Sichuan Yangqin

01 · Historical Records

The period from 1912 to 1949 was the heyday of the development of Sichuan yangqin, and it produced representative noted performers such as Li Liansheng.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Sichuan yangqin is also called "Sichuan qinshu". It is popular in the Han areas of Sichuan Province and is named for its use of the yangqin as the principal accompanying instrument. According to tradition, storytelling-and-singing performances accompanied by the yangqin had already appeared in Sichuan during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty. In performance a single performer both played and sang unaided, mainly speaking and only secondarily singing; the vocal style was comparatively simple, and a striking block was used during the spoken passages, so it was called "speech-and-drum yangqin". Traditionally, Sichuan yangqin is performed by five actors divided into the five role types of sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou, which in trade parlance are called the "five-way people". Performance generally takes the form of seated singing, but standing performance is also possible. The performers speak and sing on stage while accompanying themselves on their own instruments. When a work contains more characters than can conveniently be allotted, one person may sing several roles. Yangqin vocal styles fall into two categories, the sheng tune and the zhou tune. The sheng tune refers to the yangqin vocal styles of the Chengdu area, which in turn divide into the "great tune" and the "moon tune" (also called the "yue tune"); the great tune belongs to the metrical-pattern system and has such patterns as "one character", "fast one character", "two flow" and "three boards". The moon tune belongs to the tune-pattern system and has nearly twenty tune patterns such as [Moon Opening] and [Cascading Broken Bridge]; the zhou tune refers to the yangqin vocal styles of the areas outside Chengdu, also belonging to the metrical-pattern system, with such patterns as "clear board", "two flow" and "three boards". Li Liansheng excelled in singing stirring and heroic works such as The Fisherman's Farewell and Crying in the Peach Garden; when he performed Huarong Dao he used the "langyan sanban" vocal manner and achieved an excellent effect, becoming momentarily famous far and wide. Those who came after him, such as Li Decai and Ye Nanzhang, also gave outstanding performances and likewise contributed to the development of Sichuan yangqin. The traditional repertoire of Sichuan yangqin numbers over one hundred works, including Breaking into the Palace, Drunkenness, Autumn River and The Boat Meeting; the Anthology of Sichuan Yangqin Lyrics and the Selection of Sichuan Yangqin Vocal Styles compiled and printed for internal use run to as many as 13 volumes.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Sichuan Academy of Arts (formerly the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Music and Dance) has for a long time been responsible for collecting and collating the musical scores, vocal styles and lyrics of Sichuan yangqin, and the Anthology of Sichuan Yangqin Lyrics and the Selection of Sichuan Yangqin Vocal Styles compiled and printed for internal use run to as many as 13 volumes. Sichuan yangqin is divided into the sheng tune and the zhou tune: the sheng tune is practised in Chengdu and western Sichuan, where the great tune belongs to the metrical-pattern system, with such patterns as "one character", "fast one character", "two flow" and "three boards", while the moon tune belongs to the tune-pattern system, with nearly twenty tune patterns such as [Moon Opening] and [Cascading Broken Bridge]; the zhou tune is practised in areas outside Chengdu such as eastern and southern Sichuan, likewise belonging to the metrical-pattern system, with such patterns as "clear board", "two flow" and "three boards". From the 1950s onward, Sichuan yangqin developed from seated singing into a form that could be performed standing and supplemented with stage movement, and new performers were trained in the quyi troupes and art research institutions.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Sichuan Yangqin · Sichuan Yangqin · Sichuan Yangqin.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The yangqin art carries the history and culture of the Bashu region and holds special value for sociological and cultural studies. At present this genre has few successors, its outlook is worrying, and it urgently needs protection and transmission.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Xu Shu 03-1187
• Liu Shiyan 03-1188
• Chen Zaibi 04-1722
• Ye Jishu 05-2512

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Sichuan Yangqin (Yinyuewudaoyanjiusuo, Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗