Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble
01 · Historical Records
Gaoluo Village in Laishui County was anciently called "Gaole" and belongs to Baoding City. The Gaoluo music society is a folk instrumental flower-society that villagers join of their own free will, rehearsing and performing without payment; its full name is the "Gaole Lanqi Music Holy Society", also called the "Great Charity Music Society". Before 1949 it served mainly the sacrifices at the Hou Tu Huangdi Temple on Houshan in Yi County and folk funeral rites, and also folk activities such as praying for rain, welcoming the god of happiness, seeking blessings, purifying houses, averting disaster, praying for a bountiful harvest and for the prosperity of livestock; after 1949 it was used mainly for folk funeral rites.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Jizhong shengguan music circulates in the Jizhong Plain, that is, the drum-and-wind music genre of some thirty counties and cities south of Beijing, west of Tianjin and north of the Cangzhou-Dingzhou line, popularly called a "music society" by the folk. Because it mainly uses the guan pipe as leader with the sheng and others in harmonised accompaniment, it is also called "shengguan music". Besides the sheng and guan family of instruments, it also has the yunluo and flute, and such percussion instruments as drum, nao, cymbals and dangdang. Its music is divided into three kinds: suites, short pieces and percussion pieces forming an independent set. The suites are of great length and complex structure, and are the main component of "shengguan music". "Shengguan music" is found across the whole Jizhong Plain. Farmers in every locality form societies village by village, joining together through music, and perform and hand on the tradition in local sacrifices, rituals, funerals and other folk activities. Gaoluo Village in Laishui County was anciently called "Gaole" and belongs to Baoding City. The Gaoluo music society is a folk instrumental flower-society that villagers join of their own free will, rehearsing and performing without payment; its full name is the "Gaole Lanqi Music Holy Society", also called the "Great Charity Music Society". The Gaoluo music society has one rule: "No new pieces may be added, no new kinds of instrument may be added, the manner of playing may not be changed, and playing (performing) must strictly follow the rules handed down by the old artists, and must not be departed from." Hence, though a very long time has passed, the Gaoluo music society still preserves the legacy of "playing, striking, dancing and singing". Before 1949 the Laishui Gaoluo music society served mainly the sacrifices at the Hou Tu Huangdi Temple on Houshan in Yi County and folk funeral rites, and also folk activities such as praying for rain, welcoming the god of happiness, seeking blessings, seeking auspiciousness, seeking peace, purifying houses, averting disaster, removing misfortune, praying for a bountiful harvest and for the prosperity of livestock. After 1949 it was used mainly for folk funeral rites and for Spring Festival ceremonies to the gods, and during holidays the members also performed for their own and each other's amusement. The Laishui Gaoluo music society is centred on the "Hou Tu cultural circle" to which Laishui and Yi County belong, radiating south to Beijing and north to Baoding; the closer to the centre, the more numerous such flower-societies. According to statistics from the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were then forty-seven music societies active in Laishui County, of which the Gaoluo Village music society was an important representative.
Play, drum, dance and sing tradition
Constrained by its rules against changing the old system, the Gaoluo music society to this day preserves the ancient flower-society form combining playing, striking, dancing and singing.
Guanzi-led ensemble
The guan pipe leads, the sheng and other instruments play in harmonised accompaniment, supported by the yunluo, flute and such percussion instruments as drum, nao, cymbals and dangdang.
Voluntary village music-society custom
Villagers join of their own free will and rehearse and perform without payment; the full name is the "Gaole Lanqi Music Holy Society", also called the "Great Charity Music Society".
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Gaoluo music society has one rule: "No new pieces may be added, no new kinds of instrument may be added, the manner of playing may not be changed, and playing (performing) must strictly follow the rules handed down by the old artists, and must not be departed from." Hence after a very long time it still preserves the legacy of "playing, striking, dancing and singing". The players use the guan pipe as leader with the sheng and others in harmonised accompaniment, and also employ the yunluo, flute and such percussion instruments as drum, nao, cymbals and dangdang; the line of Cai Yurun is especially accomplished in guan pipe playing, and the gongche notation materials he preserved were included in the collection "Hebei Folk Gongche Notation".
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
"Laishui Gaoluo music" is a folk musical genre with a very long history of transmission. Cai Yurun (from the official record of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in 1954, native of Laishui, Hebei. Representative inheritor of Jizhong shengguan music (Gaoluo music society), a second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. He is familiar with the playing of the various instruments of the music society and is especially accomplished on the guan pipe. He has given performances at many music conservatories in China, won first prize in the Hebei provincial Qunxing awards, and the gongche notation materials he preserved were included in the collection "Hebei Folk Gongche Notation".
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Feng Yuechi 02-0302
- Cai Yurun 02-0303
- Shangxuezhi 02-0304
- Hu Deming 02-0305
- Xia Laofei 03-0849
- Liu Qin 03-0850
- Wang Ruhai 03-0851
- Hu Guoqing 04-1528
- Shi Junping 05-2083
- Shao Shutong 05-2084
- Cai Baoheng 05-2085
- Zhang Zhanmin 05-2086
- Jia Tingxin
- Lizhanglin
- Pan Desen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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