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Zhejiang Folk Instrumental Music
2006-7-4 11:23:40
     Zhejiang folk instrumental music can date back to ancient times. In Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Huiji (the present Shaoxing) used to be the capital of Yue State, so place around Zhejiang was of great strategic importance in the war between Wu State and Yue State. Judging from the cultural relics unearthed in past years, music and culture of the Middle Plain had begun to spread in Zhejiang at the time. Among the important pieces of the cultural relics are the Yong Bell with cloud-and-thunder decorative patterns of the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed in 1969 around Caolou Village of Changxing, the bronze cymbal of Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed in 1986 in Pan'an. The serial bells (a set of 7 pieces) unearthed in 1969 from Jiangshan mountains and the bronze Zheng (bell-shaped gong used in march) unearthed in 1977 in Shaoxing belong to the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period. What's more, a Warring State tomb in Mt. Huangjia of Changchuanba, Haiyan excavated primitive porcelain Yong bells (13 items), Gou Diao (12 pieces), and Zhun Yu (2 pieces), and Chongxian of Yuhang excavated some primitive pseudo-bronze serial bells. In March of 1982, a Warring State tomb in Mt. Lion of Shaoxing excavated a 170*130*115 mm. copper model house. In the house were 6 musicians, with 4 instrument players and 2 singing girls kneeling on the ground. The vivid and lifelike figures displayed a singing-and-dancing scene with a band.
image Bone Whistles
    From Qing Dynasty to Han Dynasty, the Middle Plain was the political, economic as well as cultural center of China. But in the last years of Western Jin Dynasty, a great many northern people moved southward. They not only opened up new eras for Zhejiang economy, but also enhanced Zhejiang culture in that music began to thrive with instrumental accompaniment. In recent years, Shaoxing, Yuhang, Wuyi and other places alike unearthed in bulks celadon burial furnishings of Jin Dynasty, on which there were figures of people beating drums, playing instruments, dancing and doing vaudeville. We can infer from the carefully playing musicians that this is a scene of "Bai Xi (variety shows)" with rich contents which was fully developed in Han Dynasty.
image
Two-holed Bone Whistle
Three-holed Bone Whistle
Two-holed Bone Whistle
   
Single-holed Pottery Xun image
     In Eastern Jin Dynasty, the celebrated calligrapher Wang Xizhi wrote The Preface of Lanting Collection in Shanyin (the present Shaoxing). It could be inferred from it that instrumental music had already been flourishing among Zhejiang folks by then. According to Deqing County Annals written during Emperor Kang Xi's Reign, there were Qian Xi (Front Stream) Workshop and Hou Xi (Back Stream) Workshop in the south of the county. It was the home to many famous performers of the Southern Dynasty. The number of the workshops still reached to several hundreds in Tang Dynasty. (note: Qian Xi is called Yuying Stream today and now lies in the south of the town of Wukang). So this area used to be an important training place to foster music talents. Besides, the General Anthology of Yuefu Poems (compiled by Guo Maoqian of the Song Dynasty) listed 7 Qian Xi Songs written by Shen Wan (or Shen Liu) of Jin Dyansty. They specified the 15 musical instruments as bell, Qing (chime stone), Qin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument), Se (a twenty-five-stringed plucked instrument), Konghou (harp, an ancient plucked stringed instrument), Zhu (an ancient stringed instrument), Zheng (flat stringed instrument with anc. five and later thirteen strings), Ji Qin (a ancient plucked instrument), pi-pa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard), Jie Gu (an ancient drum), Sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument), flute, Xiao (a vertical bamboo flute), Chi (an ancient eight-holed pipe instrument), and Xun (an egg-shaped, holed wind instrument). So they amounted to quite a medium sized band for accompaniment.
image Burial furnishing made by Yue's kiln
   
image Primitive porcelain Yong bells
     In 610, the Great Canal was opened for transportation. It contributed to more frequent economic and cultural communication between the north and the south. Zhejiang became more important to the country day by day. Hangzhou, as the terminal of the Great Canal, had become the renowned city in the southeast for the precious, the rare and the rich. Bai Juyi described such pomp in his poem Moon of the Lantern Festival: lamplights light up every fair and every household flows with songs and music; the forgotten moon misses its home back, but still is reluctant to leave the glamorous Hangzhou. At the time, songs with musical accompaniment was quite commonplace.
     Ci (classical poetry conforming to a definite pattern), which shaped in Tang Dynasty and prevaild in Song Dyansty, used to be called Qu Zi Ci (tuned Ci) or Za Qu. This type of folk songs was a great appeal to the scholars of the time. They would offer to compose a poem to a ready tune or even write new songs, thus providing rich singing materials for the city and the palace. The popularity of singing also pushed the growth of instrumental music. During the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty, many celebrated Ci writers as well as musical talents used to reside and work in Zhejiang, such as Su Dongpo, Zhou Bangyan, Zhang Xian, Liu Yong, Jiang Kui and Zhang Yan. They left behind substantive lyrics and music. Judging from the names of music played among the folks, they originated from those of Tang and Song dynasties, because some still retain the same name.
image The copper model house made in the Warring State Period
     The Southern Song Dynasty witnessed a further economical development in the capital Lin'an and the resultant cultural growth. To meet people's increasing needs of culture life, 23 Wa She, assemblies for entertainment, were established in Hangzhou. Besides, there were 13 Gou Lan for folk artists to perform in. The programs included singing-and-dancing, singing-and-talking, local operas, acrobatics, martial arts, so on and so forth. The instruments could either be played for accompaniment or alone for performance. The player could conduct the performance in Da Yue (grand music), or Xi Yue (refined music, an instrumental ensemble of Xiao, Sheng, Qin and Fang Xiang), or Qing Yue (clear music, an instrumental ensemble of Sheng, Bi Li - the Tarter pipe, Fang Xiang, Xiao Ti Gu - drum, Pai Gu - drum and Zha Zi), or Xiao Yue Qi (mini band of one or two instruments) or Gu Ban (drum and clappers, with flute playing the tune). (Refer to the issue of "musical department of Qianchun Workshop" in The Past Stories of Wulin.) Artists had the professional organizations called "She Hui (society)". There were dozens of musical or singing-and-dancing societies in Hangzhou, for example, Qingyin and Eyun. (Refer to Chapter One of Meng Liang Lu written by Wu Zimu of Song Dynasty.) Especially on holidays like the Lantern Festival, the performances were in full swing. "Lantern light and music was everywhere", "whoever knew how to play would bring out their instruments and give performances" "all the public houses for drinks hung out lanterns, played music and beat the drums to the loudest." (Chapter one of Meng Liang Lu).
image Bronze Cymbal (ancient musical instrument used in the army, resembling an inverted tongue-less bell)

    

     The art of ancient Qin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument), which was prevalent already before Tang Dynasty, reached another peak in Southern Song Dynasty. The "Zhejiang School" led by the outstanding player Guo Mian (approx 1190 ~1260, alias Chu Wang, local born in Yongjia) was the most influential. His students Liu Zhifang, Mao Minzhong, Xu Yu and Yang Zuan all turned up excellent players of the generation and contributed to the keeping of traditional music and the creation of new ones. The magnum opus of Guo Mian included Xiao Xiang Shui Yun (Clouds Over Water In Hunan Province), Fan Cang Lang (On Dark Blue Waves), Qiu Hong (Autumn Swan Goose), etc. In the "Zhejiang School", Xu Yu founded a branch, the four generations of which were all well-known player until the Ming Dynasty. The "Zhejiang School" became the most important one in Qin's circle of the country since Song Dynasty.

     The rise of Za-Ju of Song and Yuan Dynasty was another stimulus for the development of musical art. "Xi Wen" (alias Wenzhou Za-Ju or Yongjia Za-Ju), which originated from among the folks of Wenzhou Zhejiang during Xuanhe Year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1119~1125), blended with elements of northern dramas in Yuan dynasty, helped bring about the summit in opera music history in Ming and Qing Dynasty. Along with it was the birth of great many local operas in Zhejiang. At the same time, singing-and-talking music came to a boom around Zhejiang. The folk instrumental music took in songs from operas and singing-and-talking (including tunes and drum beats) as independent programs for instrumental performances. What's more, inspired by them, it produced many large-scale instrumental music cycles. Suona horn appeared then and the extensive use of it played an important part in the development of the "blow-and-beat" music, the main music genre of Zhejiang.
image Pei Er Gou Diao of Spring and Autumn Period, unearthed in Shaoxing in 1977
     The "blow-and-beat" music, featuring the use of Suona horns, was played extensively on ceremonial occasions or important holidays in Zhejiang since Ming and Qing Dynasty. In his book Memories About the Dreams in Tao Hut, Zhang Dai of later Ming Dynasty mentioned Suona horns in particular for several times when he tried to record customs around Hangzhou and Shaoxing in such articles as Bao Han Suo, Mei Shi Tang Deng (Lanterns in Mei Shi Hall), Shaoxing In A Sea Of Lanterns, West Lake In Mid 7th Month, and Yue Customs - Sweeping The Grave (pay respects to a dead person at his tomb). And during the reign of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the folk painter of Pujiang, Li Weixian (1825~1907) painted a colored drawing of people playing instruments, vividly reproducing the real scene of the folk "blow-and-beat" music.
     Besides, the pi-pa solo which went around among the folks since Tang and Song Dynasty, engendered many genres in Qing Dynasty due to different terrains, teachers, the pedigree of music scores and different performing styles. In Zhejiang, many famous pi-pa players presented themselves. In the 18th century, Chen Mufu of Hangzhou was known as the pi-pa master of the "Zhejiang School". He excelled at playing Da Qu like Zhaojun Yuan (Zhaojun Took The Leave), Bu Bu Gao (Higher Each Step), Ba Wang Qie Jia (The Defeat Of Xiang Yu - the powerful prince in ancient China), Yue Er Gao (Moon Hanging High) and Hai Qing Na He (Hai Qing Catching The Crane). The pi-pa players of Wuxi, Jiangsu, Hua Wenbin (1784~1859) and Hua Wengui compiled The Private Copy of Pi-pa Music Scores of Northern and Southern Schools (abbr. Hua's Music Scores, published in 1818), which was the first pi-pa music score officially published in the nation's history. The music they collected was basically from Chen Mufu of the "Zhejiang School" and Wang Junxi of the "Zhili (Hebei) School. Li Fangyuan (or Zufen, approx. 1850 ~1901) of Pinghu was the most celebrated pi-pa master of his time. He compiled Thirteen Cycles of New Da Qu Pi-pa Music Scores of Northern and Southern Schools (abbr. Li's Music Scores, published in 1985), and included some music that were not found in Hua's Music Scores. Li was particularly careful in marking the fingerings, which was good for the spreading of pi-pa playing skills. From his great-great-grandfather to him, all the five generations had been playing pi-pa. They were called the "Pinghu School", very influential around Zhejiang.
image Drum Boat
    When it comes to the ancient Zheng (a Chinese zither with 25 strings), Wang Yuncheng and his son enjoyed great reputation in Zhejiang, according to another player Wang Xun. Around 1900, their students like Jiang Yinchun rose to fame and were especially good at playing Da Qu. In 1920, Jiang taught Wang Xun several Da Qu music such as Hai Qing Na He (Hai Qing Catching The Crane), Jiang Jun Ling (General) and Yue Er Gao (Moon Hanging High).
     After liberation, the music staff of Zhejiang compiled and published A Selection of Zhejiang Folk Instrumental Music, A Selection of Zhejiang New Instrumental Music in Thirty Years and The Collection of Chinese Folk Instrumental Music-Zhejiang Volume one after another. These large amounts of artistic inheritance laid a solid foundation for the production of new works. The flute solo Morning , composed by Zhao Songting in 1955, combined features of both the tender River South and the bold North and was invited to join the performance at the 6th World Youth Gather-Together. The dance music of Picking Tea Leaves, composed by Zhou Dafeng in 1958, was received very warmly for its beautiful flowing melody and its distinct flavor of the region. The Paean Of Fishing Boats adapted from the instrumental music Zhoushan Gons and Drums had become the repertoire of many Zhejiang art troupes on their trips abroad. It got the gold medal in the folk music contest during the 7th World Youth Gather-Together. Since 1985, Zhejiang has produced many excellent programs through every music and dance festival. For instance, Primitive Hunting Scenes composed by Qian Zhaoxi used a bone whistle copy of the one unearthed from Hemudu of Yuyao as the leading instrument, and won the first Zhejiang "excellent product award of Lunxun literature and arts".
image Drum Set
    Zhejiang folk instrumental music not only has a long history, but also has a great variety. It falls into the following categories: Si Zhu featuring the combination of stringed instruments and pipe instruments, Chui Da (blow-and-beat music) known as the "Gongs and Drums of Eastern Zhejiang", Cu Chui Luo Gu (roughly blowing with gongs and drums) featuring Suona horns, Xi Chui Luo Gu (delicately blowing with gongs and drums) featuring flutes and Luo Gu (gongs and drums) featuring solely gongs and drums.
     According to ways of performing, Zhejiang folk instrumental music can be classified as solo and concert. Solo can be further divided into pipe wind instrument, stringed instrument and plucked instrument while concert can be further divided into Si Zhu (featuring the combination of stringed instruments and pipe instruments), Chui Da (blow-and-beat music) and Luo Gu (gongs and drums).
     Solo: In Zhejiang history, both talented players and excellent music came forth in great numbers. Judging from the collected material, Xiao (a vertical bamboo flute) is the most important instrument for the pipe wind kind, Er-Hu (urheen) for the stringed instruments, pi-pa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard) and San-Xian (Chinese trichord) for the plucked instruments, each having established their master players and magnum opus. The following were a few examples of them: Song Jinglian and his wind instrument solo Partridges, Sun Wenming and his Er-Hu solo Flowing Waves, Li Fangyuan of the "Pinghu School" and his Thirteen Sets of New Da Qu Pi-pa Music Scores of Northern and Southern Schools, Zhu Guangrong and his San-Xian solo The Wave Road.
image Gong Set
    Concert: including Si Zhu (featuring the combination of stringed instruments and pipe instruments), Chui Da (blow-and-beat music) and Luo Gu (gongs and drums).
     Si Zhu: is the music that combines the use of stringed instruments and pipe instruments like flute, Sheng (a reed pipe wind instrument) and Guan (a wind instrument). Ban-Gu (a small drum), Mu-Yu (wooden fish ¨D a percussion instrument) and Peng-Ling (clinking bell) are often used to make time. Occasionally, gongs and drums are used to make several sounds for certain artistic conception. Si Zhu is an important breed of Zhejiang folk instrumental music, with different subgroups for different areas. Single music is most common is its structure and variation is often added in its repetition part. There are also many music cycles in "South Yangzi String and Pipe Ensemble", constructed together by interlinks of several singles or derivational ones from one single.
     Performance and development of Zhejiang Si Zhu centered mainly round the northern Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou plain. History of Jin Dynasty - Music Annal pointed out that Zhejiang is within the coverage of Wu songs. Most of the 15 instruments used by Qing Shang Yue (clean music) were mainly bamboo pipe instruments and stringed ones. Xi Yue (delicate music) of Hangzhou during Southern Song Dynasty was even more performances of solely string and pipe ensembles. So it was the most popular kind of music in the area, especially the "South Yangzi String and Pipe Ensemble".
image Ancient Pavilion
     The "South Yangzi String and Pipe Ensemble" began to prevail in south Jiangsu, north Zhejiang and Shanghai in the last years of Qing Dynasty. Little by little, it had its own music and distinguished itself from others as being rich, delicate, relaxing, minityped and flexible. It extended its influence from the self-entertaining play in the cities to the vast rural areas and was heard on ceremonial occasions and holidays. It was mainly composed of folk music. There are "Eight Chef-d'oeuvre" frequently played in northern Zhejiang, namely, Lao San Liu, Man San Liu, Zhong Hua Liu, Man Liu Ban, Huan Le Ge (happy song), Yun Qing (celebration of clouds), Xing Jie (parade) and Si He Ru Yi (good luck). The number of the players in the band varies from 2 (with only one string and one pipe) to 10. The city music differs itself from the rural one. In the city, the scholarly or the well-trained players emphasized dazzling fingerings and wanted their music to be as graceful, splendid and delicate as possible, whereas in the rural areas, the countrymen liked the use gongs and drums to make their music more simple, unadorned, straightforward and wild.
image Drum Pavilion of Shengxian County
    Chui Da: is a main music genre popular among Zhejiang folks. It is also called "Gu Chui (drum and blow)" in the area. It got the title "Gongs and Drums of Eastern Zhejiang" as the music there was most distinguishable. It is a combination of pipe wind instruments and percussion instruments such as gongs and drums. Stringed instruments are often added into the music. Music featuring Suona horns is called Cu Chui Luo Gu (roughly blowing with gongs and drums); music featuring flutes is known as Xi Chui Luo Gu (delicately blowing with gongs and drums). If necessary, Xian-Feng (trombone) and Hao-Tong (copper clarion) can also be worked into the band. Chui Da is so closely related to life that people cannot do without it on ceremonial occasions and holidays. In the old times, a Chui Da band was always an indispensable component in the rituals when people prayed to god, worshiped ancestors and conducted office duties.
     According to recordation in Meng Liang Lu of Southern Song Dynasty and Memories About the Dreams in Tao Hut of the last years of Ming Dynasty, Chui Da was extensively applied in Zhejiang. Some musical compositions had a long history. Legends had it that Zuo Tong Luo of Huangyan handed down from Song Dynasty while Hua Luo Gu of Dongyang dated back to Ming Dynasty. Since Ming and Qing Dynasty, the thriving of operas and folk arts had great impact on the development of Chui Da music. So far, homonymous compositions with operas are still common in Chui Da music.
     In addition, most tunes of Zhejiang Chui Da originated from the popular opera music of the area (for example, Kun Qu, Wu Opera, Shao Opera, Ou Opera, Diao Qiang and Beijing Opera) and some folk songs.
image A Set of Ten Gongs
    Luo Gu: is the music of the sole use of percussion instruments as gongs, drums and cymbals. It is common around Zhejiang and is used extensively. As another performing form of "Gongs and Drums of Eastern Zhejiang", Qing Luo Gu (clean gongs and drums) used a greater variety of instruments, amounting up to more than 30 kinds. Through different sound levels and pitches produced by different instruments, added in rich rhythms and variation of forces, the players create the wanted atmosphere to express their feelings.
     The area or the music each has its own combination of instruments. The most common is the quadriad of a drum, a small gong, a big gong and a cymbal. Then the accustomed instrument is added. For example, as a frequent case in Ningbo, one more player is needed for a set of four drums, and another is needed for a set of ten gongs. In Jinhua, Su Luo (gongs of Su) and Da Bo (big cymbals) are customary, only that the numbers of the instruments can be adjusted to the situation.
     The musical composition of Luo Gu is usually very long, composed of many singles. It is performed according to the characteristics of each single, the overall arrangement and the directions of the conductor. In the old times, it was often played on ceremonial occasions, in the grand parade of Lantern Festival, and in or before the performance of some local operas.
image The artist playing the Four Big Gongs