Dong Pipa Songs
01 · Historical Records
The Dong pipa song takes its name from its accompaniment on the Dong pipa, called “beiba” in the Dong language, and is distributed mainly in the southern-dialect area of the Dong. Congjiang county lies on the middle and lower reaches of the Duliu river, bordering Liping to the east and adjoining Rongjiang to the west, and belongs to the same core area of circulation of the Dong pipa song. From the Ming and Qing onwards, with the stabilisation of Dong village settlements and the flourishing of the “walking in song and sitting out the moon” courtship custom, the pipa song was sung from generation to generation in such Dong villages as Guandong, Luoxiang, Qingyun and Gaozeng, gradually forming a singing tradition centred on the lyrical short song and extending also to the narrative long song. The local Dong have no script, and the pipa song was transmitted wholly by the oral instruction and personal example of song masters; masters and pupils and the song teams took “transmitting songs” as their glory, and the song masters of successive generations continually composed new words, so that the song-books grew ever richer. After the founding of the People's Republic of China the cultural departments several times organized collecting and recording, and the relevant pieces of the Congjiang Dong pipa song were collected into such compendia as the Chinese Folk-Song Compendium.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It has a great deal to show in social activity and in stage performance. Its structure is generally of three strings and sometimes four; the Dong pipa is tuned to 6, 1, 3 or 5, 7, 2 and to 6, 1, 1, 3 or 5, 7, 7, 2, and its tunes are broadly in the ethnic yu mode, the main melody for the most part taking the three notes of the minor triad 6, 1, 3 as its principal tone series.
Antiphonal Pipa Singing at the “Walking in Song and Sitting Out the Moon” Gathering
The chief occasion of the Congjiang Dong pipa song: young men and women gather in the moon hall at night, the men playing the Dong pipa while the women answer in song.
The Yu Mode and the 6–1–3 Tone Series
The tunes are broadly in the ethnic yu mode and the main melody takes the three notes of the minor triad 6, 1, 3 as its principal tone series almost throughout, which lends itself to improvised singing.
The Pipa Songs of the Stockades of Guandong, Luoxiang, Qingyun and Gaozeng
The Dong pipa song of Congjiang is distributed mainly over the Dong stockades of the townships of Guandong, Luoxiang, Qingyun and Gaozeng, its main content being the courtship gatherings of young men and women.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Dong pipa song of Congjiang county, Guizhou, is distributed mainly over the Dong villages and stockades of the townships of Guandong, Luoxiang, Qingyun and Gaozeng, its main content being the “walking in song and sitting out the moon”, that is, the courtship talk of young men and women.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Dong Pipa Songs · Dong Pipa Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Congjiang Dong pipa song is an important branch of the pipa song of the southern-dialect area of the Dong: its lyrics are mostly in the southern Dong dialect and pay attention to rhyme and parallelism, and its subjects cover love and marriage, labour and production, ethical admonition and village history, so that it is living material for the study of the Dong language, poetry, marriage custom and forms of social organization. Its tunes are in the ethnic yu mode, and the main melody takes the three notes of the minor triad 6, 1, 3 as its principal tone series almost throughout; the melody is plain and flowing and lends itself to improvised singing. As an important element of the public life of the stockades, the pipa song not only performs an entertainment and social function but also serves as a medium in the mate-choosing of young men and women. At present, with changes in the ways young men and women socialise and the increase in people going out to work, the traditional occasions of “walking in song and sitting out the moon” are dwindling day by day, and the artists able to play and sing the long narrative pipa songs in full are advanced in years, so that the transmission of the pipa song faces difficulties. In 2011 the item was entered on the national-level intangible cultural heritage list as an extension item, and the locality promotes its living transmission through transmission workshops and programmes bringing it into the schools; sustained effort is urgently needed in recording and collation, in the training of master singers and in creating occasions for singing.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wu Jiaxing 02-0256
- Wu Yuzhu 02-0257
- Wu Shiheng 03-0828
- Yang Yueyan 05-2051
- Wuzhangjiao
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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