Nanyin
01 · Historical Records
Migrants from the Central Plains carried their musical culture into the Minnan region centred on Quanzhou during the Former Han, Later Han, Jin, Tang and Northern and Southern Song dynasties, and fused it with local folk music, giving rise to Nanyin, a cultural performing form that preserves the legacy of ancient Central Plains music. In Quanzhou Nanyin performance the pipa and sanxian are placed on the right and the dongxiao flute and the erxian on the left, while the person holding the clappers sits in the middle and sings; this performing format descends in a single line from the Han-dynasty xianghe song format described as “silk and bamboo answering each other, the one holding the beat-plate sings”. The texts of the pieces draw mainly on Tang-dynasty chuanqi tales, huaben story texts and the characters of Song, Yuan and Ming drama; works such as Shanxianjun, Chuhanguan, Gongjundunyue and Yinsonggesao are widely circulated.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Nanyin, also called xiangguan or Quanzhou Nanyin, is one of the oldest surviving musical genres in China. Its gongche notation forms a self-contained system and is a survival of the notational forms of ancient Chinese music. The bent-neck pipa held horizontally, the ten-hole nine-section dongxiao flute, the erxian, the sanxian and the clappers struck to keep the beat all follow the surviving designs of ancient instruments. The Nanyin repertory numbers more than 2,000 instrumental and vocal pieces, and embodies material from the qingshang music of the Jin, the great suites and faqu of the Tang, yanyue and Buddhist music, and the ci and qu music and operatic music of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties onward. Singing insists on clear articulation of the words and on carrying the rhymes home to a proper close. Nanyin melodies are beautiful, the tempo slow, the manner archaic, deep and refined, the feeling restrained and heartfelt. Quanzhou Nanyin forms a complete musical system made up of three main parts, dapu (great scores), sanqu (free pieces) and zhitao (finger suites), popularly called zhi, pu and qu. The zhi, that is the zhitao, also called a taoqu (suite), is a relatively complete suite that has lyrics, a score and fingering indications (that is, pipa fingering). Each suite consists of two to seven free pieces grouped by the musical categories guanmen and gunmen, making up 50 major suites in all; the principal ones are Zilai, Yizhixiang, Chenshanghuadeng, Xingangbosui and Weijunchu. The pu is a titled instrumental suite to which pipa fingering is attached; that is, a titled instrumental suite with no sung text, played chiefly on the pipa, the dongxiao flute, the erxian and the sanxian. Each suite comprises three to more than ten tune patterns, 16 major suites in all. Their subject matter is mostly the scenery of the four seasons, flowers, birds and insects, or galloping steeds; the best known are the four suites Si (Sishijing, Four Seasons of Scenery), Mei (Meihuacao, Plum Blossom Exercise), Zou (Bajunma, Eight Steeds) and Gui (Bainiaoguichao, A Hundred Birds Returning to the Nest). The qu, that is the free piece, also called cao qu (rough piece), is sung only and never spoken. It has both score and lyrics, and is normally accompanied by four main instruments: the pipa, the dongxiao flute, the erxian and the sanxian. Its content falls roughly into three classes: expression of feeling, description of scenery and narration. Quanzhou Nanyin has a deep popular base. As a cultural form that cultivates the mind and provides self-amusement, it is closely bound to the life of the Minnan people, and almost every place where Minnan people live has a folk Nanyin society. Besides Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Xiamen in the Minnan area and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Quanzhou Nanyin has spread to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and other countries, becoming a spiritual tie that maintains the sense of homeland among overseas Chinese and Taiwan compatriots, and it has also played a positive part in strengthening national identity.
Shanxianjun
The texts of the pieces draw mainly on Tang-dynasty chuanqi tales, huaben story texts and the characters of Song, Yuan and Ming drama; works such as Shanxianjun, Chuhanguan, Gongjundunyue and Yinsonggesao are widely circulated.
Chuhanguan
The texts of the pieces draw mainly on Tang-dynasty chuanqi tales, huaben story texts and the characters of Song, Yuan and Ming drama; works such as Shanxianjun, Chuhanguan, Gongjundunyue and Yinsonggesao are widely circulated.
Gongjundunyue
The texts of the pieces draw mainly on Tang-dynasty chuanqi tales, huaben story texts and the characters of Song, Yuan and Ming drama; works such as Shanxianjun, Chuhanguan, Gongjundunyue and Yinsonggesao are widely circulated.
Yinsonggesao
The texts of the pieces draw mainly on Tang-dynasty chuanqi tales, huaben story texts and the characters of Song, Yuan and Ming drama; works such as Shanxianjun, Chuhanguan, Gongjundunyue and Yinsonggesao are widely circulated.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Nanyin is sung in the archaic speech of standard Quanzhou dialect, and its pronunciation preserves the phonological character of ancient Central Plains Chinese.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Nanyin.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Huang Shuying (per the official record of the associated inheritor): A woman of the Han nationality, born in 1942 in Quanzhou, Fujian. She joined the Quanzhou Folk Orchestra in 1960 and studied Nanyin under Zhuang Yingqi, Wang Youfu and Wu Pingshui; her performance has a solid command of the basic skills and rich stage experience, and she has an individual artistic style of her own. In her representative work Xingfa, Huang Shuying was able to sing four different roles single-handeded and won first prize in the Fujian provincial quyi exchange performance. She has often travelled with her troupe to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries, and is warmly praised by audiences at home and abroad. Representative inheritor of Nanyin for the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage; second-grade performer of the Quanzhou Nanyin Troupe. Su Tongmou (per the official record of the associated inheritor): A man of the Han nationality, born in 1939 in Jinjiang, Fujian. He has memorized a large number of Nanyin finger-score pieces and plays at a high level, and he knows a great deal about such things as Nanyin gunmen, tune patterns and branches; he is especially skilled in dongxiao flute playing and in the art of the vocal style, and his Nanyin has the antique elegance and expressive beauty of the genre. He has led his troupe on many visits to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries, and has edited and published such works as Selected String-Pipe Branch Suites, Complete String-Pipe Finger Scores, Selected Ancient String-Pipe Branch Tunes and Selected Ancient String-Pipe Tunes (8 volumes). Representative inheritor of Nanyin for the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage; standing vice-chairman of the Quanzhou Nanyin Association and chairman of the Jinjiang Nanyin Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Huang Shuying 02-0324
- Su Tongmou 02-0325
- Wu Yanzao 02-0326
- Ding Shuiqing 02-0327
- Su Shiyong 02-0328
- Xia Yongxi 02-0329
- Wu Shian 02-0330
- Yang Cuie 03-0858
- Wang Xiuyi 03-0859
- Chen Lian 05-2092
- Zhuo Shengxiang
- Li Baiyan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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