Lusheng Music

01 · Historical Records

Through long periods of war and migration the mangtong lusheng has always been an indispensable everyday implement of the Miao people.

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 Miao mangtong lusheng music and dance is a distinctive form of ethnic folk art, current in all the Miao villages within Danzhai County, Guizhou Province, and in parts of the neighbouring counties of Leishan, Rongjiang and Sandu and in Duyun City. The lusheng, the earliest Miao instrument, has a long history whose source can be traced back to the ancient instruments “sheng” and “pao”. The Miao people settled at Danzhai have kept faithfully to their traditional customs for generation after generation, so that the mangtong lusheng music and dance has kept its original religious function. Each Miao mangtong lusheng music-and-dance team numbers sixteen people, with three lusheng and thirteen mangtong. In performance the lusheng lead in front and the mangtong follow behind; blowing as they dance, the players form a circle clockwise or anticlockwise and move slowly forward. With their feet stamping the ground, all the players produce the sound of dance steps in unison, matching and answering the music; the Miao call this “to the drum society with one heart, to the lusheng hall in step”. As one of the ancient Miao instruments, the main function of the mangtong lusheng is to give pleasure to the gods; it is used mostly at great celebrations, ancestor-sacrifices and funerals, and most often of all at funerals. When taking part in great celebrations the mangtong lusheng generally accompanies such activities as escorting the ancestor drum, goading the bull at the bullring and cheering on the competitors in the arena. The mangtong lusheng has many pieces, among which the tunes used for sacrifice include Huai Zu Qu, Yao Yue Qu and Li Bie Qu, and those used for funerals include Guo Lu Qu, Jin Men Qu, Bei Shang Qu, Song Bie Qu, An Wei Qu and Li Bie Qu. For nearly half a century the spread of modern civilisation has diluted the influence of the national traditional culture.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The mangtong lusheng teams of the Miao villages at Danzhai are organised into societies by village and turn out as a group for great celebrations, ancestor-sacrifices and funerals, being used most often of all at funerals; when taking part in great celebrations the mangtong lusheng generally accompanies such activities as escorting the ancestor drum, goading the bull at the bullring and cheering on the competitors in the arena. The art is current in all the Miao villages within Danzhai County, Guizhou Province, and in parts of the neighbouring counties of Leishan, Rongjiang and Sandu and in Duyun City.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Lusheng Music.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Miao mangtong lusheng music and dance has a distinctive manner of performance and tunes that are stirring and solemn; with a marked ethnic musical style and regional character, it occupies a very important place in Miao cultural life, forms an important part of the culture of the Miao at Danzhai, and has high artistic and folkloric research value. As a typical form of ethnic folk art, the mangtong lusheng music and dance has long been handed down in an orderly way among the Miao people. In view of this situation the prospects of the Miao mangtong lusheng dance are not encouraging, and urgent measures for its rescue and protection must be strengthened. Yang Guotang (from the official file of the associated inheritor): male, Miao, born in June 1954, a native of Danzhai County, Guizhou Province. Influenced by Miao traditional culture, he learned to play the lusheng at the age of fifteen and mastered methods of lusheng performance such as the da diao, the ping diao and the xi diao; in playing the lusheng he had his own way of using breath control, blowing, inhalation and fingering, and became one of the leading lusheng players of the area. He afterwards followed a master to learn the art of playing and dancing the four-drip-water lusheng and the mangtong lusheng, and became skilled in the technique of playing the mangtong and in the traditional tunes. After the age of thirty he began to study the making of lusheng and mangtong, fully mastered the craft, and the lusheng and mangtong he makes have a beautiful tone. He takes apprentices in the slack farming season and trains them in the art of playing and making the lusheng. He is the representative inheritor of lusheng music (the Miao mangtong lusheng), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fifth 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 (Danzhai, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yang Guotang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗