Lanzhou drum

Lanzhou drum

Lanzhou Drum, also known as Lanzhou Drum Ci and Lanzhou Quzi, is a popular folk form in Lanzhou area and one of the ancient Chinese Quyi. Lanzhou drum is a form of music art mainly composed of sitting and singing. It has rich music cards, beautiful singing voice, elegant style and long lasting charm. It is strictly in line with Lanzhou dialect and has a strong local flavor. Originated in Lanzhou, it distributes in Gaolan, Yuzhong, Baiyin, Dingxi, Lintao and other areas around Lanzhou. The representative plays include Yang Zirong Jianghu and so on.

Now Lanzhou drum has shown a trend of lack of successors, and it is urgent to take effective measures to support and protect it. On May 20, 2006, Lanzhou Drum was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, numbered V-24.

Historical evolution

There is no consensus on the generation and historical age of Lanzhou drum. According to the summary of Siku Quanshu, Zhao Delin (Lingtian Temple) of Song Dynasty started the drum Ci of Shang Diao and composed twelve pieces of Western Chamber with "butterfly love flower". According to the Ming Dynasty Qingyang Li Luoyang (legend has it that he has studied drums), the "Empty Tong Subset" records: "Today, Li Lane's Ci and Song, not to learn but to be able to, rapid high and low are stereotyped, so-called bosom friend is also. Ask him to come out of a certain Lv law, which palace is the merchant? I don't know." Zhenyuan Mushaotang used this saying in Ganning Qing History Brief, saying that "the founder of Guzi Ci was Zhao Delin (Lingtian Temple), the king of Anding County in Song Dynasty". Tao Bin, an expert in modern folk art, also said, "After the legendary biography of Cui Yingying written by Yuan Zhen of Tang Dynasty, there were drum CI rap works written by Zhao Delin of Song Dynasty, followed by the tunes of the Western Chamber Records by Dong Jieyuan of Jin Dynasty." In addition, the Brief History of Rap and Singing Art compiled by the Quyi Institute of the Chinese Academy of Art clearly points out that "Lanzhou Drum originated from the Song Dynasty and was popular in Lanzhou, Gansu Province."

In this way, drum researchers have put forward the following statements: one is that Lanzhou drum may have originated in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, but not excluding the influence of Song Ci and Yuan Qu; the other is that it may have evolved from the tunes of Song Ci and Yuan Qu, and has flesh-and-blood relationship with the Dunhuang Bianwen of the Tang Dynasty; the other is that the northern part of Lanzhou drum was flourished in the Yuan and Ming In Song Dynasty, drum ci, which was widely spread in the north, was first introduced to Anding County, enriched by Zhao Delin, and then introduced to Lanzhou. It also absorbed the advantages of "Ping Diao", "Gong Diao" and "Dang Diao", which were popular in Lanzhou at that time, and became one of the ten popular tunes in Lanzhou. However, the book "Lanzhou Drum Research" puts forward a new view: "Lanzhou Drum should be produced after the formation of Beijing Bajiaogu and Shaanxi Meihu, and it should be said that it was from other places, not by a local person originated..." "Lanzhou Drum, a new local folk art derived from Beijing octagonal drum, began to sing slowly in local entertainment places around the time of Qingdao salty." There are obvious differences in the generations. The book clearly points out the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods of the Qing Dynasty. Nevertheless, there is a common point in the above statements, that is, the emergence of Lanzhou drums is not something one can achieve, but always a process of historical development. As for which opinion is the correct conclusion, it needs further study.

From the eve of the founding of New China to the early decades of the founding of New China, Lanzhou Drum entered a full-blown stage, and a large number of famous drum experts and elites emerged. In 1958, the Lanzhou Cultural Bureau also organized the City Theater School and set up the Lanzhou Drum Training Course. In May 1961, Lanzhou Opera School was merged into Gansu Opera School because the country was in three years of economic difficulties. In the summer of 1961, Lanzhou Drum Training Class was merged into Qin Opera Class. During the "Cultural Revolution", Lanzhou drums were mercilessly impacted, saying that they wanted to break the "four old" and not allow singing. The normal singing of Lanzhou drums was banned. During this period, scholars Mr. Li Haizhou, drum artist Wang Yalu and others created a large number of Lanzhou drum neologisms in praise of the heroes of the times, such as "Jiangjie", "Leifeng", "Huang Jiguang" and "Red Guard Capture" and so on. Lanzhou drum, which accorded with the political situation at that time, could sing again, and quickly restored its original vitality and vitality.

In the 1980s and 1990s, not only domestic scholars attached great importance to research, but also many foreign scholars attracted great interest. In 1983, Professor Zhao Rulan, a Chinese-American from Harvard University, came to Lanzhou to record Lanzhou drums. When she returned to the United States, she translated them into English and was highly praised by American musicians. She regarded this ancient art as a "treasure of China".

Artistic characteristics

Singing form

Lanzhou drum is a traditional form of music mainly composed of singing, in which there are one person, two people and three people singing. The main performing techniques are singing and speaking. Some of the passages are singing without speaking, some are just talking without singing, and some are singing with speaking like singing. Generally, the form of self-playing and self-singing is used. Actors'gestures and facial styles are required to give the audience a beautiful feeling when performing.

Singing style

Lanzhou drum takes Lanzhou dialect as its vocal line and has a complete system. Lanzhou drum plate type is divided into whole board and scattered board. Unlike the Bangzi chamber of traditional opera, its rhythm includes single, duplex and mixed beats, which connect naturally and transit smoothly. In the singing voice, there are also band music styles, such as "Taiping Year", "Yierzao", "Three Flowers", "Falling off", "Falling off", "Overlapping Bridge" and so on, which are similar to the "Ho Spring" in Longju Opera. One singer, everyone and others often use special scenes with warm, tense and infectious atmosphere. In the long-term singing practice, drum predecessors also summed up a set of "five tones" singing techniques. These five tones are: nasal, laryngeal, dental, lip and tongue. The use of "five tones" has special emphasis. It should be used in appropriate places, just right and not in disorder. For example, nasal sounds are often used in places with breath and hate, and dental sounds are often used in places with blame and anger, etc. There are also many singing techniques such as "nozzle", "rigid mouth" and "soft mouth".

Musical instruments

In singing, three strings are used as the main accompaniment instruments, accompanied by Yangqin, Yueqin, Pipa, Erhu, Banhu, Banhu, Banzi, Xiaobell, Xiao, flute, etc. In early years, octagonal drum, four-leaf tile, porcelain dish and other beating rhythm accompaniment, followed by Xiaoyue drum beating rhythm at the beginning.

Tune characteristics

At present, there are 70 tunes in Lanzhou Drum Ten Tunes, which can be divided into four categories: 34 tunes, 18 more tragic tunes, 15 flat tunes and 3 miscellaneous tunes. Of these 70 music cards, a large part is a number of singing methods. Taking "sad tone" as an example, besides the normal "sad tone", there are "two sad tones" and "seven sad sentences". Again, "drum head" has four-character starting method, five-character starting method, and seven-character starting method, as well as scattered rhythm of the octagonal starting method and the middle "fu tune" singing method, etc., flexible and interesting.

Lanzhou drum music includes ten major tunes, which are drum, ci, sadness, crotch, Yue, Ping, Gou, Dang, Ling and Bai. Among them, the three tunes of "Ci", "Crotch" and "Sentence" have been lost and can not be verified. In addition, there are three tones which are not included in the top ten tones, and actually belong to the category of Lanzhou drum. These three tones are "Haidiao", "Fu Qiang" (also known as Fu Ziyu) and "Zhuozi". They are replaced by "Zhuozi", by "Haidiao", and by "Fu Qiang", by "Zhuozi".

Classic repertoire

Lanzhou drum repertoire, collected more than 1,000 kinds of content is very extensive, involving historical stories, folklore, as well as chanting scenery, celebration and so on. There are mainly boudoir songs and heroic songs. The former, such as "Farewell to Heart", "Copying Red", "Yingying's Travel", "Monopoly of the Queen of Flowers", etc., emphasizes the sculpture of algae in the lyrics. The latter, such as "Wusong Dahu", "Lin Chong Running at Night", and "Yanqing Dahu", are popular and fluent, with folk rap and singing literary style. In addition, some reflections of negative birth thoughts, such as Red Dust and Fisherman's Questions and Answers, should come from the hands of feudal scholars. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a number of new programs have been compiled and performed, including "Yang Zirong landing tiger", "Capturing Shanlan Station" and "Robbing a Criminal Car".

Popular area

Originated in Lanzhou, it distributes in Gaolan, Yuzhong, Baiyin, Dingxi, Lintao and other areas around Lanzhou.

Inheritance and protection

Current situation

For a long time, the inheritance and development of Lanzhou drums have been in a state of self-flow. With the diversification of people's artistic appreciation and the decreasing of Lanzhou drums singing activities, Lanzhou drums have shown a trend of lack of successors, and it is urgent to take effective measures to support and protect them.

protective measures

In 2009, the Drum Association of Anning District of Lanzhou moved to the fourth floor of the Anning District Government Culture Museum, which is a stable public venue for old artists funded by the government. The performance cost is also provided by the Anning District Government Culture Museum.

Selected non Heritage

On May 20, 2006, Lanzhou Drum was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, numbered V-24.

representative figure

Wei Shifa, born in 1940 in a family that loves Lanzhou drums, studied Lanzhou drums with his father Wei Wanyu and grandfather Wei Kong Ji at the age of 16. In the dialing of many old artists such as Li Haizhou, Lu Yingkui and Zhang Lizhong, through hard study, careful speculation and research, he grasped Lanzhou drums'tunes and tunes comprehensively and systematically, including all kinds of preludes. Interlude, cross-door music, etc. His representative works include Wood Sword, Xian Jiao Niang and Ta He. In June 2009, Wei Shifa was selected as the representative successor of the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

Chen Zengsan, born in 1950 in Gaolan County, formally studied art at the age of 16 and became an apprentice of Wei Xuejun, the famous "King of Beishan" at that time. During the past 50 years, Chen Zengsan traveled in the countryside of Lanzhou, collected and collated 200,000 words of Lanzhou drum materials, recorded more than 60 audio-visual materials, and collated 150 pages of famous singers'arias, which left valuable information for Lanzhou drum. His representative works include Yu Boya Fuqin and Nanhu Lighting. In December 2012, Chen Zengsan was selected as the representative successor of the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

Drama value

Lanzhou drum with its unique regional characteristics and strong local flavor spread in various counties and districts of Lanzhou, active in urban and rural family courtyards, tea houses and restaurants, deeply rooted in this ancient loess. Its music melody is simple and elegant, melodious and beautiful, rich in content and endless aftertaste. The music system is complete and not fragmented, and the form is not stereotyped. It contains the wisdom and painstaking efforts of the folk artists of past dynasties, and condenses the artistic crystallization accumulated by countless long-term artists. Studying the artistic characteristics and development history of Lanzhou drums is of great significance for protecting and developing the music culture of the ancient Silk Road.

Lanzhou drum lyrics are simple in content and warm in performing atmosphere. It is a well-known form of folk art in Lanzhou area and plays an important role in enriching the cultural life of local people.