Derung Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The Genesis Epic of the Dulong people, the Chuangshi Ge (Song of Genesis), is an encyclopaedia of social development containing more than seven hundred lines, divided into six parts: Ren de Qiyuan (Origin of Humanity), Ren yu Gui de Zhdou (The Struggle of Man and Ghost), Hongshui Taotian (The Great Flood), Jishen de Youlai (The Origin of Deity Sacrifice), Qu Xifu (Taking a Wife) and Ka Que Wa (Ka Que Wa).
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Dulong folk songs, also called "Man Zhu", are the rich and varied folk songs created by the Dulong people over their long course of reproduction and subsistence; they are transmitted mainly in Dulongjiang Township, Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The township lies in the western part of Gongshan County, adjoining Bingzhongluo Township and Cikai Town of Gongshan County to the east, Dang Li Ka Mountain to the south-west, and Chawaluo Township of Chayu County, Tibet Autonomous Region, to the north. Dulong folk songs may be divided into types such as work songs, customary songs, ritual songs, love songs, children's songs and praise songs; their aesthetic taste is distinctive, and they are one of the basic ways in which the Dulong people express emotion and convey poetic feeling in production and daily life. The Dulong work songs are very rich: the Chongbo Ge (Sowing Song) is sung at spring ploughing and sowing, the Shou Liangshi Ge (Gathering the Grain Song) at autumn harvest and threshing, women weaving cloth have the Zhibu Ge (Weaving Song), and men felling timber in the mountains have the Kan Dashu Ge (Felling the Great Tree Song). They use singing to coordinate their movements, unify the rhythm, relieve fatigue and raise their spirits. At traditional festivals, weddings, funerals and other occasions, the Dulong people sing various customary songs to express their thoughts and feelings. For example, at a wedding the Songqin Ge (Song of Sending Off the Bride) is sung; when villages, clans and friends visit one another they entertain each other as lavishly as at New Year, and at the feast the Mu Jiang Diao (Wood-Descending Tune) is sung to express mutual longing; in ritual activities, the worship of the deity is conducted by the great shaman "Nanmusa", who recites the sacrificial text in a chanting manner, and the exorcism of ghosts by the junior shaman "Banwaxi", who recites the sacrificial text in a roaring chant. Ritual songs are sung with methods such as throat-register singing and light timbre, and are full of mysterious colour. The lyrics are mainly in the six-syllable form, and the tunes approximate the intonation of recitation, having the stylistic character of chanting. Dulong folk songs are sung in the Dulong language, in forms including solo, antiphonal duet, and one leader with a chorus. These praise songs have beautiful and moving tunes, their lyrics are composed on the spur of the moment, they are easy to learn and easy to sing, and they are loved by men, women, old and young alike.
Work songs
The Dulong work songs are very rich: the Sowing Song is sung at spring ploughing and sowing, the Gathering the Grain Song at autumn harvest and threshing, women weaving cloth have the Weaving Song, and men felling timber in the mountains have the Felling the Great Tree Song; singing is used to coordinate movement, unify the rhythm and relieve fatigue.
Customary songs
At a wedding the Song of Sending Off the Bride is sung; when villages, clans and friends visit one another they entertain each other lavishly, and at the feast the Wood-Descending Tune is sung to express mutual longing.
Ritual songs
In ritual activities the worship of the deity is conducted by the great shaman "Nanmusa", who recites the sacrificial text in a chanting manner, and the exorcism of ghosts by the junior shaman "Banwaxi", who recites the sacrificial text in a roaring chant; ritual songs are sung with methods such as throat-register singing and light timbre, and are full of mysterious colour.
Love, children's and praise songs
Dulong folk songs may be divided into types such as work songs, customary songs, ritual songs, love songs, children's songs and praise songs; their aesthetic taste is distinctive, and they are one of the basic ways in which the Dulong people express emotion and convey poetic feeling in production and daily life.
Genesis epic
The Genesis Epic of the Dulong people, the Chuangshi Ge (Song of Genesis), is an encyclopaedia of social development containing more than seven hundred lines, divided into six parts: Ren de Qiyuan (Origin of Humanity), Ren yu Gui de Zhdou (The Struggle of Man and Ghost), Hongshui Taotian (The Great Flood), Jishen de Youlai (The Origin of Deity Sacrifice), Qu Xifu (Taking a Wife) and Ka Que Wa (Ka Que Wa).
New folk songs
After the founding of the People's Republic of China the Dulong people won their liberation, and a batch of new folk songs such as The Sun Shines on the Dulong River and My Beloved Hometown appeared.
Six-character lyrics
Dulong folk songs are sung in the Dulong language, in forms including solo, antiphonal duet and one leader with a chorus; the lyrics are mainly in the six-syllable form, and the tunes approximate the intonation of recitation, having the stylistic character of chanting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Dulong villages of Dulongjiang Township are settled by clan, and the folk songs are transmitted mainly within the clan, elders teaching them beside the hearth, in the intervals of work and on ritual occasions; the worship of the deity is conducted by the great shaman "Nanmusa", who recites the sacrificial text in a chanting manner, and the exorcism of ghosts by the junior shaman "Banwaxi", who recites the sacrificial text in a roaring chant, the singing making much use of throat-register singing and light timbre and being full of mysterious colour.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
After the founding of the People's Republic of China the Dulong people won their liberation, and a batch of new folk songs such as Taiyang Zhaodao Dulongjiang (The Sun Shines on the Dulong River) and Keaide Xiangcun (My Beloved Hometown) appeared, adding vitality to the living transmission and the innovative development of Dulong folk songs. Dulong folk songs are sung generation after generation and transmitted mainly through the clan. At present Gongshan Dulong and Nu Autonomous County has eighteen representative inheritors, who have long been engaged in transmission, protection and related work. Dulong folk songs are rooted in Dulong traditional culture; they are both a precious resource of the folk oral literature of this ethnic group and an important component of its traditional music culture, fully embodying the course of the Dulong people's development and the conditions of their production and daily life, and they carry high artistic, social, historical and cultural value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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