Folk customs Magical Yichuan chest drum
Yan'an Daily reporter Fan Xiaoshuai
Yichuan chest drum Yan'an Daily Sun Chenbi photography
There are many drums in northern Shaanxi, and it is known as the hometown of inspiration. In the area of Hukou in Yichuan County, southeast of Yan'an and on the banks of the Yellow River, there is a majestic and mighty gong and drum that has been hidden in the deep mountains and is unknown, it has the characteristics of the gong and drum of northern Shaanxi, and the shadow of the mighty gong and drum of Shanxi. This is the pot mouth bucket drum that originated in Dayu Zhishui.
"The emptying of ten thousand islands surged in, and the sound of a thousand thunders and tremors was rolled up." This is a description of the Hukou Waterfall, and it is also a portrayal of the Hukou Dou drum. Hukou Dougu integrates dance, martial arts and percussion into one, and has the characteristics of high-pitched and high-pitched, rough and bold, fierce and mighty, powerful and fierce. It shows the pride of the sons and daughters of the Yellow River in conquering difficulties, and integrates the optimistic and unrestrained and tenacious character of the loess plateau people.
According to the Yichuan County Chronicle, Yichuan has both the ruins of the Dragon King Yuan in the late Paleolithic period and the cultural relics of legends such as pangu rolling and grinding marriage, dayu chiseling stone guide river and so on. During the chaotic periods of the Zhou Qin and Han Dynasties, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Song and Jin dynasties, Yichuan was a strategic victory, so it also had the value trend and historical space to encourage the development of culture. According to preliminary investigations, in addition to the Pangu Yangge encouragement originating from Jiyi and Shoufeng, the folding encouragement of Gaobai and The Loft generation, and the flower gong and drum of the Xinshi Helinggan generation, the most important are the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Yichuan Chest Drum and the Shaanxi Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Hukou Dou Drum.
Hukou Dougu is a unique art form in the traditional folk inspiration art of northern Shaanxi, originating from the imposing Hukou Waterfall and circulating in Hukou Township and Gaobai Township along the Yellow River in Yichuan County, Shaanxi Province. According to legend, when Dayu ruled the water, there was a dragon at the mouth of the Yellow River, and the local people beat drums to cheer up, so that Dayu finally subdued the dragon, successfully controlled the water, and the people beat the drums to celebrate, so that the drums in the mouth of the pot were passed down from generation to generation. The pot mouth drum shows a masculine beauty, with the characteristics of rough and bold magnificence. There are not many musical instruments used in the pot mouth drum, only three pieces of drums, gongs and cymbals, but they can play the wind and rain and thunder of nature, and the joys and sorrows of the world. The changes in strike techniques are forward strike, tap, side strike, and bang strike; cymbals have scratch, throw, smoulder, and flat strike. Each type of blow can also be subdivided, and there are no less than dozens of playing techniques. The traditional configuration ratio is one drum to one cymbals. The playing method is the main drum conductor, the gong master, the group of cymbals in unison, the drums competing for prestige, hundreds of drums, hundreds of fu cymbals, when the resonance is played in unison, such as the roar of heaven and earth, so that people feel the majesty of Dayu's conquest of the dragon.
During the performance, the performers combine the changes in the rhythm of the drum beat and make various dance postures. Drummers have "left and right opening bows", "horse step impact", "interspersed fighting", "opening and closing fighting"; gong players have "back buckle forward rush" and "kickback back bow"; cymbals have "double cymbals", "big cymbals high flips", "chest flips", as well as "single flips", "double flips", "diagonal forks", "positive forks", etc. The drum gongs and hiquins become swords and guns here, and the players become generals, mighty and majestic, and "dance" becomes "martial". In the performance, the "drum flower", "gong flower" and "cymbal flower" are skillfully used, coupled with the ribbon decoration on the wrist, the whole scene appears colorful, giving people a sense of happiness, and "wu" has become "dance".
It is gratifying that there are at least 400 drummers in Yichuan County, and drum performances are an indispensable finale on major holidays and celebrations. Primary and secondary schools throughout the county learn to play fighting drums, which has also become an extracurricular activity that many students are vying to choose.
The Yichuan chest drum shows the feminine beauty, with small and chic, crisp and refreshing beauty characteristics. The number of performances of the chest drum can be large or small, generally in pairs, there are men and women, and men and women dance together. The dancers are dressed in a unique way, the drum dancers wear black and red short clothes, wear hero scarves on their heads, tie hero knots on their chests, carry hero flowers, wear colorful butterflies, are full of vitality and heroic. During the performance, the man vibrates the oval cowhide small drum in front, holds the hardwood drumstick in the left hand, and holds the soft cowhide mallet in the right hand, playing the drum, the flower is not chaotic, the rhythm contrast is strong, and the drum sound is crisp and powerful. Dynamic like a god, emotional unrestrained. At the climax of the performance, one person vibrates several drums, on the flat shoulders of the two stages, or on the shape of the stools stacked, with amazing skill, rolling up and down, drumming and dancing, both the grace of the dancers and the strength of martial arts acrobatics. Holding a bully whip or a color fan, the women danced around the drummers with small steps of flowers running around the round field, like the stars holding the moon, like a hundred birds facing the phoenix. The movement of the chest drum absorbs a large number of movements in the opera, such as two feet, front and rear bows and arrows, soft waist, cross legs, fighting, waist wrapping and so on. The shape and scene changes of the chest drum include double dragon swing tail, cross plum blossom, running eight characters, large round field, etc., beautiful shape, novel style, fully embodies the Yichuan people's thick, simple, cheerful and optimistic character, showing their love of life, the pursuit of happiness ideals and the heroism of charging forward and moving forward, with a strong local atmosphere and distinct interest in life.
The basic architecture of Yichuan Ergu, like the Hukou Waterfall, is fully in line with the ancient tai chi concept. Yichuan chest drum and Hukou bucket drum in a county to dance together, one west and one east, from the characteristics of the shape to the expression of the traditional cultural characteristics of "one yin and one yang is the Tao", this kind of spatial structure presents the negative yin and yang, yin and yang coupling, rigid and soft combination of the characteristics of the contradictory unified body of the cultural phenomenon, just coincides with the philosophical thought of the "I Ching", perfectly reproduces the ecological gene of traditional Chinese culture. This is the magic that distinguishes Yichuan Inspiration from other inspirations.
Source: Yan'an Daily