Speaking of the gongs and drums program he arranged, Zhang Yong would make drumming gestures to match the rhythm of "dong dong dong clang" produced by his mouth. Zhang Yong is the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the majestic gongs and drums in southern Shanxi. This July, he participated in the "Linfen Gongs and Drums Live PK Competition" held in Linfen City, Shanxi Province. The sound of gongs and drums sounded in the cloud, with slow and urgent rhythms, attracting tens of millions of people to watch online.
It has always been a custom for gong and drum troupes from all over Linfen to compete in the street during festivals. Zhang Yong introduced that every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the gong and drum teams in each village set out with drums and gongs to play music and participate in village-based gong and drum competitions. However, Zhang Yong said that this is the first time that a "pk match" is held in a live broadcast room.
The majestic gongs and drums spread in southern Shanxi are a percussion art form played by four instruments: gongs, drums, cymbals and cymbals. It has a history of 4,000 years. In 2006, the majestic gongs and drums were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. In Linfen, almost every village has gongs and drums, and everyone loves them.
Zhang Yong participated in the Linfen Weifeng Gong and Drum PK Competition. Photo provided by the interviewee
Hometown where everyone can play drums
"Linfen people can not be jealous, but they can't play drums."
Zhang Yong is from Boduan Village, Linfen City, Shanxi Province. He began to systematically learn the prestige of southern Shanxi at the age of 15. Gongs and drums have always been dotted with the fiery sound of drums in his growing up experience. "I have been exposed to gongs and drums since I was a child. I used to often communicate with gongs and drums in squares and streets." Zhang Yong said that in the village, even the elderly and children Everyone plays gongs and drums, and every household has gongs and drums.
When the drumstick is raised and dropped, the sound of the drum can be heard far and wide. In Zhang Yong’s hometown, everyone can play the drum. Different districts and counties have long circulated various gongs and drums tunes. On this basis, each region has formed its own unique gongs and drums team. The villages are very confident in their own music and feel that their village's gong and drum performance is the most exciting. "
During festivals, the village is most lively. The first time Zhang Yong touched a drumstick was at a village festival. He recalled that he heard the sound of gongs and drums at that time, which made his heart vibrate in his chest. "Even the hairs on his body were vibrating. The sound could really be described as earth-shattering." Zhang Yong was also at that time. Determined to learn the gongs and drums well.
In the village open space or stage square, the village gong and drum troupe will gather together to perform gongs and drums to inspire people. Zhang Yong recalled that every time there was a festival, the village was very lively, and almost all the villagers would gather in the square to support the performing team. Zhang Yong said: "Some villagers were so immersed in watching it that they would also join the performance with their own gongs and drums. This kind of atmosphere is hard to find now."
In 1990, Beijing held the Asian Games, called "Gathering in Beijing" The large-scale group gymnastics kicked off with earth-shattering celebratory gongs and drums. These gongs and drums are majestic gongs and drums. It was performed by 88 simple farmers who came from the Loess Plateau of Linfen, Shanxi Province. The sound of ancient drums resounded on the world-famous stage at an international comprehensive sports meeting of this level.
"The performance of gongs and drums at the opening ceremony has become the pride of each of us Linfen people, and it also made me deeply fascinated by the majestic gongs and drums." In 1994, Zhang Yong became a member of the Linfen Drum Band established in Linfen City as the chief drummer. identity activities and spread the gong and drum skills more professionally. Zhang Yong said that until now, this drum band is still the backbone of Linfen gongs and drums.
The man who retrieves the sound of drums
Gongs and drums are played by men, women, old and young. Among the gongs and drums team formed by Zhang Yong, the oldest performer is 77 years old and the youngest is 9 years old. Zhang Yong said: "It is not difficult to get started with gong and drum performance. As long as you master the four basic drum beats, you can play well. However, only by understanding the gong and drum more deeply can you feel the breadth and depth of gong and drum techniques. Who could have imagined that such a The many changes in drum sounds are based on the transformation of four drum beats. The variety of drum sounds is too rich. "
The main reason for the gradual loss of gongs and drums is the oral tradition. Zhang Yong said that in the villages in the past, even if the gong and drum music scores were preserved, they still used the old method. Like a heavenly book.”
The process of urbanization has intensified the loss of gongs and drums. More and more young people are yearning for the city, and there are fewer and fewer young people in the village. Only the old people remain in the villages, and the sound of gongs and drums is getting louder and louder. Xiao Zhang Yong said: "There are even some children who grew up in the Internet world and have not seen the traditional culture of their hometown, and some have never even seen gongs and drums. "
In 2008, Zhang Yong decided to do a "big thing".
"The music of gongs and drums is being lost every day. "Zhang Yong said that traditional tunes are the soul of gongs and drums. Each village's tunes are different, and they are the essence of gongs and drums culture. Therefore, Zhang Yong launched a plan to save and record the gongs and drums tunes over the past 16 years. Protection has never stopped. He visited the villages around Linfen and asked old artists in the villages to record gong and drum music scores. So far, he has visited more than 300 villages and collected more than 1,500 music scores, most of which are folk arts that have been passed down for thousands of years. Some are named after historical allusions, and some are named after labor scenes, reflecting people's thoughts and living conditions in different periods. When
was recording, Zhang Yong would chat with the old artists for a long time, telling them about the village's past to the present, and guiding them. After the artist finished telling the story of the gongs and drums, he recorded the sound of the old artist hitting the music score, recorded the technique, and finally compiled these records into a score that can be interoperable with modern music. Zhang Yong said: "A music score is like a village. 's files. "
Zhang Yong visited villages and listened to old artists teaching music scores. Picture provided by the interviewee
In the process of Zhang Yong collecting the music scores, it was not easy to convince the old artists in the village to teach the music scores. "The gong and drum music scores in the village are generally not spread out. There are respected old artists in the village, and it is very difficult to persuade them to pass on their skills. Sometimes they finally let go, but the old man passes away, and the music score of the village is also lost. This is very sad. ”
For more than ten years, Zhang Yong has been very famous in various villages, and the gong and drum artists in the village have also been led by him to regain their confidence in the skills of gongs and drums. Gradually, with the collected music scores and his obsession with gongs and drums, Zhang Yong Yong has a Weifeng Gong and Drum Team of more than 30 people, who perform and teach gongs and drums.
Zhang Yong said: "Fortunately, more and more Linfen people are paying attention to Weifeng Gong and Drum, and they have a new understanding of the gong and drum culture. Understanding this gave Weifeng Luogu the possibility to regain its strength. "
gongs and drums soundschance to be heard
The winter in the north is cold and dry. However, people's enthusiasm was ignited by the sound of gongs and drums, and the village became lively. At the end of 2023, Zhang Yong held a gongs and drums event in Bozhuang Village, Linfen City The village evening with the theme of "New Year's Eve" was broadcast live on the short video platform. In the live broadcast room, nearly ten million netizens experienced Linfen's unique "New Year's flavor" with the sound of gongs and drums.
At the end of 2023, Zhang Yong held a village evening with the theme of "Gongs and Drums". Photo provided by the visitor
The artists used various folk instruments to show off their skills, including suonas and gongs, and even used dustpans and soybeans to make sounds, which became part of the performance. Zhang Yong said that this is the part he is most proud of, “because they are all used together. It is the voice of the people themselves. "This gong and drum village evening lasted for an afternoon. Villagers from Bozhuang Village and surrounding villages surrounded the small stage. At the end of the performance, some villagers directly joined the gongs and drums ensemble.
"Through the live broadcast room, I think Let the sound of gongs and drums spread further. "Four years ago, Zhang Yong created a live broadcast room for teaching gongs and drums on a short video platform. Every day, he teaches people zero-basic drumming in the live broadcast room and popularizes the knowledge of powerful gongs and drums. A cloud course usually lasts two hours , teaching in the first half of the class and performing in the second half, this is the case every day, Zhang Yong almost never "asked for leave"
Zhang Yong taught the basics of gongs and drums in the Weifeng Gong and Drum Live Broadcast Room.
After the live broadcast, Zhang Yong is always sweating profusely, and most of his shirt is soaked with sweat. At first, there were only a few dozen people online in Zhang Yong's live broadcast room. Gradually, Zhang Yong accumulated a certain amount of popularity. At most, there were more than three people online. Thousands of people.Many young people also left messages in Zhang Yong’s live broadcast room, expressing their determination to master gong and drum skills. This also gave Zhang Yong great encouragement. “Online platforms have been of great help to the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. In the live broadcast room, , not only the gongs and drums from Linfen, but also the gongs and drums from all over the country came to interact with me. This was the exchange and collision of gong and drum cultures. "
"Dong dong clang, dong dong clang" entered Zhang Yong's live broadcast room, the sound of drums. Continuously, drumming, drumming, and drum scraping, a big drum produces a variety of rich sounds through the artist's skills. Zhang Yong said: "This is very good music. You have to listen to it first, and then carefully appreciate the connotation and emotion. The live broadcast room, as a medium, gives the gongs and drums a chance to be heard."
Gongs and Drums are for everyone. The cultural
intangible cultural heritage has highlighted its absolute advantages in the short video platform. Zhang Yong has put a lot of effort into how to make full use of intangible cultural heritage and make the boring tradition combined with modern lifestyle shine new luster. In Zhang Yong's live broadcast room, you can hear many popular songs played with gongs and drums. He said that this is a challenge that intangible cultural heritage must face - embracing modernity.
"Who said pop music can only be played with modern instruments? Traditional Chinese instruments can also play different flavors." Zhang Yong not only knocked out the traditional gong and drum music scores in Linfen, but also used traditional gongs and drums to play popular music. He said that this would bring him closer to young people, and secondly, he would also make a new attempt at playing traditional musical instruments.
Zhang Yong has been innovating. He said: "The times are changing, and people's aesthetics are also constantly changing, so traditional culture should also follow the times and make some combinations that are in line with the current public aesthetics." The collision of tradition and modernity has given Zhang Yong a lot of learning experience followers, many of whom are college students. “Nowadays, there are many calls and activities for traditional culture to be brought to campus. Many college students in my live broadcast room have expressed interest in traditional culture, and some even went to Linfen from other places to study.”
"Yuchi War Drums" is a program arranged by Zhang Yong. The high-pitched and exciting gongs and drums are used to show the scenes of Yuchi Gong fighting on the battlefield. "These scenes are far away from modern life, but I need to use drums to convey these contents and emotions." Passed on, on the stage, the gongs in the hands of the drummers become shields, and the hammers become spears and knives. Coupled with the sound and light of the stage, a stylish and modern visual experience can be created. "
2022, Zhang Yong. Becoming a national leader in rural culture, he regards this honor as a responsibility, "As a leader, I have to lead and find the direction for the development and inheritance of gong and drum culture. I cannot lead this path astray." In 2010, Zhang Yong went to Chile, South America, to teach "Chinese Drums". This was the first time that Weifeng Gongs and Drums went abroad. Later, Zhang Yong continued to lead the team to perform gongs and drums in New Zealand and Russia. The charm of the majestic gongs and drums also attracted more foreign faces.
Zhang Yong and the Gong and Drum Troupe performed in Chile. Photo provided by interviewee
"I think gong and drum culture is the culture of everyone. It guides people to move forward and upward." Zhang Yong is 46 years old this year. He is still contributing to the spread of gong and drum culture. He has been When playing drums, he said, "Gongs and drums have always guided me as a positive force, allowing me to turn difficulties into motivation to move forward. What I see ahead is my future."
新京Reporter Chen Lu
Editor Zhang Shujing proofread Liu Jun
