Gongs and drums Art (Taiyuan gongs and drums)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: gongs and drums Art (Taiyuan gongs and drums)

Applicant: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Project No.: 622

Project No.: Ⅱ - 123

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Shanxi Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Protection unit: Taiyuan Mass Art Museum

Introduction to gongs and drums Art (Taiyuan gongs and drums)

Applicant: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province

Gong and drum art is a common form of folk instrumental music in China. It is widely distributed in Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi, Shanghai, Henan, Hubei, Shanxi and other places. Although the musical instruments used in different places are different, most of them are high volume percussion instruments such as gongs, drums, cymbals and cymbals. The rhythm is more and more vivid, the performance scene is spectacular, and the artistic style is majestic and powerful. They are mainly performed in various folk auspicious occasions and ceremonies.

Taiyuan gongs and drums have a long history of social drum evolution and inheritance, popular in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province and Jinzhong, Luliang part of the region. Its origin can be traced back to the pre Qin period, and its earliest formation was around the reign of ningzong in the Southern Song Dynasty.

With the unique sound of cymbals and cymbals, Taiyuan gongs and drums have a strong and powerful style, distinct layers, vigorous and stretching movements, rough and masculine, more and more intense rhythm, and spectacular performance scenes. There are mainly three kinds of playing forms: Qida, Duda and Duda, which can be changed under certain conditions. "Qi Da" refers to the simultaneous performance of cymbals, cymbals and drums, which is the earliest form of performance of gongs and drums in Taiyuan. It has a history of more than 800 years. When "Qi Da", it mainly plays [flowing water] and other drums. "Duel" refers to two groups of cymbals, cymbals duel, this form was produced in 1962, showing a strong contrast and resistance. It has a history of more than 400 years. The big furniture refers to cymbals, cymbals and drums, and the small furniture refers to horse gongs, small war drums, two cymbals, hinges and hand gongs.

There are seven sets of famous tunes in Taiyuan gongs and drums, with more than 50 tunes in common use. Among them, the most famous tunes include [flowing water], [double one five], [bull fighting tiger], [dog biting each other], [whirlwind cymbals], [water dragon chanting], etc. In the performance, there are many drum beating skills, such as "beating the heart of the drum", "knocking the side of the drum", "dancing the flower of the drum", "grinding the drum nails", "beating the drum". The technique of striking cymbals is one of the "three unique skills" in Shanxi gongs and drums, which has many amazing performances. The unique technique of striking cymbals "throwing stroke" is one of them. The performer throws the cymbal into the air for several meters, then spins and falls rapidly. The performer catches the cymbal steadily with the right rhythm. This difficult skill is now on the verge of being lost.

Taiyuan gongs and drums are mainly used in folk fire and celebration. They are an important part of local people's social life, and provide extremely important reference materials for the research of Shanxi traditional folk customs and folk music. At present, the performance of Taiyuan gongs and drums is less than one tenth of the seven sets of drum music, and it pays more attention to form than music connotation. In the long run, it will affect the normal development of this traditional folk drum music, and it is urgent to take reasonable measures to protect and revitalize it.