Ganzhouxiaodiao

Ⅱ-179Traditional MusicZhangyeshiganzhou, GansuBatch 5 (2021)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

In the 4th and 5th centuries CE, the Northern Liang king Juqu Mengxun absorbed the music of Kucha, of the Hu and Qiang peoples and of the Han, created the "Qin-Han Music", and afterwards rearranged it into the "Xiliang Music". In the Tang dynasty the "Xiliang Music" developed further and became one of the principal pieces of the court's "Ten Pieces of Music", later developing into the "Ganzhou Daqu"; from the "Ganzhou Daqu" there further broke off such small tunes as "Ganzhou Man", "Ganzhou Po", "Ganzhou Zi", "Ganzhou Bian" and "Basheng Ganzhou".

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhangye was anciently called Ganzhou; Ganzhou xiaodiao is folk music current in Zhangye City, Gansu Province. The Zhangye oasis lies in the heart of the thousand-li Hexi Corridor, at the junction of the north and south lines of the ancient Silk Road and of the Juyan ancient road; to the south it rests against the Qilian Mountains, to the north it leans on the Heli and Longshou mountains, and the Heihe River — the second largest inland river in China — runs across the whole territory, so the area has long been known as "Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall". Research shows that the embryo of Ganzhou xiaodiao can be traced back to the music of the Donghui Mountain people. These Ganzhou small tunes were further developed by folk artists into the Ganzhou xiaodiao of today. From the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Ganzhou xiaodiao gradually merged into the folk shehuo. Ganzhou xiaodiao consists of qupai and quzi; it has a great many pieces and forms its own system. Its tunes are loud and clear, simple and fluent, winding and lingering; it inherits the ancient music of Zhangye, broadly absorbs folk songs and seasonal small tunes, and also fuses local pieces with pieces from outside. Its language is plain and humorous, easy to pick up, and rich in local colour. In performance it is usually accompanied by an ensemble and sung by several people; it may also be sung in antiphonal duets by two people, or self-accompanied and sung by one person, or sung without accompaniment, going from village to village and performing in the streets. Its greatest characteristic is the improvisatory nature of the performance: performers can compose and sing their lyrics on the spot according to different settings and for different subjects, so that it is constantly given new content in different historical periods. Ganzhou xiaodiao is rich and lively in content and broad in subject matter; its lyrics narrate history, reflect love, happy life and social phenomena, and also urge people to shun evil and follow good. In addition, the ingenious combination of traditional forms with individual creation has given Ganzhou xiaodiao powerful vitality and a broad popular basis. It carries the historical information of the many cultures of Ganzhou District; it is an encyclopaedia reflecting the spiritual outlook of the people of Ganzhou in different historical periods.

Xiliang Music

In the Tang dynasty the "Xiliang Music" developed further and became one of the principal pieces of the court's "Ten Pieces of Music", later developing into the "Ganzhou Daqu"; from the "Ganzhou Daqu" there further broke off such small tunes as "Ganzhou Man", "Ganzhou Po", "Ganzhou Zi", "Ganzhou Bian" and "Basheng Ganzhou".

Ganzhou Daqu (Great Piece of Ganzhou)

In the Tang dynasty the Xiliang Yue was further developed and became one of the principal pieces of the court's Ten Departments of Music; it later grew into the Ganzhou Daqu, and from the Ganzhou Daqu there were in turn split off a group of smaller pieces, namely Ganzhou Man, Ganzhou Po, Ganzhou Zi, Ganzhou Bian and Basheng Ganzhou, or Ganzhou in Eight Tones. Zhangye, anciently called Ganzhou, stands where the southern and northern lines of the old Silk Road meet the Juyan road, with the Qilian Mountains to the south and the Heli and Longshou ranges to the north, and the Heihe, the second largest inland river in China, running across the whole prefecture; it has long been known as the Jiangnan of the frontier. Ganzhou Diao traces its origins to the music of the Donghui mountain people, was carried into folk shehuo gatherings in the late Ming and early Qing, and today stands as a body of music made up of both tune-patterns and self-contained pieces, numerous enough to form a system of their own, loud and clear in tone, plain and flowing, tender and extended, inheriting the music of ancient Zhangye while absorbing widely from folk songs and seasonal ditties and also fusing native melodies with tunes brought from elsewhere.