Page 20 - AC-1-1

Arts & Communication Hybrid music and ethnicity in Quangang Beiguan

Qianhuang, is dominated by the Minnan language family. in the south. This further demonstrates that people who
To the north is the area of the Puxian language family, can speak two different languages have inborn openness
known as “Dinglu dialect,” used by the townspeople of toward exotic music.
Jieshan. The remaining towns — Houlong, Fengwei, and There is a consensus among scholars on the origin of
Nanpu — are located in the middle and cover the largest Beiguan. It starts with the introduction of some Jianghuai
area of the district. With cross-linguistic influences by folk songs into Quanzhou with the absorption of Cantonese
both the Minnan and Puxian language families, residents folk instrumental music. As these songs sustained and
here can speak two languages, but different villages boast developed in the Minnan region, they continued to absorb
different accents. The local dialect is referred to as “Toubei local music elements and finally formed the unique
dialect,” also known as “Xialu dialect.” Beiguan style. Beiguan comprises two parts: qu (“songs”)
As Quangang enjoys unique geographical and linguistic with lyrics and pu (“notation”) with purely instrumental
contexts, its residents tend to be more open-minded and music. To be more specific, qu mostly comes from Jianghuai
inclusive, especially those in the middle of the district xiaodiao (“lesser melody”), and pu mainly originates from
where the two language families flourish. This explains Cantonese music, Jiangnan sizhu (“silk and bamboo”),
why this area boasts a diversity of folk arts and cultures: Art Peking Opera qupai (“labeled melodies”), and so on.
forms either from the north or from the south can spread At present, there are three theories about how Jianghuai
here and become here to stay. Gu Chuan, a local scholar, music was introduced to Quangang. One is that it was
believes that dialect is the first culture. He also considers brought in from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces through
the fusion of Puxian and Minnan dialects in the middle maritime trade. The second hypothesis is that it was
part of Quangang District a driving force for its diverse the soldiers who traveled southward to investigate salt
culture and miscellaneous spin-offs . Quangang is the trafficking in Quanzhou brought their home music. Gu
1
proud possessor of an eclectic range of music and operas. Chuan mentions that his hometown, Kuibi Village, is near
In addition to Beiguan, Puxian Opera, Gaojia Opera, the salt factory in Shanyao, Quangang, where “from time to
Puppet Show, Xiang Opera, Peking Opera, and Nanyin are time, it could be seen that these Jianghuai soldiers hummed
also popular here. Many Quangang artists engage in and “quzai” and made friends with Quangang artists .” Third, it
3
integrate all kinds of operas and music. They can play both might be because the Huai River overflowed its banks and
Beiguan and Nanyin and they also know Puxian music and refugees fled to the south. Among them, some artists made
Peking opera. a living by performing arts along their flight. The local

Gu summed up three reasons for the formation of music brought by these Jianghuai people might also make
Beiguan in Quangang. First, he argues that “the diversity an impact on the formation of Beiguan.
of local languages inevitably leads to diverse cultures.” The As for the aforementioned first theory about the import
second reason is “its geographical characteristics that give of Jianghuai music, a traceable and clear inheritance
rise to a special group of artists that are unusually receptive pedigree can be found. From this pedigree, it can be
to different art styles coming from far and wide.” Third, concluded that Beiguan began circulating in Quanzhou in
Gu also points out that “its people like both southern and the early Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty at the latest.
northern art. Such a public demand has motivated artists
to learn multiple music genres, which helps Beiguan take Based on Gu’s research, Zhuang Lizhi, a Beiguan
root in Quangang even though Beiguan spreads to this artist born in 1909, began to learn Beiguan from Zhuang
area later than other music genres .” According to Gu’s Youzhen in 1926. Zhuang Chao taught Zhuang Youzhen’s
2
continuous investigation, originally Beiguan was popular mentor. In the early Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty,
in Quangang and its surrounding areas, but now Beiguan Zhuang Chao and Liu Yonglai left for Jiangsu and Zhejiang
ensembles only exist in areas where Puxian and Minnan to do business. Usually, they spent half a year there and
(Hokkien) language families are cofunctioning. No longer learned a lot of quzai and xiaoqu (“short songs”) popular in
are Beiguan ensembles alive and well in the Putian dialect- both Jiangsu and Zhejiang as well as daqu (“grand songs”)
speaking area in the north and the Hokkien-speaking area and dadiao (“greater melodies”) from Peking Opera.
Daqu and dadiao are the common names for the music
1. From Studies on the Instruments, Music, and Culture of Peking Opera given by Quangang people, as Gu notes.
in Quangang by Gu Chuan, 2008, Hong Kong Timar After Zhuang and Liu returned to Quanzhou, they sang the
Publication Company Limited, p. 4. songs, taught their disciples how to sing, and popularized
2. From An Overview of the Art of Quanzhou Beiguan by Gu what they had learnt. Therefore, tracing back from Zhuang
Chuan, 2010, Hong Kong Timar Publication Company
Limited, p. 9. 3. Ibid., p. 8.

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.419