Xiangyuangushu
01 · Historical Records
Xiangyuan drum storytelling took shape in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, matured in the mid-Qing period and reached its height of flourishing; to this day it has a history of more than three hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiangyuan drum storytelling, abbreviated as "drum storytelling" and also colloquially called "shuoshu" (storytelling) or "foot-operated clapper", is mainly popular in Xiangyuan County of southeastern Shanxi Province and in the surrounding counties and districts, reaching as far as Yangquan and Lingchuan. In Xiangyuan drum storytelling, one, two or more performers divide among themselves the drum, clapper, gong and cymbals, together with instruments such as the erba, erhuan, huhu, yueqin, sanxian, octagonal drum, erhu, dizi and sheng, accompanying themselves while they narrate and sing. Its singing takes such forms as solo singing, antiphonal group singing, antiphonal duet, lead singing, chorus and backing singing. According to the needs of different occasions, it is also matched with stage actions such as sitting, standing and moving about. Some exceptionally skilled zhangban (the drum master who keeps time on the clapper) performers can work their hands and feet at the same time, playing an entire set of percussion instruments simultaneously: flat drum, hanging clapper, foot gong, small gong, tang gong, foot clapper, wooden fish, cymbals, gongs and the jingtang wood block. The vocal music of Xiangyuan drum storytelling belongs to the banqiang system, with such singing methods as fast, slow, cuo and qiang, and with such ban (metrical pattern) forms as "qiban", "erxingban", "jinban", "manban" and "sanban"; there are also some distinctive naochang interlude tune patterns.
Shui Hu Zhuan (Water Margin)
Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
San Guo (The Three Kingdoms)
Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
Bao Gong (Judge Bao)
Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
Qi Qiao Duan (A Cunning Verdict)
Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
Jie Qin Ji (The Borrowed Bride)
Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In its long course of development and change, Xiangyuan drum storytelling absorbed musical elements from local minor tunes, from the begging chants of Daoist monks, from folk hawkers' calls, and from bangzi, luozi, yangge and other genres, fusing them into a style of its own that is deeply loved by the people. Its traditional repertoire includes more than one hundred titles such as "Water Margin", "The Three Kingdoms", "Judge Bao", "A Cunning Verdict" and "The Borrowed Bride", which can be divided into several large categories — historical, legal-case and chivalric — with extraordinarily rich content.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xiangyuan drum storytelling not only preserves many artistic elements of the Song-Yuan "guzi ci" (drum lyrics), but also absorbs in bulk the essence of local folk art since the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has high artistic and historical-cultural research value. At present, however, this ancient form of folk quyi is facing a severe survival crisis: there is a dearth of successors, and it urgently needs rescue and protection. Wang Junchuan (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in July 1938, native of Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province. At the age of 14 he joined the county blind quyi publicity troupe, first learning Henan zhuizi; after completing his training he studied Xiangyuan drum storytelling under the famous drum-storytelling artist Dong Caiyuan, and at 17 began to lead a troupe in performance. His skills are all-round: he can narrate stories, he can sing opera, and he can also play string, wind and percussion instruments proficiently. His modes of performance are rich and varied and his vocal styles and melodies changeable and abundant; titles in which he excels include "The Xu Gong Case", "The Five Women of the Tang Restoration", "The Chronicle of Qing Lie" and "Lei Baotong Seeking His Kin". He uses Braille in the collation of drum-storytelling texts, and has completed more than twenty of them, including "The Woven-Brocade Screen", "Huyan Qing in the Ring", "The Judge Bao Case", "The Tale of the Mounted Robbers" and "The Oil Peddler Winning the Flower Queen". Representative inheritor of Xiangyuan drum storytelling in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Junchuan 03-1179
- Wang Xianping
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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