Hua'er

01 · Historical Records

The Danma flower fair arose in the late Ming and flourished in the Qing, the Republican period and the early years of New China. In the 1960s and 1970s it was regarded as a low and vulgar wild-song fair and prohibited, and it was interrupted for a time; after 1978 it was gradually restored. According to the judgement of experts, the “Danma flower fair” was at first a traditional gathering of the local Tu people in the nature of mountain pilgrimage and temple fair, held to pray for favourable weather and a good harvest of the five grains. Through historical evolution it has become an important cultural site for displaying the folk customs of the Tu.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

It is sung on two main kinds of occasion: daily production and life, and the “flower fair”. The “flower fair” is a large folk song gathering, also called “singing the mountain”. The Danma flower fair is a traditional mass gathering of some influence in the Huzhu Tu autonomous county of Qinghai, combining opera performance, hua'er singing and commodity trade; it is generally held on the thirteenth day of the sixth lunar month, runs for five days, is held once a year, and is grand in scale and far-reaching in influence. The Danma township that holds it lies in the east of the Huzhu Tu autonomous county of Qinghai and is a township of Tu settlement. Common pieces of the Danma Tu hua'er include The Ga Lianshou Tune, The Yellow-Flower Sister Tune and The Willow Sister Tune. The Danma flower fair has a long history and has always enjoyed high repute among the mass cultural activities of Qinghai.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Hua'er is a mountain-song kind widely current among the eight ethnic groups—Hui, Han, Tu, Dongxiang, Bao'an, Salar, Tibetan and Yugur—of the four provinces and regions of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. It is always sung in the local Chinese dialect and may be sung only outside the villages and stockades; it is commonly called a “wild song” (as opposed to the “home song”, that is, the banquet song) and is also known as the “youth”.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er · Hua'er.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Tu hua'er sung at the Danma flower fair is an important part of the Qinghai hua'er; it has a distinctive ethnic style, contains rich Tu cultural content, and possesses relatively high artistic value. The protection of the Danma flower fair and the exploration, rescue and collation of the Tu hua'er are of very great significance. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Ma Mingshan, female, Tu, born 1949, a native of Huzhu Tu autonomous county, Qinghai. Her singing style is distinctive and her kinds are many, her voice high and sweetly drawn out and her timbre beautiful. Her main pieces include the wedding song Burou Yo and the hua'er Lang Lang Shang Lang Lai. She is a representative bearer of the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the hua'er (Danma Tu flower fair). In 1987 she won the first prize in the first Qinghai provincial hua'er-cup open television contest.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Ma Jinshan 02-0241
• Ma Delin 02-0242
• Ma Mingshan 02-0243
• Zhao Cunlu 02-0244
• Zhang Yingzhi 02-0245
• Wang Cunfu 02-0246
• Ma Shenglin 02-0247
• Wang Lianlian 03-0819
• Liu Guocheng 03-0820
• Zhang Mingxing 03-0821
• Han Shengyuan 03-0822
• Su Ping 05-2040
• Li Guiying 05-2041
• Wang Deqin 05-2042
• Ma Handong 05-2043
• Wang Xiufang 05-2044
• Song Baoyuan
• Zhang Jianjun
• Wen Xianglian

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Hua'er (Huzhutuzuzizhi, Qinghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Ma Mingshan · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗