Tujia Sayeerhe
01 · Historical Records
Badong lies on both banks of the Wu Gorge of the Yangtze, and to the south it adjoins the Tujia villages of the Qingjiang basin. "Sayeh" is transmitted within the county both around Xiqiuwan and Yandu River north of the river and around Yesanguan and Shuibuya south of it. By local custom, whenever an old person passes away at the age of a hundred, relatives and friends who hear the report of the three-barreled gun go at once to the mourning family to help; dancing the funeral is both a way of paying condolence and a form of mutual aid among neighbours.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Neighbours from the mountains and villages around gather in the mourning family's hall before the coffin of the deceased. The men dance and sing to the drumbeats, while the women serve tea and water to the guests who have come to help; the atmosphere is cheerful and warm and lasts through the whole night. "Sayeh" is transmitted mainly in most parts of Badong County of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, and in the neighbouring Jianshi County and Hefeng County as well as parts of Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County and Changyang Tujia Autonomous County of Yichang City. Badong "Sayeh" is an art in which song, dance and music are perfectly fused into one. The polydric effect of singing with long drawn-out cries is strange and beautiful, and the melodic form built on its core three-note series is very distinctive. The sung content praises ancient worthies, praises the deceased, sings of place names and tells love stories. Some lyrics use an antithetical upper and lower seven-syllable line structure, others three lines or five lines, and others irregular long and short lines; lyrics and refrains are interspersed within the melody, showing the marked features of the "chuan haozi" interlocking style of folk songs in western Hubei. The highly rhythmic 6/8 metre and syncopated note rhythm are comparatively rare in other genres of folk song, especially in large-scale folk song suites. The primitive, simple and graceful carriage of sideward travel, bent knees, trembling steps and circling hands brings out the bold and unrefined character of the Tujia people. When the Tujia dance "Sayeh", they neither drive away spirits nor chase off ghosts; the purpose is only to "have a lively time for one evening and then rest". Badong "Sayeh" is basically danced by pairs: one song master keeps the drum, beats it and leads the singing, and the others join in the responses. Sometimes four dancers appear on the floor, which is called "four people threading flowers". Although there are many sung melodies and dance passages, there is no fixed programme in performance: anyone who can dance and wants to may step onto the floor at any time to replace the dancer currently dancing; and after the song master finishes one piece he has great freedom in what to sing next, and the lyrics too may be improvised on the spot. It has no strict line of master-to-disciple succession, nor does it require formal apprenticeship. Badong "Sayeh" expresses the Tujia people's open view of life and death and their strong sense of community, and strengthens the sense of identity and continuity in the communities concerned.
Pairs and the four-person cross
The Badong dance is normally performed in pairs, the drummer leading the song with all joining in; sometimes four dancers cross in the middle.
Chuan Haozi (interwoven calls)
Its lyrics run from paired seven-character lines to irregular verse, with words and vocables interwoven in the western Hubei 'call' manner.
The three-note core of the melody
Song, dance and music fuse in one art whose sung core is built on a three-note melodic cell with striking heterophonic effects.
A dance without fixed order
Despite its many tunes and sequences there is no fixed order: anyone who can dance may step in, and the drummer freely chooses the next song.
Huang Zaixiu, king of the mourning drum
The inheritor Huang Zaixiu, born in Badong in 1953, is known as the king of the mourning drum and has trained younger performers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
As a funeral song-and-dance custom of the Tujia people in the Qingjiang basin of western Hubei, what is remarkable about "Sayeh" is that it treats a funeral as if it were a festive occasion.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tujia Sayeerhe · Tujia Sayeerhe · Tujia Sayeerhe.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The dance routines and movements are rich and graceful, and the folklore value and historical value contained in the sung lyrics and the dance movements are precious beyond measure, providing scholars and literary and artistic workers with extremely rich material for research. Huang Zaixiu (as recorded in the official file of associated inheritors): Male, Tujia, born in June 1953, native of Badong County, Hubei Province. Because of his outstanding skill he is often invited to give performances in surrounding areas, and is known as the "king of the Sayeh drum". He has achieved outstanding results many times in national-level minority art competitions and folklore cultural exchange activities. Representative inheritor of the Tujia Sayeh in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. He actively takes on disciples and transmits the art, among whom are promising young performers such as Tan Xuecong and Tan Ping'an.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tanziyou 02-0365
- Zhang Yanke 02-0366
- Mao Fangming 05-2225
- Huang Zaixiu 05-2226
- Zhou Chunqin 05-2227
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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