Bouyei Folk Songs

Bouyei Folk Songs

　　The Bouyei people are a relatively large ethnic minority in southwestern China, primarily residing in the Qiannan and Qianxi'north Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefectures in Guizhou Province, as well as parts of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan. The Bouyei have a rich cultural and artistic tradition, and their folk songs are particularly distinctive, including various types such as ancient songs, narrative songs, love songs, drinking songs, and labor songs; forms include solo, duet, chorus, and multipart singing; melodies are divided into “major tunes” and “minor tunes.” On festive occasions, singing can be heard day and night. In 2008, Bouyei folk songs were included in the second batch of China’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List.

　　The Bouyei people enjoy singing, and folk song melodies vary from place to place. Even within the same region, songs differ in melody based on lyrics, performance occasions, and singing styles. The main types of Bouyei folk songs are as follows—

　　Major Tunes and Minor Tunes: Mainly popular among the Bouyei in counties north of the Hongshui River, such as Ceheng, Wangmo, and Luodian. The major tune is used more broadly, covering storytelling, toasting, welcoming or seeing off guests, expressing emotions or reasoning, and is sometimes also used in love songs. The major tune generally spans only a fifth in range, giving it a stable and serene quality. The minor tune is mainly used for love songs, with a more expansive melody that extends to an octave, resulting in a bright and passionate tone with mountain-song characteristics. Singers often use falsetto in high notes and endings, adding a unique charm. Due to regional variations, melodies can also differ significantly.

　　Grand Songs and Minor Songs: Primarily popular in Libo, Dushan, and Sandu Zhouqin areas of Qiannan, these are two forms of multi-part vocal singing in Bouyei folk songs. The main difference is that grand songs include opening and closing sections to greet relatives and friends, typically consisting of four or six lines per song; minor songs have only a closing section and usually consist of just four lines. Grand songs are performed in public settings, with more solemn content, often used for drinking songs, narrative songs, welcoming or seeing off guests, or celebrating joyous events. These songs feature a larger and longer structure, hence the name “grand songs.” Minor songs are mostly performed as paired duets between young men and women expressing affection, with shorter structures, hence the name “minor songs.” Both grand songs and minor songs repeatedly overlap with intervals of thirds and seconds.

　　Ming Song Tunes and Tu Song Tunes: These are general terms used by Bouyei in the suburbs of Guiyang to refer to folk songs sung in Chinese or in the Bouyei language. “Ming songs” are sung in Chinese and are further divided into “pái gē” (row songs) and “tái gē” (platform songs) based on lyrical content, and into “sì píng qiāng” (four-flat tone), “sān dī shuǐ” (three drops of water), and “jiǔ gē diào” (drinking song tune) based on melodic characteristics. “Tu songs” refer to those sung in the Bouyei language, adapting the melody according to the tonal patterns of the Bouyei lyrics—longer phrases have longer notes, shorter phrases have fewer notes, and song phrases range from over thirty beats to as few as sixteen or seventeen, adjusting flexibly based on the length of the lyrics without fixed rules, mostly used for singing traditional ancient songs.

　　Huishui Mountain Song Tune: Commonly known as “Hǎo Huā Hóng Diào” (Good Flower Red Tune), it is popular among the Bouyei in central-southern Guizhou regions such as Huishui, Changshun, Guiyang, Longli, and Guiding (cities and counties), essentially summarizing the stylistic character of Bouyei folk songs in this area. The melody follows a four-tone yu mode, with an active range of an octave; it is meandering, leisurely, and unrestrained. Lyrics are typically seven characters over eight lines, using metaphor to evoke emotion through imagery, subtle and profound in meaning, lively and vivid, melodiously gentle, and widely loved and circulated. In recent years, musicians have used its melodies as material to adapt or create choral works, dance music, acrobatic music, film and TV scores, which have been quite popular among audiences.

　　Pan Songs: A traditional type of Bouyei folk song that takes the form of singing to ask each other questions about various things. Young people may use pan songs when first getting to know each other to learn details such as names or home villages. Elders often sing pan songs at celebratory gatherings, using the question-and-answer format to showcase the singers’ quick wit. Pan songs cover a wide range of topics, including astronomy, geography, mountains, rivers, plants, and more. Additionally, singing riddles is also a form of pan song.

　　Twelve-Part Antiphonal Songs: A type of Bouyei love song popular in counties such as Wangdao, Luodian, and Ceting in Guizhou Province. Groups of young men create systematic programs of love songs, which are performed at weddings or when new houses are built, upon invitation by the hosts. Typically, each side of the antiphonal singing involves two singers. Female singers sit in the bridal chamber while male singers sit by the fireplace in the main hall, singing across a partition wall. The content vividly describes the process of romantic courtship between young men and women in twelve question-and-answer segments. The twelve-part antiphonal songs include: Introduction Song (question opening), Inquiry Song (asking), Mutual Praise Song (praising each other), Twelve Seasons Flowers and Fruits Song (singing about flowers and fruits of the twelve seasons), Sending Gifts Song (delivering tokens), Exchanging Tokens Song (trading keepsakes), Parting Song (farewell), Reunion Song (meeting again), Defying Marriage Song (resisting arranged marriage), Lawsuit Song (going to court), Escaping Together Song (planning to elope), and Death Pact Song (when neither divorce nor elopement succeeds, the couple resolves to die together and become butterflies flying as one). The Twelve-Part Antiphonal Songs are rich in imagination, with gripping lyrics, and can be sung continuously for seven or eight days. They are a primary form of entertainment and quite common among the Bouyei in counties such as Luodian, Wangmo, and Banting.