China News Service, Taiyuan, February 20th: Title: Thousand-year-old "Jiangzhou Drum Music" rings in the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon

　　Author Yang Peipei

　　From the 2024 CCTV Spring Festival Gala to Shanghai Happy Valley, from the countryside to the city... During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Art Troupe is very busy, constantly traveling to various places to perform. "I have just finished the activities in Shanghai. I will take a break in the past two days. During the Lantern Festival, I will also participate in the social fire performance in Qingxu, Taiyuan." Yang Dinghong, head of the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Art Troupe, said on the 20th.

During the Spring Festival, Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Troupe performed in Shanghai. Photo by Yang Dinghong

　　Jiangzhou drum music originated from the pre-Qin Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is a gong, drum and percussion music popular in Xinjiang, the "hometown of Chinese drum music". It is known as "the earth moves and the mountains shake" and "the sound can be heard for ten miles". As a native folk art form, Jiangzhou Drumming was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists and was listed by UNESCO as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".

　　In ancient times, people used drums to boost the morale of soldiers. Among the people, drum music was also widely used. Especially in Xinjiang, Jiangzhou drum music has long been integrated into people's production and life. Jiangzhou drum music is indispensable for every New Year, festival, and wedding. Its style is majestic, the sound is sonorous, bold and powerful.

　　Yang Dinghong introduced that Jiangzhou drum music mainly uses flowers and dry beating as its main form, accompanied by instruments such as boards and gongs. Its playing methods include beating the heart of the drum, beating the edge of the drum, pushing the drum head, grinding the drum nails, rubbing the drum sticks, and banging the drum. There are more than 10 kinds of hammers, drum rings, drum rubbing skins, drum rolling sticks and drum stands.

　　At the same time, Xinjiang has a rich collection of drum and gong tunes. At present, more than 300 drum scores have been excavated locally. Some are named after historical stories, some are named after folk allusions, and some are named after drum beats and gong beats. Among them, classic repertoire such as "The King of Qin Orders the Soldiers", "The Female General of the Yang Clan" and "The Mouse Wedding" have become popular repertoires that are often invited to perform at home and abroad.

During the Spring Festival, the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Troupe performed in Xinjiang. The Jiangzhou drum music was majestic and sonorous. New photo by Wei Shi

　　"The current development of Jiangzhou Drum Music cannot be separated from the old leader Wang Qin'an." Yang Dinghong said that when the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Art Troupe was established, he joined the troupe and became the first batch of students. From the first drummer to the current group leader, I have witnessed the Jiangzhou Drum Music from nothing to fruitful achievements.

　　In 1980, Wang Qinan, then director of the Xinjiang County Cultural Center, determined to excavate, collect and sort out the drum music scores scattered among the people. In the next four years, he continued to go deep into the countryside, competed with folk artists, made friends, and compiled more than 30 drum music tunes such as "The King of Qin Orders the Soldiers", "The Rat Gets Married", and "The Bull Fights the Tiger".

　　Many years later, Wang Qinan organized a folk drum art troupe. These drummers came from all towns and villages in the county. They trained intensively whenever there was a competition. Each person trained for 15 hours a day and beat the drums 150,000 to 200,000 times. The hard drumsticks actually broke more than 400 in 30 days of rehearsal.

During the Spring Festival, the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Troupe performed classics such as "Mouse Wedding" on stage. New photo by Wei Shi

　　Because of this, over the past 30 years, the Shanxi Jiangzhou Drum Art Troupe has moved from the private sector to the international stage. The thousand-year drum music has been played in more than 30 countries and regions including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.

　　Yang Dinghong said that now, the Drum Art Troupe has 25 members, many of whom are born in the 1990s and 2000s. They are showing the most traditional art in the latest fashion. This Spring Festival, riding on the "east wind" of the Internet, Jiangzhou Drum Music has frequently "leaved out of the circle" and entered thousands of households. (over)