Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble
01 · Historical Records
The Xiaofeng village music society, current in Qugou Township, Gu'an County, Langfang City, Hebei Province, is a refined village music used for sacrificial rites and funeral ceremonies; it was founded during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty and, having been transmitted by Daoists, is popularly called “Dao music”.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Besides wind instruments such as the sheng, guan and flute, Jizhong sheng-and-guan music also uses such percussion instruments as cloud gongs, drums, nao, cymbals and clapper bells. The pieces of sheng-and-guan music fall into three kinds: suites, short pieces and independent sets of percussion music; of these the suites are of great length and complex structure, and form the main part of the whole performing repertory. The blowing scores of the Xiaofeng village music society use the ten notes “si, yi, shang, chi, gong, liu, wu, fan, he, yi”, and at the same time employ the techniques of changing the tone by level and oblique tone and modulating by yin and yang, together with the unpredictable “na kou” grace notes, making the music more melodious and moving and singularly refined. The Xiaofeng village music society performs in the great gong mode (B-flat); its pieces consist of two main parts, traditional tune patterns and repertory peculiar to itself, covering such subjects as sacrificial ritual, the rules of the Daoist rite, story and legend, the feudal patriarchal order, military and civil affairs, natural ecology, seasonal festivals, animals, scenery and the deeds of famous figures; to this day nine suites, six large-scale “daban” pieces and more than thirty short pieces survive. The instruments used by the music society include the small guan, sheng, flute, leading bells, cloud gong, wooden fish and small cymbals, together with percussion instruments such as drum, dangzi, great cymbals, great nao and small nao; the full performing line-up consists of eight guans, eight flutes, eight sets of sheng, two cloud gongs, one wooden fish, one pair of leading bells and the full set of percussion instruments, with more than thirty people taking part, an arrangement that is large in scale and imposing in manner. Representative pieces of the Xiaofeng village music society include the suites Yan Hui, Xiao Hua Yuan and Ma Yu Lang.
Yan Hui
One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society, taking the Confucian disciple Yan Hui as its subject.
Xiao Hua Yuan
One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society.
Ma Yu Lang
One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society.
Da-gong mode and large ensemble
Performed in the great gong mode (B-flat), with a full line-up of eight guans, eight flutes, eight sets of sheng, two cloud gongs, one wooden fish, one pair of leading bells and the whole set of percussion instruments, more than thirty players taking part, imposing in scale.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is current in nearly thirty counties and cities south of Beijing, west of Tianjin and north of Cangzhou and Dingzhou; it is a drum-and-wind music peculiar to the Jizhong Plain, popularly called a “music society” by the people, and, because it is led by the guan and accompanied by the sheng and other instruments, also called “sheng-and-guan music”. Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is found all over the Jizhong Plain; the farmers of this region form societies by village, borrowing instruments to meet, and play in local sacrificial rites, funerals and other folk activities, handing it on from generation to generation in their own distinctive way.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Xiaofeng village music society is handed on among the people in its own distinctive way, and contains a wealth of folk cultural information, providing many precious materials for the study of folklore, ethnomusicology and the history of music. Today, as traditional ways of life and national culture are gradually changing, the survival, development and transmission of the Xiaofeng village music society cannot be viewed optimistically, and the departments concerned need to work out measures for its protection and support. Feng Yuechi (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1926, died in 2010, a native of Gu'an County, Hebei. Representative inheritor of the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Jizhong sheng-and-guan music (Qujiaying music society), and a first-class master of ancient music. His playing combines strength and gentleness alike and has a distinctive artistic style; he took part many times in national and provincial and municipal performance activities and won prizes. Hu Guoqing (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in May 1952, a native of Gu'an County, Hebei Province. He knows the music society's repertory clearly, his playing technique is accomplished, and he has mastered the technique of playing such percussion instruments as cymbals, nao, gezi, dangzi and the drum, and can play all the pieces the society still preserves. He has mastered such flute techniques as single tonguing, double tonguing, triple tonguing, tremolo and portamento, and plays in close accord with the other musicians of the band. In performing pieces that change mode, the modulation is achieved by flexibly changing the fingering, and the instruments are basically not swapped. His main representative works include Qi Yan Hui, Da Liangzhou, Pu An Zhou, Xiao Hua Yuan and Yu Fu Rong, the percussion suite Fa Qi, and the short pieces Kai Tan He Qi, Qing He Qi and He Qi Po. He serves as president of the Qujiaying music society. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Jizhong sheng-and-guan music (Qujiaying music society). In 2000 he won the silver prize of the national “Qunxing” Award.
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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