Text/Jinyang.com Komiks Reporter Li Haichan Chen Xiaopeng Correspondent Wang Dingquan
Not long ago, Li Kemei, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor who lives in Xunliao, Huidong, appeared on the CCTV stage and sang a song “The Song of Fisherman in the Four Seas in Beijing”. This melody song from the sea, mixed with cool sea breeze, vividly demonstrates the cultural characteristics of the southern coastal culture. As a traditional folk art in Guangdong and a treasure of Huizhou’s intangible cultural heritage, Huidong Fisherman’s Song has slowly walked out of the coast of the small county town and sung the whole country.
Fishers pick up the fisherman’s songs at will and sing with their hearts
Fishermen use the waves as their pillows and sing against the moon. It seems romantic, but it is actually full of infinite loneliness and boredom. According to Huidong County Chronicles, since the Song Dynasty, this shallow sea fisherman’s song from the coast of Fujian to Huidong has been widely circulated in the local area. Over the past thousands of years, it has experienced ups and downs. In recent years, government agencies and civil forces have worked together to promote the development of fisherman songs, and have found a point of fit between the thousand-year-old fisherman songs and modern aesthetic needs, which has rejuvenated its vitality.
Story: Fisherman’s songs are on CCTV stage
“Come (Ah) and sing the flowing water (Ah) water retreats, a pair of lobsters hides the reef (Ah) feet…” Recently, the reporter met Li Qumei, and she sang this typical Huidong fisherman’s song “Ah) feet with a pair of lobsters hides the reef (Ah) feet” loudly, and spoke in a stunning manner. He spoke softly and smiled. Once he started singing, the 68-year-old grandma next door seemed to have changed her voice, with her singing crisp and loud and her eyes firm and confident.
The ancestors moved to Huidong from the Chaoshan coastal area. I remember that Li Qumei lived a life of swimming and fishing on the sea with her parents. Only in the windy and rainy weather can the boat be temporarily docked on the shore for rest and replaced daily necessities. In her impression, life at sea is too difficult and poorShe was so sleepy that she was the only one of the four sisters in the family. Whenever Li Kemei thinks of this, she can’t help but wet her eyes.
Luckily, she is accompanied by fisherman song. When my father was fishing, my mother took her to weave fishing nets and sing. “A pair of lobsters hidden in the reef” is the first fishing song she learned. Through the influence of hearing, Li Qumei fell in love with singing. When she was drying the fishing nets, she would always gather with countless young girls from fishing families to learn to sing fishing songs passed down by her fathers.
Li Kemei likes to teach her children how to sing fishermen’s songs/Huizhou Daily
Until 8 years old, many fishermen could finally “wash their feet and go ashore”, and Li Kemei’s family also moved into the fishing village and brought the fishing songs to the shore. Gradually, Li Qumei learned to “create” fisherman’s songs improvise and sing as soon as she spoke, “No need to sing or practice, sing whatever she sees, listen whenever she wants, and sing whenever she wants.” Later, because of his family’s illness, 20-year-old Li Qumei went to sea to fish and make money, and singing fisherman’s songs became the only sustenance for Cinema.
Li Kemei has never read a book, but with her good memory, she can sing dozens of Huidong original fisherman songs in one breath. She is a veritable “Quanku” of Huidong fisherman songs and has also become one of the only two national intangible cultural heritage inheritors in Huizhou City.
Now, Li Kemei has a fishing song class at home, so that fishing song enthusiasts and children in the village can have a place to learn. The reporter saw at home that her home was not wide, but she stored a lot of clothing, hats, headdresses and other performance items. Before each performance, she also paid for her children to buy water, performance costumes, and music.
Dialogue: Opening a class at home to inherit the fisherman’s song
Reporter: What do you feel about being rated as a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor?
Li Kemei: I haven’t succeeded in applying for three consecutive years, and I’m a little uneasy anymore. When I heard this news, I was doing a headdress for the performance and I felt very excited! (Happy Laugh) I quickly told my husband and family of Komiks. Because Komiks is very hard to do this (inheriting fisherman songs), many places have to spend money, and I can’t do it without the support of my family. The second one is KomiksThinking that if my sisters were still there, I would be happier to know that I would have achieved the results today. (Chister)
Some areas along Huidong coastal areas still retain the custom of marriage and singing fisherman’s songs
Reporter: You have a CinemaBabaylanAs aged, how can I continue to sing fisherman songs?
Li Kemei: I am 68 this year, almost 70 years old, and I have had surgery on my waist, but I will be very happy to sing fisherman songs. I will go outside to participate in competitions, perform at the wedding, and teach people to sing fisherman songs at home when I have time. Look (pointing to the ground), this Cinema also has a lot of clothing, hats, and headdresses… But there is a problem, that many people like fishing songs, but they also have to work. I have a student I like very much, but she has to work at home and make money, so I can’t continue to come. This makes me very worried. But when the country gives the honor (intangible cultural heritage inheritor), I have the obligation to spread fishing songs, and I will still insist on singing fishing songs.
【Context Archives】
The Past and Present Life of Huidong Fishing Songs
Origin: Hard Sea Life Raised Fishing Songs
According to the “Huidong County Chronicles”, the distant ancestors of the fishermen on Huidong coastal were the primitive “Danminister”, also known as “the back boat to the people”, which is our country href=”https://comicmov.com/”>CinemaThe “Baiyue people” in the south. According to the “Huidong Fisheries” record, the ancestors of Huidong Tan people moved in from Fujian and Chaozhou through trade or escape, and were distributed in Pinghai, ports, Renshan Fanhe and other harbors. “Going to sea and going ashore and walking down” is a true portrayal of the lives of the Tan people. The Tan people have been facing the sea and blue sky for a long time, so they naturally chose to sing their own songs and relieve worries by singing. It can be said that Huidong Fisherman’s Song is the spiritual pillar of local fishermen, allowing them toGain the confidence and courage to survive in a difficult living environment. Liao Zhitao, director of Huidong County Cultural Center, introduced that for thousands of years, in this specific environment of boring life at sea, the vast number of fishermen have spoken by mouth, and that no matter men, women, young and old, they can pick it up and sing as they like.
Development: Zeng famous and was on the verge of losing.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Huidong Fisherman’s Song once reached a climax. In 1956, the fishermen from Huidong Port Town participated in the folk song performance nationwide and were praised and received by Premier Zhou Enlai and other national leaders; in the 1960s, the large-scale fisherman opera “The Great Wall of the South China Sea” created by the Central Song and Dance Theater became famous, and its musical materials were taken from the “Girl’s Talk” and “Oh O’s Talk…
Fisherman’s Song Performance Photo/Huizhou Music Radio
But this prosperity has not continued. Liao Zhitao introduced that with the acceleration of industrialization and urban processes, most of the descendants of fishermen have abandoned their own businesses after they came ashore. Coupled with the impact of multiculturalization such as pop songs, there are fewer and fewer singers of Huidong Fisherman’s Song. “Once there are only a dozen fisherman singers in the county, and the inheritance of fisherman’s songs is in trouble. “Liao Zhitao said.
Just when the original ecological fishing song was in danger, the appearance of an old man gave a new turning point in the development of fishing songs. He was Ye Lin, former specialist of the Ministry of Culture and a member of the Education Committee of the Chinese Music Association. When he was young, he was one of the many people who came to Huidong to investigate fishing songs. After his in-depth understanding, the old man who described himself as a “lonely man” was thinking about Huidong fishing songs, and traveled many times in Beijing and Guangdong, and wrote hundreds of thousands of words of Huidong fishing song paper materials.
Seeing the development of Huidong fishing songs at that timeKomiks‘s statement, and Mr. Ye felt sorry. Out of his cherishment of folk art, he strongly called on all walks of life to pay attention to Huidong Fisherman’s Song, and actively supported Huidong Cultural Department to declare “Huidong Fisherman’s Song” to the country as a national intangible cultural heritage, and proposed a plan to promote and develop Huidong Fisherman’s Song.
The rumor of fisherman’s songs was moved to the wedding festival
As fisherman’s songs were successively selected into the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage list, government departments also issued theCorresponding protection and rescue measures. Over the years, music workers in Huidong County have actively collected, sorted and studied Huidong fishing songs, and established Huidong fishing song database to bring them back to people’s sight.
At present, in some areas along the coast of Huidong, the custom of singing fisherman songs on occasions such as weddings, reunion of relatives, and festival banquets, Li Kemei is often invited to perform at the wedding of the fisherman. According to reports, the wedding followed the customs of fishermen such as boat picking up boats and viewing flowers, and the surrounding fisherman’s songs of blessings also rang out at the same time.
Scene photo of the performance of “The Singing of the Banjia”/Huizhou Music Radio
Fisher songs are sung by relatives and friends of both parties in the form of songs, and are usually sung for an hour or two. “It is usually the woman who cries and marrys, and the man and the woman make fun of it, but it is more auspicious words.” Songs are considered to be one of the most essential links in the fisherman’s marriage customs. The fisherman’s wedding can be as few as two or three days, and the most is as many as five days. The strong folk customs of fishermen can attract everyone to watch every time, and many people spread it online, making the fisherman’s songs more and more popular.
“Eat Xunliao special dishes while watching fisherman’s song performances” can be seen everywhere in Xunliao’s tourist restaurants, effectively integrating fisherman’s song culture into the tourism industry, making it a major feature of Huidong tourist attractions. It is understood that Huizhou Tourism Department adapted the fisherman’s wedding customs into a cultural performance project for tourists to perform, which was sought after by tourists.
Current situation: New vitality has appeared, but there are still worries that have been lost.
In the new era, this shining pearl on the coast of the South China Sea has regained new vitality. “In the past, the subjects tend to be more bitter and love between men and women.” BabaylanLiao Zhitao introduced that if you still use fisherman song materials to create songs, you cannot meet the development needs of fisherman songs. Therefore, on the basis of retaining the basic melody and flavor of fishing songs, local musicians in Huizhou have constantly changed the tune and wrote new lyrics to make fishing songs meet the aesthetic needs of modern people.
Pinghai Fisherman’s Song Art Troupe, a private non-profit social group, is one of the typical examples. According to reports, the art troupe was established in 2017. In just two years, the groupThe team attracted more than 50 members, including not only the inheritor of the fisherman’s songs, but also professionals such as music teachers and Huizhou musicians.
In order to bring Huidong fishing songs to the stage and resonate with more audiences, the art troupe has created a second creation of many original fishing songs. For example, “The Song of the Dan Family” mainly describes the story of the Dan people being distraught in the old society because they were unable to raise their daughters and the Dan people in the new society lived a happy life. The art troupe has carried out innovations such as environmental change, dialect and Mandarin change, and emotional change. What everyone did not expect was that the first stop of the work was performed in Pinghai, which made the audience cry.
When they wear traditional clothes and sing fisherman’s songs, it is particularly eye-catching./Huizhou Daily
Liao Zhitao was also calm. KomiksAs the continuous deepening of inheritance work, the problem of insufficient funds is becoming increasingly prominent. “Cultural (development) requires investment.” Liao Zhitao introduced that Pinghai Fisherman Art Troupe usually carries out singing activities for public welfare, and fisherman’s songs entering campuses and communities, creating, rehearsals and other work requires investment, and the funds are short of funds.