Liaozhailiqu
01 · Historical Records
Zichuan was one of the important areas of circulation of Ming and Qing popular tunes. Pu Songling, gathering the experience of a lifetime and the essence of the Ming and Qing popular tunes and taking the linked suites of the various palace modes and the northern and southern tunes, completed in his later years the composition of fifteen liqu pieces.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Liaozhai liqu is a distinctive musical-literary genre formed in the early Qing by the great man of letters Pu Songling, who set the song texts he had written to the popular tunes and current airs then circulating; because Pu Songling's studio was named “Liaozhai”, it is called the Liaozhai liqu, and some also call it Pu Songling's liqu. The Bi family of Xipu, in whose household Pu Songling taught for more than thirty years, was a great and noble house with a long tradition of writing and performing liqu, which prepared an excellent social atmosphere and conditions for Pu Songling's writing of liqu stories. The pieces of Liaozhai liqu include The Shua Haier, the Jade Maiden, the Pink Lotus and The Broken Bridge Piled. The Liaozhai liqu vividly reflect the life of the people in the late feudal age, are loved by the masses, have long been sung and current in contemporary society, and have become a mass art form standing alone in the Shandong region. By its distinctive charm the Liaozhai liqu has influenced the development of sister arts; to take xiqu alone, plays adapted from liqu stories include those of Wuyin opera, Liuzi opera, Sichuan opera, Peking opera, Qin opera and Hebei bangzi. More than fifty relatively primitive tunes survive; more than ten were collected in 1962, in recent years more than thirty have been traced and transcribed from ancient books and documents, and some lost tunes remain to be traced.
The Shua Haier
One of the pieces of the Liaozhai liqu.
The Jade Maiden
One of the pieces of the Liaozhai liqu.
The Pink Lotus
One of the pieces of the Liaozhai liqu.
The Broken Bridge Piled
One of the pieces of the Liaozhai liqu.
More Than Fifty Surviving Primitive Tunes
The liqu tunes collected and transcribed since 1962, with some lost tunes still to be traced.
The Fifteen Liqu Pieces and Fifteen Manuscript Copies
The fifteen liqu pieces completed by Pu Songling in his later years and the extant manuscript copies of them.
Linked Suites Drawn from the Various Palace Modes and the Northern and Southern Tunes
The musical system gathering the essence of Ming and Qing popular tunes and taking the linked suites of the various palace modes and the northern and southern tunes.
Family Transmission within the Pu Clan
The manner of family transmission in which the Pu clan and its descendants are the main bearers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Liaozhai liqu circulate mainly in the Zichuan district area of Zibo city, Shandong; the Pu clan and its descendants are their main bearers and they were once widely sung among the local people, spreading under the influence of the circulation of Pu Songling's works to Jinan, Weifang and elsewhere.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The areas where the Liaozhai liqu circulate are mainly Zibo city in Shandong, and the Pu clan and its descendants are their main bearers. Whether in literature or in music these liqu have extremely high value. Fifteen manuscript copies of the Liaozhai liqu survive, the originals being lost, and all have been sorted and published. Those who can sing liqu nowadays are ageing, and students of liqu are as scarce as morning stars, so rescue and protection are necessary. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Pu Zhangjun, male, Han, born 1945, a native of Zibo, Shandong. He learned the Liaozhai liqu with his forebears from childhood and mastered its singing technique, being an important bearer of the family's Liaozhai liqu. Inheriting the technical characteristics of his forebears, his singing style is melodious and lingering, accurate and delicate, with sincere feeling and a plain manner of singing, and a rich local charm. He combines words and music in singing and successfully expresses the meaning of Pu Songling's originals. He organizes the old people skilled in singing liqu to provide living material for television stations and for experts and scholars visiting from all parts of the country, and takes part in social activities, throwing himself actively into the work of uncovering and transmitting the Liaozhai liqu. He is a representative bearer of the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the Liaozhai liqu.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Pu Zhangjun 02-0249
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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