Quwo Qinshu Balladry
01 · Historical Records
It is generally held that it developed out of 'Yuediao' (also written 'Yuetiao'), which was brought into the locality from Nanyang, Henan, during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty and combined with the local accent and local tunes, a history of about one hundred and thirty years to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Quwo qinshu is a form of quyi storytelling that took shape in and is mainly popular in Quwo County in southern Shanxi and in the border zone of the three provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan. Because during performance the octagonal drum and the single cymbal are held in turn to beat the time and accompany, it was formerly called 'gu'er shu' or 'jiaozi shu'. The performance form of Quwo qinshu alternates between spoken narration and singing, is sung mainly, and uses the Quwo accent. In the early period it was mostly a single performer holding clappers to accompany himself, sitting and narrating to song in the local Quwo accent; there were also performances in which the performer pulled a sihu himself and stamped a wooden fish with the foot, or in which one person beat a small yangqin with one hand and struck a kuaban with the other. Later there also appeared forms of performance by several people in partnership. The lyrics are mainly seven-character lines, four lines to a stanza, with the even-numbered lines rhymed. The vocal system is a mixed clapper-and-tune-pattern system, with two vocal tunes, 'jiaozi qiang' and 'guzi qiang'. 'Jiaozi qiang' is the tune sung by the lead performer while accompanying on a single cymbal; it is the main body of the vocal system, belongs to the clapper-pattern structure, and has four main clapper patterns, the slow clapper, the two-eight clapper, the tight two-eight and the flying clapper, together with functional sung lines such as the 'jiao ban', the 'great drawn cadence' and the 'small drawn cadence'. 'Guzi qiang' is the vocal style performed while the lead performer accompanies on the octagonal drum; it is sung inserted into 'jiaozi qiang' and belongs to the single-tune structure. The two styles are pitched differently, so a change of key is needed when they alternate. Besides the octagonal drum, the small jiaozi and the wooden fish, the accompanying instruments may also include the sihu, yangqin, banhu, sanxian, flute and erhu. The traditional repertoire of Quwo qinshu is comparatively rich: long-form books drawn from classical novels, medium-length books created by literary scholars, short passages drawn from folk legends and mythological tales, and a number of witty, humorous little 'shumao' pieces.
The old names drum book and clapper book
The genre takes its old names from the octagonal drum and single cymbal struck alternately, and is sung in the Quwo local speech.
The cymbal tune and the drum tune
The cymbal tune, a metrical structure, carries the main singing, while the drum tune is a single-tune form inserted within it at a different pitch.
The cymbal tune's four metres and functional phrases
The cymbal tune uses four metres plus calling-in and two lament phrases, with accompaniment that may add fiddles, yangqin, sanxian and flute.
The Yue tune arriving from Nanyang
The form is generally traced to the Yue tune brought from Nanyang in the Daoguang period, fused with local speech and ditties over some 130 years.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Quwo qinshu took shape in and is mainly popular in Quwo County in southern Shanxi and in the border zone of the three provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan; the Quwo County Cultural Centre is the protecting entity. Because the octagonal drum and the single cymbal are held in turn to beat the time during performance, it was formerly called 'gu'er shu' or 'jiaozi shu'. Local performers generally hold that it evolved out of 'Yuediao' (also written 'Yuetiao'), which was brought into the locality from Nanyang, Henan, during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty and combined with the Quwo accent and local tunes; it has a history of about one hundred and thirty years to the present day. In the early period it was mostly a single performer holding clappers, singing and accompanying himself; later there appeared the pulling of a sihu with the foot stamping a wooden fish, the beating of a small yangqin with one hand while striking a kuaban with the other, and forms of performance by several people in partnership.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
But as society has changed, performances have dropped off sharply, the succession of performers is broken, and rescue and protection are urgently needed.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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