Suona Art (Qingshan suona)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: suona Art (Qingshan suona)

Applicant: Xiangtan County, Hunan Province

Item No.: 68

Project No.: Ⅱ - 37

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Hunan Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Xiangtan County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: Xiangtan County Cultural Center

Suona Art (Qingshan suona)

Applicant: Xiangtan County, Hunan Province

Suona is a transliteration of "surna" in Arabic. It was widely spread in many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and was introduced to China not later than the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. In Chinese folk, it also has copper flute, tin flute, pear flower, sea flute and other names. In addition, the small suona used in Fujian Nanqu performance is called "Aizai" or "Nanai"; the suona used in Puxian opera accompaniment is called "Meihua" or "chubian", and the larger one is called "Dalong" or "Dahai Flute"; the all wood suona of Uygur nationality is called "surnai"; the suona of Tibetan, Miao, Mongolian, Korean and other nationalities also have different shapes.

Suona is composed of whistle, core, air disc, rod, copper bowl and other parts. It is arranged in order according to the seven sound levels according to the sound holes. The distance between each hole is basically equal. It can flip the seven tones, and the range is generally two octaves plus two degrees. Suona has many kinds of playing skills, such as glide, vomit, air arch, air top, purr, circulation (continuous blowing for a long time) and so on. It is a kind of solo instrument with strong expressive force.

Suona is one of the indispensable musical instruments in the percussion band. In ancient times, besides playing military music, it was also used for the accompaniment of Yamen drum blowing, opera, song and dance, etc. in folk daily life, it was mostly used for festivals, weddings and funerals, and drama scenes.

Qingshan suona is one of the types of Chinese folk percussion music. It is mainly played in qingshanqiao, shigu and Fenshui towns and surrounding areas in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province. It is mainly played in folk activities such as wedding and funeral celebrations, playing with dragons and lions, Buddhist and Taoist ceremonies, and sorcery and Nuo sacrifice. By the Qing Dynasty, wind and percussion music with suona as the main instrument was quite common in Xiangtan folk life.

According to its historical origin, structure and function, the Qupai of Qingshan suona can be divided into three kinds: Night drum, road drum and hall. The night drum brand is a kind of instrumental music for funeral; the road drum brand is mainly composed of Suona, gongs and drums, mostly for marching performance; the hall brand is commonly known as "Zuotang brand", "zuole", "Zuotang", "Dale", etc., which is a common form of percussion music with folk opera. In terms of music structure, name, melody characteristics, performance style and performance skills, all kinds of brands still maintain a relatively primitive style. The representative tunes mainly include crying, flying diagonally, yidiangu, naowugeng, shuangcailian, Jiuqiang, deshengling, shuaier, etc.

Qingshan suona is created on the basis of the typical tonal features of central Hunan. It has strong local characteristics and reflects the aesthetic taste, customs and traditional concepts of the region. It has high artistic and folk culture research value. In the 1920s and 1930s, a large number of excellent suona artists emerged in qingshanqiao area, and qingshanqiao drum music union was established. Members of the trade union have superb performance skills and are well-known. The four counties of Hengshan, Shuangfeng, Xiangtan and Xiangxiang call the performance of Qingshan suona "Qingshan Bridge National Music". At present, although Qingshan suona has a broad mass base in Qingshan bridge and other places, it has been lack of professional and systematic research. After the death of a large number of excellent old artists, many Qupai are also lost. The phenomenon of death of people and art is becoming more and more serious. The performance of Qingshan suona is also facing the crisis of extinction, which urgently needs the active protection of the relevant parties.

Chinese PinYin : Suo Na Yi Shu Qing Shan Suo Na