"Buyi Octave" Interactive Performances And Social Function

The "Buyi Bayin" of Buyi ethnic group in Guizhou province, also known as "Bayin seated singing", has already been a symbol of the Buyi culture. During recent thirty years, the "Buyi Bayin" has gradually moved to the stage, and the "Buyi Bayin" performances on the stage have also seen a continuous change in such aspects as contents, languages, instruments, costumes and stage actions in the process of interaction with the audience. What brings about the changes? Why there exist differences even for the same performance? In order to figure out these questions, this thesis sorts out the differences and mode of interaction in "Buyi Bayin" performances on the stage in recent thirty years and tries to explain their reasons from the analysis of materials acquired through questionnaires and in-depth interviews, then it further probes into the symbolic meanings and social functions of the "Buyi Bayin" performed on the stage.This thesis consists of four chapters, beginning with the introduction of the "Buyi Bayin" primitive state and its process of development on the stage, followed by a discussion of the symbolic meaning of "Buyi Bayin" from both subjective and objective perspectives. The second chapter focuses on the pattern of performance so as to figure out the variable and invariable factors of different performances from the statistical analysis of such aspects as scenes, performers, musical instruments, languages and musical structures. The third chapter carries out an in-depth analysis of the "Buyi Bayin" performance through modelization and categorization, and further explicating the cause of its formation, while the last chapter discusses the social functions of the "Buyi Bayin" performance, including the symbolic function of the traditional culture, the strengthening function of the implicit culture as well as the accelerating function for the local development, to name but a few.