Pudongxuanjuan
01 · Historical Records
Xuanjuan was originally a form of folk storytelling and singing used to expound baojuan (precious scrolls). From the Song and Yuan dynasties onward it flourished in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, circulating together with folk religion and shanshu (moralising texts); those who sang it were mostly monks and Daoists, or lay "xuanjuan gentlemen" who abstained from meat. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, xuanjuan from Suzhou, Jiaxing and other places reached Pudong along migration and trade routes. Farming households around Zhoupu, Xinchang and Huinan hired people to recite the scrolls in the slack farming season and on Buddhist feast days; they first sang Su-school xuanjuan straight from the text, then changed to the Pudong accent and incorporated local mountain songs and ditties, and by the late Qing dynasty this had become Pudong xuanjuan with its own local character. From the 1930s, xuanjuan performers at Zhoupu were often engaged to entertain private gatherings in teahouses. Activity was interrupted for a time during the War of Resistance against Japan and the Cultural Revolution, and was gradually restored after 1979, forming a network of performances centred on Zhoupu town.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Pudong xuanjuan is a form of quyi storytelling centred on Zhoupu town in Pudong New Area of Shanghai and performed with alternating speech and song in the Pudong accent. The traditional performing arrangement consists of four people: two leads, as the upper and lower hand, hold the laolang clapper and the wooden fish respectively and sit on either side of a table to speak and sing; the other two, holding the erhu and the pengling bells, sit behind the table to accompany and to join in the choruses. In performance they look at the baojuan and sing it straight from the text, which is why it is called "nian xuanjuan" (reciting xuanjuan); and because the choruses borrow the Buddhist invocation "namo" as a padding syllable, folk custom calls it "zhuo namo". Later several more instruments were added, bringing the number of performers to seven or eight. Besides everyday entertainment performances, Pudong xuanjuan also provides ceremonial services for the birthdays of the elderly, rites such as a child's passing of obstructive spirits, and festivals such as the Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival. The basic vocal styles of Pudong xuanjuan include the san, man, zhong and kuai metrical forms derived from the basic tune "xuanjuan diao", together with more than ten small-tune tune patterns such as "Wugeng diao" and "Yinjiaosi". The lyrics are seven-syllable lines in the "two-two-three" pattern; the melodic form divides into two structures, the "upper-lower line form" and the "introduction-development-turn-conclusion form"; and there are choruses in which one voice sings and all respond. Traditional repertoire includes more than seventy medium and long works such as "Yue Fei", "the Marriage Contract" and "Ferry Crossing by Boat", and more than twenty opening pieces such as "the Huaming Baojuan". The subject matter is mostly loyalty, filial piety and righteousness, karmic retribution, and exhortation to goodness. Accompanying instruments include the laolang clapper, wooden fish, erhu and pengling bells, as well as yinqing chimes, small cymbals, dangzi chimes, yangqin, flute and huqin; the accompaniment is played between vocal phrases. There are also props such as the xingmu block, fan and handkerchief. Its basic melodies have also been absorbed by luogushu, comic opera (huaji) and Shanghai opera (huju), and have nourished the development of other art forms in Shanghai.
Three traditional titles
Traditional items among the seventy-odd long and medium pieces, whose themes are loyalty, retribution and moral persuasion.
Opening pieces
One of some twenty short opening pieces sung from the text before the main story.
The laolang and wooden fish
In the four-person format the two leads hold the laolang and wooden fish, with erhu and bell players behind providing accompaniment and chorus.
The 'zhuo namo' chorus
Nicknamed for the Buddhist syllable namo in its chorus, its tunes derive from the xuanjuan mode with a dozen labelled minor melodies.
Rites and festivals
Beyond entertainment it serves birthday rites, children's life-passing rituals and the Lantern, Dragon Boat, Mid-Autumn and Double Ninth festivals.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, xuanjuan from the Suzhou area of Jiangsu Province entered Pudong New Area of Shanghai; after the locals had learnt Su-school xuanjuan they performed it in the local accent and tunes, and by the late Qing dynasty it had become the localised Pudong xuanjuan. And because the local people believed in Buddhism and Daoism, in customs such as "zuoshe" (community rites) and weddings, funerals, birthdays and the averting of calamity they often invited performers into villages and homes to recite the scrolls, which provided xuanjuan activity with rich social soil.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Pudong xuanjuan has entertainment and aesthetic value that cannot be ignored, as well as folkloric value in serving the beliefs of the people. It carries the spiritual temperament of the Pudong populace and embodies the local views on aesthetics, history, values and life.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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