Wenzhou Lianhua
01 · Historical Records
Wenzhou lianhua took shape in the late Qing dynasty and has a history of more than a hundred years; it is widely transmitted in the urban districts of Wenzhou, and in Yongjia, Rui'an, Yueqing, Pingyang and Taishun in southern Zhejiang, as well as in parts of Taizhou. It evolved from daoqing storytelling; by the late Qing and early Republican period it already had a large audience, and a batch of famous performers appeared, among them Xu Bangzhong, Wu Wengao, Xu Shunjie and Li Goujin.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The lines of Wenzhou lianhua mostly use seven characters, though there are also five-character and ten-character lines, and paired lines generally rhyme. In performance the artists usually insert padding syllables and modal particles into the lines, to strengthen the rhythm and produce a lingering flavour. The vocal style of lianhua gradually took shape on the basis of the folk local music of the Yongjia area of Wenzhou City; it takes the “lianhua tune” as its foundation and supplements it with the “phoenix tune” and Wenzhou folk song melodies. When singing, the artists flexibly employ metrical forms such as the “fast beat”, “slow beat”, “free beat” and “stacked beat” according to what the content requires, producing distinctive artistic effects. The accompanying instruments of Wenzhou lianhua were at first only a single daoqing bamboo tube and a pair of yinyang clappers (that is, bamboo clappers); the qin-accompanied form of lianhua appeared only in the early twentieth century, adding the ox-tendon zither, the sanxian, the pipa and others, which made the music more beautiful and pleasing. Wenzhou lianhua takes a wide variety of subjects; its traditional repertoire numbers more than fifty pieces, mostly of medium and long length. Among them are mythological subjects such as “The Great Opening of Heaven” and “The Eight Immortals”, secular subjects such as “The Qilin Leopard” and “The Crystal Palace”, and local subjects such as “Liu Wenlong”, “Gao Ji and Wu Sanchun” and “Huang Sannü Niao and Lin Dinglang”; the content is very rich. A traditional medium-length piece can be sung for three to four hours, while a traditional long piece can be sung for around ten hours and has to be performed in three or four sessions.
The lotus tune and the phoenix tune
Wenzhou lianhua is built on the "lotus tune" supported by the "phoenix tune" and Wenzhou folk melodies; lines run mostly to seven characters and rhyme in couplets.
The daoji tube and the yin-yang clappers
The earliest accompaniment was only a daoji tube and a pair of bamboo clappers; from the early twentieth century the qin, sanxian and pipa were added.
Fast, slow, free and piled metres
Singers shift between fast, slow, free and piled metre according to the narrative, and insert padding syllables inside lines to sharpen the rhythm.
The early famous lianhua singers
By the late Qing and early Republic the form had a large following and had produced famous singers such as Xu Bangzhong, Wu Wengao, Xu Shunjie and Li Goujin.
Dai Chunlan and the Gao Ji Sells Silk manuscript
Dai Chunlan, who performed at the first national quyi festival at fourteen, completed the singing text of Gao Ji Sells Silk and collected much of the genre's material.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Wenzhou lianhua has its centre of transmission in Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, while the vocal foundation of the “lianhua tune” was formed in the folk local music of the Yongjia area; Yongjia, Rui'an, Yueqing, Pingyang, Taishun and parts of Taizhou are all common places for performance. By the late Qing and early Republican period Wenzhou had already produced well-known artists such as Xu Bangzhong, Wu Wengao, Xu Shunjie and Li Goujin; in the early twentieth century the qin-accompanied form of lianhua appeared, adding the ox-tendon zither, sanxian and pipa to the original daoqing bamboo tube and yinyang clappers (bamboo clappers), so that the urban districts of Wenzhou became a place where artists gathered and competed.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wenzhou Lianhua.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Wenzhou lianhua enjoys broad popular appeal and a very strong local character; it is an important basis for studying folk literature and social customs in southern Zhejiang, and has high historical and cultural value. At present this precious local storytelling genre has fallen into a survival crisis, with few followers to succeed the artists, and urgently needs protection and transmission. Dai Chunlan (associated inheritor, as recorded in the official inheritor file): female, Han nationality, born in May 1944, native of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. At the age of 14 she was selected to take part in the first national quyi performance festival. She has been actively engaged in collecting and sorting out materials on Wenzhou lianhua and has completed the singing script of “Gao Ji Sells the Silk”. Representative inheritor of Wenzhou lianhua in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. She has stayed active on the stage, taking part in various cultural and artistic publicity and performance activities, and has won awards many times. In 1957 her “Singing the Dragon Boat Song” won first prize at the first Zhejiang provincial quyi performance festival, awarded by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture. In 1986 “The Grumbling Old Woman”, which she performed together with others, won second prize for performance in the Zhejiang provincial competition for new quyi repertoire, awarded by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dai Chunlan 03-1195
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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