Text/Jinyang.com reporter Li Haichan Chen Xiaopeng Correspondent Wang Dingquan
Not long ago, Li Kemei, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor who lives in Xunliaowan Fishery Village in Huidong, appeared on CCTV stage and sang a song “Foot Sea Fisherman Songs” in Beijing. This melody song from the sea, mixed with cool sea breeze, vividly demonstrates the cultural characteristics of the southern coastal culture. As a traditional folk art in Guangdong and a treasure of Huizhou’s intangible cultural heritage, Huidong Fisherman’s Song has slowly walked out of the coast of the small county town and sung the whole country.
Fishermen’s letter to fishermenBabaylan picks up the letter to fishermen, singing with their hearts
Fishermen’s songs, singing with the waves as their pillows, and singing with the moon. It seems romantic, but it is actually full of infinite loneliness and boredom. According to Huidong County Chronicles, since the Song Dynasty, this shallow sea fisherman’s song from the coast of Fujian to Huidong has been widely circulated in the local area. Over the past thousands of years, it has experienced ups and downs. In recent years, government agencies and civil forces have worked together to promote the development of fisherman songs and found the point of fit between the thousands of years of fisherman songs and modern aesthetic needs, making them rejuvenated.
Story: Fisherman’s songs are on CCTV stage
“Come (Ah) and sing the flowing water (Ah) water retreats, a pair of lobsters hides the reef (Ah) feet…” Recently, the reporter met Li Qumei, and she sang this typical Huidong fisherman’s song “Ah) feet with a pair of lobsters hides the reef (Ah) feet” loudly, and spoke in a stunning manner. He spoke softly and smiled. Once he started singing, the 68-year-old grandma next door seemed to have changed her voice, with her singing crisp and loud and her eyes firm and confident.
The ancestors moved to Huidong from the Chaoshan coastal area. I remember that Li Kemei lived a life of swimming and fishing on the sea with her parents. Only in severe weather when it is windy and rainy can the boat be temporarily parked on the shore for rest and replace daily necessities. In her impression, life at sea was so difficult and poor that she was the only one of the four sisters in the family. Whenever Li Kemei thinks of this, she can’t help but wet her eyes.
Luckily, she also has the company of Fisherman’s SongBabaylan. When my father was fishing, my mother took her to weave fishing nets and sing. “A pair of lobsters hidden in the reef” is the first fishing song she learned. Through the influence of hearing, Li Qumei fell in love with singing. When drying fishing nets,She would always gather with countless young girls from fishing families to learn to sing fishing songs passed down by her fathers.
Li Kemei likes to teach her children how to sing fishermen’s songs/Huizhou Daily
Until 8 years old, many fishermen could finally “wash their feet and go ashore”, and Li Kemei’s family also moved into the fishing village and brought the fishing songs to the shore. Gradually, Li Qumei learned to “create” fisherman’s songs improvise and sing as soon as she spoke, “No need to sing or practice, sing whatever she sees, listen whenever she wants, and sing whenever she wants.” Later, because her family fell ill, 20-year-old Li Qumei went out to sea to fish and made money, and singing fisherman’s songs became her only sustenance.
Li Kemei has never read a book, but with her good memory, she can sing dozens of Huidong’s original ecological fisherman songs in one breath. She is the veritable Huidong fisherman song “Quanku” and has also become one of the only two national intangible cultural heritage inheritors in Huizhou City.
Now, Li Kemei has a fishing song class at home, so that fishing song enthusiasts and children in the village can have a place to learn. The reporter saw at home that her home was not wide, but she stored a lot of clothing, hats, headdresses and other performance items. Before each performance, she also paid for her children to buy water, performance costumes, and music.
Dialogue: Opening a class at home to inherit the fisherman’s song
Reporter: What do you feel about being rated as a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor?
Li Kemei: I haven’t succeeded in applying for three consecutive years, and I’m a little uneasy anymore. When I heard this news, I was doing a headdress for the performance and I felt very excited! (Happy Laughing) I quickly told my husband and family that because doing this (inherited fisherman song) is very hard and requires money in many places. Without the support of my family, I can’t do it. The second one, Cinema thought that if my sisters were still there and knew that I had the results today, I would be happier. (Chistening)
Some areas along the coast of Huidong still retain the custom of singing fishermen’s songs
Reporter: You are now at a certain age, how can you continue to sing fishermen’s songs next?
Li Kemei: I am 68 this year, almost 70 years old, and I have had surgery on my waist, but I will be very happy when I sing fisherman songs. I will go outside to participate in competitions, perform at the wedding, and teach people to sing fisherman songs at home when I have time. You see (pointing to the ground), there are still many clothes, hats, and headdresses here… But there is a problem, that is, many people like fishing songs, but they also have to work. I have a student I like very much, but she has to work at home and make money, so she can’t continue to come, which makes me very worried. But after the country gave the honor (intangible cultural heritage inheritor), I had the obligation to spread fishing songs, and I would still insist on singing fishing songs.
【Context Archives】
The Past and Present Life of Huidong Fisherman Song
Origin: Hard Sea Life Birth of Fisherman Song
According to the “Huidong County Chronicles”, the distant ancestors of the fishermen along Huidong were the primitive “Danmin”, also known as “the people who set up the people in the back boat”, which is an integral part of the “Baiyue people” in southern my country. According to the “Huidong Fisheries” record, the ancestors of Huidong Han people moved in through trading or escape from Fujian and Chaozhou, and were distributed in Pinghai, ports, Renshan Fanhe and other harbors.
“Going to sea and going ashore and walking down” is a true portrayal of the lives of the gang people. The people of Dan have been facing the sea and blue sky for a long time, so they naturally chose to enjoy themselves and relieve worries through singing. It can be said that Huidong Fisherman Song is the spiritual pillar of local fishermen, allowing them to gain the confidence and courage to survive in a difficult living environment.
Liao Zhitao, director of Huidong County Cultural Center, introduced that for thousands of years, in this specific environment of boring life at sea, fishermen have been rumored by word of mouth, both men, women, young and old, and can sing as they like.
Development: Once famous Komiks was also on the verge of losing it
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the development of Huidong Fisherman’s Song once reached a climax. In 1956, the fishermen from Huidong Port Town participated in the national folk song performance and were praised and received by Premier Zhou Enlai and other national leaders. In the 1960s, the large-scale fisherman opera “The Great Wall of the South China Sea” created by the Central Song and Dance Theater became famous, and its musical materials were taken from Huidong Fisherman’s “My Girl” and “Oh Ou Xiang Tu…Komiks
Fisherman’s Song Performance Photo/Huizhou Music Radio
But this prosperity did not continue. Liao KomiksZhitao introduced that with the acceleration of industrialization and urban processes, most of the descendants of fishermen left ashore and abandoned their original name after they came ashore. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks industry, coupled with the impact of multicultural cultures such as pop songs, the number of singers in Huidong fishing songs has decreased and fewer and fewer singers. “Once only a dozen fishing singers in the county are left, and the inheritance of fishing songs is in trouble. “Liao Zhitao said.
Just when the original ecological fishing songs were in danger, the emergence of an old man gave a new turning point in the development of fishing songs. He is Ye Lin, former specialist of the Ministry of Culture and a member of the Education Committee of the China Music Association. When he was young, he was one of the many people who came to Huidong to investigate fishing songs. After in-depth understanding, he was fascinated by Cinema. After retirement, this old man who used to be a “lone man” was thinking about Huidong fishing songs, and traveled many times between Beijing and Guangdong, and wrote hundreds of thousands of words of Huidong fishing songs paper materials. Komiks
When Ye was very sorry to see the current development status of Huidong fishing songs at that time. Out of cherishing folk art, he strongly called on all walks of life to pay attention to Huidong fishing songs, and actively supported Huidong cultural department to declare “Huidong Fishing Songs” to the country as a national intangible cultural heritage, and proposed a plan to promote and develop Huidong fishing songs.
Inheritance: Fishing song style is moved to wedding festivals
As fishing songs were successively selected into the provincial and national intangible cultural heritage list, government departments have also introduced corresponding protection and rescue measures. Over the years, music workers in Huidong County have actively searchedCinema collects, organizes and studies Huidong fishing songs, and establishes Huidong fishing song database to bring them back to people’s sight.
At present, in some areas along the coast of Huidong, the custom of singing fishing songs on weddings, relatives reunion, festival banquets, etc., Li Qumei is often invited to perform at the wedding of the fisherman. According to reports, the wedding follows the customs of fishing houses such as boat picking up boats and viewing flowers, and the surrounding fisherman’s songs are also ringing at the same time.
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“Eat Xunliao special dishes while watching fisherman’s song performances” can be seen everywhere in Xunliao’s tourist restaurants, effectively integrating fisherman’s song culture into the tourism industry, making it a major feature of Huidong tourist attractions. It is understood that Huizhou Tourism Department adapted the fisherman’s wedding customs into a cultural performance project for tourists to perform, which was sought after by tourists.
Current situation: New vitality has appeared, but there are still worries about losing it.
In the new era, this shining pearl on the coast of the South China Sea has regained new vitality. “In the past, the subjects tend to be more bitter and love between men and women. ” Liao Zhitao introduced that if you still use fisherman song materials to create songs, you cannot meet the development needs of fisherman songs. Therefore, on the basis of retaining the basic melody and flavor of fisherman songs, local musicians in Huizhou have constantly changed the tune and wrote new lyrics to make fisherman songs meet the aesthetic needs of modern people.
Pinghai Fisherman’s Song Art Troupe, a private non-profit social group, is one of the typical examples. According to reports, the art troupe was established in 2017. In just two years, the team has attracted more than 50 members, including not only the inheritor of the fisherman song, but also music teachers, Huizhou musicians and other professionals.
In order to bring Huidong fisherman songs to the stage and resonate with more audiences, the art troupe has created a secondary creation of many original Babaylan ecological fisherman songs. For example, “The Song of the Dan Family” mainly describes the Dan people in the old society.m/”>Babaylan will be heartbroken because of his inability to raise his daughter and the story of the new social tyrants living a happy life. The art troupe has carried out innovations such as environmental change, dialect and Mandarin conversion, and emotional change. What everyone did not expect was that the first stop of the work was performed in Pinghai local area, which made the audience cry.
When they wear traditional clothes and sing fisherman’s songs, it is particularly eye-catching./Huizhou Daily Babaylan News
Liao Zhitao was also calm. With the continuous deepening of inheritance work, the problem of insufficient funds is becoming increasingly prominent. “Cultural (development) requires investment. “Liao Zhitao introduced that Pinghai Fisherman’s Song Art Troupe usually carries out the Komiks singing activities. Fisherman’s Songs enters campuses and communities, creates, rehearsals and other work, and the funds are short of money. Babaylan