1. Festival customs and songs in the five major regions of Shandong Youyin wrote in "A Collection of Chinese Folk Songs? Shandong Volume": "Shandong folk customs and activities are rich and colorful, and they are closely related to people's lives. In terms of seasonal activities, there are festivals almost every month of the year. Starting from the first month of the lunar calendar, there is the "Lantern Festival" on the 15th day of the first lunar month, and "the dragon raises its head on the second day of the second lunar month". "March 3rd is the Qingming Festival, and every family goes to the tomb." "On April 28th, they put incense on the Empress Temple." "Meet the Weaver Girl", "The moon is round on the 15th day of August, and we will pay homage to God with watermelon mooncakes." On September 9th, we will go to the mountains for the Double Ninth Festival. They are all accompanied by songs.” [1] The relationship between Shandong folk songs and seasons can be seen from this.

The following describes the festival custom songs within the region according to the five major regions where Shandong folk songs are mainly distributed.

Ludong District

The folk song genres in Ludong District mainly include: ocean chants, sailor chants, Jiaozhou Yangge, Jiaodong Yangge, Jiaodong folk songs, and Penglai "burning paper tune".

Penglai's "Burning Paper Tune" is a large-scale folk song suite popular in Penglai area, which is closely related to festival customs. In Shandong, whether it is worshiping gods, worshiping ancestors, exorcising evil spirits or other festival customs, it will be accompanied by the activity of "burning paper", which is why "burning paper tune" got its name. "The paper-burning tune is the tune sung during the folk 'dance to the gods'. The folk dance to the gods has a long history. It is a continuation of ancient witchcraft. From the perspective of culture and art, it is a type of witch dance. This activity is held The main purpose is to pray to gods, exorcise evil spirits, eliminate disasters, and fulfill wishes." [2] Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the elimination of feudal superstitious activities, the paper-burning tune that was once widely spread among the people has gradually come out of people's sight.

Yantai, Weihai, and Qingdao are adjacent to the Bohai Sea in the north, and ocean chants are their main folk song genre. In addition, there are also excellent minor-key songs in these areas. Such as the famous folk song "Embroidered Purse".

Embroidered purses are widely spread across the country, with nearly a hundred repertoires. There are fourteen examples that can be found in Shandong alone. In different regions, "Embroidered Purse" expresses the style characteristics of each region with its unique influence.

The Spring Festival is the Chinese Lunar New Year. It is celebrated in various forms in various places, including temple fairs, rural operas and other activities. Folk music activities such as land boat racing, donkey racing, and Yangko dancing are also common during this period. Many Shandong folk songs revolve around the theme of "New Year", such as the first two "Embroidered Purse". New Year's greetings are required on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Shandong songs that focus solely on New Year's greetings include "New Year's Eve in the First Month", "New Year's Greetings", "Lang's New Year's Greetings", "Young Couple's New Year's Greetings", etc. In the countryside of Shandong, every village will sing opera during the Chinese New Year. This is also an indispensable "cultural feast" for the Chinese New Year in the countryside. The Qihe County folk song "Singing the Great Opera" vividly expresses this lively scene:

Qihe County "Singing the Great Opera"

When I go to my place to sing the Great Opera during the Chinese New Year, it is called brother set It’s not good to pick you up in the car and invite you (like this) to my house, make cowpeas, rice, boil dry rice, and roll noodles. What kind of relatives do we care about eating and drinking? (Hey)

It’s the Chinese New Year It's not good for me to sing a big show, ask my brothers to pick you up in a car, and invite you (like this) to my house to bake pancakes, make dumplings, sesame cakes and fruits. What kind of relatives do we care about eating and drinking? (Hey) Shandong people are hospitable, simple and honest. This song "Singing a Big Opera" from Qihe County is a true portrayal of the character of Shandong people.

Lunan area

Lunan area is known as the "Yimeng Mountain Old Area". Its mountainous features retain many traditional folk customs, such as the preference for stronger colors in clothing. , the food has strong taste. For example, Lunan’s famous pancake roll with green onion is famous throughout the country. Due to the barrier of the northern mountains, the economy, culture, and life of southern Shandong are more similar to those of the adjacent northern Jiangsu area. The tunes and atmosphere created by folk songs are also more delicate and elegant than those in other areas of Shandong, such as Cangshan's "Embroidered Purse". The main folk song genres that represent this region include: Lunan Five Major Tune, Lunan Flower Drum and Rizhao Mengniu Folk Song. "Yimeng Mountain Minor" is the most distinctive folk minor in southern Shandong and is widely sung in Shandong and even across the country. As an old revolutionary area in China, the Yimeng Mountain area has songs with anti-Japanese war themes as the content, such as "Song of Poor Peasants and Labor Workers" and "Song of Anti-Japanese War".

In addition, Cangshan County folk songs "Spinning Cotton", "Lang New Year's Eve" and "Embroidered Purse" are widely sung.

Southwestern Shandong

The more representative folk song genres in southwestern Shandong include: Yellow River and Canal chants, Weishan Lake's "Duan Gong Tune", southwestern Shandong flower drums, etc. Folk songs that are widely circulated across the country include: "Bao Leng Diao", "Dui Hua", "Wu Geng", "Flower Toad" and "Lotus Picking Boat". Festival custom songs include "Flying a Kite", "Walking to Mother's House", and "Lang New Year's Greetings". The most distinctive folk custom in this area is the "Duangong accent" in Weishan Lake District.

Duangong tune is a large-scale folk opera that is popular in Weishan Lake, Zhaoyang Lake, Dushan Lake, Nanyang Lake and other lake areas, especially Weishan Lake and Zhaoyang Lake. It is a kind of folk art popular among fishermen in Weishan Lake District. It is said to have originated in the Qing Dynasty and has a history of a hundred years. Duangong Tune will be sung every time there is a festive day such as a festival or a day to celebrate a good harvest or "pay one's wishes" due to illness or disaster. Because the drum is always held in the hand when singing, this form of singing is also called "Duanguqiang". And because every time a song is performed, offerings must be made to the gods and incense must be burned to offer sacrifices, so it is also called "Duangong Tune".

Duangong Tune has various singing forms. During the singing process, rap is combined with simple and unique dance movements, and specific roles are divided according to the content of the singing repertoire, which is similar to traditional folk art. The contents of his singing are mostly historical legends and folk stories with certain dramatic plots. The music has rich melodies and can express complex dramatic storylines and varied emotional content. It is divided into lead singer, chorus singer and seated singer, and is sung by men. Whenever there is a female plot content, the man will wear a pleated skirt to play the female role. Different from other folk songs, almost all the lyrics of Duangong tune focus on "flowers and birds", and sometimes seventy or eighty kinds of flowers and birds can be sung.

Duangong tune is popular in Weishan Lake area and is a traditional folk music form extracted and created by fishermen from their daily lives. The vivid and connotative song content expresses the people's pursuit of beauty in the Lake District and has profound artistic appeal.

Luzhong District

Luzhong is the political, economic and cultural center of Shandong and can be regarded as a representative of Shandong folk customs. The terrain is mainly plains, with developed transportation and rich products. The area has a profound ancient cultural tradition, which can be seen through the themes of folk songs: "Liao Zhai", "Slang", "Liuqin Tune Playing and Singing", "Zibo Flower Drums", and "Pingyin Yangge". The most representative folk songs in this area include "Hang the Red Lantern", "The More I Sing, the Happier I Feel", "The Old Man Sings the Song of the Four Seasons", and "The Song of the Four Seasons". Songs reflecting festival customs include "Singing the Big Drama" and "Playing on the Swing" , "Flying a Kite", "Crushing the Temple", "Hang the Red Light", etc.

Northwestern Shandong

The terrain in the northwest of Shandong is dominated by plains. The people of northern Shandong are optimistic and bold in character, and their folk songs have various genres, including Yellow River chants, canal chants, and Yangko. Linqing Shi Tune", "Liaocheng Huagu Tune" and "Zaba Tune". The majestic and powerful Yellow River chants, the passionate canal chants, the Wucheng Yangge that is soft on the outside and strong on the inside, the beautiful and lyrical Linqing tunes, and the Liaocheng flower drums that best represent the musical characteristics of northwest Shandong. These music genres are affected by the landform conditions. It constitutes the most distinctive music culture of northwest Shandong.

The representative repertoire in this region mainly includes "Baoleng Diao", "Duihua", "Kanlang", "Da Shi", etc. Among them, songs that express festival customs include "New Year's Day in the First Month", "Big Lantern Viewing", "Small Guan Lantern", "Flying a Kite", "Playing on a Swing", "July 7th", etc. It can be said that the festival customs and songs in northwest Shandong are the most concentrated and representative.

2. Content characteristics of Shandong festival custom songs

Each festival custom is accompanied by its own unique celebration method, and each celebration method is mostly accompanied by music and songs. These music songs are rich in content and can be roughly divided into five types according to the content of the tracks:

Mainly expressing the lively festival atmosphere

Festival customs and festival customs songs complement each other and are closely related , there is an inevitable causal connection between the two. It is precisely because of festival customs that songs related to festival customs will appear. Therefore, the proportion of repertoire that expresses the festival itself takes up a larger proportion.

Qingming Festival is unique among many festivals. It is not only one of the twenty-four solar terms, but also a traditional festival in itself. The dual-identity Qingming Festival is of great significance in Chinese society. It is a day for people to visit their ancestors' graves and worship their ancestors.

In most areas of Shandong, boiled eggs are eaten in the morning, and pine branches are placed in front of every household to commemorate the famous minister Jie Zitui. Going out for an outing is also an essential activity of the day. Entertainment activities such as swinging and flying kites are also often used to celebrate this festival. There are relatively many folk songs that use the theme of Qingming to express the content of songs, and there are more than twenty in Shandong alone. Although it is impossible to list them all, we can still select a few songs with the most typical characteristics from northwest Shandong for comparative analysis.

Huimin County "Playing on the Swing"

1, Qingming (that) March 3rd (ah, oops, hey) Qingming (that) March 3rd, 17th or 18th When a girl comes to play on the swing, her flower-drawing wrist grasps the velvet (ah) rope (continuously babbling), and her flower-drawing wrist grasps (the) velvet (ah) rope (continuously babbling).

2. The girl came to play on the swing (ah, hey, hey, hey). The girl came to play on the swing. She gave the swing and stood on tiptoe with her embroidered shoes. She stepped on (that) Hey) (continuously babbling), the embroidered shoes were on (that) and stepped on (hey) (continuously babbling).

Huimin County's "Swinging" is widely sung in Shandong with its beautiful melody. The recreational activity of playing on a swing has been popular among the people for a long time. The folk custom means to eliminate disasters and diseases and avoid plague. Its forms can be divided into "swing", "turning swing", "moon swing", "hanging swing", etc.

The Huimin County song "New Year Comes in the First Month" uses a question-and-answer singing format to show the lively scene of the New Year. The song not only sings about the lively scenes with loud gongs and drums, but also mentions special festival items such as watching theaters and eating dumplings during the New Year.

The Lantern Festival is another important festival after the Spring Festival, and it is also the first full moon night after the New Year. Therefore, it is also called "Guo Xiao Festival" in Zaozhuang, Jining, Qufu, Zoucheng and other places in Shandong Province. Year". Pingdu sings in "Second Sister Fu Rushing to the Temple", "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there is a Lantern Festival, and every household goes to the temple." Linqing's "Lantern Festival" also vividly describes the excitement of watching the lanterns and attending temple fairs during the Lantern Festival. "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there was a flower eldest sister who squeezed out the shoes of the lantern festival." The small details are a true portrayal of the scene of attending the temple fair. Through these two songs, it is not difficult for us to imagine the lively scene of Shandong folk attending temple fairs.

Exhibiting sweet love

From ancient times to the present, love is an eternal theme. A considerable proportion of the content of holiday custom songs is used to convey love. "Purse" is a signal of love, usually embroidered by the woman and given to the man as a token of love. There are fourteen "embroidered purses" in Shandong, most of which use songs to convey the woman's longing and admiration for her lover.

The content of the song "Embroidered Purse" by Yantai Longkou is roughly as follows: During the Lantern Festival, people reunite under the full moon, but the husband is far away from home and cannot be reunited. He uses the purse to express his longing and hopes that the couple will reunite soon. The lyrical and melodious melody of "Embroidered Purse" by Weifang Gaomi sings out the young girl's deep love for her lover, and she uses her purse to express her admiration for her lover. Cangshan's two songs "Embroidered Purse" both take love as the theme.

Yantai Zhaoyuan's "The Young Couple's New Year's Eve" is also a true portrayal of the couple's sweet love life.

Labor Scenes

Although there are not many festival custom songs that express labor scenes, they are very representative. Spring is the farming season and the busiest labor season, so most of the festival customs and songs that express labor scenes are concentrated in spring.

The second day of February in the lunar calendar is commonly known as "the dragon raises its head". In the area where Jinan belongs, it is called "Qinglong Festival" or "Dragon Head Festival". Among Shandong folk, people generally regard this day as the end of the New Year Festival. From this day on, all recreational activities will be stopped and normal work will resume, so as not to miss the best opportunity for farming. On this day, the custom in Haiyang and other places is to worship the plow first and sing a happy song:

Plowing the new spring soil, oxen trampling the harvest,

Sowing a grain of millet in spring , harvest thousands of seeds in autumn.

Knowledge inheritance

In the folk, festival customs are living customs that are closely connected with the people. Singing festival custom songs is also a common way to spread knowledge, and it is also a common way for the people to spread knowledge. The embodiment of collective intelligence.

Dezhou's "Kite Flying" uses riddles to educate and entertain, enhancing fun and spreading knowledge during play: "Tighten three times, loosen three times, stand upright and don't walk horizontally, crawl horizontally, don't walk and hide in water." In the mud. The round navel is female, and the pointed navel must be male. This way I know that the green-capped crab is round.

"

According to folklore, July 7th is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet. Folks in Shandong regard the Chinese Valentine's Day as a festival and hold a variety of begging activities. They close their eyes to Sister Qiao and pray for blessings. Qiao. While praying, he sang:

I treat Sister Qiao to eat peaches, and Sister Qiao asks me to sew robes.

I treat Sister Qiao to eat plums, and Sister Qiao teaches me how to weave.

I invited Sister Qiao to eat melon, and Sister Qiao taught me how to embroider.

The Laizhou song "Da Qiqiao" uses a poetic game to sing about people's eagerness to learn and their love for learning. Yearning for a better life.

3. The melody characteristics of Shandong festival folk songs

Shandong folk songs are beautiful and lyrical, with smooth and smooth melody. The content is short and concise, which is easy to read. It is sung close to the people's life and has distinctive local style characteristics. Its structure is generally a single-section song, with a general style, relatively regular, and the music is mostly in the national mode, with a certain ups and downs in the single melody line. The rhythm pattern is relatively detailed and unified, and is suitable for expressing the relaxed scenes of local people's pastime. In addition to the simple five-tone mode of Gong Shangjiao Zheng Yu, Shandong folk songs also include six-tone modes, seven-tone modes and mixed modes, among which Bian Zheng Bian Gong. The majority of the six-tone tones form the typical characteristics of Shandong folk songs.

Take Yantai's "Embroidered Purse" as an example:

The music of Yantai's "Embroidered Purse" adopts a single and two parts with reproduction. Musical form. The first section describes the scenery, and the second section is a narrative. The description of the scenery prominently creates a quiet atmosphere. The second section forms a clear contrast with the first section, describing the lively gongs and drums scene. The music and lyrics are concise and simple. And it is clear. The music starts with the tonic, and the first two measures consolidate the tonality in a progression from the tonic to the subordinate. The last two measures are completely repeated, stopping on the subordinate tones and forming a complete termination on the tonic, which reflects the typical tone. Chinese national mode. The second section is dominated by the octave jump at the beginning, which is also the characteristic of Shandong minor tune. The sliding tone adds interesting personality to this new material, and the last section repeatedly consolidates the new style.

4. Singing characteristics of Shandong festival folk songs

Singing language

Shandong dialect and Mandarin both belong to the northern language family. Singing folk songs in Shandong dialect is not much different from singing in Mandarin. At the same time, when the work is sung in Mandarin, the dialect voice with local Shandong flavor is added. The festival custom song "Canniu Mountain" in Zibo, Shandong Province is a folk tune that best represents local characteristics.

In Zibo, there are also outings during the Qingming Festival every year. Niushan is located south of the ancient city of Linzi. There is an incense festival every year on March 3rd. This custom has been going on for many years. In the era, the life scene depicted in this song is based on the theme of hiking in the mountains. The music of the song is vivid and immersive. The tune is high-pitched and loud, with a long breath, vividly depicting the joyful mood of people driving cattle to the mountains.

The entire song is sung in Mandarin. The word "Zihe" appears in the tenth bar of the first verse and the first bar of the second verse respectively. Zihe is pronounced "zihe" in Mandarin, but the pronunciation in the local language of Zibo is "zhi he", and "Zibo" is "zhi bo" in the local dialect. Zibo, Shandong Province is the birthplace of Qi culture and a famous historical city. It has the most distinctive pronunciation of the local language, rich and thick colors, and is full of Shandong charm just like the honest and simple personality of the local people.

Another very important feature of the singing language of Shandong festival folk songs is the clever use of "erhuayin". When the song "Drive Niu Mountain" is sung with the three words "Drive Niu Mountain", it is usually sung as: "Drive Niu'er Shan'er". Another example is the first line of the lyrics of Cangshan's "Embroidered Purse", which uses the pronunciation of "er": "The purse is embroidered in the sister's room...". In the second line of the lyrics, "Xia Xiu is embroidering that cool boat" is pronounced as "Xia Xiu is embroidering that cool boat". "Liangchuan'er...", the festival custom song "Bail New Year" is pronounced as "Bai Nian'er" when it is sung. From a singing point of view, Erhuayin makes the local color of the song more intense and is conducive to the expression of the content of the song.

Singing emotions

Festival customs are a common entertainment activity for the people. Festival custom songs are the epitome of the working people’s lives and the essence of collective creation by the working people. The melodies of such songs are sometimes passionate and unrestrained, sometimes melodious.

In terms of inner emotional catharsis, it can be roughly divided into two types: direct type and tactful type.

The Zhaoyuan folk song ditty "The Young Couple Pays New Year's Eve" sings:

In the first month of the year, it is the New Year, and the young couple goes to pay New Year's greetings together.

The husband sings and the wife follows. Much love (Come on, come on!),

The loving couple will last for a hundred years (Come on, come on, come on!).

It is a custom in Shandong to "go back to your parents' home on the second day of the first lunar month". The song "New Year's Eve for Young Couple" symbolizes the love between husband and wife and the harmony among relatives. This song is direct in its emotional expression. Therefore, when singing such songs, the emotional expression needs to be crisp and direct.

The Jiao County folk song "Going to the Market" implicitly expresses inner emotions in both melody and lyrics:

1. I went to Dongzhuang to catch the market that day (Hey Hi) I met Brother Qing while he was buying a hoe and sickle.

I had the intention to go up and say those few words, but I was afraid that those people going to the market would gossip behind their backs.

2. He glanced at me a few times (Hey, hey). I carried a small bamboo basket and walked to the back of the village. I waited for him under the willow tree at the back of the village. The two of us exchanged intimate words several times.

What I think about today and what I hope for tomorrow is that day.

When singing such songs, the singer needs to sing lyrically and express the complex and implicit emotions hidden in the song, from shyness to excitement to longing for a better future.

In a broad sense, folk songs are a form of expression of festival customs, but this does not negate the independence and particularity of folk songs. Under certain conditions, folk songs can actually be separated from festival customs and become Independent musical art exists. The musical characteristics of Shandong folk songs prove the interdependence between Shandong folk songs and Shandong folk customs.

Notes

[1] Chinese Folk Song Collection Editorial Committee: "Chinese Folk Song Collection? Shandong Volume", published by China ISBN Center, 2000 edition, page 683.

[2] Chinese Folk Song Collection Editorial Committee: "Chinese Folk Song Collection? Shandong Volume", published by China ISBN Center in 2000, page 683.

Xiao Yan: School of Art and Media, Beijing Normal University

Editor in charge: Tang Hongfeng