Nongliershisijieqi
01 · Historical Records
The name "saying spring" (shuochun) derives from the office of the Spring Official. The Zhou dynasty established the office of Spring Official, whose duty was to take charge of farming affairs; later folk singing-and-storytelling artists borrowed this official title, dressing up as "spring officers" (chunguan) to go down to the countryside, presenting spring-urging prayers as delivering spring on people's behalf. Holding a spring ox in hand, the artist goes from house to house, and at each house distributes a lunar calendar and a God of Wealth spring poster, urging spring ploughing and wishing the household good fortune; "saying spring" generally opens at the Spring Festival or on Beginning of Spring each year and closes at the Spring Equinox, exactly matching the start and end of the year's farming season. Though called recitation, "saying spring" is in fact sung, with the tunes differing from place to place and relying on the artist's own voice and improvisation. The Qianlong-era prefectural and county gazetteers of Shiqian already record the local custom of "saying spring", showing how early its transmission was. The Dong people of Shiqian absorbed this custom and have continued it to the present day; in the local dialect "saying spring" has its own distinct inflections, differing from the singing styles of surrounding areas, and forms a recognizable branch of sung storytelling in eastern Guizhou.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"Saying spring" (shuochun) is a folk performance activity passed down from generation to generation by the Dong people of Shiqian: at the time of Beginning of Spring, performers dress up as "Spring Officials" and sing out verses urging agricultural work, blessing favorable weather and abundant food and clothing. The "Spring Official" was an official post in the Zhou dynasty, charged with farming affairs. In later times, folk singing-and-storytelling artists dressing as Spring Officials went from house to house performing in the countryside, giving rise to the custom of "the Spring Official delivers spring", which urged farming and prayed for blessings. The singers are also commonly called "chunguan" (spring officers). "Saying spring" generally begins at the Spring Festival or on Beginning of Spring each year and ends at the Spring Equinox. The verses of "saying spring" are in fact sung, with simple tunes that differ from place to place. "Saying the formal spring" uses fixed spring verses, whose content is chiefly the "24 agricultural solar terms" and "fishing, woodcutting, farming and reading", covering history, geography, the humanities and every other aspect. "Saying the wild spring" is also called "saying the playful spring" or "saying the flowery spring"; its content is rich, flexible, changeable and unconstrained, and its main pieces include "Opening the Gate of Wealth", "Praising the Host", "Talking of Tea" and "Answering the Child". Holding a spring ox in hand, the "chunguan" distributes, at every house he visits, one lunar calendar and one God of Wealth spring poster, the intent being to urge spring ploughing and to wish the household good fortune. This item is a precious survival of China's long-standing traditional folk rituals of agricultural civilization.
The spring officer bringing spring
A performer dressed as the ancient spring officer goes from door to door urging the ploughing.
Reciting the formal spring text
The formal version recites the twenty-four solar terms and the lives of fishermen, woodcutters and scholars.
The improvised spring text
The freer version includes named pieces such as Opening the Money Gate and Praising the Host.
Carrying the spring ox and the almanacs
The performer carries a spring ox and leaves an almanac and a lucky charm at each house.
Carving the ox and printing the charms
Carving the ox and printing the charms is a craft the performer must master.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Qianlong-era prefectural and county gazetteers of Shiqian already contain records of the local custom of "saying spring". "Saying spring" is divided into "saying the formal spring" and "saying the wild spring".
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Dong people of Shiqian absorbed this custom and have passed it down to the present day. Feng Wanming (from the official file of the associated inheritor): his forefathers were all "Spring Officials". He began learning "saying spring" in 1968, and in 1970 formally went out on his own to perform "saying spring" in surrounding areas such as Zhenyuan, Sansui, Tianzhu and Cengong. He assiduously studied the vocal art of "saying spring", mastering the traditional sung text "Fishing, Woodcutting, Farming and Reading" of the formal spring, familiar with the vocal style and verbal art of the wild spring, and able to improvise. He mastered a whole set of "saying spring" rituals, and was also able to carve spring ox figures and spring poster blocks and print spring posters. For many years he persisted in performing "saying spring" in surrounding villages during the Spring Festival. He took on more than ten disciples. Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1950, died in February 2020, from Shiqian County, Guizhou Province. He was a representative inheritor of the 24 Solar Terms (Shiqian Shuochun), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the fifth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Xingya 05-3004
- Wu Haishen 05-3005
- Feng Wanming 05-3006
- Feng Wu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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