Shanghai Song ④ | Is there actually over 3100 lines of narrative folk songs in Shanghai? This Fengxian uncle is spontaneously inheriting

The current Fengxian New City is not much different from the downtown area. The newly built Xuliqiao Cultural Activity Center in Nanqiao East, a large residential community in Fengxian District, has complete facilities, and elderly people come here to exercise and participate in cultural and entertainment activities. Every Friday from 12:00 to 1:30 noon, 68 year old Chu Guiming teaches everyone to sing the "Baiyang Village Mountain Song" here. This Wu language long narrative folk song, which has been passed down in Fengxian, is an intangible cultural heritage project in Shanghai. It consists of 18 chapters and over 3100 lines, making it one of the longest narrative poems in the Jiangnan region. He said without exaggeration, "If you really want to sing, you can't finish it for days and nights."

Chu Guiming is singing mountain songs, photographed by Lai Xinlin

The sentence structure of "Baiyang Village Folk Song" is varied, lively and free, with a strong Jiangnan atmosphere. It became a municipal intangible cultural heritage in 2006. According to statistics from the Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, as of 2023, there are 8 folk songs circulating in Shanghai that have been listed as municipal intangible cultural heritage projects, 12 inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, and many folk song enthusiasts are learning and inheriting these intangible cultural heritage folk songs. Chu Guiming is exactly a folk song enthusiast.

Recently, Chu Guiming is working with the staff of the Fengxian District Cultural Center to organize the singing sections of Tian Shan Ge, hoping to arrange them more melodious and aesthetically pleasing, so that young people can understand and accept them, and sing the mountain song.

Humming while working hard

Coming out of the cultural activity center, walking along the Puxing Road, you will find a piece of farmland. At the intersection, there is a stone tablet of "Xingqian Village", and the rice in the field is green and thriving. Chu Guiming walked into the path between the fields, and the mud he was stepping on was familiar and familiar. He had planted crops when he was a child, and at a glance, he knew the growth of the crops.

This land is called Jinhui Town, which used to belong to Qixian. Chu Guiming was a native of Fengxian. He had changed many jobs, but he never left Qixian. Taking out his lyric book, Chu Guiming sang the "Baiyang Village Mountain Song", his clear voice like a lark soaring into the sky. "Hey hey! Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou Yiyou..."

Chu Guiming sings mountain songs in the field, photographed by Lai Xinlin

Chu Guiming was born with a good voice and a clear voice, which is a natural talent inherited from his father. He was born in 1955, when his father was already in his forties, and the two of them had not been together for long. My father is a fisherman. When Chu Guiming was a child, he often saw his father going out to fish at three or four in the morning and returning home very late. Chu Guiming has heard his father sing mountain songs, which are beautiful and moving. Nowadays, when he sings the "Baiyang Village Folk Song", he often thinks of his father and feels regretful, "If only we could learn some folk songs from him at that time..."

The history of "Baiyang Village Folk Song" is over a hundred years, telling the tragic story of the love story between the boatman Xue Jingchun and the female protagonist Fang Dajie, who met and fell in love, and eventually were separated. In the 1960s, a folk literature working group was formed by the Shanghai Writers Association, Shanghai Qunyi Museum, and others to collect folk songs in Fengxian. They collected "Baiyang Village Folk Songs" and compiled lyrics based on the performances of folk song masters Zhu Bingliang, Yan Bingtang, Tang Baoliang, and others. After hearing about this, Chu Guiming specifically asked the old webmaster of the cultural station to help him obtain a lyric book and asked the old artists in Fengxian for advice on traditional folk song singing techniques. He loves the song "The Handkerchief" the most. In the lyrics, there is a charming and affectionate scene of a water town in Jiangnan: "Lang Yanong's boat is slowly sailing in the middle of the river, throwing a handkerchief and tying it around Lang's body. In the midst of countless words and threads, each handkerchief is full of love, and it's hard to throw it away. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, the girl's face is so anxious that it's like a peach red sweat..."

Thinking of the water town in Jiangnan, Chu Guiming had a different kind of sentiment. He remembered that when he was young, he encountered a continuous rainstorm. The water accumulated and the river flowed backward. The house was often flooded with water. Some people's wooden boats directly supported the lobby, and black fish could swim to the hearth. In order to resist drought and flood disasters, in the 1970s, the county and township governments in Fengxian vigorously promoted water conservancy, dredged rivers, and most young laborers had to go to open rivers. Chu Guiming, who dropped out of school on the first day of junior high due to school closures, was only 17 years old at the time. He carried a pole and rushed to open a river every day to catch the dawn. A river needs to be dug four to five meters deep. Pick a load of mud from the bottom of the river and climb it up like a staircase, piling up the mud to make a pond. From top to bottom, the maximum difference can reach 8 meters.

"At that time, the days were only bitter and tiring. I went out at 6:30 in the morning and picked until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and it felt like I was a bit short." Chu Guiming unforgettable. Every year, he chose to open the river in winter, digging from the end of November until January of the following year. When the temperature drops to below zero, the first layer of soil always freezes together, and the "iron thorns" used for plowing often cannot be penetrated, sometimes even breaking off.

"Catching up with that era, there's nothing he can do." At that time, he wore a "one and a half" handmade knitted sweater for the winter, a whole one with half sleeveless inside. Young people who work never wear cotton jackets, carry burdens, and sweat quickly evaporates. Nowadays, Chu Guiming rarely wears cotton jackets in winter.

From the age of 17 to the age of 25, he saw several horizontal and vertical rivers dug out in Fengxian, and the flood disaster was solved from then on. "The hard work of that period has brought us decades of happiness." During his hard work, there were loudspeakers playing music on the construction site, and Chu Guiming hummed along with the melody of the high pitched speakers to relieve fatigue.

The lyrics of Chu Guiming, photographed by Lai Xinlin

Singing Shanghai Opera with "Half Work, Half Art"

Summoned by his singing, Chu Guiming longed for the day when he could put down his shoulder pole and walk into the artistic palace of his dreams. In 1979, Qixian Township organized an examination at the Art Factory, and Chu Guiming and the production team took leave to participate. He didn't wear the trendy Dacron shirt, and faced the examiner from Fengxian Cultural Museum, singing a segment of "Red Melody Zan" on site, thinking, "I'm just going to try my luck.". There were many people who came to the township government to take the exam that day, but most of them didn't seem to have the talent for literature and art at first glance. Chu Guiming had a good voice and outstanding image, standing out and becoming one of the only five male members of the literature and art factory.

Chu Guiming is studying mountain songs, photographed by Lai Xinlin

At the art factory, they learn to sing while working. "The labor in the factory was easier than in the production team. At that time, there was no money for performances, and any factory in the town would arrange for us to process and support ourselves with half work and half art." Chu Guiming remembers that he once helped the daily chemical factory in Qixian Township package prickly heat powder, first into small pieces, and then ten pieces into a medium packaging. These prickly heat powders, including several brands such as Seagull, were sold throughout the country.

In 1979, the Shanghai Opera House rehearsed a new drama called "Thunderstorm", which was very popular. The art factory asked the Shanghai Theater for a script, and Chu Guiming and others gathered around a tape recorder borrowed from the town broadcasting station, listening to the tape and learning together, but the efficiency was very low. Fortunately, I heard that they were going to learn opera, and a group of Shanghai opera masters such as Shen Renwei and Xu Botao from the Shanghai Opera Theatre specially came to provide face-to-face guidance. "Professionalism is different, and after their professional guidance, I realized my performance problems, and the singing style was also understood after face-to-face teaching." Under the guidance of the masters, Chu Guiming became a skilled singer of Shanghai opera in the countryside. In the second issue of "Fengxian Literature and Art" in 1980, there was an article praising Chu Guiming's sweet singing style in Shanghai opera, which has left a deep impression on him to this day.

It was also at the art factory that Chu Guiming first came into contact with "Baiyang Village Folk Song". "At that time, it was heard that a senior surnamed Zhu sang very well and could sing the complete" Baiyang Village Folk Song ". In the 1980s, there was no mention of" intangible cultural heritage ", and no one was worried about the loss of folk songs. Although Chu Guiming had heard of Zhu Bingliang's name, he was devoted to his favorite Shanghai opera and did not have the determination to learn.".

Now, he regrets not being able to consult with Zhu Bingliang in person about the singing techniques of mountain songs. By the time he receives the lyrics book, this local sage has already passed away.

"Singing is a pleasure"

"Singing is a pleasure. Singing a few lines every day can help you feel relaxed and prevent dementia in old age," Chu Guiming said with a smile. When it comes to mountain songs, he can sing a section with his mouth open, but when he sings too much, he can't do without a lyric book. He sighed that old artists used to sing mountain songs without text, relying on word of mouth to think of a chapter about what characters wore, what they ate, how tables and chairs were arranged, just like a rhyme.

Chu Guiming searched through his phone for a while and found a video. In 1981, "Shanghai Folk Songs" filmed by Shanghai Radio and Television recorded the scene of Zhu Bingliang, who was 71 years old at the time, singing "Spring Farming" in the field. Zhu Bingliang's voice was high pitched and dry, like rice stalks that had been sun dried, with a natural and rustic atmosphere; Chu Guiming's singing style is elegant and rounded, closer to the singing style of Shanghai opera, with a clear sense of embellishment.

Chu Guiming said that the plot of "Baiyang Village Folk Song" is similar to that of the Shanghai opera "Selling Red Lings", and the name of the protagonist is also similar. He admitted that Shanghai opera has been sung for so many years, and mountain songs are inevitably influenced by it, but he pays attention to distinguishing the pronunciation. "Shanghai opera is sung in Pudong dialect, while mountain songs are sung in Fengxian dialect. Shanghai opera has tooth sounds, but mountain songs do not have tooth sounds, such as the character 'think' in thought. There is a clear difference between the two singing methods."

Chu Guiming's phone still contains a folk song sung by an old artist from Qianqiao Town, Fengxian in the 1980s. The recording quality is not high, but he listens repeatedly, which is a rare learning material for his folk songs.

Chu Guiming is singing mountain songs, photographed by Lai Xinlin

After the dissolution of the Literary and Art Factory, Chu Guiming worked multiple jobs. At first, he worked as a salesperson and purchaser in a township enterprise. About 20 years ago, he transferred to a private enterprise that specializes in kitchen equipment. He first worked as a stove and frying stove in the unit's cafeteria in the workshop. Later, when there was a shortage of maintenance personnel, he switched to kitchen equipment maintenance.

Recently, Chu Guiming is still working on kitchen equipment processing and renovating the flameout protection device of the stove. On the one hand, he can't have any free time. Several old clients he used to serve would proactively call him when needed. On the other hand, he also has financial considerations. Just like how he used to rely on packaging prickly heat powder to support his performances at the art factory, he had to rely on the money for repairing kitchen equipment to support his mountain song studio.

In 2021, in order to inherit and promote the "Baiyang Village Folk Song", Chu Guiming established the Shanghai Fengxiang Art Communication Studio, with 8 members including him forming a performance team. In addition to singing folk songs, he also rehearsed skits, Shanghai dramas and other programs. "Just singing mountain songs doesn't have a strong visual appeal, so we will arrange some popular programs and incorporate them into the entire performance to make them more beautiful and diverse, so that the audience will be interested."

Since 2021, he has excavated and organized three chapters in "Baiyang Village Folk Song": "Deep Love", "Picking Handkerchief", and "Picking Fresh Peaches". "Traditional folk songs are sung by male voices from beginning to end, and it takes a long time to finish a chapter. However, according to experts in the area, if it is too long, the audience will experience aesthetic fatigue." Chu Guiming removed the branches and kept the main part of the folk song, and adapted it into a 5-minute performance of male and female choirs, which is more emotional. He also asked Xu Siyan from the Fengxian District Cultural Museum to help organize music scores suitable for modern performances.

These days, when the reporter contacted Chu Guiming for an interview, he was busy preparing for the National Day performance. He also participated in the Fengxian District Scenic Art Troupe and performed in various village committees, but there, he only sang Shanghai opera, and only had mountain song programs when his team performed. His studio members are all over 50 years old, with occupations including caregivers and community cleaners, and their income is not high. Chu Guiming hopes that one day the studio can enter the public cultural delivery list and subsidize performance funds.

The lyrics of Chu Guiming, photographed by Lai Xinlin

From the first time I heard the "Baiyang Village Folk Song" to spontaneously inheriting it, it took over thirty years. Why can such a hobby be picked up again after many years? Chu Guiming thought for a moment and said, "I have curiosity and want to study everything I see. Moreover, I have always enjoyed singing, and it's a pity that such a good mountain song has been lost."

Although mountain songs are good, even in Fengxian, many people are unaware of the existence of the Baiyang Village Mountain Song. Does this mean that the singing style should be "improved"? Chu Guiming did have concerns: if mountain songs are difficult for young people to appreciate, how can they be passed down?

He heard from the older generation that people who used to sing mountain songs were physically weaker. When others were working in the fields, they would sing on the roadside. People would listen and work harder, and when they rested, they would invite them to eat together. When he was a child, the production team had loudspeakers, replacing field singers. Today's young people have mobile phones. "There's everything on my phone..." he sighed, as the students at the Xuliqiao Cultural Activity Center were all over 50 years old when teaching mountain songs.

Chu Guiming sings mountain songs in the field, photographed by Lai Xinlin

Baiyang Village was once a village in Fengxian, but now this place name can no longer be found on the map. Where exactly is Baiyang Village? Not only Chu Guiming couldn't say it, but also the elderly in the town and the folk song experts in the district couldn't say it. Like the fine rain in Jiangnan sinking into the land, Baiyang Village disappears into this green rice field, but its story continues to spread with the singing.