The Difficult Journey of Hua'er Seeking Roots -- A Brief Talk on Wang Pei's Research on Hua'er

This book was published in 1992 and became the cornerstone of Huaer's search for roots

The author (third from the left) communicated with peers at Songmingyan Huaer Fair. Photographed by Yang Dun

(Data map)

Photo by Yang Dun

Flowers in the Heart Photographed by Yang Dun

● Guo Zhengqing

Culture is the birthplace of human freedom. With the help of culture, human beings gradually transfer their destiny to their own hands. The vitality of culture survives in human creativity, and human beings constantly stimulate creative inspiration from the survival of culture to seek the origin and development direction of culture.

Huaer, popular among Han, Hui, Tu, Tibetan, Salar, Dongxiang, Baoan, Yugu and Mongolia in Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang, is a song from the heart of the working people and the soul of their life. The flowers grow in the soil where people live, showing life and brilliance, just like the wildfire in the spring field, which ignites people's expectation and yearning for a better life. Huaer is created by the working people and a summary of their life experience, which contains a lot of profound life experience. History has proved that Huaer was formed in a relatively backward natural economic period, with relatively remote regions, relatively blocked traffic, relatively backward economy and relatively poor people's lives. Flowers became the good medicine for people to relieve their pain, the bitter wine for relieving their depression, and the cry for love; The pursuit of a better life is people's greatest dream; The yearning for food, clothing and free love is a common human desire, and love has become the theme of flowers singing; Huaer has the most beautiful character in human nature, that is, the spirit of pursuing an optimistic life in a pessimistic situation; Flowers are the waves in the river of feeling and love, which is the flow of bitterness and sadness; Flowers are inseparable from the people's life. People's life, people's demands and people's expression are the root of Huaer.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huaer came out of the hidden mountains and showed its beautiful appearance vividly and vividly on the stage of the public. Scholars began to look at her face, explore her life, try to transcend her actual existence, and put on various titles for her. In particular, at the first Huaer Academic Seminar in Gansu Province held in July 1981, some people made academic amendments to the traditional name of Huaer, changing the inherent "Hezhou Huaer" to "Hehuang Huaer", which was a subversion of the root of Huaer.

Where is the root of the flower? This is no problem for Wang Pei, who is not only a professional musician, but also a native of Hua'er fertile land. Because he confirmed that the roots of flowers are in the soil of people's lives, in the songs of flower singers, not in the academic inventions of scholars divorced from reality. However, this needs to be proved. As a result, Wang Pei began a decades long hard journey to find the roots of flowers.

Founding work of flower root searching

Research on Hezhou Huaer

From 1981 to 1985, Wang Pei visited Huaer popular places and famous Huaer singers in Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other provinces and regions, went deep into rural houses and fields in villages and towns, and recorded local dialects and customs in five years. He not only paid attention to the variety of Huaer's singing lyrics caused by the change of time and space, but also paid attention to the impact of the differences in folk customs, religions and social sentiments of different nationalities and regions on Huaer; It not only records the nationality, name, gender and age of the singer, but also records the singer's artistic career, gestures, expressions, different vocal methods, and the way of expression of words and phrases. From individual to group, from history to reality, from inheritance and variability of Huaer, he comprehensively understood the essential characteristics and development status of Huaer.

On the basis of a large number of fieldwork materials (including a large number of oral recordings and literature materials), he wrote an article to explain the origin and development direction of Huaer from the combination of theory and practice. In 1986, Longmiao Literature and Art Monthly published his 100000 word paper Hezhou Huaer for six consecutive issues. The article discussed the topic from 10 aspects, changing the mixed situation that researchers used to study two different types of flowers (Hezhou Huaer and Taomin Huaer) together, and specifically explored and combed the history of the occurrence and development of Hezhou Huaer, The definition is clear in theory.

He spent five or six years continuously soliciting opinions from all parties, making major additions and modifications to Hezhou Huaer, and changing several manuscripts into a 340000 word monograph on Hezhou Huaer Studies, which was published by Lanzhou University in 1992. This book is a creative achievement formed from the overall research of Huaer, and it accurately describes the root of Huaer. First, the author put forward for the first time that Hezhou Huaer is a fusion of Qiang and Han folk songs living in the ancient Hezhou area. He said: "Huaer is a wonderful flower of folk music art that was born, grown and opened on the fertile soil of the splendid culture of the Chinese nation, and is shining with the glory of multi-ethnic art. It can be seen from the different periods of legend and the formation of Huaer that Huaer was formed by the integration of Qiang and Han nationalities in the Qin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. After the singing of Han, Hanhua Qiang and Tibetan nationalities in the Sui and Yuan Dynasties, Huaer became fully mature through the singing and dissemination of Hui, Han, Dongxiang, Baoan, Salar, Tu and other nationalities from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, It has become the favorite folk song of many nationalities in the northwest. Second, the author bravely defended the traditional title and inherent concept of Hezhou Huaer. He said: "Hezhou Hua'er was named after the place where Hua'er came into being and the local people's special title for folk songs. Hezhou is the ancient name of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province. According to historical records, before the Sixteen Kingdoms Period, Liangzhou was divided into Liangzhou and set up as a prefecture, with its seat in a rare place (now west of Linxia City). It was successively set up as a town, state, road, Wei, and government. Although the territory under its jurisdiction has changed frequently due to the changes of dynasties and wars, it is roughly equivalent to the area west of the Yellow River and Dayingchuan in Gansu Province, south of Wushaoling, north of Xiqingshan and east of Minhe County in Qinghai Province. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Datong County (formerly known as Datong Castle) in Qinghai Province was also often under the jurisdiction of Hezhou. Because of the connection between mountains and rivers and long-term mutual exchanges, all ethnic groups in this region use "Hezhou dialect" as the language of common life, and call the folk songs sung in "Hezhou dialect" "Hezhou flowers" ", which is a long-standing name and is recognized by people here. After the establishment of Qinghai Province in 1928, it began to be known as' Qinghai Flower '‘ Ningxia Huaer, Xinjiang Huaer, etc. appeared after Qinghai Huaer. Among the traditional flowers published in Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other provinces and regions, a large number of music scores signed "Hezhou Decree" and lyrics reflecting the style and features of Hezhou are the best description of the name of Hezhou flowers. Third, the author truly expressed his subjective will to find roots for Huaer. He said: "There are differences in my understanding of everything from the outside to the inside. As a native of Huaer in Hezhou, I have learned a lot from singers of all ethnic groups since I was a child and from nearly 20 years of investigation and research. I have learned valuable lessons from many previous works. The extensive and profound artistic beauty of Hezhou flowers drives me to write quickly. I would like to make people have a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of Hezhou flowers through thematic discussion. ".

Wang Pei's book, based on the cultural background, historical evolution, folklore, ethnic migration and integration, Hezhou dialect, the names of songs, the national attributes of singers, the comparison of typical words and songs, and the vertical and horizontal study of the left folk customs, reveals the emergence and evolution of Huaer from multiple angles, multi-level and three-dimensional, He has made outstanding historical contributions to the study of Huaer.

The Soul of the Northwest -- Chinese Flowers

Documentary evidence for the declaration of World Heritage

Huaer's peculiar rhythm, wonderful expression and multi-ethnic folk song characteristics have not only won wide praise in China, but also attracted worldwide attention. In 2000, the Chinese government and UNESCO signed the Action Plan for the Project of Protecting China's Folk Cultural Heritage. The Chinese Folk Artists Association and the UNESCO Beijing Office conducted a comprehensive and systematic rescue survey of Chinese folk songs in the calendar two years from 2001 to 2003. They went deep into Min County, Yongjing County, Jishishan Bao'an Dongxiang Salar Autonomous County, Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County, Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Ping'an County, Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Tongren County, Jianzha County and other places in Qinghai Province to interview and study folk songs of different nationalities and regions, of which Hua'er accounts for a large proportion. In June 2004, the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association and UNESCO returned the results of the investigation to the collection sites, and issued the plaque of "Folk Song Investigation Site" for each collection site; In the same year, the Chinese People's Association planned to compile a set of "Chinese Folk Oral and Intangible Heritage Promotion Series", in which Hua Er was listed, and invited Wang Pei to write.

Wang Pei once again embarked on the path of Huaer's seeking roots. He has successively visited Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang and Sichuan, visited many scholars and Hua'er singers, and collected a large number of oral and textual materials (including a large number of pictures). On the basis of solid investigation materials, he wrote "The Soul of Northwest China - Chinese Flowers", a book that introduced flowers to UNESCO. In the process of writing, the author is not confined to the established theory, but finds innovation. "He tried to incorporate and absorb the academic achievements of various schools and different viewpoints; comprehensively recorded the protection measures taken by politicians, organizers and enthusiasts in past dynasties; objectively introduced the origin, development, artistic characteristics and grand occasion of Huaer Festival in Hezhou and Taomin; More importantly, it vividly records the indelible contributions made by outstanding folk singers of all ethnic groups in inheriting and creating flowers for the preservation and dissemination of national folk cultural heritage.

The whole book of "The Soul of the Northwest China Huaer" is divided into 7 chapters and 18 sections, respectively, from the introduction of Huaer cultural form, the inheritors and research of Huaer, the evaluation of the standard level of Huaer cultural form promotion, the endangered report, the plan of protection, utilization and development, the special evaluation of famous international and domestic experts on Huaer cultural form and the selection of authoritative research articles The comments of the representative figures in the inheritance group of Huaer culture are discussed vertically and horizontally and comprehensively. It systematically introduces and objectively evaluates the carrier, distribution, nationality, nature and value of Hua'er culture, the history, development, symbol and function of Hua'er and Hua'er Festival, and the artistic classification and singing characteristics of Hua'er singers. The book is illustrated with pictures and texts, especially the 166 photos cited in the book, which plays the role of finishing touch. The book has played an intuitive and important role in promoting people all over the world to understand and understand the wonderful folk song Huaer, and has played a key role in UNESCO's recommendation that Huaer be included in the list of representative works of intangible cultural heritage of mankind.

It took two years for Wang Pei to complete the compilation and proofreading of the whole book, which was published by Heilongjiang People's Publishing House in July 2006 and was well received. On September 30, 2009, at the fourth meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Huaer was successfully selected into the Representative List of Human Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage. Huaer has become a world intangible cultural heritage, which is of special significance. First, the inclusion of flowers in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage is not only conducive to the protection of cultural diversity in the world, making it more widely concerned and understood, but also conducive to the deepening of people's understanding of the cultural value of this cultural heritage; Secondly, for Hua'er singers, the holders of this cultural heritage, their pride, creativity and enthusiasm to participate in singing activities will undoubtedly be greatly enhanced, and their descendants will be affected, which is extremely beneficial to the survival and inheritance of Hua'er; Third, over the past 40 years since China's reform and opening up, more and more foreign experts and scholars have participated in the research of Hua'er, which has a certain impact on the world. Hua'er has been listed as a world intangible cultural heritage, making it a common wealth of all mankind, which will accelerate the internationalization of Hua'er, which has a huge historical impact on the protection, use and inheritance of Hua'er; Fourthly, both at home and abroad have been more impressed by the revelation of the causes of Hezhou Huaer.

Complete Works of Chinese Hua'er Songs

The great feat of Huaer Music

The book was suggested by the author, decided by Chen Yuanlong, and compiled by Wang Pei. It was published by Gansu People's Publishing House in 2007; In 2008, Gansu People's Publishing House listed the book in the project of "Rural Bookstore", and printed it for the second time in October of the same year. The Complete Works of Chinese Huaer Quling (hereinafter referred to as the Complete Works) has solved several important theoretical problems in the history of Chinese Huaer studies.

First of all, from the history of the formation and development of Huaer Music, the heavy fog hanging over Huaer School was cleared up. The first person who studied Hua'er Quling was the famous ethnic theorist, religious scientist, Tibetan scholar and Hua'er scholar, Mr. Ya Hanzhang, who was published in the book "Hua'er Re preface" on the Gansu Republic Daily in 1936, "With regard to the three elements of Huaer's structure - sentence, order and tune, the editor firmly grasped the two major factors of Huaer's literature and music, and pointed out the problems of its lyrics structure, melody title and singing characteristics". He vividly described "Brother's Meat Order" (now called "Hezhou Three Order"), "Xigu Order" (now called "Cang Lang Lang Order"), "Six Six Children Three Order", "Water Red Flower Order", "Gama Er Order", "Ga Elder Sister Order", "Ga Hua Er Order", "Pulling Wood Order", and "Ma Kai Order", "Two Lotus Order", "Awu Order" in Tao Min Flower The singing method, lining words, music titles and music features of more than 10 Hua'er songs. Later, Wang Yunjie, a famous musician, recorded "Shandan Flowers" and other Huaer songs, which were published in the "Music Art" supplement of Qinghai Republic Daily in 1943. Then there are the scores of four Hua'er tunes collected by Zhang Yaxiong, a famous Hua'er scholar, in his monograph Hua'er Collection (Lanzhou Edition, 1948), namely Hua'er Score (I) (Zhang Dongjiang's score), Hua'er Score (II) (Zhang Dongjiang's score), Hua'er Score (III) (Lu Dengtai's score), Hua'er Score (I) (Wang Luobin's score), This is the first time Huaer Quling was found in books in the form of simplified music. Later, Meng Zhu (Lu Dengtai) wrote down Qinghai Huaer's "Mutual Aid Linger" in the "Qinghai Huaer New Theory" published in the eighth issue of Northwest Communication in 1947. Although the above research on Hua'er music is limited in number and scope, it has opened a new stage in the history of Hua'er research and is of great significance.

The establishment of New China has brought the research and creation of Huaer Music into a new stage. In the early days of the founding of New China, the Northwest Folk Songs Collection, Volume I, Shaanxi Gansu Ningxia Department, published by the Commercial Press in 1950, was included in the music score of Hua'er (originally written by Zhang Dongjiang). At the same time, the Northwest Hui Folk Songs Collection, Volume I, co edited by Tang Jianhong and others, published by Xinhua Bookstore Lanzhou Branch, included six Hua'er written by Tang Jianhong and Ren Guangdi. Notably, when Qinghai was liberated in September 1949, the Ministry of Culture of the First Field Army of the Northwest Military Region immediately organized military writers and artists to collect folk songs throughout Qinghai, most of which were flowers, with as many as 56 songs. These achievements were collected in Qinghai Folk Songs compiled by Zichen and published by Gansu People's Publishing House in early 1951. At the same time, Guan Heyan, Chen Chuanjing and other musicians from Shaanxi Music Association went to Gansu to collect folk songs and found Zhu Zhonglu, the king of Hua'er, who was learning from reform in Lanzhou, thus recording many Hua'er songs that Zhu Zhonglu sang. In 1954, Zhu Zhonglu's Anthology of Flowers, published by the Northwest People's Publishing House, collected 60 pieces of Hua'er Melodies recorded by them. Since then, many musicians have gone deep into the rural fields of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang to collect flowers, forming a large number of music texts of flowers. According to incomplete statistics, so far, there are more than 100 Huaer books with Huaer music scores, and thousands of Huaer music songs.

The "Complete Works" compiled 360 songs of various kinds of Hua'er songs sung in Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and other provinces and regions, including songs from all popular areas of Hua'er since the 1930s and 1940s, fully reflecting the historical overview of the formation, development and evolution of Hua'er music.

Wang Pei divided the formation and development of Huaer Music into three periods in the first part of the Complete Works, "Overview of Chinese Huaer Music". The study of Hua'er music before the founding of New China was listed as "pioneering period"; The study of Hua'er music from the founding of New China to 1966 was listed as "development period"; The research on Hua'er music from 1978 to the present has been listed as a "brilliant period". We have comprehensively, scientifically and systematically summarized Hua'er music, so that we can clearly see the formation and development of Hua'er music, and find the root of Hua'er from musicology.

Secondly, the relationship between the roots and branches of Huaer is straightened out from the classification that reflects the regional cultural characteristics of Huaer. "The regional cultural customs and characteristics of Huaer reflect its unique value in regional culture as an important part of folk music". In fact, the distribution and spread of flowers are not carried out according to the boundaries of previous dynasties or existing administrative divisions, but are popular across regions and ethnic groups. In the past, the classification of Huaer was based on the administrative regions of provinces (autonomous regions). For example, the classification and editing of "Integration of Chinese Folk Songs" set up local volumes according to the administrative regions of provinces and autonomous regions, and divided Huaer Songs by ethnic groups. As a result, the origin and development of the flower are fundamentally confused, and the root and branch of the flower are not clear, causing confusion in the concept of the flower.

In Complete Works, Wang Pei divides Huaer into two categories, namely Hezhou Huaer and Taomin Huaer. Hezhou Hua'er is divided into place name order, clan name order, flower name order, person name order and lining name order; Taomin Huaer is divided into Lianhua Mountain Quling and Erlang Mountain Quling. This division reflects the cross regional and cross ethnic characteristics of Huaer, which is scientific and practical. Hua'er is a large cultural circle. The popular area of Hua'er has been a multi-ethnic gathering place since ancient times. In its formation and development, Hua'er has the creation and contribution of all ethnic groups in the northwest, and has become the spiritual wealth and cultural treasure shared by many ethnic groups. The Huaer cultural circle connects the people of all ethnic groups in the northwest and promotes cultural exchanges, economic exchanges and social harmony among the people of all ethnic groups. Wang Pei's classification of regional flowers more correctly shows that the regional cultural characteristics of Huaer reflect the fact that Huaer came into being in the long-term human land music exchange, which helps people to investigate its origin from the relationship between Huaer and the natural geographical environment, human language environment.

Thirdly, the innovative research on Huaer, which is based on the analysis of "folk songs" from outside the country, has solved the problem of continuous development of Huaer with the change of time and space conditions. "In the process of Hua'er's singing, there was a tune active in some areas outside the central area of Hua'er, but the title has evolved into a 'folk song'." Wang Pei compiled these tunes and lyrics into Hua'er according to the principle that they have the same characteristics as Hua'er, and took the local place names as their names, such as Yuzhong Order, Gangu Order, Huining Order, Pingliang Order, Zhangxian Order Folk Music Order, Gaotai Order, etc. This is the first time that flowers mixed in folk songs are identified and named, and included in the ranks of flowers. This is of great significance for clarifying the roots and branches of flowers and protecting their ecology.

There is also a book, "On Chinese Flowers", which is the concentrated appearance of Wang Pei's academic literary theory for decades, and also a complete presentation of his life trajectory. His journey to find the roots of flowers was difficult, but fruitful. After decades of efforts by him and some other comrades, the name of "Hezhou Huaer" has been recognized by the Chinese people and has become the consensus of Huaer academia. The original ecology of Huaer has been effectively protected.

Editor: Ma Shaohua Editor in charge: Kong Lingding

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