Chaozhou Music

01 · Historical Records

Chaozhou City is the centre and the birthplace of Chaozhou music; its origins can be traced back to the transition between the Tang and Song dynasties, and it matured during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chaozhou music grew out of local folk songs, song-and-dance and xiaodiao, and absorbed materials from Yiyang tune, Kunqu tune, Qinqiang, Han diao, Daodiao and dharma tunes; it took the best from many sources and formed a school of its own. At the end of the Southern Song dynasty, Wu Bing (courtesy name Ruguang, originally from Jiangxi), a musical official of the Song court, came to Chaozhou with his teacher; after the Song fell, Wu Bing settled at Miancheng in Chaoyang, and with him the seed of court music was sown on the soil of Chaoyang. Through the enrichment and development of generations of professional musicians, the ancient and elegant character and the strong local flavour of Chaoyang ditao music took shape. Ditao music includes ditao ancient music (that is, traditional ditao music) and the ditao music formed by fusion and evolution.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Chaozhou music is the general name for the various kinds of folk instrumental music current in the Chaozhou area of Guangdong; besides Chaozhou itself it is also widely popular in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, in the countries of Southeast Asia, and wherever Chaozhou people have settled. The former includes Chaozhou great gong and drum, waijiang gong-and-drum music, Chaozhou small gong and drum, Chaozhou huayin gong and drum, and Chaozhou baxin gong and drum; the latter includes ditao ancient music, Chaozhou xianshi music, Chaozhou fine music, Chaozhou temple music and the like. Chaozhou music is rich in content: it can express the charm of little bridges and flowing streams, and equally perform epics that shake mountains and rivers. The “two-four notation” peculiar to Chaozhou music is a very ancient form of notation; within its distinctive pitch system, the flexible variation of the two notes “si” and “fa” embodies the unique flavour of Chaozhou music, and at the same time gives rise to such modes as qing liu, zhong liu, huo wu and fan xian, as well as to the two performance techniques that stress the full use of zuoyun and improvised ornamental variation. Chaozhou music has some twenty or more instruments in common use, the most characteristic of the locality being the erxian, the suona and the shenbo. Representative pieces include Pao Wang Bu Yu, Shuang Yao E (great gong and drum), Zhao Jun Yuan, Xiao Tao Hong (fine music) and Yan Deng Lou (su gong and drum). The instrument combinations, the performance techniques, the formal structures and the variation methods of Chaozhou music all have rules and aesthetic basis of their own, and it is a very precious heritage of musical culture. Ditao ancient music preserves the flavour of ancient court music from its formal structure right through to the course of its melodies. Its stylistic characteristics are simple, solemn, elegant, serene, clear and lilting, with a strong colouring of the Chinese national tradition. Ditao gong and drum includes ditao small gong and drum, ditao great gong and drum and ditao su gong and drum: ditao small gong and drum means ditao music matched with small and exquisite gong-and-drum patterns; ditao great gong and drum means ditao music matched with large percussion instruments of imposing volume such as the great drum, the douluo and the great cymbals; ditao su gong and drum means ditao music matched with su gong and drum. In terms of what they have in common, Chaoyang ditao music is a musical form belonging to the suite (taoqu) type. It takes the dizi, guan, sheng and xiao as its lead instruments, and is aptly supplemented with the sanxian, pipa, guzheng and other string and plucked instruments. In its method of blowing, Chaoyang ditao music uses the traditional (court-style) “dragon-head phoenix-tail fingering”, and its lead instrument, the da di (transverse flute), is the 28-hole great gong-and-drum flute. Owing to historical and economic reasons, Chaozhou music has begun to decline.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

It has a rich store and many varieties, and can be roughly divided into two large classes, open-air music and indoor music. In terms of its form of expression, the categories of Chaoyang ditao music can be divided into ditao music and ditao gong and drum. In terms of its individuality, the way the da di is blown and the timbre it produces in Chaoyang ditao music differ from those of other places, and this constitutes an important element of the local character of Chaoyang ditao music — the “flavour of Chaoyang”.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Chaozhou Music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The scattering and loss of historical materials, the ageing of artistic talent and such like constrain the transmission and the development of Chaozhou music in every respect; the departments concerned therefore need to further increase the intensity of protection. Lin Liyan (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): He is able to master the skills of ditao music completely; his performance is beautiful and roundabout, generous and accurate, blending strength and gentleness and drawing on the strengths of many schools; he composed the ditao gong-and-drum piece Yu Gang Feng Shou, which won a prize; his representative pieces include Da Po Jin Guang Zhen and Lan Hai Song, and he also organized many ancient pieces such as Liu Yao Jin and Yan Er Luo. Male, of Han nationality, born in 1935, died in 2011, native of Shantou, Guangdong. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou music of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects. He studied Chaozhou music under the guidance of Lin Bin Nan, Zheng Guorui and others; in 2004 he was awarded the title of “Outstanding Folk Artist of Guangdong Province”, and held such posts as member of the Guangdong Provincial Musicians Association, adviser of the Chaoyang Folk Art Society and president of the Chaoyang Chaosheng Sizhu Society. Yang Xiuming (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in 1933, native of Chaozhou, Guangdong. His performance is elegant without affectation, beautiful without vulgarity, clear and tranquil, with a far-reaching artistic conception; he has recorded programmes many times for China Central Television and China Radio International, and has published solo CD albums such as Qian Sheng Fo. Representative inheritor of Chaozhou music of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Huang Yixiao 02-0292
• Lin Liyan 02-0293
• Yang Xiuming 02-0294
• Chen Zhenxi
• Chen Guizhou

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Chaozhou Music (Shantou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Lin Liyan · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Yang Xiuming · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗