Single string music (including Chaqu)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: single string paiqu (including Chaqu)

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

Project No.: 742

Project No.: V - 49

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: quyi

Region: Beijing

Type: new item

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

Protection unit: Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Xicheng District, Beijing

Brief introduction of single string music (including Chaqu)

Applicant: Xicheng District, Beijing

It is popular in Beijing, Tianjin and Northeast China. It originated in the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 200 years. It is a kind of music developed on the basis of Beijing Chaqu and Bajiao drum singing art. Single string is the product of the blending of Manchu and Han folk art, which has strong local characteristics of Beijing. Single string music belongs to the combination of Qupai, which has been evolving for a long time

It has preserved the style and features of Beijing lianquti quyi singing since the Qing Dynasty. There are two types of single string repertoire: lyric and narrative. When performing, Qu Pai is often selected according to the needs of content expression. There are more than 60 Qu Pais commonly used, such as taipingnian, yunsudiao, bikuaishu and nanchengdiao. There are long and short sentences and upper and lower sentences in the prose, and the three character head, pile sentence, inlaid word and lining word are often added in the sentences to enhance the expressive force. There are various forms of single string performance, one can play and sing by himself, one can play the octagonal drum and sing by standing, the other can play the three string accompaniment, and can also sing in pairs and groups. The traditional repertoire of single string is very rich, most of which are based on vernacular novels since the middle ages. Fengyi Pavilion, Cuiping mountain, gaolaozhuang, Daiyu buried flowers and so on are its representative works.

Chaqu was developed and evolved on the basis of Beijing opera singing. It appeared in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty and mainly spread in Beijing. In 1795, 148 Chaqu were included in nishang Xupu, which was published in Beijing. Chaqu CI is both elegant and vulgar, with various contents and pleasant tunes. There are three ways to perform: one person can sing by beating the octagonal drum, two people can sing by playing the octagonal drum, and one person can sing the group songs together. When one person sings, one person can play the three string accompaniment. Nowadays, in the box office of Beijing's major folk arts, such as "nishang Xuyong", "Yongqing Shengping", "Jinqiu quyi Salon", "laoyun Jingyin", "Friends of Qutan" and "quyi home", there are some fans singing single string and Chaqu.

Due to the elegance of single string and Chaqu, it is difficult to master their singing skills, so there are fewer and fewer professional actors who can sing well, and many of the fans who have reached a certain artistic level have entered their old age. In addition, there are few music scores reserved, and many tunes of different schools are on the verge of being lost. There are few successors in the folk art styles with Beijing local characteristics, such as single string and Chaqu, which are likely to die out at any time.