Zhuang Tianqinyishu
01 · Historical Records
The tianqin uses a gourd as its sound box, peach wood for its neck and pegs, and has two or three strings; it has a remote origin. After the Zhuang ancestors created the tianqin they used the sound of the instrument to commune with heaven and earth and the voice of song to express feeling; its artistic form has been handed down through generations in the villages of the Zuojiang River basin and on the China-Vietnam border, and it spread to neighbouring counties and districts along with the movements of the tianqin masters.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Zhuang tianqin art is also called 'singing tian', 'plucking tian' and 'dancing tian'. It is a traditional song-and-dance music form that combines singing, plucking and dancing, and it is transmitted in Longzhou, Pingxiang, Ningming, Daxin, Tiangeng and Fusui of Chongzuo City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in Fangcheng District of Fangchenggang City, and in the areas of the Vietnamese Dai, Nong and Tai peoples along the China-Vietnam border. Zhuang tianqin art has a remote origin. The Zhuang ancestors created the tianqin, used the sound of the instrument to commune with heaven and earth and the voice of song to express feeling, and after generations of transmission and development it gradually evolved, on the basis of music-and-dance of folk belief rituals, into an art of song and dance music. The tianqin is a plucked instrument, with a gourd as its sound box, peach wood for its neck and pegs, and two or three strings. Seated singing and plucking is the basic form of tianqin art, performed at weddings, full-month celebrations, longevity feasts and festivals. On such occasions the performer sits cross-legged on a mat, with a string of bells tied to the big toe of the right foot, and shakes the bells to mark the beat and accompany the singing. The common performing forms are one person singing with plucking or several people singing together with plucking. The performers call themselves 'tianqin masters'; the performing space is the family hall at home, the market ground of the Nongdong festival, and the like. The content of the singing and plucking is improvised by the tianqin master according to the nature of the ritual and the circumstances of the host family, singing the 'Longevity Song' at a longevity feast, the 'Full-Month Song' at a full-month celebration and the 'Opening the Door Tune' on entering the house; the content is rich and vivid, and it bears the typical marks of Zhuang folk oral literature. The dance in tianqin art is called 'dancing tian', and it is generally performed at the Spring Festival and at the Nongdong festival. When the tianqin master comes to the 'Joyful Tune', the assistant dances the 'Fan Dance', everyone joins in, and the atmosphere of the festival is carried to its height. Tianqin art joins song, dance and music, using the techniques of plucking, plectrum playing, running, sweeping, percussion, double note, glissando, together with the shaking and trembling of a bronze bell, to set off the singing and to form a polyphonic music of singing and instrumental playing. Traditional melodies include the 'Opening the Door Tune', 'Clearing the Road Tune', 'Teasing the Sky', 'Relieving Melancholy Tune', 'Releasing the Geese', 'Galloping Horse Tune', 'Joyful Tune' and others. In recent years tianqin art has gradually taken to the stage and become an effective form of dissemination for Zhuang performance art. Every year related cultural exchange performances are held with Vietnam, so that the art becomes a bridge of cultural exchange.
Joyful Tune and Fan Dance
When the tianqin master comes to the 'Joyful Tune', the assistant dances the 'Fan Dance', everyone joins in, and the atmosphere of the festival is carried to its height.
Blessing and opening songs
The content of the singing and plucking is improvised by the tianqin master according to the nature of the ritual and the circumstances of the host family, singing the 'Longevity Song' at a longevity feast, the 'Full-Month Song' at a full-month celebration and the 'Opening the Door Tune' on entering the house.
Seated singing with bell percussion
Seated singing and plucking is the basic form of tianqin art, performed at weddings, full-month celebrations, longevity feasts and festivals; the performer sits cross-legged on a mat, with a string of bells tied to the big toe of the right foot, and shakes the bells to mark the beat and accompany the singing.
Tianqin masters and venues
The performers call themselves 'tianqin masters'; the performing space is the family hall at home, the market ground of the Nongdong festival, and the like; the common performing forms are one person singing with plucking or several people singing together with plucking.
Singing, plucking and dancing
Zhuang tianqin art is a traditional song-and-dance music form combining singing, plucking and dancing; the dance within tianqin art is called 'dancing tian' and is generally performed at the Spring Festival and at the Nongdong festival.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chongzuo City lies in the Zuojiang River basin in the southwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and borders Vietnam. The Zhuang, Han, Yao and other peoples live there, and the Zhuang account for 89.43% of the total population.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Tianqin art has both the strict formality of ritual and the lively vitality of popular participation; it has very distinctive features of Zhuang song-and-dance music. Its transmission is mainly by families, by master-apprentice teaching and by community transmission. Tianqin art has a long history, rich content and a unique form, and is closely bound up with the life of the Zhuang people. It carries strong folk cultural features, clear characteristics of ethnic song-and-dance music and distinctive features of ethnic oral literature; it is a bond of ethnic identity and a vehicle of cultural exchange between China and abroad, and it has considerable historical, cultural and artistic 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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