Tianmen Yugu
01 · Historical Records
It took shape during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing dynasty, growing out of the combination of Taoist daoqing and the folk tunes of the Jianghan Plain. Its sung lines follow the five-five-seven-five pattern as well as seven-character and ten-character lines; its language is drawn from colloquial speech, xiehouyu and quips, and carries both the flavour of Jingchu culture and the character of the Jianghan Plain dialect. It is easy to recite and sung with gusto, and is dearly loved by the masses.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Tianmen yugu has a rich stock of vocal styles, with five principal ones — pingkang (level style), beikang (tragic style), yuweikang (fishtail style), pipakang (pipa style) and zahuakang (variegated style) — capable of rendering every type of character and accurately expressing every kind of emotion. It has a complete system of tune patterns and a full set of regulated performance procedures. Its presentational narration is divided into biaobai and shuobai: biaobai mostly narrates the course of the story in the third person. Shuobai is further divided into sanbai (colloquial speech) and yunbai (rhymed speech); it may be a third-person monologue, or a character within the piece telling his own story, imitating the voice, manner and tone of the character. There are two performing forms, dankou (solo) and two-person seated singing. In solo performance the artist cradles the yugu drum diagonally in his left arm and holds clappers in his hand; while singing he strikes the drum with his right hand and beats time with the clappers in his left. In two-person seated performance, one artist strikes the yugu drum and the clappers while the other beats a saucer, and the plot is unfolded in turn by two people speaking and singing, with the artists offstage joining in the choruses. In its early days Tianmen yugu was sung for a living chiefly in teahouses and restaurants, and to enliven wedding and funeral banquets. After 1949 the sihu, yangqin, pipa and other accompanying instruments were added to Tianmen yugu, which moved onto the stage and developed into a form sung antiphonally by male and female actors or by larger groups. It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Investiture of the Gods
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Romance of the Sui and Tang
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Yue Fei Zhuan (The Story of Yue Fei)
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
The Yang Family Generals
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Qi Xia Wu Yi (Seven Heroes and Five Gallants)
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Wu Han Sha Qi (Wu Han Slays His Wife)
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
Qianlong You Jiangnan (Qianlong's Tour of Jiangnan)
It has more than two hundred traditional pieces, most of them adapted from historical romances, legends and folk tales, such as Fengshen Bang, Sui Tang Yan Yi, Yue Fei Zhuan, Yang Jia Jiang, Qi Xia Wu Yi, Wu Han Sha Qi, Qianlong You Jiangnan and others.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Tianmen yugu is sung in the Tianmian dialect and is a form of quyi in which spoken passages and sung passages alternate; it is widely transmitted in the Tianmen, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Jianli, Honghu, Jiangling, Hanchuan, Jingshan and other places of the Jianghan Plain in Hubei Province.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Tianmen yugu is transmitted mainly from master to apprentice, and has a complete transmission pedigree stretching back for more than a hundred years. At present the project has formed four groups of transmitters — the Tiandong, Tiannan, Tianxi and Tianbei groups — with more than sixty artists in all, and every group has representative inheritors actively teaching apprentices. Tianmen yugu has a rich variety of vocal styles, many of whose vocal forms evolved out of Taoist music; it is of unique value for studying the fusion and the evolution of Taoist music and folk music, and for studying the history of Chinese folk music and of folk art. Yugu artists are active in the folk community year in and year out, which is of real significance for handing down fine traditional culture and for meeting the cultural needs of the masses.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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