Shizhu Tujialuoerdiao
01 · Historical Records
Some of the songs have the same tune but different words, retaining something of the manner of the “bamboo-branch lyrics”; some have lyrics plain and popular, vividly reflecting the life, labour, folk ways, customs, feelings and religious beliefs of the local Tujia, and so recording in a relatively comprehensive way the ceremonial activities, conditions of existence and process of ethnic-cultural change of the Tujia. In the 1950s and 1960s more than three hundred people in Shizhu Tujia autonomous county could still sing the “luo'er tune”, but with the changes in society and culture the singers have grown fewer and fewer.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shizhu Tujia autonomous county of Chongqing lies where the Wuling mountains meet the Yangtze, and the Tujia luo'er tune nurtured and sung here has a long history and a far-reaching source. Its melody is simple, the range of every piece within an octave, with little ornamentation in the vocal line, whose rises and falls are smooth and flowing, easy to master and easy to transmit. Its modes are mostly the zhi, yu and shang modes, and there are both traditional pieces and improvised song tunes made up on the spot. Its lyric lines are for the most part of seven characters and may be filled in impromptu, giving free and full expression on the spot to the singer's true feelings. The internationally famous The Sun Comes Out and All Is Joy is one of the representative pieces of the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune, besides which there are such pieces as The Year-Round Labour Song, The Pregnancy Song and Little Sweetheart.
The Sun Comes Out and All Is Joy
One of the representative pieces of the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune and a song famous at home and abroad.
The Year-Round Labour Song
A piece of the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune reflecting the life of the long-term hired labourer.
The Pregnancy Song
A traditional piece of the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune whose seven-character lines may be filled in impromptu.
Little Sweetheart
A love song among the representative pieces of the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The luo'er tune is plain and rich in tone; in particular the great use of the habitual dialect padding words “luo'er”, “luo'er luo” and “luo” in the luo'er tune binds the tune closely to the four tones of the local Tujia dialect, frankly expressing the cheerful, open-minded, wise and humorous character of the Tujia and so forming a distinctive style and charm.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
According to a preliminary survey only about seventy people can now sing it, and these singers are advanced in years, so that the transmission of the luo'er tune faces difficulties and is on the verge of extinction. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Liu Yongbin, male, Tujia, born 1941, a native of Shizhu, Chongqing. A peasant singer, he learned to sing the Tujia luo'er tune from childhood with his parents, elder brothers and sisters and neighbours, showing a fine artistic gift, a memory that let him retain what he heard and a high intelligence. He has studied the weeding gong-and-drum, the daoqin, the cart lantern and the coin-clapper and other traditional folk arts, and is a man of many talents. He has especially high attainments in the Tujia luo'er tune, can sing whatever he sees and fill in words impromptu, and sings with true feeling, and is honoured locally as the “Tujia song king”. Friends from the United States, Britain, Japan, Thailand and other countries often come expressly to hear him sing the Tujia luo'er tune, and he has received more than four thousand visitors in all. Over the years he has devoted himself to transmitting the Tujia luo'er tune and has taken on several dozen apprentices. His representative works include The Sun Comes Out and All Is Joy, The Golden Silver Flower Blooms and The Mountain Girl Comes to Town. He is a representative bearer of the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune, has taken part many times in folk song-king competitions at township, district, county and city level, and has won relatively high honours. Huang Daishu, male, Tujia, born April 1944, a native of Shizhu Tujia autonomous county, Chongqing. He loved mountain songs from childhood and had a good memory, so that on hearing the local elders sing he could sing the song himself, and in this way he mastered a good many local folk songs, including the luo'er tune. While at school he could already make up words impromptu to the local luo'er tune, answer at will, and even sing mountain songs antiphonally across the hills in jesting play. The luo'er tunes he sings are marked by making up words as the mood takes him, by impromptu filling-in of lyrics and by a voice high and unrestrained. He has published an album of luo'er tune singing. For many years he has devoted himself to the transmission of the luo'er tune and, though past seventy, is still active in the classrooms of the primary and middle schools of Shizhu county, guiding students in singing the luo'er tune and vigorously promoting the bringing of the luo'er tune into the schools. He is a representative bearer of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the Shizhu Tujia luo'er tune.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Liu Yongbin 02-0238
- Huang Daishu 03-0815
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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