Shanbei Daoqing

01 · Historical Records

It originated in the jingyun (scriptural chant) with which Taoist priests of the Tang dynasty recited the scriptures, took shape during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has a history of more than a thousand years to the present.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Northern Shaanxi daoqing is concentrated in Zichang County, Yanchuan County and Qingjian County of Shaanxi Province, and radiates to the northwest of Shanxi, the Hetao region of Inner Mongolia, and the areas of Gansu and Ningxia that adjoin northern Shaanxi. The eastern branch uses the zhi mode and its singing is high-pitched and bright; the western branch uses the shang mode and its singing is delicate and restrained. The vocal styles and tune patterns of the two, however, are broadly the same: both have [Pingdiao], [Shizidiao], [Yizhimei], [Liangqiang], [Shuahaidiao], [Wuhuaqiang], [Dieluo Jinxianban], [Gunbai] and [Jieban], among others, and are collectively known as the “nine vocal styles and eighteen tunes”. Among them, [Pingdiao] is also called the “seven-syllable tune”; it is built on an upper-line and lower-line structure and is the most fundamental mode in the vocal system of northern Shaanxi daoqing. Judged by musical mood it is divided into modes such as “huayin pingdiao”, “lidiao” and “huaqiangdiao”; judged by musical rhythm it is divided into ban-form patterns such as “daqiban”, “manban”, “kuban”, “huanyangban”, “erliushui”, “songban”, “luoban”, “zaiban” and “yidaoqiang”. The two aspects together constitute the northern Shaanxi daoqing vocal system of qi, cheng, zhuan, he and rao (opening, carrying on, turning, closing and meandering). [Shizidiao] uses a three-three-four phrase structure, two identical sentences forming one cycle, and its ban-form patterns chiefly include “man shizidiao”, “kuai shizidiao”, “shizidiao ceban” and “shizidiao luoban”. [Yizhimei] has square and symmetrical musical phrases: the opening and closing parts are rhythmically free and relaxed with many sustained notes, while the middle sections are rhythmically vigorous and forceful. [Liangqiang] is also called “maoliangqiang”; in the northern Shaanxi dialect the phrase specifically denotes “high-spirited vigour”. By ban-form it is divided into “gaoyin liangqiang”, “zhaqiang”, “pingdiao liangqiang”, “baojuzi liangqiang” and “banliangqiang”; its opening rises from low to high through a seven-degree scale, its middle consists of two symmetrical sentences that may be freely repeated, and its ending restates the melodies of the first two parts with rhythmic changes, resonant and ringing and strongly narrative. [Shuahaidiao] is made up of two large musical sections, the first even and deep, the second impassioned and bright; it suits solo singing, and its ban-form patterns include “zhengzhongnan” and “luanzhongnan”. [Dieluo Jinxianban] has a long history and is regarded as a “living fossil of music”; its tones are low, deep and resonant and its rhythm relaxed and free. [Gunbai] is a declamatory narration without fixed rhythm, and on the sustained final note of each line the gongs and drums show a change from weak to strong and from fast to slow, which gives it great expressiveness. [Jiebo] marks the beat but not its subdivisions, so its rhythm is urgent and its pitch high. Northern Shaanxi daoqing was originally performed by one or more singers in unaccompanied a cappella recitation, accompanied by such wenchang (civil-stage) instruments as the small sanxian, the four-stringed huqin, the guan pipe and the small gong and small chai; it gradually developed into daoqing drama. The traditional repertoire comprises more than twenty works, including Shiwan Jin (Ten Thousand Gold), Naoshuguan (Making Havoc in the Study) and Mudan Ting (The Peony Pavilion).

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Northern Shaanxi daoqing is divided into two branches, the eastern daoqing and the western daoqing. The eastern branch is called the “new tune” and the western branch the “old tune”, and the musical modes of the two differ.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Shanbei Daoqing.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Transmission takes mainly two forms: father-to-son instruction centred on the family as the basic unit, and collective transmission centred on the village as the basic unit. At present northern Shaanxi daoqing finds it hard to survive and has few successors, so protection is urgently needed. Bai Mingli (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in October 1944, native of Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province. He took a liking to northern Shaanxi daoqing as a child, and is a locally renowned master of song and umbrella leader of the yangge dance. The melodies he sings draw on and absorb musical elements from Qinqiang, Meihu, Wanwanqiang and northern Shaanxi folk songs, and his vocal style is high and clear, ardent and uninhibited. His performance movements are light and lively, spacious and unforced, and rich in variety. His representative repertoire includes Mao Hong Tiao Qiang (Mao Hong Leaping the Wall), Shiwan Jin (Ten Thousand Gold), Naoshuguan (Making Havoc in the Study) and Fanshen Daoqing (Daoqing of Turning Over), and he released an MTV album of northern Shaanxi folk songs under his own name. He has carried on teaching activities in northern Shaanxi daoqing for many years; three northern Shaanxi daoqing training institutes have now been founded, and he has coached more than five hundred daoqing enthusiasts. He has more than forty disciples, among them Huidonglian, Bai Yanling, Bai Fengjie, Wu Yanling and He Shiwu. Representative inheritor of northern Shaanxi daoqing in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has sung Qingjian daoqing at international academic conferences and national competitions on many occasions, and has won more than twenty provincial- and municipal-level awards.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Bai Mingli 05-2513

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Shanbei Daoqing (Qingjian, Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Bai Mingli · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗