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Arts & Communication Hybrid music and ethnicity in Quangang Beiguan

development of Beiguan. Although the exquisite flag was some professional folk ensembles are unfamiliar with the
only out for a few seconds in the Spring Festival Gala, it has essence of Beiguan performance. Consequently, their
become a permanent memory of Quangang people. The flag rendition is too neat and elegant to captivate
will always be flying in the hearts of Quangang people .” audience . Some people have edited and published a
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However, there are some changes in the musicality of certain detailed notation of Beiguan, in which some of the
Beiguan that deserve attention. notes, or rather improvised runqiang 润腔 (“singing
embellishment”), are recorded in the scores. Traditional
First, there are variations in Mandarin Chinese, the musical notation of Beiguan used in the instruction and
very medium of Beiguan songs, after Beiguan spreads to inheritance of Beiguan based on a mentor-apprentice
Quangang. In April 2009, Professor Ang Ui-jin of the model, as many studies make clear, is basic musical
National Taichung University of Education presented at notation, which suggests that Beiguan artists improvise.
the Cross-strait Beiguan Symposium a paper entitled “A A common feature in musical performance is that despite
Survey of the Pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese in meticulous notation, improvisation is the heart and soul of
Taiwanese Beiguan: Exploring the Origin of Beiguan from runqiang. Unfortunately, everyone plays and sings Beiguan,
the Perspective of Chinese Dialect Geography.” following the so-called “detailed notation,” which reduces
His phonological reading of The Anthology of Beiguan Beiguan to monotonous regularity and destroys regional
Xiqu/《北管细曲集成》concludes that “the linguistic flavors . As Beiguan gains in popularity, some universities
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source of Beiguan is most probably Lower Yangtze and groups are studying and performing it, a phenomenon
Mandarin .” What fascinates me is three follow-up Gu Chuan sees with a critical eye. He says that these
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questions to his study. The first question is whether and organizations in action should be welcomed, understood,
how Ang’s conclusion can be confirmed. Next, I wonder and tolerated, but others cannot follow suit blindly. It is
whether there is a connection between the Mandarin important to note that these institutions are laymen in the
Chinese sung in Beiguan today and Standard Chinese, or field of Quangang Beiguan, and during their studies,
whether the former has been influenced by the latter. collateral artistic elements that are too broad, strange and
Finally, the question of what changes Mandarin Chinese is even beyond the field are only to be expected and carefully
to be addressed. Experience has shown that the Minnan dispensed with . It is not wise to support and follow the
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people speak Mandarin Chinese with a Minnan accent to trend indiscriminately. Gu responds by stressing the
varying degrees. Thus, it is possible that the Mandarin importance of helping Beiguan singers and performers
Chinese rendered in Beiguan was not authentic in the first stay in context. He explains that “the context is a
place. Mandarin Chinese has been further altered by the comprehensive “situated” understanding of the
interference of Minnan Chinese as it survives in southern environment and customs that encompass local language,
Fujian. These variations manifest themselves through food culture, religious beliefs, dress habits, festive customs,
comparative studies, which can only be consummated by worship practices, etc .” People who have lived in this
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unearthing historical sounds as a contrast to today’s environment for a long time are able to locate themselves a
pronunciation. However, significant changes can already “context” relevant to the music they are learning. Therefore,
be detected in the pronunciation of lyrics considering it is not a blessing that some bands play Beiguan in a
performances done by the older and younger generations, strikingly orderly way, with the same rise and fall. Far away
respectively. Originally, Quangang people could not speak from great achievements, their performances are instead
proper Mandarin so their pronunciation of the lyrics was mechanical, rigid, monotonous and lack of flavors unique
distinctive, the embodiment of the unique musicality of to Beiguan . In addition, now that Beiguan has fallen into
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Beiguan. However, as young people improve their decline in some areas, Gu urges that “we need to keep the
Mandarin speaking, their pronunciation of the lyrics is flavor of Beiguan unsullied and this cannot be a losing
very different from that of the older generation. Beiguan battle .”
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can no longer be rendered with original features.
55. See The Artistic Trends of Quanzhou Beiguan by Gu Chuan.
Second, the flavor of Beiguan performance has Edited and printed by the Quanzhou Quangang District
gradually changed. Gu Chuan, as a person in the know, Beiguan Music Association, 2014, p. 19.
also expresses his concern over this issue. He states that 56. Ibid., p. 25.
57. Ibid., p. 42.
53. See “Quanzhou Beiguan on the Spring Festival Gala” by 58. From An Overview of the Art of Quanzhou Beiguan by Gu
Chen Xiaoping. China Beiguan, 2016, vol. 1, p. 24. Chuan, 2010, Hong Kong Timar Publication Company
54. See “The Cross-Strait Appreciation of the Flower of Arts: An Limited, p. 280.
Overview of the Beiguan Symposium regarding Cross-Strait 59. Ibid., p. 292.
Traditional Cultures” by Ren Fei. People’s Music, 2010, vol. 2. 60. Ibid., p. 85.

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.419