Qinglinsimiyu
01 · Historical Records
In July 2002 the Hubei Federation of Literary and Art Circles, after repeated demonstration by experts and scholars, named Qinglinsi village the Hubei Qinglinsi Riddle Village; in 2002 the village was named a home of folk art of Hubei by the Hubei cultural department; and in 2003 Qinglinsi village was named a Chinese riddle village by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association. At the end of the twentieth century, with the development and construction of the Gaobazhou hydroelectric project on the Qing river, this area became the main submerged zone, the relocated population reaching forty per cent of the total, and only nine hundred and twenty-five people now remain.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Qinglinsi village lies in Gaobazhou of Yidu, Yichang, Hubei, an area of long history and distinctive geographical environment. The villagers are good at making and guessing riddles and are crazy about them. In Qinglinsi almost everyone can tell riddles, and men and women, old and young alike test their own pet compositions against one another anywhere and at any time. According to surveys, those who command thirty to a hundred riddles make up fifteen per cent of the village population and those who command more than a hundred make up five per cent. Besides this, the Qinglinsi riddles and riddle songs have been included by the primary and middle schools of Yichang in their local teaching materials. As the cascade development of the Qing river water project goes further, the submerged zone and the range of relocation will certainly expand further, and together with the impact of new forms of cultural consumption the folk-cultural phenomenon of Qinglinsi riddles faces a serious crisis.
Selected Qinglinsi Riddles
One of the Qinglinsi riddle collections.
Selected Qinglinsi Riddle Songs
The riddle-song collection that forms two sides of one thing with the riddles.
Qinglinsi Riddle Village of Hubei, China
One of the collections introducing the Qinglinsi riddle village.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Qinglinsi riddles circulate in the Gaobazhou area of Yidu, Hubei, taking the dialect and rural life of the Qing river basin as their material; the riddle faces are mostly drawn from the local hills and waters, products, farming seasons and household utensils, men and women, old and young can all make and guess riddles, and riddles and riddle songs are two sides of one thing, forming a distinctive cultural space of riddles.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Riddles.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years this unique cultural phenomenon of the Qinglinsi riddle village has drawn wide attention from many scholars and experts throughout the country. The experts hold that Qinglinsi riddles have a strong rural flavour and distinctive local features and combine entertainment, interest and knowledge in one, with important reference value for the study of Chinese folk literature, folklore and local gazetteers. The departments concerned have edited and published six volumes—Selected Qinglinsi Riddles, Second Selection of Qinglinsi Riddles, Best of Qinglinsi Riddles, Selected Qinglinsi Riddle Songs, Qinglinsi Riddle Village of Hubei, China and Selected Riddles of the New Marriage and Childbearing Wind—and have set up an organisation for salvaging and protecting Qinglinsi riddles. The formation of the Qinglinsi riddle village is closely bound up with migration in the Qing river basin and the tradition of local education.
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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