Gongs and drums for weeding

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: haocao gonggu (Wuning Drum Song)

Applicant: Wuning County, Jiangxi Province

Item No.: 58

Project No.: Ⅱ - 27

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Jiangxi Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Wuning County, Jiangxi Province

Protection unit: Wuning Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

A brief introduction to the song of drum beating in Wuning

Applicant: Wuning County, Jiangxi Province

As a popular form of folk songs in Tujia inhabited areas, the drum and Gong for weeding grass is also known as "Da Nao song", commonly known as "Da Nao". During the weeding season, Tujia people gather dozens or even hundreds of people to work together. At this time, they often invite two singers to perform in front of the weeding crowd. One is beating drums, the other is beating gongs. They sing and dance with the sound of gongs and drums, while the weeding crowd sings from the side. Most of the lyrics are rhymed to the end, and the content is divided into "Song head" (commonly known as "Introduction"), "please God", "Yang Song", "send God" and other parts. When dancing, the hands swing with the steps, the left hand with the left foot, and the right hand with the right foot. It is light and lively, soft and firm. The music is flexible and diverse. The singers can change their lyrics according to the time sequence and the weather, so as to activate the atmosphere and turn the monotonous and hard-working farming into a lively collective activity.

Wuning drum song was formed in the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. It is a folk music form gradually formed after the introduction of Hubei grass song. It has a history of more than 300 years. It is mainly distributed in the towns of Wuning County, Xiushui, Ruichang, De'an and the surrounding areas of Yangxin and Tongshan in Hubei Province, while the folk drummers are mainly concentrated in the towns of chuantan, Donglin, Shangtang, Lixi, Yangzhou, Luxi, Henglu, Luoxi, shimenlou, etc.

Wuning drumming song has a rich and changeable rhythm of drums. It is generally four drums, and each drum has a speed change of priority. The beat can be divided into three types: scattered board, 2 / 4, 4 / 4, 3 / 4, 5 / 4 and 6 / 4, which can be changed flexibly according to people, time and place. The melody of Wuning drumming song is simple and lively, which is basically composed of two sentences. The two pentatonic modes of Yu and Zheng are alternately carried out, with Yu, Zheng and Gong as the backbone tones. Finally, the whole song ends with Zheng.

The structure of drum beating songs can be divided and combined freely. There are not only long narrative poems such as 360 paragraphs of "three hundred and six plum blossoms", but also short lyric poems such as 10 paragraphs of "ten send", "ten think" and so on. There is also a short lyric poem called "Gezai" by the local people. There are various ways of expression in Wuning drumming songs, including vivid metaphor, bold exaggeration and flexible interlining words. The end of each song is often unexpected and has endless charm. According to their types, drumming songs can be divided into political songs, love songs and custom songs.

Wuning drum song is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of Wuning people in the past dynasties, which has important research value in folk literature, music history and ethnomusicology. Nowadays, great changes have taken place in people's way of working, and drumming is gradually losing its folk soil. Under the influence of modern popular culture, many young people are reluctant to learn drumming. At the same time, the artists with profound attainments are old and have died one after another. Wuning Drum Song, an ancient folk music form, is facing the crisis of being lost. It must be rescued and protected as soon as possible.