Shifan Music
01 · Historical Records
It took shape in the late Ming dynasty, its source coming directly from the singing scores of Zheng (Suzhou) kunqu. From the Qing dynasty through the Republican period, the folk kunqu shifan, kunqu singing classes and kunyaang classes of Suichang were handed down continuously from generation to generation, and were distributed mainly in Miaogao, Shilian, Dazhe and Hushan in Suichang County. What Suichang kunqu shifan performs is mainly kunqu tune patterns from the famous Ming dramatist Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion, Purple Hairpin, Nanke Dream and Handan Dream, together with other famous Ming and Qing traditional plays such as Washing the Silken Gauze and Palace of Eternal Life. The Suichang folk kunqu shifan scores collected so far include a hand-copied manuscript of Xiang E Xing Yun signed by a member of the Wen family in the early Republican years (93 tune patterns copied), a hand-copied manuscript of Kunshan Yi Yun signed Kong Wo in the twentieth year of the Republic (1931), and the Bai Xue Yang Chun manuscript (22 tune patterns copied) preserved by Xiao Genqi from the thirty-eighth year of the Republic (1949). These hand-copied and transmitted scores use gongche notation, and the gongche pitches and beat markers are recorded very regularly.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shifan music is also called "ten classes" or "five pairs", taking its name from the ten instruments played, which are made of silk, bamboo, leather, wood and metal. This music is light and lively, strongly rhythmic, harmonious in pitch and pleasing to the ear, and it is widely circulated in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other parts of China. Most shifan melodies come from folk minor tunes and huapa (suona pieces); they have also drawn much nourishment from opera, quyi storytelling and song tunes. Their performing forms are divided into seated performance, marching performance and dancing performance, and the player in charge of the clapper boards normally acts as the conductor. Suichang kunqu shifan performs traditional kunqu tune patterns on folk instruments; it is a form of instrumental performance with strikingly distinctive character in China. The instruments used by Suichang kunqu shifan include sheng, dizi, meiguan, yunluo, biangu, huqin, tiqin (that is, tihu, a banhu-type bowed string instrument with a snakeskin-covered sound box), shuangqing and sanxian. The string instruments (huqin, tiqin), wind instruments (sheng, dizi, meiguan), percussion instruments (yunluo, biangu) and plucked instruments (shuangqing, sanxian) cooperate with one another and complement each other, showing the rigour and soundness of the ensemble's disposition and combination of instruments; ancient instruments such as meiguan, tiqin and shuangqing are highly individual in character and comparatively rare in other instrumental performance. Over several centuries of development Suichang kunqu shifan absorbed a great deal from caokun (the folk kunqu of places such as Jinhua), but the Peony Pavilion tune patterns it performs are not found in caokun.
Peony Pavilion tunes
The kunqu tune patterns from Tang Xianzu's famous play performed by Suichang kunqu shifan; representative content of this musical genre, a set of which does not exist in caokun.
Purple Hairpin tunes
One of the sets of kunqu tune patterns from a play by Tang Xianzu performed by Suichang kunqu shifan.
Nanke Dream tunes
One of the sets of kunqu tune patterns from a play by Tang Xianzu performed by Suichang kunqu shifan.
Handan Dream tunes
One of the sets of kunqu tune patterns from a play by Tang Xianzu performed by Suichang kunqu shifan.
Washing the Silken Gauze tunes
One of the sets of kunqu tune patterns from a famous Ming and Qing traditional play performed by Suichang kunqu shifan.
Palace of Eternal Life tunes
One of the sets of kunqu tune patterns from a famous Ming and Qing traditional play performed by Suichang kunqu shifan.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Suichang kunqu shifan is distributed mainly in Miaogao, Shilian, Dazhe and Hushan in Suichang County, Zhejiang Province; from the Qing dynasty to the Republican period kunqu shifan, kunqu singing classes and kunyaang classes were handed down continuously from generation to generation. The ensembles use sheng, dizi, meiguan, yunluo, biangu, huqin, tiqin, shuangqing, sanxian and the like, with strings, winds, percussion and plucked instruments cooperating with one another, among which ancient instruments such as meiguan, tiqin and shuangqing are highly individual in character and comparatively rare in other instrumental performance. The folk scores already collected include the early-Republican manuscript of Xiang E Xing Yun (93 tune patterns copied), the manuscript of Kunshan Yi Yun, and the thirty-eighth-year-of-the-Republic manuscript of Bai Xue Yang Chun (22 tune patterns copied), all recorded in gongche notation.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music · Shifan Music.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Suichang kunqu shifan is performed mainly in folk temple-fair processions, and sometimes in indoor hall performances on celebratory occasions; both its performing content and its form of presentation show high historical and cultural research value. At present the cultural content of folk ritual activities is gradually weakening, and Suichang kunqu shifan has fallen into an increasingly declining predicament and urgently needs protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Yingmu 02-0286
- Louzhengshou 03-0843
- Wang Rongtang 04-1524
- Li Zhenyu 04-1525
- Fang Yuanwang 04-1526
- He Hanpei 05-2076
- Liu Guangrong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。