Jinhua Daoqing

01 · Historical Records

Jinhua daoqing is current in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province and the surrounding area. It formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and its documented history runs to at least three hundred years. Jinhua daoqing originated in Yiwu City, where it began as the poetic-praise style “jingyun” (scripture chant) sung inside Daoist temples. It later absorbed other word tunes and tune-pattern music, and evolved into the “new jingyun” sung while preaching Daoist doctrine among the folk, also called “daoge”. From the Southern Song onward, the “new jingyun” was accompanied by the yugu (daoqing tube) and by finger-clapping (zhipai); this form has circulated widely since the Ming and Qing dynasties. By the Republican period Yiwu daoqing was already highly mature, and masters such as Luo Zhanglin had appeared.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

In performance Jinhua daoqing is sung solo, seated, in the Jinhua dialect, and there are several ways of joining speech and song: singing with speech interspersed throughout, speech inserted within the singing, and a level style inserted between sections. Its tonality mainly uses the zhi mode; the structure is complete, with a beginning and an end; the rhythm is varied, and may be fast, slow or moderate. Its vocal styles are divided into the “pingdiao” (level style), the “beidiao” (lament style), the “kudiao” (weeping style) and others. The pingdiao has a level and even compass and a steady rhythm, and is used mainly for the long passages that narrate the story; the beidiao is low, mournful and desolate, as if weeping and complaining, and is used mainly to describe a character’s suffering; the kudiao imitates a woman’s weeping and serves chiefly to intensify a character’s grief and to colour a tragic atmosphere. Jinhua daoqing is accompanied by the qingtong (also called the “yugu”), a tube made of golden bamboo, and by jianban clappers made of two bamboo slats. In performance the percussion serves as an introduction, leading into the sung passages. The accompaniment also marks the pauses at the division of phrases and sentences, provides the linking interlude passages, and presents melodies that recur and repeat.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yiwu is the birthplace of Jinhua daoqing: the jingyun of the Daoist temples of the Song and Yuan dynasties evolved here into the “daoge” of folk narrative singing; from the Southern Song it was accompanied by the yugu (daoqing tube) and finger-clapping, it circulated widely from the Ming and Qing dynasties onward, and by the Republican period Yiwu daoqing was already highly mature, with masters such as Luo Zhanglin appearing. The Yiwu branch consists mainly of long works; 425 traditional pieces survive, among them Huang Jin Ji (Record of Gold), Ying Jin Ji (Welcoming Gold), Jin Gua Ji (The Golden Melon), Yin Tai Ji (The Silver Terrace) and Hu Pai Ji (Record of the Hu Pai Tune), whose content records the changes in society, politics, the economy and folk customs in Jinhua and its surroundings over more than three hundred years. The protecting unit of the project is the Yiwu Municipal Cultural Centre (Yiwu Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre); Ye Yingsheng has made a virtuoso performing technique of producing a ringing sound by beating the yugu together with vocal imitation (kouji), and with this technique he caused a sensation in the Beijing theatre when he performed Di Qing Arms Contest.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jinhua Daoqing.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Of Jinhua daoqing there survive 425 traditional pieces such as Huang Jin Ji (Record of Gold), Ying Jin Ji (Welcoming Gold), Jin Gua Ji (The Golden Melon), Yin Tai Ji (The Silver Terrace) and Hu Pai Ji (Record of the Hu Pai Tune). Their content concerns the changes in society, politics, the economy and folk customs in Jinhua and its surroundings over more than three hundred years, and they are of extremely high value for historical and cultural research. At present the older daoqing artists are advanced in years and there are few successors; some daoqing pieces have already been lost, and the work of protection and rescue is urgent. Ye Yingsheng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1947, native of Yiwu County, Zhejiang Province. Deputy research fellow at a research library. The daoqing he sings has flowing lyrics and finely drawn characters; in particular he produces a ringing sound by beating the yugu together with vocal imitation (kouji), which forms a virtuoso performing technique, and with this technique he caused a sensation in the Beijing theatre when he performed Di Qing Arms Contest. Over sixty years in the art he has devoted himself to the performance of Jinhua daoqing, the collation of its repertoire and the training of successors, and has collated traditional daoqing pieces such as Shuang Yu Qiu (Twin Jade Balls), Yu Lian Huan (Jade Links), Qi Xing Jian (Seven-Star Sword) and Long Feng Yu Huan (Dragon-and-Phoenix Jade Ring). Traditional pieces such as Ba Xian Bai Nian (The Eight Immortals Paying New Year Visits), Shi Bei Xiang Cha (Ten Cups of Fragrant Tea) and Xiao Ba Xian (The Little Eight Immortals) have also been recorded and issued in published form. Works he composed, such as The Yiwu People Who Moved China and A Mother’s Love, were published one after another in the magazine Quyi. Representative inheritor of Jinhua daoqing, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the third batch. In December 2004 he was awarded the title of artist of both virtue and artistry by the China Quyi Association.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Zhu Shungen 03-1192
• Ye Yingsheng 03-1193

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Jinhua Daoqing (Yiwu, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Ye Yingsheng · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗