A Study On The Funeral Drum-sitting Ceremony Of The Tujia Nationality In Jianshan,in The Southwest Of Hubei Province

The southwest area of Hubei is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural area,which has been the holy land of various nationalities and cultures in history.People who lived on this land have left deep marks,and these marks are engraved in the cultures of various ethnic groups living in this region today.The folk music ceremony of drum-sitting is the carrier of these historical marks.Jianshan Township is located in the middle and western part of Xianfeng County in the southwest of Hubei Province.The township is located on the bank of the Tang Cliff River and belongs to the “Wuling National Corridor”.Tujia nationality live here for a long time.As a important carrier of folk culture and folk music,the local funeral rites have continued to this day and become a window for us to explore the spiritual culture of the Tujia nationality today.Starting from investigating the funeral ritual music of Tujia nationality in southwestern Hubei,this paper chooses the funeral drum-sitting ceremony in Jianshan Township of Xianfeng County as the research object.On the basis of literature analysis and field investigation,mainly using the research methods of Ethnomusicology and combining the relevant research theories of ritual music,this paper studies the historical origin,music form analysis and ritual culture investigation of the funeral drum-sitting ceremony in Jianshan Township of Xianfeng,aiming to sort out the relationship between the music ontology of the funeral drum-sitting ceremony in Jianshan and traditional culture and folk life.It focuses on describing the survival status and ritual process of the funeral drum-sitting ceremony of Tujia nationality in Jianshan area,discussing the ritual activity of funeral drum-sitting and the particularity of its music in the life transformation of Tujia nationality,and understanding the Tujia nationality's funeral ritual music provides a new perspective.The funeral ceremony is a traditional custom formed in the long-term social life ofthe Tujia nationality.It has a profound historical accumulation,which is different from other nationalities,it also has its own unique style and always been highly valued by Tujia nationality.Through summarizing and analyzing the cognitive concept,ritual behavior and music form in the local funeral ceremony,the paper further explains the musical cultural function of Jianshan funeral drum-sitting ceremony and its special significance to the local Tujia nationality.