Suona Art

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

Applicant: Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Hebei Province

Item No.: 68

Project No.: Ⅱ - 37

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Hebei Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Hebei Province

Protection unit: Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Fengning Manchu Autonomous County

Suona Art (Fengning Manchu quarrel Club)

Applicant: Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Hebei 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.

Fengning Manchu quarrel club is a kind of folk instrumental music playing form, which is distributed in more than ten villages of Fengning Manchu Autonomous County, Chengde, Hebei Province. It has a history of 300 years. It was originally founded by Zhang Kefu, a villager of Bajianfang village, and has been inherited by 11 generations of successors such as Wang Laozi and Wang dazaizi.

There are two kinds of noisy music, namely "wind and percussion music" and "zaqu", mainly composed of Suona and percussion instruments. The whole performance is divided into 16 parts: "Qigu", "fengyangge", "liuxinnian", "guzhazi", "douquail", "Jiqiang", "sweeping the floor" and "ending". The whole band consists of two suona players and 10 percussion players, among whom the PI Gong player is the conductor of the band. Most of the Qupai of jiaozihui are Manchu. Some Qupai can be played alone, some are accompanied by folk flower parties, and some are used for local weddings and funerals. In the long-term spread process, Fengning Manchu quarrel Club absorbed some other sister arts and formed a unique music style, which not only has the valiant, vigorous and prosperous northern music, but also has the soft, harmonious and delicate Central Plains music. There is no fixed singing occasion and performance time. Apart from the fixed activities on New Year's day, it is mostly accompanied by various flower parties. It is also often performed in weddings and funerals, full moon birthdays, opening and other occasions.

Caozi club is a prominent representative of Manchu traditional culture, involving Manchu folk customs, religious beliefs and many other aspects. Its music shows the characteristics of the integration of Manchu and Han culture in the aspects of melody composition, musical instrument shape and band composition, which has important reference value in the research of ethnology, folklore and musicology. Due to the severe devastation of the "Cultural Revolution" and the strong impact of the modern economic tide, the living space of the Manchu Caozi club is shrinking day by day. At present, many old artists have died one after another, and the living ones are too old. The Caozi club is in an endangered state and needs urgent rescue and protection.