Baisha Naxi Xile

01 · Historical Records

Baisha xile is current in the Old Town District of Lijiang City and in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County. According to the verifiable lineage records of the late noted Naxi old artist He Xidian, this music was already flourishing in Lijiang at least two hundred years ago; what it expresses is the feeling of parting in life and death and of lingering attachment, and today it is used mostly for funerals and commemorative occasions.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Naxi Baisha xile is also called "Bengshi Xili", "bieshi Xili" or "bieshi Xieli"; it is a classical suite of music created by the Naxi ancestors that combines instrumental music, vocal music and dance. It is current in the Old Town District of Lijiang City and in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County. Over a long process of historical development, the Naxi ancestors were influenced by the Eastern Han "Bailang presentation of poems", so that "the custom was to love drinking, singing and dancing" (Book of the Man, Tang dynasty), and the people gradually became a nation able to sing and dance, gifted with musical talent and rich in philosophical reflection. There have traditionally been two accounts of the historical origin of Baisha xile: one holds that it is "the lingering sound of the Yuan, soft and stirring, painful and moving, handed down as the gift given by an ancestor at his parting, hence its name of bieshi Xieli"; the other holds that it is music by which the Naxi people commemorate the dead of war. The accounts differ, and there is as yet no settled conclusion. According to legend Baisha xile has ten tunes, of which eight survive, namely "Du", "Yi Feng Shu", "San Si Ji", "Beautiful White Clouds", "The Princess Weeps", "Duo Cuo", "Southern Tune" and "Northern Tune". The instruments include the transverse flute, the vertical flute, the reed pipe, the sugu du, the small-bowed pipa, the guzheng, the erhuang and the huqin; performance requires at least eight people and is principally ensemble playing, accompanied by song and dance. The barefoot dance (duo cuo), the lark ("laoma cuo"), the bow-and-arrow dance ("kang cuo"), the white crane dance ("kua cuo") and the like are played and danced at funerals. Baisha xile is a complete union of the musical legacy of the Yuan and Ming with Naxi folk music; it is a suite that took a considerable length of time to form gradually, conceived with originality, combining instrumental music with singing and dancing, with a broad and deep artistic conception, lyrical melodies and a tortuous and flowing tune.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Baisha xile in the Old Town District of Lijiang and the area of Yulong County has its principal place of transmission in Changshui Village. The local authorities have formulated the "Measures for the Protection and Management of Naxi Folk Music", established a trade association and a transmission hall and named inheritors, providing conditions for them to take apprentices; in performance the transverse flute leads the whole suite, answered by the sugu du, the vertical flute, the reed pipe, the huqin and the like.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

According to the verifiable lineage records of the late noted Naxi old artist He Xidian, this music was already flourishing in Lijiang at least two hundred years ago; what it expresses is the feeling of parting in life and death and of lingering attachment. At present, within the Lijiang area the number of people able to perform Baisha xile is steadily decreasing. The various levels of Lijiang government and the relevant departments have done a great deal of effective work to promote Baisha xile, formulating the "Measures for the Protection and Management of Naxi Folk Music" and the like, establishing a trade association and a transmission hall, designating Changshui Village of Huangshan Town specially as its protection site, naming He Linyi as an inheritor, and providing the corresponding conditions for him to take apprentices. He Linyi (official archive entry of the associated inheritor): A man of the Naxi ethnicity, born in July 1967, native of Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Born into a family of inheritors of Baisha xile, he has a profound understanding of, and has mastered, the historical origins, content, musical style, artistic conception and performance techniques of the xile suite. He can accurately remember and master the many techniques, skills and details of the orally transmitted Baisha xile scores. He can not only play the flute skillfully and lead the whole suite, but also play the sugu du, the vertical flute, the reed pipe, the huqin and other instruments used in Baisha xile. He is devoted to the transmission, dissemination and promotion of Baisha xile. Since 2005 he has performed free of charge every day in Yuhe Square, with a cumulative audience of more than 200,000. Representative inheritor of the Naxi Baisha xile national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth national-level batch. He teaches Baisha xile free of charge; since 1990 he has organised five training classes in succession, with learners increasing from six to twenty-six, and in 2006 the Baisha xile inheritance centre was formally established.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• He Linyi 05-2168

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Baisha Naxi Xile (Lijiangshigucheng, Yunnan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. He Linyi · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗