Matou Work Songs
01 · Historical Records
After 1870, with the establishment of old Shanghai's position as the “shipping centre of the Far East” and the development of the industrial city, cargo throughput at the Shanghai docks expanded rapidly. After 1870, with the establishment of old Shanghai's position as the “shipping centre of the Far East” and the development of the industrial city, cargo throughput at the Shanghai docks expanded rapidly; the dock workers came from all over the country and, in their heavy physical labour, created the distinctive Shanghai harbour matou work songs. The modern noted musician Nie Er once worked alongside the porters at the docks of the Port of Shanghai, collecting material in the process and composing the widely popular Dockers' Song.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Matou work songs are transmitted mainly at docks and cargo yards, and are sung during labour connected with loading and unloading ships and with carrying, shouldering, pushing and pulling goods. This kind of labour requires workers to move while bearing weight, which gives the work songs a sharply marked, short rhythm, a short and simple musical form, and sung texts that are mostly meaningless exclamatory cries. In their heavy physical labour the dock workers created the distinctive Shanghai harbour matou work songs. Their metrical patterns vary widely, and each class and each kind of work song has its own characteristics. Because those who sing the work songs are all men, their range is broad and ringing, displaying a fully masculine beauty. The modern noted musician Nie Er once worked alongside the porters at the docks of the Port of Shanghai, collecting material in the process and composing the widely popular Dockers' Song. Much of the music and many of the sung passages in the Huaiju play Morning at the Harbour on the stages of the new China, and in the Peking opera Harbour adapted from it later on, were created by drawing on original material from the Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
Shoulder-loading chant
One of the four classes and nine varieties of the Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
Shoulder-carrying chant
One of the four classes and nine varieties of the Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
Stacking chant
One of the four classes and nine varieties of the Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
Pole-carrying chant
One of the four classes and nine varieties of the Shanghai harbour matou work songs, divided by the number of carriers into the two-man carrying work song and the two-man, four-man, eight-man and ten-man team forms.
Dockers' Song
The song composed by Nie Er after he worked alongside the porters at the docks of the Port of Shanghai and collected material; much of the music and many of the sung passages in the Huaiju play Morning at the Harbour and in the Peking opera Harbour also draw on original material from the Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
There are many kinds of work song, such as the hoisting, shoulder-loading and package-carrying work songs of the docks at Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the flat-road whistles of the handcart pullers of Chengdu in Sichuan, the cart-pushing work songs of Tianjin and the handcart work songs of Anhui; the regions differ, and their styles and characteristics are not identical. The dock workers of the Port of Shanghai came from all over the country, and because of the differences between local dialects and accents the work songs they sang also divided into different schools and styles, of which the northern Jiangsu work songs and the Hubei work songs are the most widespread and the most representative. The Shanghai harbour matou work songs are divided into four classes and nine varieties according to the goods handled, the carrying route and the method of carrying, mainly including the shoulder-placing work song, the shoulder-carrying work song, the stacking work song, the pole-carrying work song, the two-man carrying work song, the carrying-pole work song, the hoisting work song, the cart-pulling work song and the cart-hauling work song.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Matou Work Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Shanghai harbour matou work songs that appeared in the port district of a coastal metropolis are wholly different from the construction, farming and fishing work songs of the interior, and display the inclusiveness of a place where people from many quarters meet and many traditions coexist. The Shanghai harbour matou work songs record the living conditions of Shanghai's dock workers over the hundred-odd years from the opening of the port to the 1960s; they have special value for historical research, and at the same time provide important material for the study of traditional folk music. At present, as the times change, the matou work songs have faded out of urban life in Shanghai and are known to fewer and fewer people. In these circumstances it is necessary to take certain measures to carry out rescue protection of the distinctive Shanghai harbour matou work songs.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jia Zhihu 05-2107
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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