Hui Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
Huizhou folk songs originate in the three districts of Tunxi, Huizhou and Huangshan and the four counties of She, Yi, Xiuning and Qimen in Huangshan City, Anhui Province, and circulate in Jixi, Jingde, Shitai and other counties within the old Huizhou area and in parts of neighbouring provinces. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s Huizhou music workers carried out in-depth collecting work on Huizhou folk songs and sorted out a large batch of excellent pieces, such as "Riddle-Duel Songs", "Cattle-Herd Flower Drum" and "Little Stone Bridge".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Like other regions of the country, Huizhou folk songs took shape in the labour and production of the ancestors, and the earliest to appear were undoubtedly labour songs (hao zi). Besides these, Huizhou folk songs also include mountain songs, small tunes, song-and-dance pieces and a number of Buddhist and Taoist songs. The lyrics of mountain songs often contain elements of improvisation, their musical rhythm is relatively free, their tones long-drawn, and they make much use of freely held notes. Huizhou folk small tunes are particularly distinctive: songs such as "Weeping for the Sedan Chair", "Welcoming the Bride to Her Room", "Toast", "Exchange of Cups" and "Lowering the Curtain" closely accompany the wedding ceremony and are performed as complete sets, full of interest.
Riddle-Duel Songs
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s Huizhou music workers carried out in-depth collecting work on Huizhou folk songs and sorted out a large batch of excellent pieces, such as "Riddle-Duel Songs", "Cattle-Herd Flower Drum" and "Little Stone Bridge".
Cattle-Herd Flower Drum
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s Huizhou music workers carried out in-depth collecting work on Huizhou folk songs and sorted out a large batch of excellent pieces, such as "Riddle-Duel Songs", "Cattle-Herd Flower Drum" and "Little Stone Bridge".
Little Stone Bridge
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s Huizhou music workers carried out in-depth collecting work on Huizhou folk songs and sorted out a large batch of excellent pieces, such as "Riddle-Duel Songs", "Cattle-Herd Flower Drum" and "Little Stone Bridge".
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Labour songs among the Huizhou folk songs are habitually called by the local people "shouting the hao zi", such as the pole-carrying hao zi and the sawing hao zi of the She County songs; the whole song consists of only the four syllables "yi ya hei hou", and their musical character is rugged and heroic, firm and strong, saturated with a strong flavour of daily life. At present fewer and fewer people in the Huizhou area can sing the original folk songs, and there is no regular concert or comparable activity presenting the folk song art; some young people are not even aware of the local folk songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Over more than twenty years, batch after batch of Huizhou folk songs have been presented to the public and have won general recognition. As a product of Huizhou culture, Huizhou folk songs have value for study in many respects, and can provide vivid examples for the investigation of Huizhou social history, folk custom and regional culture. In this situation Huizhou folk songs face the danger of being lost, and it is urgent that effective rescue and protection measures be taken. Cao Minghua (from the official record of the associated inheritor): female, Han nationality, born in December 1962, native of She County, Anhui Province. After 1991 she began working on the singing, transmission, collecting and excavation of Huizhou folk songs. She went actively into the folk and learned old Huizhou folk songs from such earlier folk singers as Wu Jinyu, Fang Jimin and Cheng Cuiye. Her singing is based mainly on the true voice, high and bright, plain and natural, with a distinctive flavour of the Huizhou folk song vocal style. From 2009 onwards she has been engaged in teaching and transmitting Huizhou folk songs. She is a representative inheritor of Huizhou folk songs, a fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Caominghua 05-2096
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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