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The transmission and performance of Jingyun dagu are centred on two places, Beijing and Tianjin. Performances in Beijing largely carry on the “Liu school” of Liu Baoquan and the “Bai school” of Bai Yunpeng, while in the Tianjin Quyi Troupe the influence of Luo Yusheng’s “Luo school” is the greatest. The Liu school is noted for its high, resonant tone and its crisp, decisive manner; the Bai school draws largely on the literary pieces of zidishu; the Luo school excels in lyrical expression and is concerned with transmitting feeling through the voice. Performers in Beijing also frequently cross-reference the diction and the vocal carriage of Jingyun dagu against Beijing opera, forming a stage manner that is refined and dignified.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jingyun Dagu Drum Balladry.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China Jingyun dagu made great strides forward and trained generation after generation of young performers. At present, however, the genre has run short of successors, and its protection and transmission are urgently needed. Zhong Yujie (as recorded in the official file on the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in February 1959, a native of Beijing. A national first-class performer and vice-chairman of the China Quyi (Folk Art) Association. He was assigned to work at the Beijing Quyi Troupe in 1975. He has good vocal conditions and a wide range; his performance is free and unhurried and he has a refined bearing. He is skilled in the literary pieces of narrative and lyrical type, and has tried to absorb elements of other art forms into his performance in order to enrich himself. His representative works include “Ningwu Pass”, “The Seven Star Lamps”, “Parting from the Mother amid the Tangled Arrows”, “Killing the Sympathizer in the Tower”, “Bowang Slope” and “Borrowing Arrows with the Straw Boats”. In 2012 he published and issued the singing album “Jingqiang Jingyun Zi Duoqing”. His students include Tang Ke, Zhang Xiwen, Liu Yu, Han Tongtong, Li Yanwei and others. He is a representative inheritor of Jingyun dagu among the national-level intangible cultural heritage projects in the fifth batch. In 2000 he won the first China Quyi Peony Award presented by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Quyi Association.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Lu Yiqin 04-1716
• Liu Chunai 04-1717
• Zhongyujie 05-2505

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Jingyun Dagu Drum Balladry (Gewujuyuanyouxianzerengongsi, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhongyujie · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗