Hubei Xiaoqu
01 · Historical Records
It originated in Ming-Qing popular tunes and was formed by the fusion of Hantan xiaoqu and Tianmian xiaoqu; to this day it has a history of more than three hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hubei xiaoqu was formerly called "Hantan xiaoqu", "Hantan silk strings" or "outer-stream xiaoqu", and is mainly popular in riverine areas along the Yangtze such as Hankou, Shashi and Yichang in Hubei Province. In Hubei xiaoqu performance, singing alternates with narration and the form is free and flexible: one person may sing while accompanying himself, or two or more may perform seated, standing or walking, and the most common form is that of two people seated. The performers are divided into the sheng and dan role types, singing while accompanying themselves — the sheng plays the erhu, and the dan strikes the beat with sandalwood clappers. Its vocal forms are generally multi-tune, though there are also single-tune ones. The lyrics are mostly in paired upper-and-lower line structures of seven, four or ten characters, and there are also five-character lines, lines of unequal length and stacked (duo) lines. Hubei xiaoqu originally had more than three hundred vocal tune patterns, of which more than one hundred and twenty survive to the present day. Those in common use include [Nan Qu Tou], [Nan Qu Zheng Ban], [Nan Qu Wei], [Wen Ci Diao], [Tan Huang Diao], [Xi Qiang], [Si Ping] and [Tan Wu Geng], and they can be used to perform single-act zaju plays with comparatively complicated storylines. These tune patterns can be roughly divided into five categories: first, the Nanqu class, which is the main vocal style of Hubei xiaoqu; second, the Wenci class, evolved from the wenci music popular in eastern Hubei; third, the Tanhuang class, evolved from Wu-Yue melodies that flowed into the region; fourth, the Xiqiang class, evolved from the "Xiqiang" of Jingzhou; and fifth, miscellaneous minor tunes, gathered from Hubei folk tunes. The traditional performing repertoire of Hubei xiaoqu is quite rich: of the original repertoire of more than three hundred large and small titles, more than one hundred and eighty have come down to us, and "Qiang San" (Snatching the Umbrella), "Xi Jing Ci" and "Su Wen Biao Jie Yi" (Su Wenbiao Borrows a Coat) are representative works among them. The content of these titles comes mostly from chuanqi tales, zaju plays and folk stories, with love themes predominating; some works take as their themes the portrayal of the people's suffering, opposition to national oppression, the reflection of women's unhappy fate, the pursuit of freedom and happiness, and resistance to the old feudal code of ethics. Besides these there are also short anecdotal pieces full of knowledge and amusement. Among these traditional titles, long "dabentou" works such as "Dong Zheng" (The Eastern Campaign) and "Xi Zheng" (The Western Campaign) can be sung continuously for months on end, while the shorter pieces resemble the "sectioned songs" (fenjiege) found in folk songs.
Qiang San (Snatching the Umbrella)
The traditional performing repertoire of Hubei xiaoqu is quite rich: of the original repertoire of more than three hundred large and small titles, more than one hundred and eighty have come down to us, and "Qiang San" (Snatching the Umbrella), "Xi Jing Ci" and "Su Wen Biao Jie Yi" (Su Wenbiao Borrows a Coat) are representative works among them.
Xi Jing Ci (Western Capital Lyrics)
The traditional performing repertoire of Hubei xiaoqu is quite rich: of the original repertoire of more than three hundred large and small titles, more than one hundred and eighty have come down to us, and "Qiang San" (Snatching the Umbrella), "Xi Jing Ci" and "Su Wen Biao Jie Yi" (Su Wenbiao Borrows a Coat) are representative works among them.
Su Wen Biao Jie Yi (Su Wenbiao Borrows a Coat)
The traditional performing repertoire of Hubei xiaoqu is quite rich: of the original repertoire of more than three hundred large and small titles, more than one hundred and eighty have come down to us, and "Qiang San" (Snatching the Umbrella), "Xi Jing Ci" and "Su Wen Biao Jie Yi" (Su Wenbiao Borrows a Coat) are representative works among them.
Dong Zheng (The Eastern Campaign)
Among these traditional titles, long "dabentou" works such as "Dong Zheng" (The Eastern Campaign) and "Xi Zheng" (The Western Campaign) can be sung continuously for months on end, while the shorter pieces resemble the "sectioned songs" (fenjiege) found in folk songs.
Xi Zheng (The Western Campaign)
Among these traditional titles, long "dabentou" works such as "Dong Zheng" (The Eastern Campaign) and "Xi Zheng" (The Western Campaign) can be sung continuously for months on end, while the shorter pieces resemble the "sectioned songs" (fenjiege) found in folk songs.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hubei xiaoqu displays a strong local Hubei character and has a certain research value in such fields as social history, regional culture and folk art.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, however, this precious form of folk quyi has a dearth of successors, has fallen into danger, and urgently needs protection. He Zhonghua (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han nationality, born in November 1946, native of Wuhan City, Hubei Province. A national first-class performer, standing vice-chairman of the resident council of the Hubei Provincial Quyi Association, and a recipient of the State Council's special government allowance. In her Hubei xiaoqu performance she is skilled at imitating sounds and moulding character types, using the breath, tone, diction, emotion and flavour of the vocal style together with spoken narration to portray characters and stories; she pioneered the way for narrating great books (dashu) in Hubei xiaoqu. She took part in the 10th International Folk Song and Folk Music Festival in Buchberg, Austria and in the 2nd International Folk Song Festival in Felsnofen, Germany, where she performed the "disc xiaoqu", holding discs in her hands and flipping them up and down to beat the time. Representative inheritor of Hubei xiaoqu in the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. In 1982 "Nan Bao Gong · Xuan Fei" (Southern Judge Bao · Choosing a Consort) won the first prize for performance at the national observation performance of outstanding quyi programmes (southern region) organized by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and others. In 2009 she was awarded the honorary title of quyi artist with outstanding contribution by the China Quyi Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Zhonghua 04-1720
- Yao Liling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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