Zhangjiajie Cultural Heritage: Folk Literature
The folk literature widely circulated in Zhangjiajie consists mainly of improvised songs, including love songs, mountain songs, wedding-lament songs, beam-raising songs, work songs, and children's songs. Love songs are verses in which young Tujia men and women express their feelings and mutual affection. The lyrics are free and colloquial, with natural, simple rhythms, in a format of seven-character quatrains or five-line seven-character verses. For example: 'From afar the pool looks green, who knows what lies within...'
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
The folk literature widely circulated in Zhangjiajie is mainly improvised songs, including love songs, mountain songs, crying-marriage songs, beam-raising songs, labor songs, children's songs, and so on.
Love songs. Songs in which Tujia young men and women pour out their hearts and show mutual affection. The lyrics are free and popular, and the syllables are natural and simple. The format is seven-character lines in four or five lines. For example: From afar the pond looks green, green; who knows how deep the pond may be; drop a stone to test the depth, sing a song to test my sweetheart's heart. First hull the grain, then sift the chaff; four ounces of cotton are slowly spun; eating must wait for the dishes to reach the table; how could one line make a pair? I love you, sister, for your cleverness and charm; I think of you all the time and keep you in my heart; I want to pair with you, but the snail in the dry field finds it hard to open its mouth. Just beginning to embroider a pouch, my heart is anxious and my feelings long; with five-colored silk thread I embroider closely; our love is deep and will never be cast away.
Mountain songs. Songs sung by Tujia people during labor or daily life. There are many kinds and the tunes are complex. They use things to express aspirations and describe scenery to express emotion, with a strong rural flavor. For example: Good fields and good land need no fertilizer; good men and good women need no matchmaker; you and I are like cowpea vines, climbing and encircling by ourselves. Maple leaves have three points; I advise my sweetheart not to gamble; if you gamble until there is no rice in the pot, having lost money you can only take off your clothes. Brother of eighteen, listen to me: I advise you not to crave wine and lust; Li Bai loved wine and died because of wine; King Zhou loved beauty and his kingdom was destroyed. The turtledove in the tree cries that its legs ache; the fish in the river cries that its mouth is dry; two people sleeping complain their feet are cold; how can a single person pass the heavy snowy days?
Crying-marriage songs. A kind of song cried and sung by Tujia girls at marriage in folk tradition. Now, except in remote mountain areas, girls no longer cry at marriage. The melody of crying-marriage songs is simple but beautiful and smooth; the lyrics are sorrowful but mild and pleasant to hear. There are both fixed forms unchanged for a century and improvised content, such as one person crying alone, two people crying in dialogue (with parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends, etc.), and many people crying together (ten sisters crying). "Crying marriage" is also a kind of resistance by Tujia women to feudal arranged and mercenary marriage, such as "Scolding the Matchmaker": "Matchmaker woman, oh matchmaker woman, every day you come sit in my home... I want to pour you a cup of tea, but the tea trees in the back garden have not sprouted; I want to offer you a cigarette, but the tobacco leaves in the back garden have not been topped; I want to cook you some rice, but the seedlings in the field are only a foot and a half; I want to pour you a cup of wine, but the cold water in the river has stopped flowing... Peas bloom with horns facing horns; may the matchmaker's head explode after eating; broad beans bloom green, green; may the matchmaker go blind after eating; rapeseed blooms with a tree full of seeds; may the matchmaker's intestines rot after eating; egg whites, oh duck egg whites, may the matchmaker die young after eating; egg yolks, oh duck egg yolks, may the matchmaker's belly and intestines rot... You go to this house for a meal and say he has many dan of grain; you go to that house and take a bowl and say he has several thousand in rent; you go to that house and drink a cup of wine and say his house has everything; you go to that house and drink a mouthful of soup and say he has a fine farm... The matchmaker picks only good words to say, not fearing that her tongue will rot in two days!"
Beam-raising songs. Songs sung by Tujia people when they choose an auspicious day to hold the beam-raising ceremony for building a new house. The content is mostly blessings and auspicious words such as "smooth sailing, two dragons soaring, three top examinations, wealth in all four seasons, five sons succeeding in examinations, six livestock thriving, seven stars shining high, wealth from all eight directions, ninety-nine longevity, perfection in ten ways, and a hundred taboos." The tune is single, the content can vary, and modern beam-raising songs have also been given much new content of the times.
Labor songs. Labor songs have different names according to different labor content, such as hoeing-grass gongs and drums and digging-earth gongs and drums. The specific form is that while working collectively in production, two song masters beat gongs and drums and sing in alternation. The content is broad: some sing historical stories and character legends, some sing common knowledge of life and ways of dealing with people, and some improvise praise and criticism. For example, praising an elder: "Today he takes the lead, like Huang Zhong breaking Cao's camp; the old general urges his horse forward, and the young brothers follow with all their strength"; for example, criticizing a young man: "Digging brother, put in strength; even if you lag behind, you must move forward; standing still all day long, the hoe handle has sprouted and taken root."
Children's songs. Children's songs are a kind of rhythmic chant in quick-patter style. Those still circulating include "Sit in Rows," "Ban Ban Suo," and "Blacksmith Song." For example: "Zhang strikes iron, Li strikes iron, forge a pair of scissors for sister; sister asks me to stay, I won't stay; I want to go back to forge wrought iron; wrought iron is forged until the first month, and on the fifteenth of the first month we make flower lanterns..."
In addition, there are also "ceremonial songs," "gate-blocking songs," and "hand-waving songs." "Hand-waving songs," "humorous songs," "funeral songs," and others have different tunes and rhymes according to region. In the Suoxiyu area, songs such as Suoshui work chants are also circulated.
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