Jiangnan Sizhu (Silk and Bamboo Music)

01 · Historical Records

During the Jialong reign period of the Ming dynasty, at the same time as the operatic musicians headed by Wei Liangfu created the shuimo style of Kunqu quju at Nanmatou in Taicang, a full-scale sizhu band was organized with Zhang Yetang as the central figure, played in gongche notation and doubled by Kunqu troupes and tangming drum players; it gradually developed into a specialized band for sizhu performance. By the 1960s and 1970s, the traditional Jiangnan sizhu bands had all disbanded of their own accord.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Jiangnan sizhu is the general name for sizhu music popular in southern Jiangsu, western Zhejiang and the Shanghai area. It is so named because the band consists mainly of sizhu instruments such as the erhu, yangqin, pipa, sanxian, qinqin, dizi and xiao. At the end of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty a new musical genre, “xiansuo”, took shape in Wuzhong (the Suzhou area), and can be regarded as the predecessor of Jiangnan sizhu. It is closely bound to folk-custom activities, has a broad mass basis, and was later formally named Jiangnan sizhu. The traditional techniques of Jiangnan sizhu include “you elaborate and I simplify”, “you go high and I go low”, ornamental variation, interlocking so as to leave each other room, and improvisation, and they gradually formed the stylistic features of “small, fine, light and elegant”. These techniques and this style carry deep social and cultural meanings such as mutual deference between people and coordinated innovation. Jiangnan sizhu has a rich repertoire, and its traditional pieces include Zhong Hua Liu Ban, San Liu, Xing Jie, Si He and Yun Qing. Nie Er once adapted Dao Ba Ban into Jin She Kuang Wu, which soon became popular throughout the country; Liu Tianhua's adaptation and composition Bian Ti Xin Shui Ling has long been a famous work of the music world and has had a far-reaching influence nationwide. Jiangnan sizhu is one of the outstanding representatives of the culture of the Jiangnan water towns.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Shanghai is one of the important centres for the circulation of Jiangnan sizhu; sizhu activity is based on societies such as the Guo Yue Yan Jiu Hui and the Shanghai Guo Yue Yan Jiu Hui, which also take in the tangming drum players of Kunqu and the noted masters of national music in Shanghai. Performance stresses “small, fine, light and elegant”, with the dizi as the lead and the erhu as the backbone; it makes free use of ornamental variation, interlocking so as to leave each other room and other devices for improvisation, the players seeking ensemble understanding by “you elaborate and I simplify, you go high and I go low”; after the traditional bands disbanded in the 1960s and 1970s, transmission largely moved to the conservatories of music and to mass arts troupes.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jiangnan Sizhu (Silk and Bamboo Music) · Jiangnan Sizhu (Silk and Bamboo Music).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Sizhu music comes from the people and is rooted among the people; it is simple and easy to perform, suitable for wide dissemination, and has important folk-custom cultural value. The emergence and the continuation of Jiangnan sizhu music are of great importance to the study of the history of Chinese national music and to the development of opera, of folk-custom culture and of mass culture. To this day the old artists over seventy have died one after another and there is a dearth of successors; in addition, very few traditional pieces have been transmitted in score, so Jiangnan sizhu is gradually heading towards endangerment. Lu Chunling (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in 1921, native of Shanghai. He began learning the dizi at the age of seven and was taught by many masters of the Jiangnan sizhu of the time, among them Xu Xian, Jin Zhongxin and Xu Qiudi. The dizi pieces he performed in Jiangnan sizhu bands are exquisite and delicate, light and fluent, brilliant and colourful, fresh and elegant, forming a style quite his own; he himself has been named one of the “four heavenly kings of Jiangnan sizhu”. Representative works include Zhe Gu Fei and Huan Le Ge. Representative inheritor of Jiangnan sizhu of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects, professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and president of the Shanghai Jiangnan Sizhu Association. Zhou Hao (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in 1929, native of Shanghai. He later joined the Shanghai Guo Yue Yan Jiu Hui led by the master of national music Sun Yude, and specialized in classical music. The sizhu pieces he performed have an enduring flavour and a distinctive style, with refined vocal phrasing and ornamentation, elegant and beautiful. He is especially skilled in erhu playing, with a beautiful timbre and a mellow, full-bodied tone. He is named one of the “four heavenly kings of Jiangnan sizhu”. The solo piece Er Quan Ying Yue (Moon Reflected on the Second Spring) is his representative work. Representative inheritor of Jiangnan sizhu of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects, performer of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra and national second-grade performer.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Lu Chunling 02-0280
• Zhou Hao 02-0281
• Zhou Hui 03-0841
• Shen Fengquan 03-0842

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Jiangnan Sizhu (Silk and Bamboo Music) (Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Lu Chunling · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Zhou Hao · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗