Fishing Songs
01 · Historical Records
According to the “Customs of Jingzhou” section of the “Book of Sui — Treatise on Geography” cited under Wei Zheng, Dongting fishing songs originated in the era in which Qu Yuan lived in the Warring States period, and have a history of more than 2,000 years. They are sung in dialect, their performing form is plain and free, and they reflect the origins and migrations of the Dongting fishermen, their production and life, their customs and taboos, as well as their views of nature, morality and love; their historical, literary, artistic and sociocultural value cannot be underestimated.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dongting fishing songs are the folk songs handed down generation after generation among the fishermen of the Dongting Lake area of Yueyang City, Hunan Province; they are current mainly in the counties and districts of Linxiang, Huarong, Miluo and other places in Yueyang City of Hunan Province, in Nanxian, Yuanjiang, Taojiang and other counties and districts of Yiyang City, in Changsha, Wangcheng, Ningxiang and other counties and districts of Changsha City, in Xiangxiang, Shaoshan, Xiangtan and other counties and districts of Xiangtan City, in Jinshi, Lixian, Shimen and other counties and districts of Changde City, in Zhijiang, Songzi, Gong'an and other counties and districts of Hubei Province, as well as in Xiushui, Yifeng, Tonggu and other counties and districts of Jiangxi Province. They radiate over the whole of Hunan Province, most of Hubei Province and the western part of Jiangxi Province, and the fishing songs of the eastern Dongting Lake are the most distinctive and representative. Dongting fishing songs consist of boat songs, water-chestnut songs (lotus-gathering tunes), nuo-nuo-dong, and the fisherman's drum tube. Boat songs and water-chestnut songs are mostly sung on the water, while nuo-nuo-dong and the fisherman's drum tube are mostly sung on the shore. Their music is rich and varied; every phrase carries two or three short held notes, which is a fairly prominent characteristic of them. Their structure is comparatively short, they are commonly sung in alternation between a “lead” and a “response”, the high register, the level register and the hummed register being used in rotation, and the rhythm is free and full of variety. Their forms of performance are varied, including antiphonal duet, solo, unison chorus, group antiphony and purely harmonic singing. By the Sui and Tang dynasties the boatmen's haozi, the raft-bearers' haozi and the net-hauling ditties had already taken fairly complete form; in the Song dynasty the antiphonal performing form and the practice of composing and singing on the spot gradually came into being (the “Yueyang Tower Essay” of Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song contains the phrase “fishing songs answering one another”), and in later periods the forms of flower-drum opera and Baling opera were absorbed, producing a performing form that is both song and dance. Dongting fishing songs are created orally and performed orally by fishermen, and are handed down generation after generation within groups or families. Dongting fishing songs have a broad mass base and are the crystallization of the wisdom of the fishermen of Dongting Lake and of the people of the surrounding areas.
Work songs
One of the kinds of Dongting fishing songs classified by subject matter; the whole category numbers close to a thousand.
Life songs
One of the kinds of Dongting fishing songs classified by subject matter.
Love songs
One of the kinds of Dongting fishing songs classified by subject matter.
Parting songs
One of the kinds of Dongting fishing songs classified by subject matter.
Prayer songs
One of the kinds of Dongting fishing songs classified by subject matter.
Four constituent genres
Dongting fishing songs consist of boat songs, water-chestnut songs (lotus-gathering tunes), nuo-nuo-dong and the fisherman's drum tube; the boat songs and the water-chestnut songs are mostly sung on the water, while nuo-nuo-dong and the fisherman's drum tube are mostly sung on the shore.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to their subject matter, Dongting fishing songs fall into five kinds — work songs, life songs, love songs, parting songs and prayer songs — numbering close to a thousand.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Fishing Songs · Fishing Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
After the fishing industry of the Dongting Lake area declined, the occasions on which fishing songs are sung have shifted from boats and shores to the stage and the community, and the cultural departments of the Yueyang area protect them through song-duelling gatherings, taking fishing songs into schools and making thematic recordings; a considerable number of traditional pieces have already been recorded and sorted.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Su Shaoqin 05-2173
- Shu Xinhu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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