Yuequ
01 · Historical Records
It came into being around the middle of the Qing dynasty. Influential representative repertoire works of the Republican period included Night Battle with Ma Chao, Wu Song Rampaging through the Lion Tower, Yue Wumu's Return to the Army, as well as A Flowing Dream, Parting Once More at the Changting Willows and Night Rain in Xiaoxiang. Representative repertoire works newly composed and staged in the second half of the 20th century include what were known as the 'New Eight Views of the City of Rams', namely Twin Bridges in Misty Rain, Luogang Fragrant Snow, Moonlight over E'tan Lake, Spring Dawn at East Lake, Loyal Heart of Zhuhai, Rising Sun over Jiangling, Pine Waves in the White Clouds and Distant View of Yuexiu, together with Niu Gao Reading the Edict, Zhou Yu Writing the Memorial, Qin Qiong Selling His Horse, Mu Guiying Taking Command, Hua Mulan on Patrol, Cai Wenji's Return to Han, Ruan Lingyu and The Last Echo at Guangling.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The performance format is one or two people standing and singing; in the ensemble form, several musicians take charge of accompaniment alone on such instruments as the gaohu, yangqin, pipa, transverse xiao, long-throated pipe, erxian, tiqin (a local Guangdong folk instrument), short-throated pipe, yueqin and so forth. Later there also appeared performance formats such as shuo chang (speech-and-song), tan chang (instrumental-and-song) and biao yan chang (dramatic song). The vocal music is extraordinarily rich and falls roughly into seven self-contained categories: 1. bangzi; 2. erhuang; 3. biaozi qu; 4. tunes absorbed from such genres as dragon-boat singing, muyu, nanyin and yue'ou; 5. xiaoqu such as Song of Sending Off the Lover, Jian Jian Hua and Yu Meiren; 6. mixed bangzi-erhuang tunes newly composed after the 1911 Revolution; and 7. Guangdong folk instrumental pieces with newly written lyrics, known as 'Guangdong music', such as Zhaojun's Lament, Rain Beating on the Banana Leaves, Double Sorrow and Willow Shaking Gold. In its early days, singing in Yuequ was divided strictly by role type, with separate singing styles for the ten major role types, among them xiaosheng (young male role), huadan (young female role) and wusheng (martial male role). After the 1911 Revolution the falsetto was replaced by the natural voice, and singing in stage Mandarin (also called 'Guilin Mandarin') was replaced by singing in the Guangzhou dialect, divided into three styles: da hou (also called ba qiang or zuo pie, a male-role vocal style using mainly the high register), ping hou (a male-role vocal style using mainly the middle register) and zi hou (a vocal style used exclusively by female roles). Most early repertoire works were taken from Cantonese opera scripts. The representative ones were known as the 'Eight Famous Pieces', namely Baili Xi Meeting His Wife, Biancai Exorcising the Demon, Daiyu Burying Flowers, Six Lang Condemning His Son, Abandoning Chu to Return to Han, Lu Zhishen Leaving the Monastery, Fu Jian He Wenxiu and The Worthy Man in the Snow.
The eight famous cantonese tunes
Early items came mostly from Cantonese opera scripts; the eight celebrated numbers include Bai Lixi Meets His Wife and Daiyu Buries the Flowers.
Big, plain and female throats
After 1911 the false voice gave way to the natural voice and Mandarin to Cantonese, splitting into the high male, middle male and female throats.
The seven families of melody
Its music falls into seven families, from bangzi and erhuang through dragon-boat and naamyam tunes to cantonese instrumental pieces set with words.
Cantonese instrumental tunes fitted with words
The seventh family consists of Cantonese instrumental classics such as Zhao Jun's Lament and Rain on the Banana Leaves fitted with lyrics.
The eight new sights of Guangzhou
Mid-twentieth-century items celebrating Guangzhou's sights, alongside pieces on Niu Gao and Ruan Lingyu.
Huang Shaomei and the star school
Huang Shaomei applied the star school to modern life and, from the 1950s, trained many singers across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yuequ is a quyi genre performed in the Guangzhou dialect that is popular in the Cantonese-speaking areas of Guangdong and Guangxi and has spread to Hong Kong, Macao, and the settlements of Guangdong emigrants in Southeast Asia and the Americas.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Since the end of the 20th century the living space of Yuequ has shrunk sharply, with both performers and audiences ageing, leaving the genre endangered and in urgent need of support and protection. Huang Shaomei (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han nationality, born in October 1931, a native of Panyu County, Guangdong Province. National first-class performer. Her singing is not only faithful in both form and spirit and highly expressive, but also innovative. She used the xingqiang style to portray new aspects of contemporary life, injecting fresh vitality into the traditional vocal styles. From the 1950s onward she took apprentices without interruption in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, transmitting the art orally and by demonstration and working tirelessly. Her pupils have achieved a high rate of success, and many have become Yuequ singers active on the performance stage. Representative inheritor of Yuequ in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Huang Shaomei 05-2524
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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