Zhijiangminjianchuidale

01 · Historical Records

After years of development and change, Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music has formed a performance custom which is widespread, practical and highly distinctive of the locality. In 2000 Zhijang city was officially named by the Ministry of Culture the “Home of Folk Art” and the “Home of Folk Suona-and-Percussion Music”.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music is a genre of folk instrumental music played by a combination of percussion instruments, silk string instruments and the suona. The percussion instruments include drums (the big drum, the hall drum, the ban drum, the book drum, the war drum and others), clappers (the wooden fish, the wooden bangzi, the bamboo bangzi and others), gongs (the big gong, the small gong, the Su gong, the horse gong, the Jing gong, the yunluo gong, the tiger-voice gong and others) and cymbals (the big cymbals, the small cymbals, the Chuan cymbals, the small Jing chimes); the silk strings include the erhu, the jinghu and the four-stringed fiddle; the suona includes the high-pitched suona and the medium-pitched suona; and there are also instruments such as the bass horn. Commonly used pieces are Shan Ge Diao, Liu Zi Liu Ban, Zheng Gong Liu Ban, Chun Lai, Wan Nian Huan and others. It is played mainly at folk weddings, funerals and marriages and at various celebrations, in labour and in festivals of the seasons, in support of dance and other folk art forms. Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music is divided into the “coarse music”, played by percussion instruments alone, and the “fine music”, in which the suona, the flute, the erhu, the jinghu and other wind and string instruments are interspersed among the percussion; the coarse music is also called the wu chang, the martial section, and the fine music the wen chang, the civil section.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

By school of technique, Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music is divided into the Shanghe, also called the Jinghe, and the Xiahe schools; by locality it is divided into the Nanhe and the Beihe lines. Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music insists on the complete combination of the ten kinds of “family estate”, that is, of instruments, while at the same time absorbing local Zhijang folk music elements such as the mountain songs, the field songs, the five-line songs and the xiaoqu, forming the technical kind and the style called “shifan drum”, with a strong local character.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Over a course of rise and fall, Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music, though endangered on several occasions, has been fairly well handed down and protected thanks to the efforts of the local government and the cultural departments, and has become an outstanding flower of folk music and art in south-western Hubei. Du Haitao (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1934, a native of Zhijiang, Hubei. He is skilled in every branch of suona-and-percussion music, his drumming has many forms, and his use of the “shifan drum” is especially characteristic. Representative inheritor of Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music in the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2000 Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music performed by Du Haitao and his band, Qu Qin, won a silver prize at the national “Four into the Community” arts and literature performance, and his direct disciple Li Conghai and others have also won prizes many times in the Yichang municipal folk art competitions. Li Conghai (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in August 1955, a native of Zhijiang city, Hubei Province. In 1979 he became a disciple of Du Haitao and studied folk suona-and-percussion music, inheriting the Xiahe school's technical style as taught by such masters as Wang Jinxi, Zheng Jinfang and Du Haitao; he can perform skillfully more than one hundred and fifty traditional qupai of various kinds, and he has sorted out and improved the traditional qupai, drawing out their essence. His playing is characterised by drumming that is clean and decisive, by a brisk rhythm and by a free and easy change of mood. He is devoted to the transmission and development of folk suona-and-percussion music, has trained more than thirty disciples, has gone free of charge every year to give guidance in schools, communities and villages, and has led the founding of the first all-women's suona-and-percussion band in Zhijiang city. Representative inheritor of Zhijang folk suona-and-percussion music in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. He took part in the first Hubei provincial performance of social arts and literature troupes, “The Power of Culture, the Excellence of the Folk”, and won first prize.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Du Haitao 02-0290
• Li Conghai 05-2078

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhijiangminjianchuidale (Zhijiang, Hubei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Du Haitao · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Li Conghai · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗