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Suona Art

Ⅱ-37Traditional MusicWanzai, JiangxiBatch 2 (2008)Extension ItemFeatured

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 victory drum took shape in the Northern Song and took its material chiefly from the historical event of the Tang dynasty's suppression of the An Lushan rebellion. The whole drum music is divided into nine sections—requesting battle, the four generals, the two generals, the emperor mounting the platform, parading troops, descending to battle, entering the city, mounting the platform and abdicating, and the great and small round platforms—in order to display the course of the Tang court's victory in putting down the rebellion.

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 Wanzai victory drum is a representative combination of the folk suona named tune with gong-and-drum music, varying considerably in metre, rhythm, melody, mode, timbre, dynamics and tempo. The suona and the gong and drum combine in step, the small beating flowing like clouds and water, cheerful and smooth, the great beating majestic and solemn and warm. The suona's special single-finger vibrato technique is distinctive and its imitation of the neighing of a warhorse very lifelike; the heavy striking of the forbidden drum and the battle drum is clangorous and powerful, and the scene when they are beaten is magnificent. In the Wanzai locality there were formerly more than fifty victory-drum bands; with the changes of the times the performing ranks have gradually declined and there has appeared a trend towards a gap between the generations of players and the gradual loss of the traditional suona named tunes and gong-and-drum notation.

Requesting Battle, the Four Generals and the Two Generals

The first three of the nine sections of the Wanzai victory drum.

The Emperor Mounts the Platform, Parading Troops and Descending to Battle

The middle three sections of the victory drum, displaying the course of the Tang court's victory in putting down the rebellion.

Entering the City, Mounting the Platform and Abdicating and the Great and Small Round Platforms

The last three of the nine sections of the Wanzai victory drum.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Wanzai victory drum is one of the forms of folk instrumental music current in Wanzai county, Jiangxi, distributed mainly in the area of the county's Tanbu, Zhutan and Huangmao townships and Lingdong and Gaocheng townships and also circulating in some townships of the neighbouring counties and even of the neighbouring province. The victory drum is one of Wanzai's most important folk activities: on every occasion of taking a wife or giving a daughter in marriage, of birthday congratulation, of the completion of a fine house, of a business opening or of a festival celebration the local people play the victory drum.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Through the transmission and development of artists of successive generations the performing technique of the Wanzai victory drum has been continually perfected and its artistry steadily raised, playing an important part in promoting the formation and development of Wanzai folk instrumental music and Wanzai lantern music. The Wanzai victory drum is a precious folk cultural heritage with important artistic and folklore research value. Today only one band, that of Tanbu village in Tanbu township, can still play the victory drum in full, so that protection brooks no delay.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Suona Art (Wanzai, Jiangxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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