Folk Songs (Continued)
Lullaby: 'Little Cabbage'
Lyrics: 'Little cabbage, getting old in the field! At two years old, she lost her mother! Living with her father, she went through life, afraid of getting a stepmother…' (Example 3: Sung by Li Zhousuo. Courtesy of Li Zhousuo. )
This folk song lullaby, originally from Hebei province, mid-Northern China, narrates the plight of a poor little girl that has to live with her stepmother and her half-brother who treat her poorly. To some extent, it's a Chinese folk version of the story 'Cinderella'. In 'Little Cabbage', each verse consists of four phrases, typical of the simple song structure found in this tradition (Sha 1988: 15).
Composer: 0
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"Li Zhousuo - Little Cabbage"
Xiaodiao: 'Lady Mengjiang'
Lyrics: The first month brings new year. Every home is decorated with red lanterns. Other couples are united together. Lady Mengjiang's husband has gone to build the Great Wall (Stock 2017: 399).
The folk song 'Lady Mengjiang' was originally from Jiangsu province, East China. Note how the first note of each phrase follows on from the same pitch of the last note of the previous phrase. This creates a smooth and connected feeling (Yuan 2000: 41-42). Many folk songs are derived from the melody of 'Lady Mengjiang'. Variations of it occur in Huangmei Opera and Chaozhou folk song, for example. In a more dramatic variation, 'Seeing My Lover Off' from Liaoning province , the music is so different that its connection to the melody of 'Lady Mengjiang' might not be immediately apparent.
Composer: 0
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"Lijuan Qian - Lady Mengjiang"
Linguistic tone is crucial to understanding spoken Chinese: the sound 'da' could mean either 'big' or 'to beat' (among other meanings) depending on its pitch and contour.
