Folk Songs (Continued)
Haozi: 'The Chuan River Haozi'
Haozi is a genre of work folk songs. Musicologists believe that haozi songs' original purpose was to coordinate a group's breath and/or movement, but gradually developed into more musical songs that people sang for pleasure as well. Chang Jiang is the modern Chinese name for the lower 1,792 miles of the Yangtze river. Chang Jiang literally means the "Long River." Various sections of Chang Jiang have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river is also known as the Chuan Jiang ( p Chuānjiāng) or "Sichuan River." In this section, the many people that have traditionally made a living by steering and pulling boats and ships developed the 'The Chuan River Haozi', which comprises eight individual haozi, each of which matches a different section of the boatmen's journey along that section of the Yangtze River. Some were sung in peaceful waterfronts, while others applied to riskier and more challenging navigation situations. In haozi singing, the leader of the crew sang the lead part, and the other men sang a refrain or response that followed the rhythm and speed of their work.
Shan'ge: 'Tune of the Horse Caravan'
Lyrics: (Say to you, older brother) October is coming, (ai yo, plum flowers are smiling, my older brother.) The swan is passing the road, your younger sister is worried (ai ai, my old brother) (Lyrics explained in Mandarin by Yang Ziju - Figure 2).
'Tune of the Horse Caravan' (Example 4: Sung by Yang Ziju. Courtesy of Yang Ziju.) is from Yunnan province, the Southwest mountain area of China. The majority of Han Chinese as well as many ethnic minority groups live there. In fact, there are many folk songs under the name of 'Tune of the Horse Caravan' with totally different melodies and lyrics. The example given here is sung in Han Chinese by Yang Ziju, a Bulang woman from Baoshan city. Yang doesn't know whether this song is originally Han or Bulang or when it first emerged, but her mother taught her that it was sung by people who are going to travel (personal communication, 8 July 2018).
Historically, the city and its surrounding region were economically underdeveloped, and therefore many people often had to travel elsewhere to make a living.
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"Yang Ziju - Tune of the Horse Caravan"
The long, straight legs of Wading birds, such as the Grey heron, provide great bones for flute making.
