The following Henan culture brings you the historical origin and melody characteristics of Xinyang folk songs. Come and have a look with me.
Historical origin
Xinyang folk songs, as a rare treasure in Henan culture, have been unable to verify their origin time. Just like the whole history of human singing, there are more than a dozen hypotheses about its origin, such as Darwin's sexual desire theory, labor rhythm theory, emotional theory, shouting theory and so on. According to legend, in ancient times, the Dongyi people headed by Shao Hao lived in the Huaihe River Basin. They regard birds as totems and believe that birds are the embodiment of God and the messengers of communication between man and God. They pay attention to the singing of birds and think it is the voice of God. Later, the ancestors of Huaidi developed the consciousness of "witchcraft" (dance) in the flight of birds.
Later, a man named Cheng Tang, who was born in Dongyi Group, established the Shang Dynasty, and his interest became a cultural feature of a country. Businessmen "like singing and dancing and respect ghosts and gods". From the Shang Dynasty to the early Zhou Dynasty, the ancestors of Huaidi believed in ghosts and gods, witchcraft prevailed, and objectively developed primitive songs and dances. During the Warring States period, the music in Xinyang area has used a twelve-tone scale close to the twelve-tone average law, which laid the foundation for Xinyang folk songs. This is 1953 a glimpse of the chimes of the Warring States period unearthed from Chu Tomb No.1 in Changtaiguan, Xinyang.
It is conceivable that among the ancestors of Emperor Huaidi, there was a man who first imitated the singing of birds, then sang a few times by himself occasionally, and then sang loudly. The rock wall responded to his singing, which made him very excited. So he sang a few words one after another, and controlled his singing according to his own wishes, and sang the tune he wanted to sing. This means that he has been able to create a melody, combining the tone with the purpose, and the form has become complicated, completely surpassing the crowing of a bird at the same pitch or the same group of pitches, fully embodying the most basic and typical feature of human singing, that is, the conversion of music. This man is the first singer in Xinyang, and his song echoes between the rock walls, which is the first folk song in Xinyang.
Artistic feature
Xinyang folk songs can be roughly divided into more than ten kinds, such as revolutionary historical love songs, folk songs, new folk songs, chant, folk songs, Tian Ge, water songs, lantern songs, peddling, minor songs, children's songs, current political songs, sacrificial songs and narrative songs. They profoundly and vividly show the life, thoughts, feelings, will and wishes of Xinyang people, reflect the social practice of Xinyang in different regions and times, and are the crystallization of Xinyang people's collective wisdom. Although it has been tempered, it is still innovating.
When Xinyang folk dance was investigated in 1980s, there were more than 80 kinds of dances, 120 kinds of performances, more than 400 kinds of traditional programs, and more than 3,350 performance clubs, accounting for more than13 of Henan Dance Performance Clubs. 1In May, 1984, Henan TV Station filmed a music feature film "Journey to the Home" (the first and second episodes) with Xinyang folk songs as the main body, which was broadcast on CCTV in June of the same year, and again in our international radio program1/years later. There are 224 Xinyang folk songs in China Folk Songs Integration Henan Volume. Famous Xinyang folk songs include Osmanthus fragrans Blooming everywhere in August, Sending Lang to the Red Army, Sending a sedan chair to the door, and Song of Car Water.
1989, Henan TV station filmed the TV art film "Love in Dabie Mountain" with Xinyang folk songs and dances as its content, which was broadcast on CCTV for many times. Xinyang's famous folk dances include flower picking, flower fan, flower umbrella, fire Zi Ling, lion dance, spring bull dance, bamboo horse dance, dry boat, dragon lantern and so on.
Melody feature
Xinyang is located on the southern edge of Zhongzhou. It also borders Hubei and Anhui. This forms the unique language features of Xinyang area, which has both Hubei charm and Zhongzhou language elements. It can be seen that the language of folk songs in Xinyang area has a style of combining rigidity with softness. Judging from the melody line, many people repeat the popular folk songs in southern mountainous areas in the same tone, jumping four, five, seven, eight or even ten degrees. They have a wide range, are passionate, fresh and bright, and can feel the rough and unconstrained characteristics. At the same time, it has shaped the heroic image of the people in mountainous areas who are hardworking, brave, fearless and dare to struggle. Such as "December Point", "Stone Falling Pine Nuts" and "Chess". There are many people who use folk songs in the Huaihe River Basin and the hilly areas in the middle of China. Its characteristics are steady rhythm, smooth timbre, slow speed, beautiful and touching, and strong local flavor. Sometimes it is exaggerated and rendered with funny words. Make these life tunes more simple, humorous and interesting. Such as Song of Six Immortals, sedan chair to the door and picturesque mountains and rivers. There are also some folk songs in staccato style, which show a happy mood. Such as "Grab Eight Sentences", "Drive Cattle Slowly" and "Mr. Zhang Begging for Money".
Scale characteristics
The pentatonic scale is dominant in Xinyang folk songs. The complete chromatic scale has not yet been discovered. In a few folk songs, such as "Through the Heart" and "Selling firewood", these pentatonic steps are short-lived, and most of them appear on the weak beat or as the past tense, which is only used as a decoration and foil for prayer to a great extent. The basic framework of its melody has not lost the essence and characteristics of pentatonic steps.
Inheriting meaning
It is understood that many valuable traditional songs have gradually disappeared because they have not been sung or sung for a long time. Even in a small town with a long history of folk songs, about half of the villagers in the town go out to work, and most of the people who stay at home buy houses in the county to do small business. Their children go to school in the county, and they don't even know what folk songs are, let alone rap. This is the embarrassment that traditional culture encounters modern civilization, and it is also a new topic for social progress and inheritance of tradition.
There is no denying that some traditional songs need to be sung in specific occasions and activities. Compared with love songs, today's young people have no mood and environment to express their love with songs like their predecessors. Calling, surfing the Internet or simply dating can go straight to the theme of love, so love songs gradually disappear. Another example is the car water song. The times have developed, so don't sing the car water song again. Even the waterwheel attached to the car water song for thousands of years can only be found in museums. At the same time, due to the increasingly rich cultural and recreational activities, singing folk songs is no longer the main way of leisure, and it is inevitable that folk songs will be left out in the cold.