Yinsongdiao

01 · Historical Records

The chanting of classical poetry and prose is a folk art with a long history; the “Wu chanting” for which documentary evidence exists can be traced back to the Warring States period. Since the May Fourth movement the fashion for chanting gradually declined, and in the first half of the twentieth century the chanting of classical poetry and prose almost became a “lost art”.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Chanting means reading classical poetry and prose aloud in a musical fashion. Considered as a musical form, “yin” uses a drawn-out phrase made up of one long note or several linked notes to “read” a single character, so its rhythm is comparatively broad and slow; “song” gives one or two shorter notes to each character, so its rhythm is comparatively tight. In the course of chanting, “yin” and “song” are often combined and alternate, and since “yin” is the basic mode of the chanting art, chanting is often abbreviated simply to “yin”. Japan, South Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia, all deeply influenced by Han culture, have played a major part in learning and disseminating traditional Chinese culture, and chanting has also had a certain influence in these countries and regions. Compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese often use the chanting of poetry and prose to express their love of country and longing for home; from this it can be seen that, to some extent, chanting tunes help to strengthen the cultural identity of Chinese people at home and abroad. Changzhou chanting is basically an individual performance, with the nature of self-appreciation and self-amusement; the text is improvised orally on the spot by the chanter, with no score to follow. Each chanter has “one person, one tune”, and they are not all the same, but overall they share the characteristics of Jiangnan folk music. The repertory of Changzhou chanting is very rich. Poetry may be chanted, including regulated verse such as the seven-character regulated poem, the seven-character quatrain, the five-character regulated poem and the five-character quatrain, as well as ancient-style verse such as the Shijing, the Chuci, yuefu poems and free-form poems; ci and classical prose may also be chanted. In addition, the intonation used by schoolchildren reading in former times and the intonation used by housewives telling stories for leisure in former times can also be brought within Changzhou chanting. Changzhou dialect preserves the entering-tone characters and some ancient pronunciations, and is close to Middle Chinese pronunciation; it has clear artistic features of rise and fall and of stressed and unstressed articulation, and can convey well the sound and rhythm of classical literary works such as Tang poems and Song ci. As a special form of expression of traditional Chinese culture, Changzhou chanting can also arouse overseas Chinese’s attachment to their home country, strengthen their cultural identity, and play a positive part in promoting the unity and cooperation of Chinese people everywhere in the world.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Chanting tunes are transmitted very widely in China, found in every region, and because dialects differ they have formed a number of schools. Changzhou chanting is a traditional art form in which chanting is done in the Changzhou dialect. Its main area of transmission is the urban districts of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, but the chanting performers are spread more widely: besides local Changzhou residents, they include people of Changzhou origin who live and work elsewhere and can chant poetry and prose in the Changzhou dialect.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The art of chanting is one of the important components of national traditional culture. It belongs to the “minority culture”, comparable to the guqin and kunqu, and has research value in such fields as literature, music and linguistics. At present its degree of endangerment has further deepened, and effective measures are urgently needed, using existing conditions, to bring the traditional chanting art into rescue, protection, propagation and revival. Changzhou chanting has a very high cultural level; whether in classical literature, traditional music, linguistics or the Wu culture, it is an important object of research. At present the real social environment is unfavourable to the survival of Changzhou chanting. Among the chanters still living, the oldest is over a hundred years old and even the youngest is in their eighties. If it is not rescued quickly and effective protective and transmissive measures are not taken, this traditional art will inevitably disappear completely along with the passing of its inheritors. Qin Dexiang (official archival record of the associated inheritor): He has loved music and literature since childhood. He has worked for many years in music education and in the theoretical study of traditional Chinese music, with main directions in music theory, the chanting of poetry and Buddhist chanting such as fanbai. He has compiled six monographs in the “Changzhou chanting” series, including “Three Hundred Examples of Changzhou Chanting” and “Probing into the Lost Arts”. Male, of Han ethnicity, born in May 1939 and died in September 2016, a native of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch intangible cultural heritage project Yinsong Diao (Changzhou chanting).

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Qin Dexiang 04-1534

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Yinsongdiao (Changzhou, Jiangsu) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Qin Dexiang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗