Hui Yanxiqu
01 · Historical Records
Banquet songs are current in Menyuan County, Qinghai Province; they are directly related to the migration of the Hui people to Menyuan. Banquet songs derive their name from the "yan-yue" (court feast music) of the Song imperial court; they are sung mainly at wedding banquets and are accompanied by movement, so they are also called "banquet dance" or "caiqu".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to what the old people recall, banquet songs have a history of three hundred years since they took shape. Their performance form is lively and nimble, with song and dance going together and speech and singing combined; their main contents include blessings, narrative songs, five-watch songs, da wang bian and sanqu. The blessings narrate the ethnic origins and are commonly used at wedding ceremonies and for good wishes; the narrative songs, also called "da zhuan", are the core part of banquet songs; the five-watch songs mostly use the five watches of the night as their imagery and are vivid and expressive; the da wang bian, also called "da jiao er", is performed in alternation with the banquet song and dance and is a form of narrative singing rich in ethnic character; the sanqu are mostly xiaodiao, their verbal structure is free and flexible, and they cover almost all the folk xiaodiao of the northwest. Besides these, banquet songs also include the various dances performed with xiaodiao and the comic dances such as "La Camel" and "La Goose". An initial survey shows that there are more than one hundred kinds of quling in the banquet songs current in the Menyuan area, basically one tune to each set of words; the tunes are elegant and moving and deeply affecting. These works have both traditional and modern subject matter and are very wide-ranging in content; each has fixed lyrics, and they may also be improvised on the spot. In some sense, banquet songs are a vivid record of the history of the Hui people of Menyuan and a small encyclopaedia of their culture and folk custom. Their representative works include "Fang Si Niang" and the like.
Fang Si Niang
One of the representative works of Hui banquet songs, which include "Fang Si Niang" and the like.
Zhu Ci
One of the main contents of banquet songs; it narrates the ethnic origins and is commonly used at wedding ceremonies and for good wishes.
Narrative songs
Also called "da zhuan"; the core part of banquet songs.
Wu Geng songs
One of the main contents of banquet songs, mostly using the five watches of the night as their imagery, vivid and expressive.
Da Wang Bian
Performed in alternation with the banquet song and dance; a form of narrative singing rich in ethnic character.
San Qu
One of the main contents of banquet songs, mostly xiaodiao, with a verbal structure that is free and flexible, covering almost all the folk xiaodiao of the northwest.
Comic dances
The various dances performed with xiaodiao in banquet songs and the comic teasing dances such as "La Camel" and "La Goose".
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hui banquet songs are current in Menyuan County, Qinghai Province, are directly related to the migration of the Hui people to Menyuan, and have a history of three hundred years since they took shape; they derive their name from the "yan-yue" of the Song imperial court, are sung mainly at wedding banquets with accompanying movement, and are therefore also called "banquet dance" or "caiqu". An initial survey shows that there are more than one hundred kinds of quling in the banquet songs current in the Menyuan area, basically one tune to each set of words, and the tunes are elegant and moving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Banquet songs are rich in content, varied in tune and beautiful in dance, and have research value for many fields such as ethnomusicology, the study of dance and folklore. At present, as the times change, this ancient art transmitted by word of mouth is on the verge of being lost and urgently needs rescue and protection. An Baolong (official archive entry of the associated inheritor): A man of the Hui ethnicity, born in July 1952, native of Menyuan Hui Autonomous County, Qinghai Province. He has loved Hui banquet songs since childhood and began to learn singing from old folk artists at the age of twelve or thirteen; through hard study and natural talent he mastered a large number of tunes and words. Over more than thirty years he has excavated, collected and organized more than one hundred kinds and over two hundred banquet songs, and created works such as "Bai Ying Ge" and "Qi Er Hui", inheriting and carrying forward Hui banquet songs in an innovative way. In September 2007 he was invited to perform at the Shanghai World Expo, where his performance was highly praised. His singing is clear and lingering, beautiful and winding, with distinct articulation and expressive feeling; his dance movements are humorous and free-spirited. He teaches his grandchildren and other young members of the family to sing Hui banquet songs, and has formed a performing troupe that gives regular performances. Representative inheritor of the Hui banquet songs national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the third national-level batch. He has taken part many times in provincial, prefectural and county-level cultural performances and competitions, winning prizes.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- An Baolong 03-0875
- Ma Chenghai
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。