(East-West Question) Junko Iguchi: How does the "living culture" of Chinese folk rap reach the heart?
China News Agency, Beijing, May 6th, Question: Junko Iguchi: How does the "living culture" of Chinese folk rap reach the heart?
China News Agency reporter Gao Kai
In the interaction between China and the outside world, not only the comprehensive development of the economy and society has aroused widespread interest, but also the rich and diverse traditional Chinese culture has also attracted more and more attention.
Junko Iguchi, a Japanese ethnomusicologist and a professor at Osaka University of Music, is a foreign scholar who has long-term attention and research on Chinese folk rap art.
Junko Iguchi has conducted field research in China for a long time, conducted artistic research on Chinese folk rap from the perspective of ethnomusicology, and observed traditional Chinese culture from the perspective of "other".
She sees Chinese folk rap art as an "oral tradition" in rural areas, a "living culture" of great value.
Junko Iguchi recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions", sharing her findings in this special research field, looking back at the "encounter" and "movement" in the in-depth fieldwork in China, and telling about the cultural exchanges between China and Japan. think.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: What kind of opportunity made you interested in the relatively "narrow" field of Chinese folk rap art, and you decided to study it? What did you find out of it?
Junko Iguchi:
When I was a graduate student of ethnomusicology at Osaka University in 1987, I learned that there are more than 300 kinds of quyi in China, while Japan has only a few classical rap arts.
How did China's so many kinds of music develop?
What are the characteristics of each?
As arts with the same cultural origin, what similarities do they share?
I had a lot of questions all at once, and as far as I knew at the time, there were a lot of songs from rural China, which surprised me to be honest.
All of the above piqued my interest.
In order to study Chinese folk rap, from 1988 to 1995, I came to China five times to conduct field investigations. rural oral culture.
From 1993 to 1994, I conducted a nine-month literature survey based in Beijing.
Folk rap art is basically centered on oral inheritance in rural China, and does not require written words.
Long-form rap is highly improvised and can insert "jokes".
Depending on the occasion, the words will change vividly.
The interaction between rap and listeners is very active.
In the book "Oral Culture in the Rural Areas of Northern China: Books, Documents, and Performances of Rap and Sing", I made a detailed analysis of the long poem "Dripping Water" on Laoting drums.
On the point of "living art", the singers known as "drifting water" used words that can be freely changed, clarifying what is fixed and what is changing.
However, oral inheritance does not mean that these arts have not been influenced by engraved editions such as "Drum Ci" and "Dagu Ci".
Rap artists in rural China also have "writers" who sort out old editions and create new bibliographies.
Junko Iguchi's "Oral Culture in Rural North China".
China News Service reporter: You said that Chinese folk rap culture is a "living culture". What do you mean by "living"? As a culture, there is always core content that has been passed down. What do you think are the core elements that remain unchanged?
Junko Iguchi: For
example, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a well-known classical repertoire in China. Mr. Storyteller will not change the core part of the story and the lyrics, but will express it innovatively in a way that attracts the attention of modern people.
Whether the performance is located in a city-style bookstore or a rural square, whether the performance is limited to one day or for several consecutive days, what kind of audience is, how the scene responds, etc., the final presentation of the performers will be very different depending on these different factors.
The better the performer, the better at making all kinds of flexible adjustments.
This kind of "performance" has been the core of folk rap culture attracting people since ancient times.
It is not a fixed "artistic work", but exists as a performance art, and no one is the same performance.
I think this is the spiritual core of rap culture, and its cultural charm not only transcends borders, but also touches the heart.
In Xuchang, Henan, folk storytellers perform at the Duzhai Book Fair in Xuchang County.
Photo by China News Agency Niu Shupei
China News Service reporter: You mentioned that "it is very important to look at each other's country with your own eyes, and direct communication is very important". What did you feel the most during the years of field research in China?
Junko Iguchi:
There are many "writers" with rich life experience and great talents in rural China, and everyone's experience is rich in color.
For example, Mr. Zhang Jianguo (1939-2018), whom I met during my fieldwork, is not only proficient in the three folk arts of film, drum, and opera in Laoting County, but even wrote his own scripts.
Many of the storytellers and accompanists are knowledgeable and virtuous people who are teachers of researchers.
Through my dealings with them, I learned about the origin of the "joke" rooted in the depths of life in Chinese folk rap.
For example, a blind accompanist I met has experienced many hardships in life, but he has become more tolerant and kind to others and life.
This makes me feel that the inheritance of art is always inseparable from the warmth of human nature in connotation.
When I was doing research in rural China in the early years, because I was studying for a master's degree, I didn't have much savings on hand, so I couldn't talk about any material return to the interviewees, but the local farmers did their best to prepare everything for us. .
After returning to Japan, I learned that the Jidong area where I was doing research at that time was severely damaged by the Japanese during the war, but the villagers at that time did not mention the past to me. The tolerance of Chinese rural people has made me so far. Impressed.
China News Agency reporter: What do you think are the distinctive features of Chinese folk oral culture? What is the difference between Chinese and Japanese oral cultures?
Junko Iguchi:
Compared with Japanese oral culture, Chinese dialects have different types of music, and the combination of language and music is very strong.
Like the classical calligraphy, new bibliographies of Chinese folk rap are constantly being created.
In Japan, it is difficult to generate new scripts due to the social atmosphere that respects classical works too much.
I think Chinese quyi has become a part of people's culture, entertainment and life, and the genres of drama, instruments and music often change.
Japan's "no" and "kyogen" have a history of about 650 years, and Kabuki and Ningyo joruri (quyi drama) have a history of about 400 years, but almost no new musical instruments are used in Japan.
Just as Chinese Tang Dynasty musical instruments still exist in Japanese gagaku performances today, Japan has a strong tendency to "preserve as it is".
For example, Ningyo Joruri's Yoshitao Festival is a representative rap music in Japan. The script, music, and shamisen have not changed as in the Edo period. The strings of silk threads cherish the delicate tone.
There are also new scripts, but the popular ones are stories from the 17th and 18th centuries, so beginners can enjoy them with Japanese subtitles.
Japanese Kabuki performance.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
China News Agency reporter: China and Japan are separated by a strip of water, and music exchanges have a long history. How do you evaluate the historical musical exchanges between the two countries and their impact on cultural exchanges?
Junko Iguchi:
In the cultural exchange between China and Japan, the first is the introduction of Chinese culture to Japan, and Japan has completed localization while accepting the influence.
Taking Guqin scores as an example, Japan is like a warehouse for cultural relics in China. Ancient scores and musical instruments from Shoso-in can still be found in Japan. The exchange of traditional music is an important part of the exchanges between the two countries.
In recent years, Chinese students majoring in musicology and ethnomusicology have broken through the language barriers between China and Japan and published many excellent research results.
I look forward to more Chinese people studying Japanese music and more Japanese studying Chinese music in the future.
Because the perspectives and research methods of this cultural study and other cultural studies are very different, when Japanese people study Japanese music, they tend to stick to detailed themes and problems, and it is difficult to have a broad perspective.
When Chinese people study Japanese shakuhachi and Japanese koto, they will naturally have a comparative viewpoint.
In addition to traditional music, the spread of game music in China and Japan today also confirms that "culture easily crosses borders".
For example, popular Chinese games are popular in Japan, and Chinese culture such as Peking Opera displayed in games attracts Japanese young people.
China News Agency reporter: 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. Can you talk about your feelings on the cultural exchanges between the two countries based on your research? What aspects should be strengthened in the cultural exchanges between the two countries?
Junko Iguchi:
At the level of non-governmental communication, it is very important to understand the opponents of "life-size".
My new book, Farewell Dumplings: Portraits of China, Urban and Rural Areas (2021 Kyoto: Lighthouse), describes the unforgettable characters I met in my fieldwork in China for more than 30 years, and describes my relationship with Hebei, Ningbo, Xiamen, Hunan, etc. The encounters and partings of men, women and children everywhere.
This book was unexpectedly popular with many readers, and I saw some readers express this impression: "Chinese people are warm, open-minded, and charming to others even in severe times and environments."
"Farewell Dumplings: Portraits of China, City and Countryside" (Japanese)
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, continuing to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and deepen mutual understanding will help the two countries deepen the friendship between people and help the two countries better face the future.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Iguchi Junko (IGUCHI Junko), professor of music department of Osaka University of Music (musicology, ethnomusicology).
Doctor of Literature, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Graduate School of Literature, Osaka University.
The main research topics are "Research on Chinese Music and Performing Arts" and "History of Modern Asian Western Music".
His major works are "Oral Culture in Rural North China - Rap Books, Texts, and Performances" (2003 Xiamen University Press) "Shanghai Concession and Lanxin Grand Theater - Theater Space for the Integration of East and West Art" (2015, Shanghai People's Publishing House) "The Music of the Exiles - Music and Ballet in the Shanghai Concession" (2021 Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press), "Farewell Dumplings - Portraits of Chinese Urban and Rural Areas" (Japan) (2021 Kyoto: Lighthouse)