Polyphonic Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The Qiang multi-part folk song originated in the collective labour and sacrificial activity of the Qiang forebears and is closely bound up with the ancient farming and herding life and the polytheistic beliefs of the Qiang. The Qiang have no script of their own, and their folk songs are transmitted wholly by word of mouth. The Songpan area on the upper reaches of the Minjiang has been an area of Qiang settlement since ancient times, and in local folk activities of marriage, mourning, sacrifice and festival the manner of two-part choral singing has long been preserved, forming and carrying on a relatively stable tradition of multi-part singing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Multi-part folk song refers to folk songs whose texture and structure take a multi-part form; China's multi-part folk songs are concentrated chiefly among the dozen or so minority nationalities of the Zhuang, Dong, Bouyei, Gaoshan, Maonan, Qiang, Miao and Yi, most of them adopting the two-part form and a small number being three-part and four-part art. The Qiang multi-part folk song is a representative of the multi-part music of the minority nationalities of the Tibeto-Burman language family; its melody is mostly pentatonic, generally begun by a lead singer, with the following part overlapping the lead part at an interval of one or several beats and joining it in unison at the end of the phrase. In this kind of two-part singing there frequently occur vertical combinations of fourths, fifths and major seconds, the following part surpassing the lead part, and there is still more a slow, wide-range vibrato singing rare in other parts of China, revealing a distinctly Qiang cultural character. Representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song include Hayi Hala, Halu Layi and Samu.
Hayi Hala
One of the representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song.
Halu Layi
One of the representative works of the Qiang multi-part folk song.
The Five Kinds: Mountain Song, Work Song, Wine Song, Custom Song and Dance Song
The division by genre of the Qiang multi-part folk song, seen from the angle of singing occasion and social function.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Qiang multi-part folk song survives only in a few Qiang mountain stockades of Xiaoxing township and Zhenping township in Songpan county, Sichuan, and has been transmitted from generation to generation among the local Qiang. It is always made up of two parts and, seen from the angle of singing occasion and social function, may be divided roughly into five kinds: the mountain song, the work song, the wine song, the custom song and the dance song. Xiaoxing township of Songpan county, where the Qiang multi-part folk song circulates, adjoins the Tibetan area of Hongyuan; the life of the local people is influenced by Tibetan culture, so that every aspect shows the features of a blending of Tibetan and Qiang culture. Understanding the Qiang multi-part folk song against this background also provides a useful reference for the study of the multi-part folk songs of other Tibeto-Burman nationalities.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Hanizuduoshengbu Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs · Polyphonic Folk Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Judging from the richness of its song kinds and pieces, the stability of its forms, the completeness of its structures, the maturity of its singing and the antiquity of its style, the Qiang multi-part folk song has a relatively long history and possesses distinctive historical, aesthetic and cultural-artistic research value. With the development of the times the basis in life and the social conditions on which the multi-part folk song depended are gradually disappearing, and because multi-part singing is difficult and demands high qualities of the singer, the transmission of the Qiang multi-part folk song is now in difficulty and this ancient art form faces the danger of dying out, and awaits active rescue. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Langjiamu, male, Qiang, born April 1945, a native of Songpan county, Sichuan. He is widely recognised within the profession and has acknowledged representativeness, authority and influence in the Qiang areas. He is a representative bearer of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, the Qiang multi-part folk song. He has represented the Qiang multi-part folk song item in major domestic competitions and performances and won prizes many times. In 2000 he won the “best singer award” at the Nanning international folk-song art festival in Guangxi. He has long devoted himself to the performance of the Qiang multi-part folk song, the collection of materials and the training of successors. He actively takes apprentices and transmits his art and has trained many Qiang multi-part folk-song artists locally.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Che Ge 02-0258
- Chen Xiniang 02-0259
- Manglai 03-0829
- Wen Guiyuan 03-0830
- Lang Jiamu 03-0831
- Suyilatu 05-2052
- Fang Shaobao 05-2053
- Mo Huamei
- Ou Yumei
- Jiancheya
- Zeyingjun
- Yang Kaiyuan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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