Lusheng Music

01 · Historical Records

The Dong lusheng is current within Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province. It developed out of an ancient reed-pipe instrument, has a history of more than two thousand years, and is indispensable at village gatherings, sacrifices and exchanges between villages; every Dong village in Tongdao County keeps a lusheng band.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The lusheng is a multi-pipe reed instrument played by the Miao, Dong, Shui, Gelao, Yao, Zhuang, Yi and other peoples of southwest China. It consists of reeded pipes, a wind chamber, a blowpipe and a resonator; in playing, both hands clasp the body of the instrument, the thumb, index and middle fingers lightly cover the finger-holes of the two rows of pipes, the blowpipe is held in the mouth, and blowing and drawing breath sets the reeds vibrating to produce the sound. The lusheng has distinctive pitches and can produce octaves, fifths, sixths, chords of a fourth and triad effects. The Dong lusheng is a traditional folk instrument of the ethnic groups widely current within Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province; it developed out of an ancient reed-pipe instrument and has a history of more than two thousand years. According to the form of blowing and the manner of performance, the lusheng is divided into six kinds: the ditong (ground pipe), the extra-large lusheng, the large, the medium, the small and the smallest lusheng; the traditional lusheng has three pitches and twelve modes. The Dong lusheng has twelve tune patterns in all, mainly including Ji He Qu, Jin Tang Qu, Cai Tang Qu, Shang Lu Qu, Zou Qu, Yuan Quan Qu and others. The lusheng has three kinds of notation symbols: transcription in Chinese phonetic notation, modern numbered notation and the Dong script. In Dong lusheng performance one lusheng that can sound the highest note is normally used as the leader and conductor, accompanied by two high-pitch lusheng, three mid-pitch, ten slightly lower mid-pitch, two low-pitch, one double-bass lusheng and one ditong, making up a lusheng band. According to the particular circumstances the band may also have other forms of instrumentation. The traditional Dong lusheng dance has several performing forms: playing while dancing, the player dancing alone, and the dancer playing as well. The players often blow as they jump, making large swaying movements to left and right; in solo dancing and antiphonal playing they have to spin at one moment and crouch and leap at the next. Winning by means of rapid trembling notes and highly difficult dance movements is the greatest characteristic of Dong lusheng performance. Dong lusheng performance has a strong local character and has been carried on among the people without interruption for a long time.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In the Dong country of Tongdao the lusheng activity is organised into societies by village. Members of a lusheng band are mostly adult men, the band is led by the leader's lusheng acting as conductor, and it proceeds through the tune patterns Ji He Qu, Jin Tang Qu, Cai Tang Qu, Shang Lu Qu, Zou Qu, Yuan Quan Qu and others; the players blow as they jump, making large swaying movements and the like.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Lusheng Music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The lusheng is an indispensable and important part of the life of the Dong people; its marked ethnic character has drawn the attention of the world, and it provides a vivid example for the study of folk music and the local folkways of Yunnan. At present, with the rapid development of the market economy, Dong lusheng culture faces the danger of disappearing and of being altered; the members of the lusheng bands in Tongdao County are mostly over forty years old, and in some places there is a break in the succession of performing talent. In these circumstances the rescue and protection of the Dong lusheng cannot be delayed and must be begun at once. Yang Zhiguang (from the official file of the associated inheritor): in 1973 he studied the craft of making lusheng under the elders of his family, and from 1977 began making Dong lusheng on his own; in the Dong areas of Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou he is widely known as a “Dong lusheng craftsman” and a “lusheng maker”. The lusheng he makes are of fine quality and loud in tone, and are renowned throughout the Dong country. Over several decades, building on the lusheng-making craft handed down in his family, he has further improved and innovated, and can make a lusheng with twenty-one sounding pipes. His performing technique is likewise outstanding, and he has often won prizes in the lusheng competitions held in the Dong areas of Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou. He now has close to ten disciples, among them Yang Hanjie. Male, Dong, born in April 1954, died in September 2021, a native of Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province. He is the representative inheritor of lusheng music (the Dong lusheng), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the third national-level batch.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Yang Zhiguang 03-0886
• Yang Guotang 05-2145

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Lusheng Music (Tongdaodongzuzizhi, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yang Zhiguang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗