[Zhao Zongfu] Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art and the inheritance, protection and originality of Northwest Hua' er
As a representative work of human intangible cultural heritage, Northwest Hua 'er is an excellent traditional culture created, inherited and enjoyed by the people of Northwest China for thousands of years.
It still lives vividly and widely in the daily life of the people and is a living thing with infinite vitality.
The spiritual culture of the state plays an irreplaceable social and cultural function.
At the same time, Huaer is the crystallization of multi-ethnic cultures located on the Silk Road.
It carries diverse and rich historical content and local knowledge, demonstrates the cultural resources and cultural advantages of the harmonious development of regional social economy, and plays an important role in promoting the "Belt and Road" construction and promoting ethnic cultural and social harmony.
The strong inheritance of Hua 'er is infused with the blood, emotions and great efforts of the people of various ethnic groups, artists and singers in the northwest represented by Su Ping.
Especially in terms of Hua' er art going global, Su Ping, who is widely praised by society as the "Queen of Hua 'er", is unique and has made great contributions.
Therefore, putting Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art and the inheritance of human intangible cultural heritage together will have more overall significance of integrating and complementing each other.
I am a complete amateur in the art of music.
I just want to talk about the value and significance of Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art in the inheritance of Hua' er, an excellent human intangible cultural heritage.
It is just a reminder.
As we all know, Su Ping, as a famous Hua 'er singing artist, has long been devoted to the systematic sorting and research and practice of Hua' er art.
He is not only firmly rooted in the soil of Northwest Hua 'er culture, but also boldly innovates in singing and integrates various ethnic folk songs.
The characteristics of various ethnic groups have greatly enriched the connotation of Hua' er and enhanced their influence.
She not only enjoys a reputation in China, but also performs in many countries and regions around the world and won extremely high praise.
She made great contributions to promoting the art of Hua 'er singing.
Her singing is different from the original singing method in the general sense, so the flowers she sings are simply summarized by some people as "foreign flowers" and "dressed flowers".
Some people feel that this is not the same as the soil inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.
Since the new century, in the international context of the protection of human intangible cultural heritage, the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage in my country has become a common practice, and the protection and inheritance of Huaer is no exception.
The six Hua 'er fairs in the Hehuang River Basin, as well as Ningxia Hua' er and Xinjiang Hua 'er, all entered the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative lists.
Later, Hua' er also entered the World Human Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a whole.
The achievements are remarkable and impressive.
However, how to protect and inherit Huaer, which has such a huge influence, like the protection and inheritance of many domestic intangible cultural heritage cultures, there are many practical operational issues, such as how to effectively protect and inherit the national cultural tradition in the protection and inheritance of Huaer, how can the national traditional culture in intangible cultural heritage be sorted out and improved, what ethical principles should be adhered to in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, etc.
I once confidently put forward a 16-word principle for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage: "Respect tradition, respect development, maintain authenticity, and make appropriate use." What makes me quite pleased is that at the end of 2015, the 10th ordinary session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (IGC) reviewed and adopted the "Ethical Principles for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" and published 12 ethical principles.
Some of the formulations are close to my formulation, which attracted my attention.
Using these ethical principles to take care of the relationship between Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art and the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage not only solves doubts, but is also enlightening.
For example, Article 8 states: "The dynamic and lively nature of intangible cultural heritage should always be respected.
Authenticity and exclusivity should not constitute problems or obstacles to the protection of intangible cultural heritage." Article 11 emphasizes: "Cultural diversity and the identity of communities, groups and individuals should be fully respected." I think this cuts into some misunderstandings and prejudices in the current protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage in my country.
We should respect the natural development of intangible cultural heritage culture, view the development of intangible cultural heritage culture with dynamics and vitality, respect cultural phenomena that have been recognized by communities, groups and even individuals, respect the diversity of cultural development, and cannot treat intangible cultural heritage with fixed authenticity and exclusiveness of extreme emotions, thus becoming a problem and obstacle in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.
In a nutshell, we want to change our concepts, respect development and innovation on the basis of respecting tradition and maintaining authenticity, and protect and inherit intangible cultural heritage in living development.
Huaer is a typical living intangible cultural heritage culture that is constantly enriched and developed in people's daily lives.
This liveliness is manifested in both the historical evolution over time, the pluralistic evolution over time, and the development trends at different levels.
If you deny this and insist on saying that this is authentic and that is not authentic, then what authenticity in time and space is the authenticity you are talking about? What are the standards? Ming Dynasty or Qing Dynasty? Or was it during the Republic of China or before the reform and opening up? Is it from Hezhou or Xining? Are the flowers in Xinjiang and Ningxia considered authentic? Wait.
Therefore, there is no unchanging authenticity, nor is there any uniqueness of solipsism.
As long as it is recognized by the regional people or some groups, it should be respected.
As Mr.
Liu Kuili said: Cultural events are changing and cannot be completely unchanged.
Whether it is authentic cannot be seen in a certain time or space.
The authenticity of intangible cultural heritage depends on its substrate authenticity.
In my opinion, the basic authenticity of flowers is not only the basic form and content of flowers such as musical melody, lyrics rhythm, social content and cultural context expressed), but also the cultural spirit of flowers.
As long as these basic conditions are met, what is sung will be the authentic northwest flowers, as is the case with the flowers sung by Su Ping.
Whether it is an authentic flower depends on whether it is recognized by the people and whether it is welcomed by the people.
Those recognized and welcomed are good flowers and good singers.
Su Ping's performance of Hua 'er was not only generally recognized by the people in Gansu and Qinghai regions, but also warmly welcomed by everyone; it was not only recognized and welcomed by the local people, but also recognized and praised by domestic and foreign listeners.
Therefore, in the protection and inheritance of flowers, which are representative works of intangible cultural heritage, the flowers sung by Su Ping are more authentic.
She takes tradition as the body and development as its use, making the flowers confined to the region more vivid and dazzling in the wider world.
This is a kind of protection and inheritance of innovative development in a dynamic and dynamic manner.
It is an authentic art with history and modernity, and deserves our respect and praise.
So, what inspiration does Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art inspire us to protect and inherit intangible cultural heritage?
The first is to continuously explore and improve in the diversity of living situations, adhere to the artistic style that represents cultural traditions and people's emotions, and protect and inherit Huaer culture with unique artistic practices.
Due to the multi-ethnic and multi-regional nature of the flower distribution in northwest China, its inheritance ecology is also rich and colorful.
Su Ping's flower singing carries out appropriate scientific treatment of its art on the premise of adhering to the authenticity of the substrate, focusing on the cultural tradition.
The distinctive highlight of the spirit and the local feelings of Hehuang has formed a bold and innovative artistic style.
Because of this, to the common people, her flowers are still authentic flowers, but they are so sweet and pleasant.
They not only win widespread public recognition, but also allow the flowers to move further to the country and the world.
This successful artistic innovation provides an important reference case for the diversity protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, especially artistic protection and inheritance.
The second is to highlight the excellent elements in traditional culture, adhere to positive social content and artistic quality, not kitsch or trend, and protect and inherit flower culture from positive energy.
Over the years, under the overwhelming tide of the market economy, the field of intangible cultural heritage has not been completely exempt from customs.
Even in order to cater to the vulgar emotional needs of some people, some inheritors often consciously or unconsciously perform kitsch performances.
Su Ping has always been clean, adhering to positive content in Hua 'er's singing, and publicly criticizing the various bad performances of his peers.
For example, she said in the article "Several Issues Worth Attention in Hua 'er Singing":"Some Hua' er singers, due to their own cultural qualities and the impact of the market economy, driven by financial interests, sing obscene, unsavory, and vulgar bad flowers on some occasions...
cater to audiences with low tastes, causing music pollution and corrupting social atmosphere." This kind of criticism can be said to hit the nail on the head.
Compare Su Ping with some flower singers, you can clearly see how elegant and vulgar they are.
Her words and deeds do not need to say much, which explains what path is the right path for Hua 'er singing and Hua' er inheritance, which also deserves the attention of all aspects of society.
The third is to attach importance to the field space of flowers, adhere to the context of flower protection and inheritance, and resolutely oppose de-contextualization, administration, and industrialization.
In the craze for intangible cultural heritage in recent years, some places have placed great emphasis on declaration and project establishment, and have neglected protection and inheritance.
Under the banner of protecting and inheriting intangible cultural heritage culture and promoting the tourism industry, some places have excessive administrative intervention, subverted traditional inheritance fields and basic inheritance methods, and changed venues to carry out staged, transplanted, and mixed cultural activities.
Most of them are popular songs, and singers are hired heavily to sing.
Hua 'er singing is just an ornament, and sometimes they do not even allow people to participate.
This not only lost the inheritance field, but also almost completely tampered with the authenticity of the substrate.
The cultural rights and interests of the people were seriously infringed upon, and the phenomena of de-contextualization, commercialization, and intermingization were serious.
This phenomenon has not caused many people's worries, but has become accustomed to it.
Some scholars do not dare to publicly oppose it for various reasons, but Su Ping often stands forward and faces criticism.
It is precisely because she has an unswerving stance of taking root in the folk soil that she dares to speak out in such a way.
This has set an example for many of us scholars and flower inheritors and is worth thinking and learning from.
If the inheritance context is lost or flowers are turned into a pure cultural industry, the real protection and inheritance of flowers will no longer exist.
In this regard, Hao Sumin has a good discussion in the article "Flowers in Cultural Fields and Rituals--On the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage from an Anthropological Perspective".
The fourth is to combine singing practice with theoretical summary, insist on sorting out and reflecting on Hua 'er's singing art in a theoretical manner, fundamentally improve and enhance Hua' er's artistic level, and better play a role in protecting and inheriting.
Generally speaking, the vast majority of intangible cultural heritage inheritors, including Hua 'er singers, only inherit their own cultural traditions in practice due to their professional nature and educational level, and rarely use theoretical thinking and academic research to guide practice.
Su Ping is different.
She has long insisted on integrating theory with practice, conducting theoretical exploration of the art of Hua 'er singing and even Hua' er culture, and formed her own thoughts and views.
She has published academic papers such as "China Music" and "Folk Literature Forum" in professional authoritative academic journals such as "On the Artistic Characteristics and Singing Style of 'Hua' er" and "Several Issues Worth Attention in Hua 'er Singing".
Her theoretical research and practical application complement each other.
The practice of subliming theory from practical summary and using theoretical thinking to improve her singing level is rare among Hua 'er singers, so she became a veritable Hua' er singer.
For many singers who are interested in singing Hua 'er, this provides a seemingly bitter but effective recipe.
Only by thinking and studying diligently and having theoretical literacy can we achieve truly superb artistic achievements in singing.
The fifth is to consciously follow artistic ethics and consciously respect and preserve the inheritance pedigree of flowers, thereby accumulating precious first-hand information for the living development of flower culture and truly protecting and inheriting flower art.
If an inheritor lacks this awareness, he may say "I taught myself" and "I have no master" after becoming famous to show his genius.
Su Ping has worked hard all his life for Hua 'er's singing art, constantly learning from his predecessors and peers, learning from them, drawing on the strengths of others, and embracing everything, forming his own singing style, and achieving remarkable achievements.
After becoming famous, she honestly recorded the learning gains of most of her life.
For example, when, where, and with which singer she first learned a certain song order, the time, place and characters were clear, thus completely restoring the flower inheritance pedigree in a broader sense, leaving very precious first-hand information for colleagues and researchers.
This is undoubtedly also an innovation in the protection and inheritance of flowers, and at the same time shows her strong sense of inheritance ethics.
This is worthy of serious study and promotion by the majority of singers.
Because only in this way can we comprehensively and systematically restore the pedigree of flowers inherited over the past century, and can we comprehensively and clearly display the branches, leaves and leaves of this towering tree.
To sum up, Su Ping's Hua 'er singing art has many implications for the inheritance and protection of intangible cultural heritage, and insisting on respecting tradition, respecting development, maintaining true nature, making appropriate use, and protecting and inheriting in diverse living development is the most fundamental.
The original text is contained in Northwest Ethnic Studies, No.1, 2017, No.92), notes omitted, please refer to the original text)