Jinnanweifeng Gong and Drum

01 · Historical Records

Weifeng gong and drum music is current in the area of Linfen City, Shanxi Province. Linfen was ancient Yao's capital, generally known as Pingyang, and is one of the birthplaces of the five thousand years of splendid Chinese culture. In former times it was distributed mainly in the Linfen urban area and in counties such as Huozhou, Hongdong and Fushan; its earliest name was "luogu", popularly called "huojia" (the gear). Folk legend relates its origins to the sacrificial traditions of Yao's capital Pingyang; historically it was used for welcoming deities and parading the shrines, for praying for rain and for sacrificial rites, and for cheering troops in battle arrays, and it later gradually developed into the beating of drums in festival competitions.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Linfen City was ancient Yao's capital, generally known as Pingyang, and is one of the birthplaces of the five thousand years of splendid Chinese culture. As one category of folk gong and drum art, Weifeng gong and drum music has in Linfen City not only a long historical origin but also a broad popular basis. In the course of its long development, Weifeng gong and drum music drew on the artistic essence of different eras, so that it gradually approached perfection. The performing forms of Weifeng gong and drum music are mainly two: one is shoulder-drum performance, in which in most places of Pingyang a drummer carries a large round drum on the shoulder and plays it while performing; the other is rack-drum performance, a form mainly prevalent in Fushan County, in which the formation changes little and the musicians play while walking as they proceed. Weifeng gong and drum music is a form of percussion art played together by four kinds of instruments, the gong, the drum, the nao and the cymbals; it is rich in content and varied in form, integrating music, dance and skill in one.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The earliest name of Weifeng gong and drum music was "luogu", popularly called "huojia" (the gear), and it is distributed mainly in the Linfen urban area and in counties such as Huozhou, Hongdong and Fushan. Owing to differences in transmission and in locality, Weifeng gong and drum music has formed two schools, the eastern school and the western school, and common pieces include Qi Pai Zi (Seven Token Pieces), Niu Yao Zi (Ox Loins), Luan Ru Ma (Tangled as Flax), Feng Jiao Xue (Wind Stirring Snow), Yin Niu Si (Silver Twisted Silk) and Dao Chui Lian (Hanging Curtain in Reverse).

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The powerful and agile bearing of the performers of Weifeng gong and drum music, their bold and unrestrained character and their vigorous momentum everywhere express the open-hearted, free-and-easy disposition of the northern men who live on the Loess Plateau; in the study of folklore, history, sociology and aesthetics, Weifeng gong and drum music displays important value. Wang Zhenhu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in March 1935, a native of Yicheng County, Shanxi Province. After graduating from university he served as an instructor at the South Shanxi Normal College, and was later transferred to work in the cultural bureau. Ever since taking up mass cultural work he has frequently gone deep into the counties around Linfen to visit famous masters, such as the old artists Zhang Kehuai of Yangxie Village and Jing Haishan of Fenghou Village, learning their skills from them and collecting drum scores and other materials. In the 1980s and 1990s he on the one hand organised various gong and drum competitions and celebratory activities, and on the other hand devoted himself to the collection, collation and study of the art of Weifeng gong and drum music, publishing more than ten monographs. Representative inheritor of South Shanxi Weifeng gong and drum music of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects. After retirement he continued to organise competitions, hold seminars, conduct training and cultivate talent.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Wang Zhenhu 03-0847
• Zhang Yong

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Jinnanweifeng Gong and Drum (Linfen, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Zhenhu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗