Jing Duxianqinyishu
01 · Historical Records
Since 1511 the ancestors of the Gin people have migrated one after another from Vietnam to their present settlements. Over nearly five hundred years of historical development, the Gin have been influenced by the cultures of the Han and Zhuang peoples, yet their single-string fiddle performing art has consistently retained rather strong ethnic characteristics. From the 1950s onward, besides the long-box form of its origin, the Gin single-string fiddle has also added the long-strip form and the dragon-head form. Harmonic positions are marked on the soundboard as on the guqin, and some instruments also have a wooden fingerboard fitted to the soundboard with 16 frets, which allows harmonics to be played quickly and enriches the playing techniques.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The single-string fiddle art is a traditional instrumental art possessed by the Gin people. It is transmitted mainly in the Gin settlements of Dongxing City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, including the three islands of Wutou, Shanxin and Wanwei in Jiangping Town of Dongxing City (popularly called the “three islands of the Gin”) and neighbouring villages and hamlets such as Tanjie, Zhushan, Hongkan, Hengwang and Milou. The Gin single-string fiddle art mainly comprises the craft of making the instrument and the art of playing it. According to the material used in its making, the Gin single-string fiddle is divided into a bamboo type and a wooden type. The instrument is played in two postures, seated and standing. In performance the instrument is generally laid crosswise on a table, a stand or the player’s legs, or its tail is rested on the legs with its head placed on the floor or on a stand. The right hand holds a plectrum or a bamboo slip to pluck the string, while the left hand grips the shaking lever, changing the tension of the string and the length of the string by pushing and pulling it, in order to obtain different pitches. The playing techniques of the Gin single-string fiddle are very rich; the principal plucking methods commonly used are the upright pluck, the reverse pluck, the scraped stroke, the struck stroke and the tapped stroke, among others.
Wind Over the Bridge
One of the traditional pieces of the Gin single-string fiddle; when the inheritor Su Chunfa plays it the tone is lingering and the artistic conception profound.
High Mountains and Flowing Water
One of the traditional pieces of the Gin single-string fiddle.
Return from Fishing
One of the traditional pieces of the Gin single-string fiddle, reflecting the fishing life of the Gin people.
Bamboo and wooden types
According to the material used in its making, the Gin single-string fiddle is divided into a bamboo type and a wooden type; from the 1950s onward, besides the long-box form of its origin, forms such as the long-strip form and the dragon-head form were added, harmonic positions were marked on the soundboard, and some instruments also had a wooden fingerboard fitted with 16 frets.
Playing techniques
In performance the right hand holds a plectrum or a bamboo slip to pluck the string and the left hand grips the shaking lever, changing the tension and the length of the string by pushing and pulling it in order to obtain different pitches; the principal plucking methods commonly used are the upright pluck, the reverse pluck, the scraped stroke, the struck stroke and the tapped stroke.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Gin villages of the three islands of Wanwei, Wutou and Shanxin live by fishing; the single-string fiddle is played mostly at the Ha festival, at weddings and on summer evenings when people sit out in the cool, and its tone is clear and far-carrying while the instrument is easy to carry. Through popular teaching and the formation of performing troupes, this instrumental art that was once close to being lost has been passed on again among schoolchildren and fishermen.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the course of its long development, the Gin single-string fiddle art has formed such principal characteristics as the antiquity and depth of its history, the diversity of its forms, the richness of its repertory and the distinctiveness of its art. It has a unique historical value, a distinctive artistic value and a diverse academic value, and it is an important bond of ethnic identity and an important vehicle of cultural exchange. Su Chunfa (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Gin ethnicity, born in January 1955, a native of Dongxing City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. When he plays traditional pieces such as “Wind Over the Bridge”, “High Mountains and Flowing Water” and “Return from Fishing”, the tone is lingering and far-reaching, the artistic conception is profound, and the state in which the player and the instrument are one is reached. Drawing on his knowledge of radio, he initially solved the problem of the instrument’s faint sound by fitting a sound-amplifying device to the body. He has devoted himself to the presentation and teaching of the single-string fiddle art, and through popular teaching and the formation of performing troupes has ensured that the Gin single-string fiddle art, which was close to being lost, has successors. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch intangible cultural heritage project Gin single-string fiddle art.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Su Chunfa 05-2169
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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