Hubei Provincial Collection of Ethnic Local Drama and Quyi

Author: Mou Lianjiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-07-01
Features: The folk music of the Hubei ethnic minority areas is diverse in variety, broad in themes, and unique in character, with a long history. The thirteen forms selected in this book, like drama, are closely linked to the mountains, rivers, geographical features, customs, territorial changes, ethnic migrations, socio-economy, politics, and the long-standing cultural traditions of the Hubei ethnic minority areas. Compared to drama, they are more popular art forms. The qu varieties belonging to the silk-string small song category include Changyang Nanqu, Enshi Yangqin, and Lichuan Xiaqu, all of which share the common feature of using a set of tunes linked together in structure and accompanied by silk-string instruments. The qu varieties belonging to the yugu daoqing category include Zao Exi Zhuqin and Zouma Yugu, which have similar musical structures, expressive forms, developmental trajectories, and performance styles. The qu varieties belonging to the tage shaochang category include Changyanglongchuan, Mantangyin, and Enshi Huagu, which lie between folk dance, mountain songs, opera, variety shows, and field singing, among other sister arts. They are a type of qu with multiple colors and attributes, resulting from the evolution and fusion of different art forms.