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Arts & Communication Hybrid music and ethnicity in Quangang Beiguan

performance should also be on the academic agenda. After In recent years, one of my independent projects is the
all, music, when performed, is not identical with musical study of “neutralization,” with particular attention given to
scores. There are related studies on this issue through linguistic issues. The disappearance or variation of dialects
phenomenology, such as the Polish philosopher Roman has been an important barometer of the tendency toward
Ingarden’s The Work of Music and the Problem of Its Identity de-ethnicization and the prevalence of neutralization of the
(1933) , which is not the topic of discussion in this paper, environment and its inhabitants within. In a more extensive
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however. investigation into languages, I find that there are several
As Gu Chuan says, in an Beiguan ensemble, it seems that regional dialects in mainland China that remain relatively
“each singer sings his/her own way and each practitioner unchanged, for example, Cantonese in Guangdong,
plays instruments his/her own way.” “Indeed, to perform dialects in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan and elsewhere. This
Beiguan requires a set of rules and system of tuning but is the case with Hokkien. However, these dialects, relatively
it allows space for individual practitioners’ interpretation.” stable as they are, are still affected by neutralization. Since
Nanyin and Puxian music are also played likewise. They all 1949, China has been promoting Mandarin, a situation
follow a general framework that delineates their musical that is not in the interests of Hokkien. As a result, although
contours which demand for the same pause in the key parts local TV stations still deliver news in Hokkien, the dialect is
yet remain hospitable to individuals’ originality . Thus, a under the shadow of Mandarin. Having said that, Hokkien
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conclusion can be drawn: survives across the local area. It is therefore conceivable
that in the past, Hokkien was a pulsating dialect with more
After the folk repertoire from the Jianghuai area was popularity without a formidable system that marks out
introduced to Quangang, it has long been integrated into Mandarin as the official language. Minnan people have
the performance arts of Quangang through the efforts of taken to speaking Hokkien, to the extent that some only
Quangang artists. Hence, a unique new musical genre was speak Hokkien. It is very difficult to settle down or work in
born, carrying the characteristics of the Jianghuai music the Minnan region without the aid of Hokkien.
yet generating a different flavor. It not only shares certain
characteristics in the vocal styles of southern Fujian Interestingly, when northern music was introduced to
and Puxian music, but it also differentiates itself from this area over the transition from Ming to Qing, the then
the two . Mandarin Chinese was able to be accepted by the people of
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southern Fujian along with the tunes. I am very interested
Many studies invoke Wang Yaohua’s metaphor — in what enabled this phenomenon. In my opinion, at that
“palette” — for the characteristics of Beiguan, namely, time, locals could surely sing Beiguan in Hokkien, but they
a hybrid of multi-source foreign music imported to did not. From an esthetic point of view, it may be a fresh
Quangang and the local music. The international academia approach for Hokkien people to sing Beiguan in Mandarin.
categorizes this kind of music as “hybrid music.” The It is the harmony of the Mandarin-language singing and a
so-called “new music” of all oriental countries and regions, Hokkien accent that embodies the musicality of Beiguan
and a variety of “world music” belong to this category. The (inter-sensitivity). From a sociological perspective,
difference lies in where the “palette” is located and each Beiguan is acclaimed as Tianzi Chuanyin 天子传音
“color” comes from, and whether the color is dual- or (literally, “music circulated under the aegis of the
multi-sourced. Beiguan is a subject of study that guides emperor”), an honor inscribed on a specific flag that all
research on regional hybrid music born out of same-ethnic Beiguan ensembles possess. The origin of the glory is
communities that spreads across different places.
seemingly related to Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty.
3. An analysis of ethnicity in Beiguan Some believe that the emperor sent three princes to instruct
Beiguan ensembles how to practice, while others say that
This section discusses in a global understanding of the shouluo, a percussion instrument used in Beiguan, was
inter-view, inter-sensitivity, and inter-sensibility manifest added by the emperor. To refer to Beiguan as Tianzi
in Beiguan. Chuanyin allows it to take on an air of royalty, in comparison
with Nanyin which is known as Yuqian Qingyin 御前清音
41. See An Introduction to Modern Western Music Philosophy by (literally, “a clean melody before the emperor”). The slogan
Yu Runyang, 2000, Hu’nan Education Publishing House, pp.
110, 114-119. used in the campaign to promote Beiguan says, “Quangang
42. See “The Artistic Features of Quangang Beiguan” by Gu Beiguan inherits from the Central Plains, then connects
Chuan. Quangang Beiguan Music. Chinese Literature and with Taiwan, and spreads far to Japan and Southeast Asia.
History Press, 2002, pp. 63-64. Beiguan, paired up with Quanzhou Nanyin, enjoys the
43. Ibid., p. 50. reputation of being Tianzi Chuanyin” (China Beiguan [first

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.419