Entering Gaocun Village, Song Cun City, Guangdong Province.
In fact, Gaocun is not lost to other towns and villages at all, and even shows its own characteristics. It is said that Gaocun was called "Gecun" in ancient times (renamed Gaocun in the early years of the Republic of China). Because the local people like to sing folk songs, and even the two sides often delay the farming season because of mutual intransigence, Gecun got its name. It can be seen that it is very common for Gaocun people to sing folk songs!
The well-known name "Liu Sanjie" actually has a deep relationship with Gao Cun. It is said that Liu Sanjie's predecessor, Liu Sanmei, was from Gecun (Gaocun). During her stay in Gaocun, she was a famous folk singer. Later, because she fled, she came to Guangxi and settled in Guangxi, where she thrived. After a little stability in life, Sanjie Liu, who likes to sing folk songs, sings simple and beautiful folk songs in her hometown, with outstanding talent, sweet singing and rich feelings, which is really fascinating. Sanjie Liu is famous for her songs, and Gecun is also known to outsiders because of Sanjie Liu. For a time, "Gecun" became famous and famous. Sanjie Liu became a representative figure in the field of folk songs, and people called her a "singing fairy". Gecun, accompanied by Sanjie Liu's singing, is well known to the people of Guangdong and Guangxi, and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of Guangdong, Guangxi and even the whole country!
Gaocun folk songs have a long history and are enduring. Because of its unique environment, Gaocun gave birth to folk songs, which were widely integrated into the daily life of ordinary people. In ancient times, the communication between villagers was very inconvenient because they were confined to a high mountain and a long road. In order to communicate with each other, they had to shout and scream loudly. Over time, this cadence communication mode has developed into a unique folk song. This is similar to the origin of all folk songs. There are many similarities between the familiar folk song of northern Shaanxi, Xintianyou, and the folk song of Gaocun. For hundreds of years, many people have invited folk singers to join the surrounding villagers' weddings and funerals. The so-called duet of folk songs is basically improvisation, which uses a lot of traditional techniques such as fu, bi and xing in the Book of Songs, or starts from something, or expresses one's heart, or improvises. Both sides of a duet often revolve around a topic or theme. Echoing each other, you come and go, and you can observe the singer's wit and artistic and moral cultivation level. Generally speaking, if a singer is quick-thinking and has high artistic and moral accomplishment, his folk songs will be civilized and elegant, and vice versa. This duet is usually a man and a woman. I heard this kind of concert many times when I was a child, and I can still sing some songs.
Not long ago, folk songs used to be a platform for unmarried young men and women to find love. According to the elders, young men and women who were unmarried before, either took part in the song concert or directly participated in the folk duet to find the other half. Unexpectedly, this seemingly insignificant folk song is the most reliable matchmaker between young men and women for thousands of years!
According to Mr. Macpherson, an old colleague, Gaocun folk songs have a history of more than 600 years, and the Ming Dynasty was its heyday. After listening to Mr. Mai's words, I think the Ming Dynasty should also be a period of cultural diversity and prosperity in Gaocun, right? If nothing else, the fact that there are many temples in Gaocun is enough to explain the problem. Most of the temples in Gaocun were built in the Ming Dynasty, or to commemorate historical figures in this period. For example, the Beidi Temple in shi niu cun was built in the late Ming Dynasty. The Ergong Temple and Sanjie Martyrs Hall in Qingshui Village are dedicated to historical figures of the Ming Dynasty. The Ergong Temple is dedicated to Zhang Yuanxun and Chen Lin, heroes of the Sanluojing Uprising, and the Sanjie Martyrs Hall is dedicated to Lady Chen Lin's elegant poems. Gaocun folk songs have promoted the prosperity of one side's characteristic culture! Gecun, don't just sing?
Gaocun culture, represented by Gaocun folk songs, also gave birth to a group of cultural celebrities. For example, Lv Yanqin (alias Fang Shu) of Qingshui Village in Gaocun served as the county magistrate of Yunfu County from 1932 to 1934. After the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to his hometown, enthusiastically developed education, and jointly founded Qixiang Middle School with the neighboring rural sages, which made contributions to the educational development in his hometown. Zeng Ruoruo, a native of Baimei Village, Gaocun Town, is a famous historian. He has written History of Jin Dynasty and Chronicle of Tang Xuanzang, and was the governor of Guangdong Province. ...
Under the protection and guidance of previous local governments, Gaocun folk songs have developed rapidly. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the cultural department of Yunfu County organized personnel to collect and sort out hundreds of folk songs in Gaocun and other places, and published a collection of folk songs with more than 50,000 words. In 1960s, Yunfu County held a folk song contest, excavated rich folk song materials and collected and published Yunfu folk songs. After the reform and opening up, we compiled and edited Yunfu folk songs and collected more than 160 Gaocun folk songs with more than 70,000 words. After the establishment of Yun 'an County, the county party committee and government organized two Gaocun folk song competitions, and the propaganda and cultural departments also collected hundreds of Gaocun folk songs, and compiled and published a collection of nearly 6,543.8+10,000 words of folk songs. ...
Although Gaocun folk songs belong to Xialiba people in art, they also have unique charm and elegance that Yangchun Baixue does not have, which can be described as grand and elegant. In the early 1950s, Wu, a singer from Gaocunshan, improvised folk songs when attending the National Model Workers' Congress, which was well received by Guo Moruo, then Chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Minister of Culture, and improvised poems. In recent years, Huang Zeping and Zeng Guimei, representatives of Gaocun folk songs, once represented Yun 'an in the first Quyi Competition in the province. Gaocun Town also held a folk song competition. Gaocun folk songs keep pace with the times, constantly innovate carriers and forms, and accelerate the pace of development. Gaocun folk songs have become a cultural card of Yun 'an. Gecun is worth having!
During the break of this trip, a Gaocunshan singer improvised a Gaocunshan song for us in the town government compound. After listening to folk songs, several literary and art friends in the same industry are still wanting more, clamoring for another folk singer to sing for a while and feel the beauty of different styles. Under the leadership of Ye Lihua, the deputy mayor of the town, we came to Mr. Huang Lao's house next to the market in Gaocun Town. Just entering Mr. Huang Lao's house, we saw an old dulcimer in the living room, and erhu, suona, guitar, flute and other musical instruments hung on the wall. According to Mr. Huang Lao's self-introduction, he is completely self-taught. While enjoying the colorful music life, he also cut paper and always showed us his exquisite paper cuts. This surprised me quite a bit. How peaceful is an old man, detached from the world, addicted to artistic conception and enjoying himself? And in his seventies, he is full of spirit, which shows the magic of art! It is said that Yunfu TV, Yunfu Daily and other media have also reported his deeds. But Mr. Huang Lao regrets to tell us that few young people are interested in his craft now, and he is worried that the craft handed down from generation to generation will be destroyed in his hands. After listening to what Mr. Huang Lao said, we all cried!
However, we firmly believe that with the continuous acceleration of the great rejuvenation of the nation, with the joint efforts of the people of the whole country, the tradition will definitely return and carry forward.
We expect the folk art represented by Gaocun folk songs to glow with youthful brilliance again!