Text/Jinyang.com reporter Li Haichan Chen Xiaopeng Correspondent Wang Dingquan
Not long ago, Li Kemei, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor who lives in Xunliaowan Fishery Village in Huidong, appeared on CCTV stage and sang a song “Foot Sea Fisherman Songs” 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.
Story: Fisherman’s songs are on CCTV stage
“Come (A) to sing the flowing water (A) water retreats, a pair of lobsters hides at the reefKomiks(A) feet…” Recently, the reporter met Li Qumei, and she sang this typical Huidong fisherman’s song “A pair of lobsters hides at the reef” 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 Kemei lived a life of swimming and fishing on the sea with her parents. Only in severe weather when it is windy and rainy can the boat be temporarily parked on the shore for rest and replace daily necessities. In her impression, life at sea was so difficult and poor 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 also accompanied by Fisherman’s SongCinema. 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 to sing fishing songs pictures/Huizhou Daily
Until the age of 8, many fishermen could finally “wash their feet and go ashore”, and Li Kemei’s family moved into the fishing village and brought the fishing songs to the shore. Slowly, Li Kemei learned to improvise “create” fishing songs herself, and sing them as soon as she spoke, “No need to sing or practice, sing whatever she saw, listen to them, and sing them as soon as she wanted.” Later, because her family was sick, 20-year-old Li Kemei went to sea to fish and earn money, and singing fishing songs became the only sustenance.
Li Kemei had never read a book, But with her good memory, she can sing dozens of Huidong original fishing songs in one breath. She is a veritable “Quanku” of Huidong fishing songs and has become one of the only two national intangible cultural heritage inheritors in Huizhou City.
Now, Li Kemei opens a fishing song class at home, so that fishing song lovers and children in the village can have a place to learn. The reporter saw at home that her home is not spacious, but she stores a lot of clothing, hats, headdresses and other performance items. Before each performance, she also pays her own money to buy water, performance costumes, and music for her children.
Dialogue: In BabaylanHome opened a class to inherit the fisherman’s song
Reporter: What do you feel like to be rated as a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor?
Li Kemei: I have applied for three consecutive years without success, and I am a little distracted. When I heard this news, I was doing the headwear for the performance and felt very excited! (Happy Laugh) I quickly told my husband and family that because doing this (Inheriting Fisherman’s Song) is very hard, and many places have to spend money. If I don’t have the support of my family, I can’t do it. Second, I thought that if my sisters were still there, I would be happier to know that I had the results today. (Chister)
Some areas along Huidong coastal areas still retain the custom of singing fisherman’s songs
Reporter: You are now at a certain age, how to continue singing fisherman’s songsCinemaHow to continue singing fisherman’s songsKomiks?
Li Kemei: I am 68 this year, almost 70 years old, and I have done my waistKomiks technique, but I will be very happy when I sing fishing songs. I will go out to participate in competitions, perform at weddings, and teach people to sing fishing songs at home when I have time. Look (pointing to the ground), there are still many costumes, hats, and headdresses here… But there is a problem, that is, 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 the country has given that honor (intangible cultural heritage inheritor), so I have the obligation to spread fishing songs, and I will still insist on singing fishing songs.
【Context Archives】 Cinema
The Past and Present Life of Huidong Fishing Songs
Origin: Hard Sea Life Raised Fishing Songs Fishing Songs According to the Huidong County Chronicles, the distant ancestors of the fishermen on the coast of Huidong belonged to the primitive “Tan people”, also known as “the people who set up the people in the back boat”, which is an integral part of the “Baiyue people” in southern my country. According to the Huidong Fisheries, the ancestors of the Huidong Komiks moved in from Fujian and Chaozhou through trade or escape, and were distributed in Pinghai, ports, Renshan Fanhe and other harbors.
” href=”https://comicmov.com/”>KomiksThe sea is three-pointed, and go ashore and walk down and bow your head” is a true portrayal of the lives of the people. The people in the Han people have been facing the sea and blue sky for a long time, and naturally choose to use songs to relieve worries. It can be said that the Huidong Fisherman’s Song is the spiritual pillar of local fishermen, allowing them to gain 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 passed on their mouth, regardless of men, women, age and age. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema can be used to sing with your heart.
Development: Once famous and on the verge of loss
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Huidong fishing songs once set off a climax. In 1956, the fishing song singer from Huidong Port Town participated in the national folk song performance, and was praised and received by Premier Zhou Enlai and other national leaders; in the 1960s, the large-scale fishing 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 Talk” and “Oh O Scent Notes” of Huidong fishing songs…
Fisher Song Performance Photo/Huizhou Music Radio
But this prosperity did not continue. Liao Zhitao introduced that with the acceleration of industrialization and urban processes, most of the fishermen’s descendants have abandoned their own businesses after they came ashore. Coupled with the impact of multicultural cultures such as pop songs, fewer and fewer singers of Huidong fishing songs. “Once only a dozen fishing singers in the county are left, and the inheritance of fishing songs is in the dilemma.” Liao Zhitao said.
Just when the original ecological fishing song is in danger, the emergence of an elderly man has given a new turning point in the development of fishing songs. He is Ye Lin, former specialist of the Ministry of Culture and Education Committee of the China Music Association. When he was young, he was one of many people who came to Huidong to investigate fishing songs. After getting to know him deeply, he was fascinated by it. After retirement, this old man who described himself as a “lonely man” was thinking about Huidong fishing songs, and traveled around Beijing and Guangdong many times, writing hundreds of thousands of words of Huidong fishing songs paper materials.
When seeing the current development status of Huidong Fisherman’s Song at that time, Mr. Ye felt sorry. Out of cherishing 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 apply to the country for the “Huidong Fisherman’s Song” as a national intangible cultural heritage, and proposed plans to promote and develop Huidong Fisherman’s Song.
Inheritance: Fisherman’s song style is moved to the wedding festival
As fisherman’s songs are successively selected into the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage list, government departments have also issued corresponding 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 follows the customs of fishermen such as boat lifting and flower viewing, and the surrounding fishing blessings are blessed..com/”>BabaylanThe song also rang.
Scene photo of “The Singing of the Ban Family” / Huizhou Music Radio
Fisherman’s songs are sung by relatives and friends of the newlyweds in the form of songs, usually sing for one or two hours. “It is usually the woman who cries and marrys, and men and women make fun of it, but it is more auspicious words.” Songs are considered to be one of the most essential links of the fisherman’s wedding customs. Fisherman’s wedding can be at least two or three days, and at most five days. BabaylanThe strong fisherman’s folk customs attract people to watch every time, and many people spread it to the Internet, making the fisherman’s songs become more and more popular.
“Eat XunBabaylanLiao’s special dishes while watching the fisherman’s song performance”, in XunBabaylan‘s tourist restaurants can be seen everywhere, 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, and was sought after by tourists.
Current situation: new vitality has appeared, and there are still worries.
In the new era, this shining pearl on the coast of the South China Sea has regained new vitality. “Previously, the subject matter is more inclined to the love between bitterness and men and women. “Liao Zhitao introduced that if you still simply use fisherman song materials to create songs, you will not be able to meet the development of fisherman songs. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema needs. 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 Fishing Song Art Troupe, a folk 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 team has attracted more than 50 members, not only the inheritor of fishing songs, but also music teachers, Huizhou musicians and other professionals.
In order to bring Huidong fishing songs to the stage and resonate with more audiences, the art troupe performed many original fishing songs Babaylan has created a second creation. 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 who 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. With 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 enter campuses and community areas, create, rehearsal and other work, and the funds are short of funds.