Sangzhi Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The Sangzhi folk song originated in the production labour of the primitive farming period, and the plain, rough, witty and humorous manner is its chief artistic style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Sangzhi county lies in the north-west of Hunan province: to the east it borders the two counties of Shimen and Cili, to the south the Yongding district of Zhangjiajie city and Yongshun county of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, to the west it adjoins Longshan county of the same prefecture, and to the north it is joined to the two counties of Xuan'en and Hefeng in Hubei. Tempered over a thousand years, the Sangzhi folk song reveals a distinctive artistic charm in its high singing and low humming. It is the product of Sangzhi's peculiar geographical environment and its closed or half-closed condition of existence, and to this day it retains a good many songs reflecting primitive religion, such as the nuo tune and the weeding gong-and-drum. (2) In respect of artistic features: its musical structures are rigorous and its musical forms varied, and above all the use of padding words brings the folk song to an extremely high artistic level in heightening atmosphere and revealing the inner feeling of the characters. In addition, the special methods of modulating the voice and the breathy singing technique of the Sangzhi folk song have greatly enriched the theory of folk-song singing and provided a distinctive model for vocal performance. Representative pieces such as The Chestnut Blossoms in a Single Line, Flowers Bloom in All Four Seasons, A Lamp Hung at the Doorway, Cold Water Brews the Tea, Growing Stronger by Degrees and The Coriaria Tree Holds Up the Lamp Stand have become classics of the treasure-house of Chinese folk song. Many musicians, drawing on the rich nourishment of the Sangzhi folk song, have composed such works as Carrying Tea to Beijing on a Shoulder Pole, The Sweet Mountain Song and Beloved of the Heart, all of which became widely popular and were sung for a time.
The Chestnut Blossoms in a Single Line
One of the representative pieces of the Sangzhi folk song, now a classic of the treasure-house of Chinese folk song.
Flowers Bloom in All Four Seasons
A representative Sangzhi folk song whose three-line lyric structure exemplifies the local veneration of “three”.
A Lamp Hung at the Doorway
A representative Sangzhi folk song distinguished by its use of padding words.
Cold Water Brews the Tea, Growing Stronger by Degrees
A representative Sangzhi folk song current in the mountain districts of north-western Hunan.
The Coriaria Tree Holds Up the Lamp Stand
A representative Sangzhi folk song and one of the classics of the Chinese folk-song repertory.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Sangzhi folk song is divided into mountain songs, minor tunes, ceremonial songs and the nuo tune, covering many genres of traditional folk song.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
To sum up, it has value in two respects: (1) the social and cultural. Its three-line lyric structure provides precious material and a model for the study of the diversity of Chinese folk song and embodies the simple philosophy of the Sangzhi people's veneration of “three”. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Shang Shengwu, male, Tujia, born January 1952, a native of Sangzhi county, Hunan. From the age of four he learned the various skills of the Sangzhi folk song from the elders of his family. Each year he teaches the Sangzhi folk song in the cadre training classes of the Sangzhi county Party school. Among his students are several dozen, including Huang Daoying, and over more than thirty years he has also trained more than forty thousand trainees. He is a representative bearer of the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the Sangzhi folk song. He has won prizes many times in competitions organized by Hunan province and in 2015 went to Germany to take part in the “Experiencing China” intangible cultural heritage exhibition performance organized by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Shangshengwu 05-2038
- Xiang Zuorong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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