Suona Art
01 · Historical Records
Suona is a transliteration of the Arabic “surna” (zurna), called in antiquity “suoliao” or “su'ernai”, and widely current in many countries of Asia, Africa and Europe; it came into China at the latest in the Jin and Yuan periods. In addition, the small suona used in the performance of Fujian nanqu is called the “aizi” or “nan'ai”; the suona used to accompany Puxian opera is called the “meihua” or “chuibian”, and a larger kind is called the “dalong” or “dahaidi”; the all-wood suona of the Uyghur is called the “su'ernai”; and the Tibetan, Miao, Mongol and Korean peoples each have suona of different form. The Fengning Manchu chaozihui is a form of folk instrumental performance distributed over more than ten villages of the Fengning Manchu autonomous county of Chengde, Hebei; it has a history of three hundred years and was first founded by the villager Zhang Kefu of Bajianfang village, being transmitted to the present through eleven generations of transmitters including Wang Lao and Wang Dabianzi.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In Chinese folk usage it also has the names of bronze flute, tin flute, pear blossom and sea flute. The suona is made up of the reed, the staple, the air disc, the body and the bronze bell; its finger-holes are arranged in order according to the heptatonic scale, the distances between them being basically equal, it can turn through seven modes, and its range is generally two octaves and a major second. It has such blowing techniques as portamento, tonguing, arched-breath tone, top-breath tone, the rolling “du-lu” and circular breathing (blowing without a break for a long time), and is a solo instrument of very strong expressiveness. Its volume is great and its tone high and ringing, making it one of the indispensable instruments of the wind-and-percussion band; in antiquity, besides playing military music, it was used for the drum-and-wind music of the yamen and as accompaniment to opera, song and dance, and in the daily life of the people it is mostly used for festivals, weddings and funerals and theatrical scenes. The chaozihui is divided into the two kinds of the “wind-and-percussion piece” and the “miscellaneous piece”, led by the suona and percussion instruments. The whole band consists of two suona players and ten percussion players, of whom the pi-luo player is the conductor of the band. Most of the chaozihui's named tunes are Manchu; some tunes may be played alone, some accompany the folk flower fairs, and some are used for local weddings and funerals. In its long transmission the Fengning Manchu chaozihui has absorbed and blended other sister arts and formed a distinctive musical style having both the valiant, vigorous and exuberant quality of northern music and the tenderness, harmony and fineness of the music of the Central Plains. The chaozihui has no fixed occasion or time of performance: besides the regular activity at the New Year festival it mostly accompanies the various flower fairs and is often played at weddings, funerals, first-month celebrations, birthdays, shop openings and business starts. It is an outstanding representative of Manchu traditional culture, touching on many aspects of Manchu custom and religious belief.
Raising the Drum
One of the sixteen parts of the whole performance of the Fengning Manchu chaozihui.
Liu Xin Nian
One of the component parts of the chaozihui's performing procedure.
The Wind-and-Percussion Piece and the Miscellaneous Piece
The two kinds into which the chaozihui is divided by the nature of the pieces, led by the suona and percussion instruments.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The whole performance is divided into sixteen parts, including “Raising the Drum”, “The Fengyang Song”, “Liu Xin Nian”, “Gu Zha Zi”, “Fighting Quails”, “The Sacrifice Tune”, “Sweeping the Ground Wind” and “The Ending”.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Its music shows the features of a fusion of Manchu and Han culture in melodic construction, instrument form and band composition, and has important reference value in the study of ethnology, folklore and musicology. Because of the severe damage of the Cultural Revolution and the strong impact of the modern economic tide, the space of survival of the Manchu chaozihui is shrinking day by day; many old artists have now passed away in succession and those still alive are advanced in years, so that the chaozihui lacks transmitters, is already in an endangered state and urgently awaits rescue and protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Deyi 02-0276
- Li Jinhai 02-0277
- Yao Shaolin 03-0837
- Lu Buliang 03-0838
- Niuqiyun 03-0839
- Liu Yousheng 03-0840
- Mo Baihuai 04-1520
- Li Qishan 04-1521
- Wang Shifa 04-1522
- Ma Zigang 04-1523
- Liu Fushou 05-2062
- Cui Qingyun 05-2063
- Liu Xiaohong 05-2064
- Tang Haifeng 05-2065
- Yang Chengwei 05-2066
- Li Shupeng 05-2067
- Jiang Fajie 05-2068
- Liu Qiulin 05-2069
- Ding Qinghua 05-2070
- Wang Shuyin 05-2071
- Liu Guofu 05-2072
- Chen Dewang 05-2073
- Liu Daorong 05-2074
- Zhou Benxiang
- Xiehaiming
- Sun Huayang
- Yao Xina
- Suo Zhongxiu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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