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Suona Art

Ⅱ-37Traditional MusicChangting, FujianBatch 3 (2011)Extension ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

The Changting gong-ma chui is the most distinctive branch of the "Changting drum-and-wind music" of western Fujian and is popular in Changting County, Fujian Province. Locally the high-pitched suona is called "gong chui" and the low-pitched suona "ma chui"; the two differ by a perfect fourth in their fundamental note and are played in alternation and together. By tradition its origin can be traced back more than a thousand years, while documented history runs to more than six hundred years. It was brought into western Fujian by the Hakka ancestors when they migrated south from the central plains, and long accompanied Hakka funeral rites; in former times this tune was played only at funerals.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The "Changting gong-ma chui" is an ensemble form whose leading force is the alternation between "gong chui" and "ma chui", supported by string, plucked and percussion instruments such as erhu, niehu, sanxian, yangqin, the large drum, small drum, large cymbals, small cymbals, yunluo and large gong. It is popular in Changting County in western Fujian and is the most distinctive of the folk instrumental performance forms known as "Changting drum-and-wind music". By tradition it has a history of more than a thousand years, and a documented history of more than six hundred years. Its instrumentation is built mainly on a pair of high- and low-pitched suona (differing by a perfect fourth in their fundamental note), played in alternation and together. The high-pitched suona is called "gong chui"; its tube is short and slender. The low-pitched suona is called "ma chui"; its tube is long and thick. The melody played by the gong chui is called the "male phrase" and that of the ma chui the "female phrase". In performance the two pipes form an antiphonal relationship of oblique polyphony: the melody asks and answers, plaintive and lingering, as if weeping and complaining, expressing the Hakka ancestors' longing for their northern homeland and their grief at missing distant relatives - a voice of the Hakka people's lament at war, hope for peace and desire for security. In former times this tune was played only at funerals.

Gong-chui and Ma-chui dialogue

The fundamental notes of the high-pitched suona "gong chui" and the low-pitched suona "ma chui" differ by a perfect fourth; the first begins and the second answers, the two played in alternation and together, forming the core performance procedure of the genre.

Male and female melodic lines

The gong chui plays the male phrase and the ma chui the female phrase; the two lines interweave in oblique polyphony, the melody asking and answering, plaintive and lingering.

Funeral ritual sequence

In former times the gong-ma chui was played only at funerals, following in order the ritual sequence of carrying the coffin, the road-side offering and the burial; its notes are as if weeping and complaining, expressing the Hakka people's longing for home and their grief.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

A gong-ma chui band usually numbers four to six people: besides one player each on the gong chui and the ma chui, it adds string and plucked instruments such as erhu, niehu, sanxian and yangqin, as well as percussion instruments such as the large drum, small drum, large cymbals, small cymbals, yunluo and large gong; the person in charge of the drum acts as both lead player and conductor. In performance the melody of the gong chui is called the "male phrase" and that of the ma chui the "female phrase"; the two form an antiphonal oblique polyphony of question and answer, the male phrase high and resonant, the female phrase low and hushed, advancing alternately.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The transmission of the Changting gong-ma chui is basically oral, carried on by folk artists; as older artists have died off one after another and young artists are mostly unwilling to learn it, very few performers remain and it is in an endangered state, urgently in need of rescue and excavation. Liu Qiulin (from the official record of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in September 1969, native of Changting County, Fujian Province. He is skilled in blowing techniques such as tonglian (continuous tonguing), single tonguing, triple tonguing, pressed tones, flower-tongue, xiao tones, glissando, tremolo and cushioning tones, and flexibly combines vocal with manual technique; the gong chui (the high-pitched suona) and ma chui achieve an excellent effect in combination, and he is especially skilled on the gong chui. His playing is bright and rugged in timbre, sweet in tone, plaintive and lingering in melody, and strongly flavoured with local character. He is a representative inheritor of the suona art (Changting gong-ma chui), a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. In order to transmit and promote the Changting gong-ma chui and to break through the limits of traditional family transmission, more than ten excellent inheritors have already been trained.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Suona Art (Changting, Fujian) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Liu Qiulin · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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