Luxinan Wind and Percussion Music

01 · Historical Records

The history of Luxinan wind and percussion art can be traced back to the Han dynasty: the Wu clan shrine at Jiaxiang was built at the end of the Eastern Han, and the Han pictorial stones in the shrine vividly depict the playing of drum-and-wind music at that time. The repertoire of Luxinan wind and percussion music has a very long history, comprising both zaju tune patterns used since the Song and Yuan dynasties and a large number of Ming and Qing small tunes; Bai Niao Chao Feng (A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix), Tai Hua Jiao (Carrying the Bridal Sedan Chair), Da He Tao (Great Combined Set), Da Di Jiao (Great Flute Whirl), Yi Zhi Hua (A Single Flower) and Suo Nan Zhi (Locking the South Branch) are all representative pieces among them.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Luxinan wind and percussion music consists of wind instruments and percussion instruments, and according to performing function it is divided into three kinds: ordinary drum-and-wind music, sacrificial music and deity-worship music; the principal performing forms are procession performance and seated performance. The suona is the most important instrument in drum-and-wind music, and its common techniques include harmonics, finger-flower sounds, beaten notes, auxiliary notes, breath-arch tones, breath-supported tones, floret tones and slides.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Luxinan wind and percussion music is one of the great branches of drum-and-wind music in northern China; it is distributed mainly in Heze and in some counties (districts) of Jining and Zaozhuang in the south-west of Shandong Province, of which Mudan District of Heze City, Juye County, Shan County and Juancheng County are the most representative.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Luxinan Wind and Percussion Music · Luxinan Wind and Percussion Music · Luxinan Wind and Percussion Music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Luxinan wind and percussion music is plain and frank, bold and vigorous, sonorous and upright without losing its grace and delicacy, and it gives off a strong local flavour; it has high artistic and academic research value, and is a rare artistic flower famed throughout south-western Shandong and indeed the whole country. At present, owing to changes in the social and cultural environment and many other reasons, Luxinan wind and percussion music troupes cannot be managed systematically and effectively, many excellent pieces are not fully excavated, collated and protected, transmission is declining, the prospects for development are worrying, and key protection is urgently needed. Li Guangfu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in February 1943, a native of Heze City, Shandong Province. From the 1960s of the twentieth century onward, while inheriting the performing skills and essence of his ancestors, he humbly learned from other old folk artists, collated and performed a batch of northern wind pieces and techniques on the verge of being lost, developed techniques such as soft tonguing, ha-ha tonguing and sweeping tone, and produced a pretty tone with a bright timbre. At the same time he absorbed the essence of Western wind instruments, independently created a number of performing techniques, and continually enriched and enhanced the expressiveness of the suona in long practice of performing and composing. Representative inheritor of Luxinan wind and percussion music of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects. In 1997 he founded a professional school; his students have won awards many times at provincial and municipal level, and some of them are now teachers at well-known professional music colleges in China.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Yi Shuanglai 02-0287
• Li Guangfu 04-1527
• Chen Jianbin 05-2077
• Zhang Yufang

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Luxinan Wind and Percussion Music (Hezeshimudan, Shandong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Li Guangfu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗