Gabaifu

01 · Historical Records

There is no written record of the date when it arose; judging from the contents of its repertoire, it has a history of at least 300 years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Gabaifu is a transliteration from the Miao language and is short for Gabaifu ge (the Gabaifu songs); it means "chained circular cycle songs" and is the most representative form of narrative-and-musical art in which the Miao people of the Qiandongnan area of Guizhou speak and sing in the Miao language. Gabaifu is transmitted mainly in the counties and cities of Leishan, Taijiang, Jianhe, Kaili, Danzhai and Rongjiang in Guizhou, with Leishan County, Taijiang County and Kaili City forming its core area. Gabaifu takes speaking and singing as its principal means of artistic expression; it is performed without accompaniment, either by one person who speaks and sings to himself, or with one person speaking and two people answering in song. The musical melody of its speech-and-song has a two-phrase structure: the third musical phrase repeats the first, and the fourth imitates the second. The performers use "colloquial speech-and-song" to narrate stories, portray characters, express feelings and convey ideas. Its mode of linguistic expression is distinctive: the opening and the ending are in prose, the middle mixes rhymed singing with prose, and important episodes are rendered in verse, so it combines the features of oral literature and of the art of singing. Gabaifu has a rich repertoire of close to 300 pieces, most of them works reflecting questions of love and marriage, and they mainly involve two great themes: promoting the autonomy of marriage, and satirising the mentality of despising the poor and favouring the rich. Representative works of the first kind include "Lixiu Denglu and Bang Cangnong", "Boweng Yong and Gujini" and "Yijinli and Bang Jiangrong"; representative works of the second kind include "Eyang You and Qiugudui", "Bang'e and Yenanli" and "Jiujin'ang and Bang Jinrong".

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Gabaifu is a form of narrative-and-musical art in which the Miao speak and sing in the Miao language; it is performed without accompaniment, either by one person who speaks and sings to himself or with one person speaking and two people answering in song, and it is transmitted mainly in the counties and cities of Leishan, Taijiang, Jianhe, Kaili, Danzhai and Rongjiang in the Qiandongnan area of Guizhou, with Leishan County, Taijiang County and Kaili City as its core area. Its repertoire numbers close to three hundred pieces, most of them works reflecting questions of love and marriage, one class promoting the autonomy of marriage and one class satirising the mentality of despising the poor and favouring the rich. Its mode of linguistic expression uses prose at the opening and the ending, mixes rhymed singing with prose in the middle, and renders important episodes in verse; its musical melody has a two-phrase structure, the third musical phrase repeating the first and the fourth imitating the second. Transmission depends chiefly on collective oral singing within Miao villages: many of the elderly villagers can perform it, and there is a large body of inheritors.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Gabaifu takes collective transmission as its principal mode of transmission: the elderly people of Miao villages can all perform Gabaifu, there is a large body of inheritors, and it enjoys a deep popular base. The contents of the Gabaifu repertoire are all stories handed down through the generations of the Miao people themselves, and they carry a great deal of information about marriage relations, social institutions, class contradictions and so on within the long course of historical development; they are precious material for studying Miao history and have important historical value. The way it combines solo singing with antiphonal singing is distinctive within the field of narrative-and-musical art, offering a vivid model and case for the study of the development history of Miao narrative art, and it has distinctive artistic value. The repertoire works attack arranged marriages, praise the protagonists' longing for freedom and love, and carry out education in traditional virtues for the new generation of young people, in keeping with the requirements of the present age in rural revitalisation and in the building of fine rural customs. It embodies the aesthetic orientation of the Miao people in praising truth, goodness and beauty and in condemning falsehood, ugliness and evil; it is an important channel for education in traditional virtues, and it has educational function and social value.

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Gabaifu (Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗