National Culture: Looking For The "Lost" Miao Ancient Songs In Huayuan

Ancient Miao songs

Miao ancient songs have a long history. Miao people have always regarded it as their "Encyclopedia" from their ancestors to the Song Dynasty, and they are widely known. However, there are probably no more than ten people in Huayuan County who can really compile and sing the ancient Miao songs. There are great differences among the dialects of Hunan and its neighboring provinces. The Miao ancient songs of Huayuan County entered the national intangible cultural heritage expansion project list in 2011.

Miao village, hidden in layers of mountains, with the humid and cold winter air in Western Hunan, we set foot on the road to explore the Miao ancient songs.

It takes five and a half hours from Guangzhou to Huaihua by high-speed rail, and then drives two and a half hours to cross bridges. The high-speed road connected by tunnels is deep in winter, and the wet and cold air stirs up water mist in the mountains all the way. We came to Huayuan County, deep in Western Hunan Province, looking for the melody of "Miao ancient songs".

Compared with ballads, the lyrics and tones of Miao ancient songs are more ancient, and the connotation is more profound. In Huayuan County, Shi shengmei, the inheritor of Miao folk songs in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, told us the story of Miao ancient songs and the history of nearly lost Miao folk songs.

In ancient times, only large-scale sacrificial rites would sing ancient songs. In Huayuan, now it is every time to rush to autumn (August 8 every year) and other major festivals. However, in Huayuan County, there are probably only ten people who can make up and sing the ancient Miao songs.

"Catching up with the autumn is an important activity of the Miao family, which has the significance of celebrating the autumn harvest. Nowadays, even if everyone does not live in the mountains, it has gradually evolved into a large-scale activity." Shi shengmei said.

There are great differences among the Miao dialects in Hunan and its neighboring provinces. The Miao ancient songs of Huayuan County entered the national intangible cultural heritage expansion project list in 2011. Huayuan's "Miao people's pursuit of autumn" was listed in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection projects in 2014, and was listed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Works list with China's "24 solar terms" in 2016.

Shi shengmei, inheritor of Miao folk songs in Xiangxi Prefecture (left back)

pass from mouth to mouth

After several melodious and faltering Miao ballads, Shi shengmei tells us the current situation of Miao ballads. Nowadays, there are only a few people living in the mountain Miao village, and even fewer Miao family members who live in the county can sing ancient songs.

Shi shengmei said: "during major festivals, the content of the lyrics of Miao ancient songs is similar to where we came from, which mountain range we came from, and what happened. In fact, these are original ecology and no adaptation. The old people who can sing ancient songs can directly write words and songs. At present, there are few song companies who can compile and sing, and only a few Miao families can sing the songs. ”

In addition, "if an old man dies in the Miao family and needs to do something about it, there will also be mages singing ancient songs, which are called badai in the local area. It is similar to Taoist priests. It is usually sung by about a dozen people in a circle, and also by one person. It can be divided into banqiang and Gaoqiang, and the tone can also be divided into flat tune and high tune. Or in marriage, when the guests come, parents and elders of both sides wish each other good luck, and say some ancient words, which will also be conveyed in the form of ancient songs. "

In fact, the ancient song tradition of the Miao family has also become the epic of the Miao people.

In ancient times, in order to avoid the war, the Miao people migrated many times. Because they were afraid that all kinds of information would be lost by history, the wise ancestors hid their own history in the elegant, ethereal and vigorous ancient songs, and preserved them in the national memory.

According to Shi shengmei, Miao ancient songs are widely spread in Huayuan County and other counties and cities of Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Western Hunan Province, as well as Guizhou, Chongqing and Hubei provinces bordering it. It is located in Wuling mountain area, with mountains and forests. The economy is relatively backward and the environment is relatively closed. It has become the soil for the reproduction of folk literature.

The content of ancient songs covers everything from the birth of the universe, the origin of human and species, the creation of heaven and earth, the torrential floods in the early period of the people's Republic of China, to the great migration of the Miao people, the ancient social system and daily production and life of the Miao people, etc.

Therefore, Miao's ancient songs are also called "Miao epic". They are composed of five parts: gold and silver songs, ancient Maple songs, butterfly songs, torrential floods and the westward migration of the river, with a total of 15000 lines. The length of the songs is huge and the contents are all inclusive.

Epic re transmission

The characteristics of the ancient songs are five character style, pan Ge Q & A and Ge Gu Ge Hua. Poetry uses the way of comparison between ancient and modern. Each Lyric can be repeated.

The singing is performed in the form of Pan song, which is generally composed of four people and two singing groups. First party a questions, Party B repeat Party A's questions and then answer them; after Party B's answers, immediately ask questions, and Party A repeats Party B's questions and then answer them; this goes back and forth until the end.

"In the past, the Miao family used to talk in this way. Most of the singers who were good at ancient songs were very open-minded and good at expressing themselves in words. They could write words and songs at any time, just like writing poems." Shi shengmei said, "but today's Miao ancient songs are usually sung by respected old people, ghosts (witches) or singers in grand ceremonies such as" eating guzang "during the Miao people's ancestor worship Festival and the celebration of the Miao people's new year in October

It is precisely because of this that Miao ancient songs have a long history. From the Miao ancestors Sanmiao, Guandou, Nanman, Wuling man, to the Miao people in the Song Dynasty, they have always regarded it as their "Encyclopedia" and have been widely read and widely known.

Shi Yuanjiang, Shi shengmei's elder brother, is the president of the Miao song Association in Huayuan County. According to him, today's Miao family have been speaking Mandarin since childhood, so few of them can really sing Miao folk songs. According to the requirements of the Miao family, only those who can sing, edit and inherit can be called Gesi. In recent years, the association has also organized singing festivals every year. Although all the activities of the association are voluntary, the participants still enjoy it.

After retiring, Shi shengmei, 52, has been promoting the inheritance of ancient Miao songs, with more than 100 apprentices. It's not very realistic to make full-time Miao songs economically, but she still uses her spare time to promote the combination of Miao songs and modern symphonies to speed up the inheritance of Miao songs and promote them through the way of entering the campus.

"Most of the Miao people live in cities and towns now, and they all learn Mandarin from childhood. To a certain extent, it also makes it relatively difficult for Miao people to inherit ancient songs. As Inheritors, it is obligatory for us to promote ancient songs as much as possible. However, with a love and inheritance of traditional culture, it also brings us great fun." Said Shi shengmei.

It is understood that the Miao population in Huayuan County accounts for 77.3% of the total population, and it is a "hometown of Chinese folk culture and art" and one of the first 10 key support areas for "intangible cultural heritage + poverty alleviation" in China. With China's 24 solar terms, the Miao Nationality in Huayuan County has been selected into the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Representative Works list project. It has five national intangible cultural heritage list projects, including Miao drum dance, Miao medicine and Miao clothing, and 12 provincial-level "intangible cultural heritage" items, including Miao opera, Miao song, Miao embroidery and Miao flower belt.

In recent years, Huayuan County has incorporated intangible cultural heritage protection into the important content of targeted poverty alleviation performance appraisal, combined intangible cultural heritage protection with cultural targeted poverty alleviation innovation, established 58 intangible cultural heritage teaching places at all levels, enriched the people's spiritual and cultural life, and built a large economic and trade platform relying on the traditional national festivals such as the Miao people's autumn rush, the Miao cherry party, the Miao year, and the Miao April 8 The effect is remarkable.

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