Jiahebanjiage
01 · Historical Records
Dowry songs are traditional folk songs of Jiahe County, Hunan Province; they originated in work chants and in the sung expression of daily life. They originated between the Qin and Han dynasties, had reached a high degree of perfection by the Tang and Song, attained their height around the Ming and Qing, and remained unbroken into the late Qing and early Republic.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dowry songs are wedding and marriage custom music that integrates poetry, song and dance; they are one of the most representative custom music items of the Han nationality, are widely circulated in Jiahe County of Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, and radiate to the surrounding Guiyang, Linwu, Xintian, Lanshan, Dao County and Ningyuan. Whether it is "accompanying the small dowry" or "accompanying the great dowry", all those taking part are women, who are called respectively the song leader, the companion leader, the song-and-dance handler and so forth. The dowry song and dance has a complete structure and an orderly performance procedure, divided into the seating song, playful songs, long songs, dance songs and the like. In the world of folk songs it enjoys the reputation that "in the north there is the orchid flower, in the south there are the dowry songs". Jiahe dowry songs have more than 1,300 traditional pieces and more than 100 newly created songs and dance pieces, consisting mainly of short, lively playful songs. When sung, song and dance are often combined, the performance is strongly dramatic, the structure is rigorous and the melodies are graceful and beautiful. Jiahe dowry songs are an exotic flower that has grown out of the local soil. Jiahe dowry songs are recorded in important music reference works such as the Collection of Chinese Folk Songs, the Dictionary of Chinese Music and the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Chinese Music. Dowry songs became the main musical element of the film Hibiscus Town, of Tan Dun's piano piece Dou Dou and of the opera Chen Family Great House; the adapted choral pieces "Emei Jie" and "The Sun Comes Out to Dry the Yang Family" won gold medals in international competitions. Jiahe dowry songs are the creation of the working women of Jiahe, a mirror reflecting the production and life, the ways of thinking and the marriage customs of women in southern Hunan; and a textbook for cultivating and promoting virtues such as filial piety and respect for the aged, self-discipline and steady conduct, dedication and kindness, solidarity and mutual help, and endurance in hardship.
Seating song
One of the components of the performance procedure of Jiahe dowry song and dance.
Playful songs
One of the components of the performance procedure of Jiahe dowry song and dance; dowry songs consist mainly of short, lively playful songs.
Long songs
One of the components of the performance procedure of Jiahe dowry song and dance.
Dance songs
One of the components of the performance procedure of Jiahe dowry song and dance; when sung, song and dance are often combined and the performance is strongly dramatic.
Role division among women
Whether it is "accompanying the small dowry" or "accompanying the great dowry", all those taking part are women, who are called respectively the song leader, the companion leader, the song-and-dance handler and so forth.
Adapted choral works
Choral pieces adapted from Jiahe dowry songs; they won gold medals in international competitions.
Thirteen-hundred traditional pieces
Jiahe dowry songs have more than 1,300 traditional pieces and more than 100 newly created songs and dance pieces, and are recorded in important music reference works such as the Collection of Chinese Folk Songs, the Dictionary of Chinese Music and the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Chinese Music.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Whenever there is a wedding within Jiahe County and the surrounding area, relatives, friends, neighbours and fellow townsfolk will of their own accord come to the bride's home to accompany the dowry. Their forms of singing include lead singing, unison, antiphonal singing, narrative singing and singing improvised on the spot; the local dialect mixed with the Guanhua of southern Hunan is used as the singing language, producing the characteristics that many sets of words are sung to one melody, that one set of words can be sung to many melodies, and that beat is varied, modes are changeable and intervals leap widely. At the same time, in the course of transmission Jiahe dowry songs have continually moved with the times, actively bringing real life into their traditional forms, and are deeply loved by the local people.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the past, Jiahe dowry songs were sung and transmitted in a spontaneous way. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, dowry songs came to be more widely transmitted and developed. At present the project has six representative inheritors at the provincial, municipal and county levels, and more than 3,000 people can sing dowry songs proficiently. The main inheriting group consists of Jiahe's groups of folk women, members of cultural and arts troupes, singing teams of communities and schools, folk dowry song teams, and the singers at the dowry song transmission bases of Shennong Jiayuan and Leigongjing Village. It flexibly brings the language of modern life into traditional forms, singing about the people and the things around it and spreading positive energy; it has considerable historical, cultural, artistic and social value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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