Why is Chongming Island known as the "hometown of copper pipes" by the islanders | Life | Memory
Copper pipe music has been introduced to Chongming for over a hundred years, and brass bands have become a traditional form of art closely linked to the daily customs of the islanders. During important events such as festivals, temple fairs, weddings, or sacrifices, one can always see the active figures of the band.
At the 6th National Art Exhibition in 1985, an oil painting titled "On the Field of Hope - A Record of the Farmer's Wind Band" won a gold medal in one fell swoop. This oil painting depicts copper pipe bands that have emerged in rural areas since the reform and opening up. The simple looking farmer picked up a shining Western instrument and focused on playing his own music.
In fact, copper pipe music is not a new foreign thing for the people of Chongming. The title of "hometown of copper pipes" on Chongming Island has long been well-known. How could these Western musical instruments be so popular on this island with relatively limited information?
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Chongming Island, located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, is the third largest island in China. Due to its unique geographical location, the residents on the island live a simple and simple life, and a large number of literati and scholars have emerged. Shen Zhaozhou once praised in his compilation of "Yingzhou Ancient Diao": "Chongming is a small island, where there are people who can write, paint, and music, and there is no shortage of generations."
Among them, folk instrumental music mainly spreads five types of music: pipa, Yingzhou ancient tune school, wind and percussion music, silk and bamboo gongs and drums, silk and bamboo music, and religious music. Especially Chongming's wind and percussion music is an essential musical performance in many important ceremonial occasions.
Copper pipe music has taken root in this fertile land with a profound folk music tradition.
In Chongming, the local people generally refer to the brass instruments in the brass band as "foreign horns", also known as "honking horns". The "press" refers to the horn that presses words.
Copper pipe music has a close relationship with the arrival of foreigners. In the early 1920s, a British Chinese came to Chongming. He had a passion for music and purchased a batch of Western brass instruments. He taught children how to play brass instruments in an orphanage outside Chaoyang Gate in the county town. These orphans later became the first generation of brass musicians in Chongming, with outstanding performers such as Huang Chengxian from Daxin Township, who performed exceptionally well and was taught in places such as Zhuhe and Xinmin. In the 1930s, priests from the Hong Kong Coastal Town Office entrusted people to purchase a batch of brass instruments and invited Yuan Zhuxiu from the urban area of Shanghai to perform among the faithful. This group of students successively established three bands in the Hong Kong Coastal area.
In the 1940s, with the increasing influence of brass bands, many schools and chambers of commerce followed suit and formed bands. In 1940, the board of directors of Zhuhe Minqiang Primary School hired Huang Chengxian to pass on the arts. On campus students studied for free, while off campus students reduced their fees by half at their discretion. In 1946, the Shangsha Mengjiang Temple Chamber of Commerce raised funds to establish the "North Wei Wind Band". One year later, this band entered the ranks of the local first-class bands. At this point, the Chongming brass band has formed a considerable scale and become an indispensable part of the island's annual folk activities.
The Copper Band in Chongming County Annals
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During the Anti Japanese War, underground party members such as Gu Tingchen from Xinmin Township raised funds to create the first band in Chongming led by the Communist Party, with clear goals and strict discipline.
This band went deep into various villages, playing anti Japanese songs to inspire the people's fighting spirit. Many young farmers were inspired by this and bravely rushed to the anti Japanese base areas in northern Jiangsu. After 1949, the two trumpets played at that time became precious revolutionary historical relics.
In his article "Chongming Bao'an Town", Mr. Shi Xun recorded the development of Chongming brass bands during this period: "Copper bands became popular in Chongming after the victory of the Anti Japanese War, and were only limited to trumpets, trombones, trumpets, round horns, big drums, and small military drums. A band of 8 to 12 people formed a band. Wedding, birthdays, and other festive days were all dominated by inviting a band, and wealthy families had two classes and one invitation. The band played in turn, but who knew they were secretly competing, making the musicians blush and panting. It can be imagined." It was indeed commendable that the common people in Chongming area were able to spontaneously organize music, sports, and cultural teams when they were still very poor
After 1949, most copper pipe bands in rural areas of Chongming were organized by townships, villages, communities, and teams. At that time, the well-known band was a large band of over 30 people established when the vertical river and Daxin Township merged into a commune, under the guidance of Huang Chengxian, and the Shanghai Wind Orchestra was invited to provide guidance and score. In the autumn of 1961, 15 bands from Chongming gathered in Gangyan Town for discussions and exchanges, and people from ten miles around rushed to watch, which can be said to be a sensation.
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In my childhood memories, there were many scenes of rural wind bands bidding farewell, comforting, and praising each other——
The annual recruitment of new recruits requires a grand farewell ceremony to be held in the village. The brass band set off from the village committee auditorium, playing and playing all the way to the new recruit's home. The musicians had rough and cracked big hands, tightly gripping the golden and bright instruments, playing with a delicious taste. At that time, I always followed behind bouncing and jumping. One reason was that I had candy to eat, and another important reason was that my father was a trumpeter in the Yonghe Village Wind Band. Looking at his imposing appearance, my face was also particularly radiant.
It is not easy for farmers carrying hoes to play Western musical instruments. Many team members initially couldn't even name their instruments, and their knowledge of music theory was even limited. My father recalled his early days in school: "At first, I couldn't make a sound with a tuba, let alone luck or finger techniques. Even if someone played the trumpet, it would make a muffled sound like a cow's roar. Because I didn't understand the technique, after a few days, my mouth would blow out."
Usually, they go to the fields to do agricultural work, each busy making a living; During training, they patted the soil on their bodies and arrived at the practice area on time. Starting from the simplest notation, I couldn't remember "Duo Lai Mi" clearly, so I had to use Chinese characters to mark them one by one under the notation. Although the progress is slow, hard work pays off for those who have the heart. They gradually learn to recognize scores and scales, and can gradually play short pieces independently.
In a band, there is usually an elder level musician known as the "master", who has a foundation, good skills, and high prestige. He is the soul figure of the band, and young people often exchange skills with him. He is also happy to guide and maintain a certain teacher-student relationship through oral instruction, which is the most heartwarming part of the band.
The music scores played by musicians are in the form of handwritten copies, and most of the pieces are copied from song collections. They are recorded in small notebooks and can be flipped out at any time for viewing. In addition to the reserved repertoire such as "Unity is Strength", "Heaven in the Liberated Areas", and "Good Socialism", many of the songs performed by the wind band are adapted by themselves.
At that time, we often followed the melody played by the band and knew that the family was having a wedding. Some families want to create a glamorous and stylish atmosphere, and find it difficult for a band to make a name for themselves, so they invite bands from neighboring villages. Sometimes when a band is too busy to take on work, they will introduce it to other bands and even send a few people to help them perform on stage. The bands have a competitive relationship and maintain a certain level of tacit understanding, which is the industry rules they each follow. They earn a certain amount of compensation based on their own skills, and over the course of the year, they also contribute to their household expenses.
Daily rehearsals for elderly people in Chongming
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In the autumn of 1977, at an agricultural conference in Jiangkou Commune, the brass band played again after more than ten years of mourning. The musicians who have been idle and silent for many years are once again shining with passion.
Mr. Wang Lin, former associate researcher at the Chongming County Cultural Museum, who has long studied the history of folk music, once interviewed an old musician from the Hong Kong coastal area. This over sixty year old musician dug out an old cloth bag from the pile of old straw in his own firewood house, and with trembling hands, opened the bag. Inside was a small, bronze trumpet with multiple creases. It is this nickname that has made him a well-known "chief". It was this nickname that made a young girl from a rural family secretly agree with him and achieved a good relationship. But for a long time, he could only occasionally sneak out to touch and wipe in the quiet of the night. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he decided to use this trumpet to play a song called "Joyful Song" for his long silent rural life.
At this moment, bands from various rural towns also sprouted up like mushrooms after rain:
The number of peasant brass bands has increased to 136, with each band having over 8 to 10 performers. There are young musicians around the age of 18, as well as old artists in their 60s. The repertoire played includes marches, folk songs, folk songs, pop songs, etc. The cultural department of Chongming County organized 225 musicians to play "Socialism is Good" together in 1985, which can be called the largest copper pipe music festival in rural China since 1949.
The rise of local brass bands has attracted widespread attention. At that time, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture, the Municipal Art Museum, and the Municipal Copper Tube Research Association all went to Chongming to participate in performance exchanges, and the title of "hometown of copper tube music" spread like wildfire.
Copper pipe music has been introduced to Chongming for over a hundred years. Copper pipe bands have become a traditional cultural form closely related to the daily customs of the islanders. During important events such as festivals, temple fairs, weddings, or sacrifices, the active figures of the bands can always be seen. The musicians express the joys, sorrows, and sorrows of the masses through the magnificent, passionate, and deep sounds of brass music.
With the changes of the times, the simplification of traditional etiquette, and the transformation of cultural and entertainment methods, the Chongming brass band, after experiencing a period of prosperity, began to move towards silence. From the grayish temples of the old musician, it can be seen that the rural musicians of that generation are gradually withering away. The "rural bands" that leave a strong aroma of soil in the countryside but have a unique charm can only be left in our memories.
