A Study Of The Musical Culture Of Northern Shaanxi In The Perspective Of Region-folklore

Northern Shaanxi is actually a cultural area rather than an administrative region. Located in theLoess Plateau area in northern part of Shaanxi Province, Northern Shaanxi contains two city-leveladministrative regions of Yulin and Yan’an. In ancient times, Northern Shaanxi was a hot placewhere political wars occurred between northern nomadic people and the Han people living on theCentral Plains. According to the earliest documentary records, political, military and culturalcompetition between ethnic groups took place when Wu Ding, King of Shang Dynasty, attackedGuifang, an ethnic group living in northern part of northeast China. Besides, when Qin Shihuang(the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty) divided his empire into dependent commanderies, theregional profile of Shaanxi province began to be apparent. Though the area was owned and ruled byemperors of different dynasties over2,000years of feudal rule, the coexistence of multiple ethnicsand the contact between different cultures made the regional culture of Northern Shaanxi overlappedactively and retained in the traditional cultures, making it a typical area where farming civilization inthe Central Plains has been well blended with animal husbandry civilization in northern China. Afterthe Ming and Qing Dynasties, Northern Shaanxi, with the north of the Great Wall as its boundary,was actually ruled by the feudal rulers in the Central Plains. However, due to its geographicadvantage, the contact with northern nomadic people living in the border of the Inner Mongolia iscontinued, and it could contact with surrounding administrative regions because it extends across theYellow River on the east and adjoins with Qingyang on the west and the Central Shaanxi Plain onthe south. Consequently, the development pattern and features of coexistence and cultural mixturehave been deposited gradually for the traditional folkloric culture in Northern Shaanxi. What’s more,as an important participant in its cultural construction to echo the inner voices of the masses and toexpress individual emotions with its unique sonorific features, music has become the most lively andpassionate sound of life in the preservation and inheritance of traditional Northern Shaanxi culture.As for natural environment, comprised of loess-sand moraine formed plateaus, ridges, hills andvalleys, Northern Shaanxi features a monsoon climate of medium latitudes with long-term droughtand lack of rain. The poor natural conditions of survival, together with wars, made Northern Shaanxian extremely severe place to live in the historical period. However, living in such a dry land, thelocal people not only have survived indomitably and persistently, but also celebrated in songs theirlives in a plain and sincere way. If we say that folklores constitute their life style, the folk artsincluding music reflect the characteristics of rural culture in Northern Shaanxi. The preservedtraditional music types include folk songs, suona playing, Yangge, ballad (storytelling), Errentai (asmall-scale drama performed by two persons), Yulin ditties, Daoqing (a form of folk art) and Taoismmusic. Originated locally or introduced from surrounding areas, some of them have become morepopular while some have declined in the process of exchange, variation or impact. No matterwhether they were originated or developed here, they experienced scouring and screening in the longriver of history. Finally, they grow to be very vivid after interweaving with local cultural factors.The most significant feature of Northern Shaanxi music lies in its inseparable relationship withthe daily folk life in the rural communities. The music culture of Northern Shaanxi has beeninvolved in local folk custom construction in a unique way; on the other hand, it has been makingimprovements for self-development based on local folk life. Generally speaking, the most distinctivefeature of the musical culture of Northern Shaanxi is that its folk custom significance is greater thanits artistic expressional function. Though the music culture of Northern Shaanxi and its behaviorscan reflect a certain degree of entertainment and play the role in pleasing gods and people for somefolk activities or fulfillment of such arrangements, it survives and grows as part of folk customconstruction in essence. Therefore, it is different from the arts purely for stage performance. Besides,the activities of musical culture in Northern Shaanxi are mostly associated with festival celebration,wedding, funeral, temple fairs and folk sacrifice. As it fulfills its role in folkloric ceremonies, it also plays its artistic role.Characteristic cohesion and spiritual connotation construction of musical culture of NorthernShaanxi cannot be separated from natural environment and the rural living conditions, because theexperiences in production, farming, housing, life style and folk religions can deposit unconsciouslyin psychological cultivation of artistic creation and artistic expression. Therefore, the folkloreactivities can show to some extent the features of sacrifice, emotional outlet and daily moralcompliance in an artistic way. Among these, the response to existence and perception of lifereproduction are the essential things to be expressed. What is truly reflected is the true experience ofpeople’s innermost through its simple even rough way of expression. For example, Xintianyou (akind of Shaanxi local melody) is not a kind of dance actually, but its echo hovering all over themountain presents the energy of life. For suona, it is difficult to form a magnificent honor guard, butthe yangge dance on the way to welcome the bride may evoke people’s passion. While storytellersmay travel alone to far away places, they are able to bring the listener back to the historical scenethrough their enchanting words and desolating songs at courtyards, temple fairs or some othervenues. Therefore, this is not so much that the music culture of Northern Shaanxi represents thefolklores of a region as it reflects the actual rural life of a region. Its construction is inseparable withthe land, and it in turn reflects the life here in its unique way.The music culture of Northern Shaanxi will definitely change as natural environment and ruralsocial conditions change. The cave dwellings built along hills have been abandoned gradually, andmore high-rise buildings have been built. Nowadays there are various folk activities such as singingand suona playing in towns and villages, it is difficult for them to remain completely independent offashionable factors in modern cities. But unfortunately, their ways of expression have changed, andthe relevant traditional essence is thus abandoned. The modern bands have electronic instruments tohelp them, but they fail to show the sense of profundity and desolation. Therefore, it is difficult forthem to give full expression to the unique rhythm possessed by the Northern Shaanxi music. The bigsuona inclusively owned by Northern Shaanxi people has been abandoned. Xintianyou songs sungby singers in Karaoke have lost their natural and sincere essence. What Yangge dance emphasizesnow is parade, and the storytelling that was inclusive to the blind in ancient times has now beensqueezed out of the market by the performance conducted by a group of normal people. This is theprice we must pay for modernization. The natural, idyllic and individualized rural life has beendamaged by the industrial, standard, cultural and fashionable urban life. Rural people are now losingtheir natural spiritual homes. So, traditions have declined to the extent that special knowledge isneeded to enforce the conscious preservation and transmission.Comparatively speaking, some traditional factors of the musical culture in Northern Shaanxistill remains. However, with the boosting economic development in recent years and the rapidurbanization of the country, the Northern Shaanxi folk customs appear to be seemingly prosperous,but in fact the ignorance of the traditional innate spirit is obvious. What the luxurious andextravagant temple fairs and sacrifice imply is the spiritual anxiety of modern people. Therefore,how to re-recognize and develop traditional cultures and inject new power to them under modernsocial environment is far more than a superficial comfort but a way for modern people to search forthe truth and essence of life in an age of overwhelming desire and lust for material and benefits.Since it is natural for them to come to the understanding and preservation of regional traditions ofmusical culture, so the musical culture of Northern Shaanxi is among those in urgent need ofattention.