Jinqianban
01 · Historical Records
It evolved from the kuaiban (quick-clapper recitation) and lianhua nao (lotus dance) forms. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jinqianban entered a new stage of development, reaching its climax in the 1970s and 1980s.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Jinqianban is one of the traditional folk genres of speaking-and-singing quyi in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions. The prop used in Jinqianban performance is three small bamboo boards. In the earliest performances, copper coins were strung through the holes in the boards, so that alongside the sound of the boards being struck one could also hear the coins knocking against one another. Later, for ease of manufacture, the coins were dropped in the process of making the prop, and Jinqianban became three plain bamboo boards. Jinqianban performance centres on four forms of expression: striking, speaking, singing and acting. A performance is given by one or several performers, who combine striking with singing, supported by acting. As for striking, the boards are struck: the performer holds three bamboo boards, one in each hand, clapping them together in time to produce the basic 'di, da, kua' sounds as well as a great variety of embellished rhythms, used to enliven the atmosphere. In singing there is both speech and song; the language is witty and the vocal style easy to sing. Acting stresses the use of the body and of the hands and fingers, conveying the spirit and the meaning. The lyrics are refined, lay stress on the description of plot, and are strict in metre and rhyme. Lines may be long or short and are handled flexibly; a mere few lines suffice to portray a character vividly, and the structure of the repertoire is rigorous. Most of the lyrics sung in Jinqianban are drawn from Chinese folk legends or historical stories. For example, The Fourth Sister Descends to the Mortal World, Zhaojun Passes the Frontier, Meng Jiangnu and Qin Xianglian. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jinqianban pieces came not only to include historical and legendary subjects but also new works praising new people or new things, such as Delivering Goods to the Countryside, Three Times over the Cultural Post, Champion Rice Transplanter, Lei Feng, Jiao Yulu Visits the Poor in Wind and Snow, and No Spare Time to Return to My Parents' Home. The characteristics of Jinqianban are a complete structure, harmonious sound and rhyme, lively rhythm, vivid characterisation, simple props and flexible singing. The performers may be male or female, old or young, and the form can be staged anywhere. As society develops, the living space of this traditional art grows ever smaller. As old performers pass away one after another, too few successors remain in the ranks, and many performing skills have not been handed down.
Three bamboo slips and their coins
The instrument is three bamboo slips; originally coins were strung through their holes so the jingling joined the clatter, but later they were dropped.
The tick, stroke and crash patterns
Holders of the three slips produce the basic tick, stroke and crash beats and numerous colour sounds, which the singer joins to speech, song and gesture.
Traditional storytelling items
Most of the sung texts take up folk legend and history; these four are representative, prized for their rhyme and vivid scene-painting.
New-life pieces after 1949
After 1949 the repertoire added praise songs for new people and things, of which these and pieces on Lei Feng and Jiao Yulu were representative.
The flower and mixed schools
Two lines of stick technique emerged in Sichuan and Chongqing; the inheritor Ding Changfu mastered both the flower and mixed schools.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jinqianban is transmitted among the folk in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions. In the Wanzhou area of Chongqing, the density of river ports and market towns once made speaking-and-singing activity very lively; the Wanzhou District Cultural Centre is the protecting unit. According to the project archive, Ding Changfu combined the striking technique and vocal style of both the 'hua school' and the 'za school'. In 2013 he was appointed visiting professor by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre of Sichuan International Studies University, promoting Jinqianban among local young people. Jinqianban performers from Wanzhou and from Chengdu and the main urban area of Chongqing have long kept in contact, borrowing each other's repertoire and board patterns, which produced the eastern Sichuan line, with tightly matched rhymes and a rich variety of striking patterns.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Jinqianban.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Ding Changfu (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1952, native of Wan County, Sichuan Province (now Wanzhou District of Chongqing Municipality). National first-class actor. After more than twenty years of study and observation, he has systematically mastered the performing art of Jinqianban. His Jinqianban striking is solid and powerful and his performance vivid and lifelike; his vocal style is round and full, with harmonious sound and rhyme, lively rhythm and expressive rises and falls. He combines the hua school and the za school in himself, absorbs the essence of other schools, and fuses everything into a highly expressive whole. For many years he has persisted in promoting and teaching Jinqianban among young people, and in 2013 was appointed visiting professor by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre of Sichuan International Studies University. Representative inheritor of the Jinqianban project in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zou Zhongxin 03-1198
- Zhang Xu 03-1199
- Dingzhangfu 05-2518
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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