Jianghe Work Songs

01 · Historical Records

The Youshui River, which flows along the boundary of the four provinces and municipalities of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, is the mother river of the Tujia people, and its basin is the largest Tujia concentration area in China. In former times a large part of the Tujia here were both farmers and boatmen, and in the course of navigation they gradually formed the special singing form of the Youshui boatmen's chants, in order to coordinate the boatmen's movements, unify the rhythm and regulate the mood of the labour. It has a long history and rich content, its tunes high and melodious, the lead singing and accompanying singing closely matched, and it carries strong Tujia musical characteristics.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Jianghe work songs are the various chants sung by boatmen on the Yangtze, the Yellow River and their tributaries; in river reaches where the current is swift, the bends are large and the terrain is complex, navigation is extremely difficult, and the boats can only be moved ahead by the boatmen tracking them. Boatmen's chants grew richer accordingly. According to the state of the navigation, Jianghe work songs can be divided into several types, among them the easygoing "downstream chants", the leisurely "flat-water chants", and the highly tense, almost shouted "upstream chants" and "death-defying chants". In former times a large part of the Tujia here were both farmers and boatmen, and in the course of navigation they gradually formed the special singing form of the Youshui boatmen's chants, in order to coordinate the boatmen's movements, unify the rhythm and regulate the mood of the labour. The Youshui boatmen's chants have a long history and rich content, their tunes high and melodious, the lead singing and accompanying singing closely matched, and they carry strong Tujia musical characteristics. Their forms of singing chiefly include the paddle chants and sculling chants of navigation, the bank chants, and evening recreational folk songs sung seated. The paddle chants and sculling chants take the form of one lead singer with many accompanying singers; the paddle chants are generally sung on calm water, giving a leisurely, relaxed feeling, while the sculling chants are mostly improvised on the spot by the boatmen and often use satire, exaggeration and metaphor, and are not very melodic. Bank chants include the tracking chants sung in unison by the boatmen and the loading and unloading chants; the tracking chants are sung when navigation meets a shoal and the boatmen go ashore to track. The loading and unloading chants are sung when the boat comes alongside the wharf and the boatmen load and unload cargo. In the evening, when the boat is moored at the wharf and the boatmen rest at the bow or go ashore to a teahouse, they sing Tujia mountain songs and folk minor tunes; representative pieces include Lao Si Ge, Gao Hao Zi, Jiang Hao Zi, Lu Hao Zi, Xian Hao Zi, Zhuang Xie Hao Zi, Da He Zhang Shui Xiao He Man and Long Chuan Diao.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Youshui River, which flows along the boundary of the four provinces and municipalities of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou, is the mother river of the Tujia people, and its basin is the largest Tujia concentration area in China. The Youshui boatmen's chants are inseparable from the production and labour of the Tujia boatmen, and have been passed down without interruption among the local people. At present the Youshui basin no longer has fixed boatmen, the range in which the Youshui boatmen's chants are sung has correspondingly shrunk, and they are gradually receding from local social life.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Jianghe Work Songs · Jianghe Work Songs · Jianghe Work Songs · Jianghe Work Songs · Jianghe Work Songs.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Youshui boatmen's chants were originally sung in the Tujia language, and their content covers many aspects of Tujia history and culture, geographical scenery, primitive religious beliefs, production and life, and so they hold an irreplaceable and important value in the study of Tujia national culture. If protection and rescue are not carried out in good time, this form of folk music with such strong national characteristics will have nowhere left to survive.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Li Fuzhong 05-2106
• Yan Mingjun

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Jianghe Work Songs (Baojing, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗