The Historical Origin of Folk Songs in Northern Shaanxi

Folk songs in northern Shaanxi are popular in slopes, ravines, fields and villages in Yan 'an, Yulin. They are the songs of "Shan Ye" and "Lien" passed down from generation to generation by the working people of the Han nationality in northern Shaanxi, calling back the voice of cattle with the voice of stopping sheep.

The history of folk songs in northern Shaanxi can be traced back to the ancient witchcraft songs of the Han nationality and the tunes of sacrificial yangko, and it is closely related to the custom of "Spring Festival" that has existed since ancient times. For example, there are many dances and yangko in the Han dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in Suide, which shows that the song and dance in northern Shaanxi was very popular at that time, and folk songs inevitably originated.

Folk song is the simplest art form, which was born with the working life of the people in northern Shaanxi, the history and folk activities in northern Shaanxi, and has been passed down to this day.

For example, the tune of "Man Servant Tune" has only three tones, which is a relatively primitive folk song reflecting the working life of people in northern Shaanxi.

Another example is Bing Diao, which reflects the historical fact that the Manchu government suppressed the Hui uprising during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty.

Before 1930s, folk songs in northern Shaanxi were improvised by people in northern Shaanxi according to their own living customs, such as farming, grazing, drinking, festivals, building houses, birthdays, weddings and funerals, temple fairs and so on. And gradually formed a high-pitched, bold, rough and melodious style, which became popular through oral singing and flourished through collective creation.

After the Central Red Army 1935 led by Chairman Mao arrived in northern Shaanxi, northern Shaanxi became the command center of China revolution.

At this time, the folk songs in northern Shaanxi mainly reflected the contents of "making trouble with the red", agrarian revolution and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and formed revolutionary historical folk songs.

1942, mass production movement and new yangko movement have played an important role in the development of folk songs in northern Shaanxi.

In the mass production movement, people in the old revolutionary base areas such as Jiaxian, Suide, Mizhi and Qingjian actively responded to the call of the border region government, and immigrated to Yan 'an area with sparse population and more land on a large scale to reclaim land, and many of them later settled in various parts of Yan 'an.

Immigrants brought many folk songs and folk arts to Yan 'an.

For example, "Dongfanghong" was originally named "Immigration Song", which sang "jia county immigrants must open the old Nanshan when they go to Yan' an, but in a few years, it is all rice and grain."

Another example is that after Han Qixiang, a storyteller from Hengshan Mountain, arrived in Yan 'an, he told new books and sang songs of workers and peasants, which was praised by Chairman Mao.

Folk songs in northern Shaanxi were collected and adapted by revolutionary literary and art workers, and a number of famous folk songs in northern Shaanxi emerged.

Some people say that the folk songs in northern Shaanxi "sing the red sky", which means that "Dongfanghong" sings the voice of the times and expresses the determination of hundreds of millions of people in China to love Chairman Mao and follow the * * * production party to liberate the revolution and build a new China.

Some people say that the folk songs in northern Shaanxi "sang a new world", that is to say, "Turning over the Taoist Love" has distinctive characteristics, which deducts the influence and appeal of the folk songs in northern Shaanxi to the extreme. "Let's unite and turn over" became the knowledge that led the times at that time, and the people of northern Shaanxi greeted the birth of new China by singing "Dongfanghong" and "Turning over the Road".

During this period, in addition to revolutionary folk songs, there were many excellent folk songs in northern Shaanxi, such as Sanlipu, Sacrifice, Yellow River Boatman Song, Dry Boat Running, Five Brothers herding sheep and so on.

1952, the Central Song and Dance Troupe selected more than 30 singers from Suide County and established the Northern Shaanxi Folk Choir, which made the Northern Shaanxi Folk Song a national singing group and made it famous not only at home, but also on the international stage, which is unique in the development history of China folk songs.

Before the Cultural Revolution, Yulin's folk song singing activities were very active, and many towns and villages became well-known "folk song villages". With Suide as the center, many famous artists have appeared in various places. Some of them participated in the national Quyi performance, some were employed by the Conservatory of Music to teach, and some later became expert professors.

Some of the tracks of folk songs in northern Shaanxi have been adapted into orchestral music of folk songs, some have been adapted into film music, and some have become teaching materials of the Conservatory of Music.

In a word, the period from 1935 to 1965 is the heyday of folk songs in northern Shaanxi.

During the Cultural Revolution, folk songs in northern Shaanxi were banned, and only Dongfanghong, like the second national anthem, was played by China Central Radio every day.

After 1975, folk songs in northern Shaanxi gradually resumed singing. 1979, Yulin Folk Art Troupe went to the province and Beijing to perform, which was well received and was included in the film art film Fragrance of the Earth. 1982, the Ministry of Culture specially dispatched a Yulin folk art report group to perform and demonstrate in Beijing, which played a role in curbing the trend of worshipping foreign things and obsessing foreign things in the domestic art world at that time.

1985, a folk art troupe was formally established in this area, which performed abroad for many years, and the folk songs of northern Shaanxi once again sang on the international stage.

From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the integration of folk songs in northern Shaanxi was completed, and more than 8,000 folk songs were collected.

After the reform and opening up, all kinds of northern Shaanxi folk songs concerts and competitions have been held frequently in Yulin, and outstanding talents of northern Shaanxi folk songs have emerged constantly, winning prizes frequently in provincial and national competitions. In particular, the "Top Ten Singers" selected by the Northern Shaanxi Folk Song Competition in 2006 belong to our city, which is the first time in the folk song competition since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It is no exaggeration to say that the source and mainstream of northern Shaanxi folk songs are in Yulin, and Yulin folk songs are the representatives of northern Shaanxi folk songs.