The picture shows the members of the Lisu National Folk Art Troupe in Lushui City singing "Pendulum Time". Photo by Kang Ping
Zhongxin Network Nujiang January 6 Title: Nujiang Lisu People: "Swing time" sings a happy new life
Author Xiong Jiaxin
"Poverty alleviation has been completed, and life is rich and smiling." Beautiful highway to my home, to welcome distant guests to come..." On the evening of a sunny winter day, at the head of Xiangyang Bridge in Lushui City, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, the masses dressed in the traditional costumes of the Lisu people gathered together, their right hands touching their ears, their bodies gently shaking, and singing the nu river from poverty and closure to a happy and beautiful new life with "pendulum time".
"Pendulum time" is a transliteration of Lisu, meaning "sing it", together with "wooden scraping" and "youye" and called the three major keys of the Lisu people, in 2006 collectively known as "Lisu folk songs" was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. From the content of the lyrics, it can be divided into traditional narrative long poems and improvisational composition and singing, which can emit "big fluctuation throat vibrato" when singing, and the momentum is magnificent, forming an empty, swirling, and simple mountain style, which has local characteristics and has an important position in the life of the Lisu masses.
"We Lisu people have been able to sing and dance since childhood, and the national tune and dance have been passed down from generation to generation, but gradually, I have found that fewer and fewer descendants have inherited these folk customs." In order to protect and promote the traditional folk culture of the Lisu people, in 2006, Yang Bofu took the lead in setting up the Lisu National Folk Art Troupe, with more than 50 members taking the Xiangyang Bridge of Lushui City as a fixed activity point, and in the past 15 years, they have been carrying out the display and teaching of Lisu traditional songs and dances such as "pendulum time", "Youye" and "Scratch" (the name of the traditional dance of the Lisu people) in the cold and summer.
The picture shows the members of the Lisu Folk Art Troupe in Lushui City dancing "scratch" (the name of the traditional lisu dance). Photo by Kang Ping
Yang Bofu told reporters that in these lisu traditional songs and dances, the "pendulum time" is the most popular with the audience during performances because of its characteristics of a cappella, high singing degree, and strong paging, and has gradually become a "business card" of the art troupe. "'Pendulum time' has a fixed singing tune, and the singer can compose lyrics according to the event and mood, and directly express inner emotions." In the eyes of Lisu compatriots such as Yang Bofu, "pendulum time" is their lyric poetry and aria.
The average age of the members of the Lisu Folk Art Troupe is more than 60 years old, mainly from Lushui City and nearby townships, these "artists" are workers, some are peasants, some are cadres when they are young, and the common love for Lisu culture makes them come together, witnessing and participating in the development of the "Millennium Leap" of the Nu River has become the best inspiration for creating the "pendulum time" in the new era.
Before the poverty alleviation, Nujiang Prefecture was one of the "three districts and three states" deep poverty areas, and the four counties (cities) under the jurisdiction of the whole prefecture were all deep poverty counties, and the incidence of poverty was as high as 56.24%. In 2020, all 4 poverty-stricken counties (cities) in Nujiang Prefecture were lifted out of poverty, and the "straight-through ethnic groups" such as the Nu, Pumi, and Lisu ethnic groups successfully achieved poverty alleviation for the entire ethnic group, and the problems of absolute poverty and regional overall poverty were historically solved, creating a "Nu river miracle" in the history of human poverty reduction that has been more than a thousand years.
The picture shows the members of the Lushui Lisu National Folk Art Troupe dressed in costumes and preparing for the performance. Photo by Kang Ping
When the spring breeze of poverty alleviation blows into the hinterland of the Hengduan Mountainous Area on the southwestern border of China, the rushing Nu River rapids have existed for eternity, and the ziplines and rattan bridges on the river have been replaced by reinforced concrete bridges, and the people of all ethnic groups have left the cold and remote village houses where people and live together, moved to the relocation and resettlement buildings under the mountains, and sang the new "pendulum time" of singing praises for a happy life in their new homes.
"I have led art troupes to perform in Hong Kong, Macau, Bangkok, Thailand and other places, and at that time, I mainly sang traditional 'pendulum' songs, which were loved by audiences from all over the world." Yang Bofu said that if there is still an opportunity to sing "pendulum" on the world stage in the future, we must sing the newly created "hymns of poverty alleviation" and "odes to life" to more people, and welcome them to the Nu River Grand Canyon, where the mountains and rivers are beautiful and the flowers bloom in all seasons.
"Along the beautiful road, all the way to the Dulong River, everywhere is a new scene, and everywhere you can hear the new hymns of the sons and daughters of all nationalities." (End)
Source: China News Network