Jingyun Dagu ( Beijing Storytelling to Drum Accompaniment )
Jingyun dagu, a form of traditional Chinese storytelling, originated from the "Muban dagu" that had gained in popularity in Cangzhou and Hejian of Hebei Province and was further developed in Beijing and Tianjin during the Qing Dynasty. It is typically performed in Beijing or Tianjin dialects. The performance involves one or two people standing and singing while providing their own accompaniment with a drum and three accompanists playing sanxian, si hu, and pipa respectively. It features a mix of storytelling and singing.
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Jingyun Dagu (京韵大鼓)
ingyun dagu lays stress on singing and concentrates on depicting short episodes. It came into being and was popular in Beijing and Tianjin at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the period of the Republic of China (1911-1949). Liu Baoquan, who told stories in the Beijing dialect, replacing regional Hebei pronunciations, created this particular dagu. He absorbed the vocal music of the Peking Opera and Beijing folk tunes, which he incorporated into his Jingyun dagu, using the sihu (a four-stringed instrument) and pipa (lute) as accompaniments in addition to three-stringed lutes and wooden clappers. Liu Baoquan Jingyun Dagu is popular to this day in the Chinese capital. It is divided into three schools, headed by Liu Baoquan, Bai Yunpeng, and Zhang Xiaoxuan, respectively. Liu attained the highest artistic achievement by earning the title King of Dagu. He made the greatest contributions to dagu and won esteem as the leading artist in his field. In the wake of the emergence of the three schools, another appeared, known as the junior Bai School and headed by the brothers Bai Fengyan and Bai Fengming. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jingyun dagu made greater strides in development. The singers were regarded as people's artists or actors. While they continued to sing and tell traditional stories, themes reflecting contemporary life emerged, such as Glorious Journey, Red Flag Over Mount Everest, Patriotism and Roaring Waves, Han Ying Meets Her Mother, and Bai Niu Tells a Story. A number of young artist were trained, with Zhao Xueyi (Bai School), Yang Fengiie (Liu School), Liu Chun'ai (Luo School) and Zhong Yujie (Liu School) ranking as successful young artists.
Jingyun Dagu Gets Popular Among Young People
At the beginning of this year, Beijingers flocked to the city's famous Guangde Lou Teahouse, just to enjoy the cross-talk of Guo Degang. Now, residents of the capital city, have shifted from cross-talk to another time-honored local art -- Jingyun Dagu or narrative musical performances in the Beijing dialect that are accompanied by drums. And, among the new fans of the traditional art are many young people. Our reporter Zhou Jing has more on the story. As the only venue in town where Jingyun Dagu shows are regularly held, the Guangde Teahouse inside Beijing's Qianmen Gate has been packed on recent Sunday afternoons. And don't be surprised that over half of the audience members are young people. 26-year-old Mr Wang is among them. "I like traditional Chinese art, for example cross-talk, Peking Opera and Jingyun Dagu. Both the music and singing part of Jingyun Dagu require great skills." After having loved the art for years, Mr Wang has even become a quasi performer. But most of the young audience members are not as professional as Mr Wang. Also in the audience, I met several students from Peking University watching Jingyu Dagu for the first time. They were introduced to the traditional art through Guo Degang's cross talk. "I actually began to like Jingyun Dagu through cross-talk. Because there are many bits of singing from Jingyun Dagu in cross-talk performances. I thought it charming and found more pieces to listen to. And then I totally fell in love with it." Saved from the embarrassment of being forgotten thanks to support from the younger generation, the traditional art is gradually reviving in Beijing. Bai Wei is the director of the Beijing Quyi Troupe. "The teahouses have been packed recently. Many enthusiastic young students and white collar workers have called us and asked us to arrange more performances. We, ourselves are actually more confident in the traditional art."
Finding the Root of Beijing Dagu Shu(I
Beijingdagu shu (singing-storytellingor ballad-signing performance, also known asquyi), popular in the beginning of the 20th century, originated from two directions: Beijing's east, which is the birthplace of Jingdond dagu, and the south of Beijing, including Langfang, Bazhou, Cangzhou, and Jianhe, which produced Xihe dagu and Cangzhou Muban dagu. In the last stage of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Leting dagu and Xihe dagu spread to Beijing and attracted many audiences. The original Muban dagu that passed to Beijing did not become deeply rooted because of its strong local dialect. However, with the effort of some Beijing and Tianjin's actors, like Hu Shi, Song Wu, and Huo Mingliang, the former Muban dagu became Jingyun dagu, which brought up two great artists, the king of drum, Liu Baoquan, and the lord of Jingyun dagu, Bai Yunpeng. That splendid period has been gone for more than one hundred years. Wuyin Dagu Location: Wumudi of Miyun County Artists: Qi Dianzhang (79 years old), Qi Dianming (71), Li Maosheng (60), Chen Zhenquan (63), Jia Yunming (64) Wuyin dagu, also called " Miyun's Naxi guyue"(Miyun's Naxi Ancient Music), was created at Wumudi in rural Beijing's Miyun County, where this endangered folk art is transmitted from generation to generation. According to experts, Wuyin dagu originated in the countryside of present Hebei Province of North China in the time of the Qing Emperor Daoguang's reign (1821-1851). Wuyin dagu is a part of the dagu family, a division of shuochang or singing-storytelling performance in which the singer accompanies himself or herself with a drum and ban (a percussion instrument made of two wooden boards). The most famous of the other schools of dagu include Jingyun dagu and Xihe dagu, where the performer sings and talks in local Beijing dialect. In the early 20th century, Jingyun dagu and Xihe dagu became established in Beijing and Tianjin. However, Wuyin dagu remained based in the countryside and untouched by modern methods of distribution. Therefore, Wuyin dagu has not left behind recordings or stories of well-known performers, as have its urban brothers and sisters. As with most genres of Chinese folk music, traditional Wuyin dagu singers adopted an oral method of teaching and studying, using neither scores nor books of lyrics. At present Wuyin dagu has been lost in other places; only in Miyun County are there 5 old actors, all aged 60 or above. Their band is the only that can perform original Wuyin dagu. The oldest, Qi Dianzhang, is 79 years old, while the youngest, Li Mosheng, has just turned 60. In order to save this precious folk art inheritance, the government of Miyun County listed Wuyin dagu as a national folk culture protection project in 2003 and carried on two years of hard work covering rescue, excavation, and rearrangement. In the first half of the 20th century, there were many semi-professional musicians in Wumudi, who often toured nearby villages to perform Wuyin dagu during the slack season. There was a time when Wumudi and its musicians had such renown that roaming performers from other places would usually bypass the village. The works were mostly adapted from historical novels, such as Warriors of the Yang Family of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The main characters of such works are usually legendary heroes whose lives have been retold again and again for generations. Folktales are another textual source for Wuyin dagu. Works of this kind are usually of medium length, lasting several hours, and include Shuiman Jinshan (Golden Mountain Flooded), part of Baishe Zhuan (The Legend of the White Snake), and Santang Huishen (Joint Inquest by Three Judges). There are also short pieces in Wuyin dagu. Qi Dianzhang said that the daqin (instrument with two beaters attached via strings) he plays was bought in 1949 from a nearby village for 37.5 kilograms of rice. Qi said the original owner was said to be a distant relative of the imperial family and an instrument collector, but added he doesn't know how old the daqin is.Cangzhou Muban Dagu Tang Guifeng is playing Cangzhou Muban dagu Location: Cangzhou of Hebei Province Artists: Tang Guifeng（67） Cangzhou Muban dagu is one of the original roots of Jingyun dagu. There are four schools in China's quyi, including Qing, Mei, Zhao, and Hu. No matter what kinds of quyi, they all belong to these four groups. According to Cangzhou's actors, they are the offspring of the Qing school. Among all the living Muban dagu performers, Tang Guifeng enjoys the highest position, as he can sing more than one hundred ballads. Cangzhou Muban, with a history of 3,000 years, is a unique form of music in the whole country. During the Qing Dynasty, Cangzhou Muban was active in Hebei. As the story goes, the Cangzhou actor Li Chaochen even performed for the emperor Qian Long, and received high praise. At the end of China's Culture Revolution (1966-1976), Cangzhou Muban reached another peak. At that time, there were more than twenty teams to perform in different villages. However, history not only recorded the bloom of Cangzhou Muban, but also its desolation. In the 1980s, many young actors switched to other jobs, and Cangzhou Muban faced its swansong. Tang Guifeng said that at present only 8 people between the ages of 50 and 60 are able to sing Cangzhou Muban, adding no other people, especially young people, want to learn this old music. Therefore, people in the cultural circle of Cang County gave taken the initiative to collect and save this traditional folk music. Because most of the old actors cannot read or write, the work of sorting out information is not an easy task. But researchers understand the importance of their job. Therefore, in the past several years, information covering 300,000 characters has been recorded. Leting Dagu Location: Leting of Hebei Province Artists: Han Zhixue (75), Wang Liyan (70) This ballad-singing art, popular in Hebei, originated in Hebei's Leting County where locals are said to be good at singing. Its repertoire includes many classical Chinese literature works like Journey to the West. During the Qing Dynasty, Leting dagu always held the main statue in the quyi circle and had a profound influence in China's north countryside. In history, many artists, such as Wen Rong, Zhao Yonghuan, Lv Zhanshan, Chen Junshan, Zheng Yunlai, and Wang Peichen made a great contribution to the development of Leting dagu. Leting dagu enjoyed a good reputation in the capital due to the famous actor, Wen Rong. It is said that he obtained recognition from a prince, who bestowed the official name of "Leting Dagu" for Wen's performance. From then on, Leting dagu has been an important branch of old Beijing's traditional talking and singing art. The one who put Leting dagu to a new peak was the famous actress Wang Peichen. She created a new school of Leting dagu with a Beijing dialect. Therefore she was influenced by Leping's local force and changed the name of her disc (are you referring to compact disc?) to Tiepian Dagu. Han Xiangpu was one of the successors of East Leting dagu. By absorbing others' strongpoint, he became a great master of his time. However, over time, people's taste changed and Han Xiangpu's performance were no longer welcome. The only record he left became Leting dagu's extinct music. Author: Ivana
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Jingyun Dagu is a form of Chinese opera where stories are often sung in a Beijing dialect accompanied by a drum along with one or two other musical instruments.
2 In 1934, Luo Yusheng studied at the Liu School of Jingyun Dagu
3 At 14, she gave performances in singing without musical accompaniment in Nanjing, before she formally switched to Jingyun Dagu at the age of 17.