Lisu traditional folk song culture
Folk songs have always been a favorite artistic activity of the Lisu people. In the Lisu people's own words, it means "I can't eat salt and I can't sing songs." Folk songs have almost become the "second language" of the Lisu people. Whether in various production activities or weddings, the Lisu people have to sing, and even file lawsuits or mediate disputes. They often use singing tunes to solve the problem, and their multi-voice cappella chorus is known as the "nature of the canyon."
Lisu folk songs include Mugua, Baishi and Youye songs; according to their genre and form, they can be roughly divided into six categories: ancient songs (It is called "wooden scraping cloth" in Lisu) and is widely circulated; love songs are tunes sung together by young men and women. There are also tunes sung by young lovers during their trysts, called "Youye". The tunes include "Kouxian Tune" and "Pipa Tune" accompanied by the pipa or mouth strings when young men and women are working and resting in the fields; competition songs are impromptu songs sung by young men and women during the New Year or at gatherings. The tunes prefer cheerful and unrestrained "worship" or "wood-scraping fever"; Sacrifice songs are the tunes sung when offering sacrifices to ancestors or ghosts and gods; Burial songs are the tunes sung to mourn the dead. The words are sad and moving, and the tunes are sad and sad. According to different funerals, there are customs divided into "crying songs","sending soul songs" and "elegy songs"; ode songs are folk songs created by the Lisu people after the founding of New China. Most of them express the Lisu people's love for the new society in the form of a comparison between the old and the new.
Among them,"Mugua" is one of the most important and widely circulated folk songs of the Lisu people. It is spread in the Lisu inhabited area of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It was included in the municipal intangible cultural heritage protection list in 2007. Mugua generally refers to all songs and tunes in Lisu dialect, and later gradually became the exclusive name for ancient narrative songs.
Other songs and tunes belonging to the category of Muguai are generally titled with content, such as Achi Muguai (Goat Diao), Qiben Muguai (Sanxian Diao), etc. Wood scraping is mainly used for traditional narrative long poems with serious content and solemn atmosphere, and is often sung at times and occasions such as national festivals. Representative singing contents include "Genesis","Production Tune","Shepherd Song","Escape from Marriage Tune", etc. The tunes are simple and deep, with a desolate and ancient style.
The wooden scraper is generally divided into two parties by middle-aged and elderly men, sitting cross-legged around the fire pond, each singing questions and answers as a male or female. During the duet, both sides will be led by one person, and everyone will sing along. The lead singer will sing one line, and the backup singer will sing one line. During the singing, wine will be used to add fun and sing while drinking. Muscraping duet also has the characteristics of competition. If the lead singers on both sides are expert duet, the duet will often last for several days and nights. The traditional narrative ancient songs of the Lisu people sung with wooden scraping pairs extensively cover ethnic origins, human reproduction, production and life, customs and customs, love and marriage, religious beliefs and ethnic exchanges. They vividly reproduce the broad picture of the Lisu people's social history and have a high understanding and aesthetic value.
For example, the long narrative song "Escape from Marriage" reflects the Lisu people's marriage and love customs of "getting married by fingers" and "using cattle for hire", the social customs of fleeing from marriage to strive for freedom and love, the primitive beliefs of killing sheep and summoning souls, beating dogs 'heads to swear, and pouring blood and wine to swear., as well as the spirit of unity among various ethnic groups to interact and help each other, as well as the Lisu people's social productivity level and production conditions.
The location of the website is circulated in Achimugua in the Tongle and Xinle areas of Yezhi Town, Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It means "goat singing and dancing" or "learning the tune of a goat's cry". It is a traditional self-entertaining traditional song and dance of the Lisu people. Historically, the Lisu people have been in a production state of semi-farming and semi-grazing for a long time. Goats are must-raise livestock for every family and are closely related to the production and life of the Lisu people. "Achi Mugua"(the song and dance of goats) is a reflection of the production, life, thoughts and emotions of the Lisu people.
"Achi Mugua" is mainly a collective song and dance and is not restricted by the venue. It can be danced in squares, courtyards, streets, pastures, lawns, and farmland dams. The vast majority of them sing and dance without musical instruments. They sing and dance from beginning to end. They are composed of lead singer, accompaniment and backup singer. The dancers are divided into two teams of men and women, holding hands or hugging their waists, and dance in large circles, semi-arcs, straight columns, curved and interspersed formations.
There are 6 tunes in "Achi Muguya", which are based on the imitation of the cry of a goat. The music is melodious and melodious, and often appears in a trembling sound when singing. Especially the beginning sound, it is long and long, with twists and turns in tone, and contains rich emotions. Listening to it makes people feel like being in a alpine pasture, like having a cordial conversation with a goat. The singing content is very rich, and you can sing traditional content left by predecessors, or you can improvise yourself.
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"Achi Mugui" is enthusiastic and unrestrained, has a unique style, has precious ecological authenticity and artistic value, and is deeply loved by people. In 2006,"Lisu Achimugua" was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. However, with the death of older generations of singers, few people can fully sing the content of the Lisu wooden scraping historical songs and long narrative songs. If we do not rescue and excavate in time and speed up the cultivation of the younger generation of singers, Mugui will face a situation where there is no successor.
"Baishi" and "Youye" are the two most representative Lisu folk songs in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It is widely spread in the Lisu areas of Lushui County and Lanping County. It is sung in peacetime and festive occasions such as festivals, bumper harvest celebrations, and marriages of men and women. The lyrics are extensive and the tunes are passionate and unrestrained, suitable for expressing inner enthusiasm. They are deeply loved by the Lisu people. Most of the time is a collective duet between men and women, and one person can perform an entertaining solo. The singing content is divided into two categories: "Duo Me" and "Governing Me". "Duo Me" mainly sings traditional narrative long poems, while "Xia Me" is improvised based on the singing object, with love and current affairs as the main content. Representative songs include "Bamboo String Song","Song of Remembering Suffering","Orphan Tears", etc. The annual "Bathtub Competition" in Denggan in Lushui County is a grand event with regular singing.
The photo location of the website is mainly circulated in Lisu villages in Fugong County. It is divided into two categories according to the singing content and form: one is composed of middle-aged and elderly people sitting around the fire pond while drinking and singing to each other. The main content is to trace the sadness and suffering of the old days. The tune is low, slow, and the melody is stable; the other type is light and lively. It is the main way for young men and women to express their feelings. It can be sung to men and women, as well as between same-sex couples. The first type of excellent leaves is now less popular, and the second type of excellent leaves is still widely circulated today. Youye's common songs include "Hunting Song","Whisper Whisper","Wood Cutting Song", etc.
Baishi and Youye are outstanding representatives of Lisu oral literature and art. Through the creations of singers of past generations, they have accumulated extremely rich singing content for a long time, covering almost all aspects of social life and folk activities. Baishi and Youye also created a variety of artistic expression techniques rich in national individuality. For example, the sentence patterns, rhythm and rhetorical characteristics of Lisi poetry are mainly reflected through such folk songs. Baishi and Youye also reflect the typical musical characteristics of Susu folk songs. For example, the multi-voice singing, vibrato singing and the use of lining words in Lisu folk songs can be fully reflected in Baishi and Youye.
Lisu folk songs have a broad mass foundation and important cultural value, as well as prominent national style and local characteristics. They have a great influence among the Lisu people in the surrounding areas of Lisu Autonomous County. They are the crystallization of Lisu traditional culture and maintain the survival of the nation. The spiritual bond is also the best form to standardize ethnic behavior and enrich ethnic cultural life. It plays an important role in protecting and promoting the excellent culture of the Lisu people.
It is understood that since organizing the special protection work of "Lisu folk songs" in 2007, Nujiang Prefecture has established a special project team, set up special positions in state and county cultural centers, and arranged special personnel to collect and organize Lisu folk songs. The staff interviewed more than 60 old Lisu artists across the prefecture, collected more than 170 Lisu folk songs of various types, collected nearly 1200 minutes of recordings, more than 1000 minutes of video materials, and took more than 1600 pictures. Based on the investigation, 87 Lisu folk song manuscripts, 87 Lisu folk song finished products, and 130 singles of finished Lisu folk song audio-visual songs were formed.