From Music Phenomenon To Women's Mind

The wedding accompanying songs of Jiahe in Hunan Province are very special among the overall wedding songs. The melody of the wedding accompanying songs is well-known. The wedding accompanying songs of Jiahe created by the Jiahe's woman, they are art collectors which reflect the wedding custom. They combine the poetry, song, dance, drama together. The contents of the wedding accompanying include two aspects. The one is that the bride expressed the feelings to the friends and relatives. The other one is that women worried about the change of identity and role after the marriage.Scholars have discussed the wedding accompanying songs from various ways which include folklore, musicology, folk literature. They also collected and created many outstanding songs. In terms of the creator and singer of the wedding accompanying songs, they have distinctive female characteristics. The study on its function of the wedding accompanying songs in women's lives is still lacking. On the basis of previous studies and according to text on the wedding accompanying songs and the data on field work, this paper discussed the role transformation function which the role of women changed from daughter to daughter-in-law in the course of wedding from female perspectives. The study also embodied the women's mind in the wedding accompanying songs.This paper synthetically uses the theory and methods of ethnomusicology, social psychology, feminism, folklore. Firstly, the paper presents an overview of Jiahe County and the history of the wedding accompanying songs. And then, the paper analyses the musical morphology of the wedding accompanying songs including content, singing form, performing procedures and musical features. The core of the paper is the analysis on the role transformation function and women's mind of the wedding accompanying songs. Basing on the role theory, the paper illuminates the particularity of the bride role and the process which the women accomplish the role transformation through the interaction with the other roles in the wedding accompanying activity. It highlighted the status of women in society and the women's true views of the society and marriage at that time. Finally, according to field work, the role of the wedding accompanying songs in modern wedding has changed. It usually used to regulate the wedding atmosphere. These facts suggest that some functions of the wedding accompanying songs have gradually disappeared, which is a historical necessity. However, the unique historical and cultural value of the wedding accompanying songs is permanent. We should protect their heritage.