Twelve Bronze Drum Tunes
01 · Historical Records
The Bouyei twelve bronze drum tunes come from ancient times. They are current in the Bouyei settlements of Biandanshan, Dingqi Town, Dashan Township, Chengguan Town, Liuma Township, Shazi Township, Liangtian Township and Muye Township, and radiate to the surrounding Bouyei areas such as Guanling Autonomous County, Liuzhi Special District and Puding County, forming a Bouyei folk bronze drum cultural circle covering several counties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Bouyei bronze drum is one of the ancient percussion instruments of the Bouyei people and belongs to their precious ethnic cultural heritage. It is cast in bronze and is commonly played together in alternation with the suona, the skin drum, the large cymbals, the clash cymbals and the gong and wooden clappers; it preserves on the whole the performing style of ancient instruments and has the ethnic character of the Bouyei. According to tradition the bronze drum was made by the “Luoyue” branch of the ancient Baiyue, the ancestors of the Bouyei people. It is therefore regarded by the Bouyei as a family heirloom and a symbol of clan and religious solidarity, venerated as a deity, offered sacrifices year by year and worshipped season by season. The Bouyei twelve bronze drum tunes consist of Xi Que Diao, San Hua Diao, Ji Gu Diao, Ji Zu Diao, San Liu Jiu Diao, Ji Si Diao, Xi Qing Diao and others; they are the ethnic music in which the Bouyei express their character in celebrations, ancestor-sacrifices and other ritual ceremonies. Zhenfeng County lies in the eastern part of Qianxinan Bouyei Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province; it is a multi-ethnic area, with more than four hundred natural villages settled by Bouyei people. The Bouyei of Zhenfeng call the twelve bronze drum tunes “Tonggu Shier Ze”, the twelve bronze drum items. As an important part of ethnic culture and regional culture, the bronze drum has always been linked to the life and cultural forms of the Bouyei people. Many ancient instruments in the history of China disappeared with the changes of the age, but the bronze drum music culture of the Bouyei areas was handed down and has been preserved to this day. The twelve bronze drum tunes are a treasury of ancient musical works rich in content and of ancient musical information.
Ji Gu Diao
One of the twelve bronze drum tunes, used in the drum-sacrifice ceremony; a representative work of the inheritor Wang Fengren.
Jing Gu Diao
One of the twelve bronze drum tunes, used in the ceremony of venerating the bronze drum; a representative work of the inheritor Wang Fengren.
Xi Qing Diao
One of the twelve bronze drum tunes, used at celebrations; a representative work of the inheritor Wang Fengren.
Xi Que Diao
One of the component tunes of the twelve bronze drum tunes.
San Hua Diao
One of the component tunes of the twelve bronze drum tunes.
Ji Zu Diao
One of the component tunes of the twelve bronze drum tunes, used in ancestor-sacrifice ceremonies.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Bouyei twelve bronze drum tunes are current in the Bouyei settlements of Biandanshan, Dingqi Town, Dashan Township, Chengguan Town, Liuma Township, Shazi Township, Liangtian Township, Muye Township and other places in Zhenning Bouyei and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, and radiate to surrounding Bouyei areas such as Guanling Autonomous County, Liuzhi Special District and Puding County, forming a Bouyei folk bronze drum cultural circle covering several counties. The bronze drum is cast in bronze and is commonly played in alternation with the suona, the skin drum, the large cymbals, the clash cymbals and the gong and wooden clappers; it is handed down orally from heart to heart within the family and passed on generation after generation.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Twelve Bronze Drum Tunes.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Bouyei have no written script; “Tonggu Shier Ze” is transmitted within the family and handed down generation by generation through oral teaching from heart to heart. The development of the modern economy and technology and the impact of foreign culture have rapidly changed people's aesthetic taste; the Bouyei bronze drum tunes, handed down since ancient times, are now known to few people and find it hard to arouse the interest of the young. The transmission of the bronze drum tunes is already in an endangered state and urgently needs rescue and protection. Wang Fengren (from the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Bouyei, born in 1930, a native of Anshun, Guizhou. He has mastered the various bronze drum tunes proficiently; in performance his rhythm is bright, his sound resonant and powerful, his expression vivid and his meaning profound, and his playing carries the rich colouring of Bouyei music culture. He is the representative inheritor of the twelve bronze drum tunes, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the second national-level batch. He has taken part many times in performances at provincial, municipal and county level and has won prizes; his representative works include Ji Gu Diao, Jing Gu Diao, Xi Qing Diao and others.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Fangren 02-0306
- Wang Yongzhan 02-0307
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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