The wedding lament of the Tujia people in western Hubei Province, China: Music and context

In China, it is customary for a Tujiazu (people of Tujia nationality) bride and her female relatives to conduct the ritual of wedding lament to grieve for their separation from one other. As the lamenters, the occasion, the use of, and the function for the wedding lament are Al related to women, the Tujia wedding laments provide researchers with abundant data for the study of woman's music.; During 1995 and 1996, the author collected singing samples from western Hubei Provinces and western Hunan Province where the Tujia people live. The music of their wedding laments as sung in the two fields are compared; these laments are then compared to a small sample of wedding laments sung by the women of Miao nationality who also live in western Hunan. The following musical characteristics of Tujia wedding laments are observed: (1) The three components the wedding Laments are weeping, singing and narrating. They vary in intensity according to the mood of the lamenters. (2) The singing style [ku qiang] is characterized by a combination of singing and{09}weeping, and each musical phrase ends with a mourning sound "ah ha". (3) The music is speech-like. The improvised lyrics set the direction of a characteristic three-note melody which often progresses by a third interval. This feature and the slow tempo produce a chanting-like effect of the lament. (4) The ritual is accompanied by music in a "parallel development structure." The sequence of rituals in a wedding is closely linked with the contents of the laments.; From the viewpoint of ethnomusicology, the wedding lament is seen as a medium through which a lamenter expresses herself and communicates with other women and with the spiritual world. The wedding lament therefore reflects the psychology of Tujia women, the social organization of the Tujia people and their religious outlook.; The historical, political and economic factors that have led to the creation of the wedding lament are explored. The mode of transmission, social meaning, and gender culture of the wedding lament are also discussed in the dissertation.