Study On The Tujia Baxian

Researches on the music of ethnic minorities have always been an important part of music studies and ethnic work.Tujia nationality,one of the 56 nationalities in China,not only enjoys a long history,but also boasts distinct ethnic and regional features in its music culture,among which the culture of Tujia instrumental music constitutes an indispensible and crucial part with its abundant and diverse forms.After the bureaucratization of native officers,with the large inflow of other brother nationalities including Han and Miao,Tujia music underwent a big integration and Tujia instrumental music embraced a chance of great development.The collision and communication of the instrumental music culture of Tujia and Han gave birth to a series of extraordinary instrumental music genres with ethnic characteristics,such as the“Da'anqing” in Laifeng,“Gong and drum music” in Lichuan and “Wei drum” in Hefeng.After the founding of People's Republic of China,as the society and economy develops and rural areas urbanizes,a lot of traditional Tujia instrumental music types are hit by modern music culture,with some even on the edge of extinction.Though many literary and art workers and musicologists are working hard in exploring Tujia music culture,some traditional Tujia instrumental music branches have never been studied before.Tujia Baxian is among the unstudied instrumental music.Tujia Baxian,a branch of Tujia wind instruments,is a kind of local-made Suona.It at least has a history over 200 years.Closely linked with Tujia customs and rites,it is mainly used in traditional Tujia weddings and funerals.This essay takes Tujia Baxian as the research object,conducting field researches in two areas where Tujia Baxian is widely played: Zouma Town of Hefeng County of Enshi Prefecture in Hubei province and Nanbei Town of Shimen County of Changde City in Hunan province.It delves into the origin of Tujia Baxian and its application in weddings and funerals.Moreover,it expresses the viewpoints and solutions to the current problems in the inheritance and development of Tujia Baxian.This essay also explores the new way of development for Tujia Baxian through combining the playing skills of modern Suona and the unique playing techniques of Tujia Baxian from the perspective of players.This essay is divided into four chapters.The first chapter mainly elaborates the history and origin of Tujia Baxian,which could be traced back to 1865 based on the records in documents and books.It presumably has at least over 200 years' history.The second chapter introduced in detail the application of Tujia Baxian in weddings,funerals and other occasions,as well as the relevant tune names for different occasions.The third chapter describes the finger techniques of Tujia Baxian and the major playing skills.The last chapter raises the main problem in inheriting and developing Tujia Baxian at the current stage.It also briefly discusses the solutions from the perspective of players.Furthermore,in terms of playing Tujia Baxian,it takes the example of several excellent tune names in Tujia Baxian to try to combine the playing skills of Tujia Baxian and modern Suona.