CONTEMPORARY CONTEXTS OF NANYIN ACTIVITIES
5.1 NANYIN PERFORMANCE CONTEXTS AND STRUCTURE
Nanyin performance contexts are to some degree similar to other sizhu music traditions such as Jiangnan sizhu and Chaozhou xianshi ensemble music. Nanyin is played both indoors and outdoors, and for both secular and ritual functions; indoor performances take place in a nanyin society’s premises, private residences, communal cultural centres, government units or schools; outdoor sites include temple sites and public parks.
5.1.1 Indoor performance
As seen in southern Fujian and in the nanyin diaspora nowadays, the indoor performance structure of traditional nanyin basically revolves around three parts (as discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2.4). The tri-partite structure remains as follows:
1) Hezhi 和指 refers to the opening ensemble section for which an instrumental piece from the zhi suites is chosen. It is treated as a warm-up piece played by the four shangsiguan instruments or, for a more formal recital, by both shangsiguan and xiasiguan
ensembles (Chapter 2.2). Dongxiao is usually the main melodic instrument, and thus the performance is called xiaozhi 箫指 [playing a zhi suite led by [dong]xiao]. When a pinxiao 品箫 [transverse flute] is used as the main melodic instrument, it is called pinzhi 品指. At regular gatherings, veteran musicians would often ask each other, “What are we going to he [literally ‘harmonize’ but here implying ‘collaborate’] today?” before they decide which mode and tune family of the first piece they are going to play.
2) Changqu 唱 曲 [literally ‘sing songs’], refers to singing accompanied by shangsiguan instruments. This is the main body of the performance, and the number of songs selected from the qu repertoire determines the duration of the recital.
3) Zoupu 奏谱 [literally ‘to perform the score’], also known as shapu 煞谱 (suapu in Minnanese) [literally ‘ending score’]. One or more sections of an instrumental piece from the pu repertory are performed by the shangsiguan ensemble to conclude a recital.
5.1.2 Outdoor performance
Nanyin outdoor performances for both secular and ritual purposes are mainly in two performance styles: caijie 踩街 [street parades] and staged recitals.
On special occasions such as temple fairs, society anniversaries, festive celebrations and large-scale government events such as cultural festivals, street parades may feature a configuration of processional nanyin ensembles (Fig. 2.8). A participating nanyin ensemble is called a parasol team (liangsan zhen 凉傘阵) and consists of varying numbers of musicians. This involves the participation of both shangsiguan and xiasiguan ensembles led by a nanyin suona. The three-part structure is not practised in this context:
only sections in faster tempi from the zhi suites are played. Loud volume is the main priority in such a performance as members of each ensemble try to stand out amongst the teams.
The setting up of a recital on a temporary stage is commonly seen at temple fair sites.
Such a performance is usually paid for by benefactors of a temple. Other staged recitals include private commercial troupes performing on designated stages in the parks in Quanzhou for public entertainment. During festive periods, e.g. the Spring festival (chunjie 春 节 ), stage recitals are organised by local authorities for communal
entertainment (Chapter 7.2.2). Staged recitals follow the traditional three-part performance structure.
5.1.3 Ritual performance
In Minnan, there exists a proverb: youshaoxiang jiuyou baoyou 有烧香就有保佑 [wherever there is incense burning, there is blessing] (Chen Yanting 2008:21). Ritual practices are entrenched in everyday life, and ritual traditions form the main context for folkloric festivities. These traditions have evolved over time according to social and economic conditions. In addition to the outdoor temple fair processions, other ritual performances by nanyin ensembles include events linked to traditional religions and nanyin deity worship (Chapter 3.2.1).
Nanyin in religious practice
Nanyin plays a major role in religious practices, especially those related to Buddhism and Daoism. Important Buddhist calendrical events such as the birth, death and immortalisation anniversaries of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas usually include nanyin performance. Nanyin is not played during the process of ceremonial rites; music playing is mainly in honour of the Buddhist, Daoist and local deities. The repertories do not have much ritual music; in the zhi repertory are two nanyin pieces of Buddhist nature, Pu’an zhou 普庵咒 and Nanhai guanyin zan 南海观音赞, and one Daoist ritual piece, Dizi tanqian 弟子坛前. Pu’an zhou is a mantra chant in which the repetitive syllables in the text do not have any lexical meaning. Nanhai guanyin zan is conventionally performed with text for chanting praise of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, in the sequence pu-zhi-pu, which is different from the traditional recital structure of zhi-qu-pu. They are performed three times a year on the 19th of the second, sixth and ninth lunar months which mark the birth date, death and immortalization anniversaries of the Bodhisattva. Temple organisations invite nanyin societies to perform during the celebrations, and the musicians bring their own offerings of incense sticks, flowers and food to the temple.
The birth dates of two Daoist deities, Lü Dongbin 呂洞宾 and Li Tiequai 李铁拐, are said to be on the same date, the 9th of the ninth lunar month. These two deities are favourites in Minnan due to their charitable and helpful image. The celebration mood is greatly enhanced as this is also the day of the Chong Yang festival 重阳节 when the
Chinese commemorate their ancestors. For the occasion of these deities’ birthday (xiangong shengri 仙公生日), nanyin musicians offer songs with mythical themes in a different conventional performance structure; the music Dizi Tanqian 弟子坛前 is offered in the sequence of zhi-zhi-pu [zhi instrumental suite - zhi vocal pieces - pu instrumental suite]. The offering starts with the instrumental zhi suite Kuiyi lishan 亏伊历山, followed by a set of three vocal zhi suites: Dizi tanqian (entitled after the suite), Qing yuegu 请月 姑 (a female divinity Zhigu; Chapter 6.4.2) and Zhiru huayuan 直入花园. In Dizi Tanqian, the first section is a deity-inviting spell (qingshen zhou 请神咒) and the number of repetitions depends on the number of deities to be invited to the ceremony. The concluding instrumental piece, Kouhuangtian 叩皇天 (or Ku huangtian 哭皇天), is a typical ritual piece (Zhou Xiaofang 2006:56-57).
Life cycle rituals
Life cycle celebrations are much simplified in more recent times. The birth of a male child and elder people’s birthdays are celebrated, with nanyin performances, in restaurants only by affluent families of nanyin aficionados in Minnan. The celebration of the 16th birthday of a boy is still being practised in Jinjiang. During my fieldwork in 2009-10, I witnessed several big celebrations in Western-style hotels held by parents, but these were followed by karaoke entertainment instead of nanyin. (As far as I am aware, there are no nanyin singing facilities within the karaoke.)