Shandong Laozi
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the “san hua yue” (“scattering flowers music”) sung by Buddhist monks while soliciting alms in the late Sui and early Tang, and by the Song dynasty it had developed into lianhua luo, sung by beggars. In the Ming dynasty the narrative lianhua luo was created on this basis, and after the entry of the Qing it reached its height.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shandong luozi is also called “lianhua luo”; it circulates in Shandong Province and in the northern parts of Jiangsu and Anhui, and because the big single cymbals popularly called “guangguang” together with bamboo clappers serve as its principal accompanying instruments, it is also known as “guangguang shu”. The melodies of Shandong luozi are plain and unadorned, its style bold and unrestrained, and it carries a strong rural flavour and local colour. The south-entry (nankou) luozi circulates in southern and south-western Shandong, with Shan County of Shandong and the surrounding cities and counties as its representative area, and it has been strongly influenced by flower-drum music; the north-entry (beikou) luozi circulates in north-western Shandong and has been strongly influenced by Shandong dagu; the east-entry (dongkou) luozi circulates east of Jinan, in Weifang, Pingdu and other places. Shandong luozi is sung rather than spoken, with spoken narration interspersed among the singing; its tunes are plain and its style rough and bold. In performance it is usually accompanied by bronze cymbals and bamboo clappers; because no wind or string instruments are used, its vocal style is comparatively free, and it belongs to the declamatory type of the banqiang system, with such ban patterns as “manban”, “zhongban”, “kuaiban”, “jiban” and “daozi”. Its music takes the seven-tone yayue zhi-mode scale; the colour is bright and clear, the manban is expressive and tender, and the kuaiban is sonorous and powerful. The lyrics are broadly rhymed, basically in seven-syllable or ten-syllable lines, with an upper and a lower phrase sung over and over. The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
Zhou Cang Steals the Child
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
An Outer Account of Sun Erniang
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
Xue Li Returns Home
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
Yang Xiying Moves Troops
The performed repertoire of Shandong luozi is fairly rich: more than sixty traditional long works such as Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang and Zhou Cang Steals the Child, and more than fifty short works such as Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town and An Outer Account of Sun Erniang; many of the traditional medium and long pieces, such as Xue Li Returns Home and Yang Xiying Moves Troops, were transplanted from Shandong qinshu.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to differences in the region where it circulates, in language and in vocal style, Shandong luozi is divided into three kinds: “nankou” (south entry), “beikou” (north entry) and “dongkou” (east entry). The performance form of Shandong luozi is simple and full of local character, and it has a certain reference value for research into folk customs, dialects, social history and related subjects. Shan County lies in south-western Shandong; performers there sing mostly in the local vernacular and their vocal style has been strongly influenced by flower-drum music, and together with Jinxiang, Jiaxiang, Yutang and the other counties it forms the main zone of activity of the south-entry luozi. According to the project archive, the song books preserved in the area of Shan County include Liu Xiu Conquers the Two Guang, Zhou Cang Steals the Child, Huang Guiying Makes a Scene at Shuangxiong Town, An Outer Account of Sun Erniang, Xue Li Returns Home, Yang Xiying Moves Troops and others, more than one hundred long and short pieces in all, which makes this the main source of the sung texts of the south-entry line.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Shandong Laozi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, as the process of modernisation accelerates, the ancient Shandong luozi has lost the soil on which it depended for survival, is declining day by day, and urgently needs protection and transmission.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Qingmin 05-2516
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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