Sichuan Qingyin
01 · Historical Records
Sichuan qingyin took shape in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In the 1930s and the 1950s, Chongqing became a place where Sichuan qingyin flourished and spread.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Sichuan qingyin is one of the quyi music genres of Chongqing and Sichuan. The two places share a common tune-based music system, but each also has its own history of transmission and development and its own vocal characteristics. A large number of folk performers gathered at the wharves and docks of Chongqing, and the exchange and competition among them made local folk art there exceptionally flourishing. Those who made a living from singing and from accompanying formed troupes and societies, and each generation had its successors. The tune types of Sichuan qingyin in Chongqing fall into three main categories — small tunes, large tunes and xiaoling-style tune patterns — with more than two hundred melody-forms and tune patterns in all. The large tunes comprise eight, called "bei", "yue", "pi", "huang", "gou", "ma", "ji" and "dang"; among the categories, the tune patterns of the large-tune type are the most numerous. The different tune categories and their tune patterns differ in musical structure, tonal function and the expressiveness of their singing style, and each has its own character. The tune patterns of the eight large tunes are of varied and elaborate structure in long suites, and are often joined one after another to form a linked suite, suited to large-scale plots that combine speech and song and have strong narrative power. The tune patterns of the small-tune type have short phrases and a simple single-piece form, can stand alone as complete works, and are strongly lyrical in the flavour of the words sung; the xiaoling-style tune patterns are comparatively concise in both phrase and form, are generally not used alone, and are often inserted into linked-suite forms to serve a colouristic function. The large number of "qingyin" pieces and programmes adapted and newly created after the founding of the People's Republic of China showed, in function and in style, a tendency that was at once traditional and innovative; the large-tune type of Sichuan qingyin in Chongqing was adept at expressing large subjects on a grand scale, and so forged the distinctive Bayu local manner of its own.
The eight great modes
The eight great modes of Chongqing qingyin, whose tune types differ in structure, tonality and expressive character.
Short, great and minor tune types
The threefold division of Chongqing qingyin tunes: short lyric pieces, large narrative suites and small inserted tune types.
Visiting the Daughter in the Country; The Flowered Bridal Chamber; The Two-Sided Fan
Stage works by Li Jingming, whose singing stresses feeling and flavour and who commands both the major and minor modes.
The Red Army Seizes Luding Bridge; Three Daughters-in-Law
Compositions by Li Jingming, innovating on traditional tunes for contemporary audiences.
Linked suites for long narratives
The technique of linking several tune types into a suite, suited to long narratives and used for large themes in works created after 1949.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chongqing was the place where Sichuan qingyin flourished and spread, and it twice reached a peak, in the 1930s and in the 1950s. Many folk performers gathered at the wharves and docks of Chongqing, and those who made a living from singing and accompanying formed troupes and societies, each generation handing on to the next. In 1953 Li Jingming was admitted to the Chongqing Quyi Team and studied Sichuan qingyin under Chen Qingduan and Chen Jizhen. The tunes of the Chongqing branch fall into three main categories — small tunes, large tunes and xiaoling-style tune patterns — with more than two hundred melody-forms and tune patterns in all; among them the large tunes comprise eight, called "bei", "yue", "pi", "huang", "gou", "ma", "ji" and "dang". Their tune patterns are of varied and elaborate structure in long suites and are often joined in succession into linked suites, suited to large-scale plots that combine speech and song and have strong narrative power; the small tunes have short phrases and a simple single-piece form and can stand alone as complete works; the xiaoling-style tune patterns are generally not used alone and are often inserted into linked-suite forms to serve a colouristic function. The Chongqing Municipal Quyi Troupe Co., Ltd. is the protecting unit of this project.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Sichuan Qingyin.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Li Jingming (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in June 1943, native of Chongqing Municipality. A national second-grade performer. In 1953 she was admitted to the Chongqing Quyi Team and studied Sichuan qingyin under Chen Qingduan and Chen Jizhen. Her performance gives full weight to feeling and to flavour and is vivid and moving; her singing style is beautiful and mellifluous and full of genuine feeling. In nearly sixty years of work she has thoroughly mastered the characteristics and flavour of both the small and the large tunes, and skilfully uses the changes within her vocal styles to depict and shape her characters. At the same time she has devoted herself to studying the traditional tune patterns of Sichuan qingyin, and in her compositions she innovates boldly on the foundation of the traditional tune patterns, seeking to suit the aesthetic tendencies of contemporary audiences. Her representative performance works include Xia Xiang Kan Nu, Hua Dong Fang and Liang Xiang Shan, and her representative compositions include Hong Jun Fei Duo Lu Ding Qiao, San Ge Xi Fu Zheng Po Po and Mai Huoguo. Representative inheritor of the Sichuan qingyin project under the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. Over the years she has taken an active part in training dozens of young Sichuan qingyin performers.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Cheng Yongling 03-1190
- Xiao Shunyu 03-1191
- Li Jingming 04-1726
- Ma Guanghua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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