The Historical Origin of Wu Songs

The culture of the Wu region has a history of tens of thousands of years from the point of view of archaeological discoveries. As a cultural phenomenon, the Wu song must have developed along with the production and labor of the local primitive people, sacrificial customs, and life and entertainment activities. As a kind of oral literature, it is difficult to find its remains before there are words. Nowadays, it is very difficult and complicated to find the real appearance of ancient Wu songs and to search for its source.

Before the Jin Dynasty, the word "Wu song" was not written. In the Han and Wei ballads, there is no Wu song. Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, there are "songs"? Songs" is also known as "Yu" (愉), which has been interpreted as "Yu" (俞), a canoe, and "Yiu" (欠), an open-mouthed voice, which together are the songs sung by the boatmen. For the story, see Qu Yuan's "Chu Rhetoric - Invoking the Soul": "Songs of Wu Cai Acura, playing some of the great Lu." Han Dynasty Wang Yi note: "Wu, Cai, the name of the country. Songs, Acura, all songs. Dalü, the name of the six melodies." Zuo Si's "Wu Du Fu" said, "Jing Yan, Chu Dance, Wu Yu, Yue Yin, these are all the music songs of the south, which are not included in the 300 Psalms." At that time, the songs sung by the people of Wu were collectively called Wu sound songs. At that time, the territorial domain of the state of Wu often changed. The ancient state of Wu should be counted from the establishment of Jou Wu by Tai Bo and Zhong Yong. Therefore, some people say: "The culture of Jiangnan started from Tai Bo, and Wu songs like the sea originated from Jin Gui." (Wuxi's old name Jin Gui, Meili Tae Bo's tomb) the basis of this statement is Tae Bo, Zhong Yong from the original to Jiangnan, to bring the culture of the Central Plains to the Jing barbaric region, Jiangnan culture can be developed, and therefore the origin of Wu song here. This statement is worth speculating, from the archaeological discovery of the history of the Yangtze River culture, has been pushed forward to 7,000 to 10,000 years, the ancestors of the Wu-Yue region in the history of mankind's earliest creation of the rice culture, Wu song and rice culture is very close to the earliest song is always accompanied by the labor of the production and development of the culture of the Central Plains is not possible to replace the local culture of the indigenous people, and vice versa, Tiber, Zhongyong to the south of the Yangtze River, do not follow the customs of the countryside, broken hair Tattoos, also can not survive. Of course, they brought with them the culture of the Central Plains, which had a great influence on Jiangnan. It is quite possible to say that a certain song was influenced by the culture of the Central Plains. But it is simply not possible that the source of the Wu songs was foreign.

There is also a theory that Wu songs originated from "Yue" or "Nan Yin". This is because there is a "Song of the Yue People", or "Song of the Yue People Embracing the Oars", which was written by Liu Xiang at the end of the Western Han Dynasty in his "Sayings of the Courts - Good Sayings", which records the story of King Kang of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period. Liu Xiang recorded a song of the Hundred Yue people in the original Yue dialect, which was unintelligible and was translated into the Chu language, i.e., "What is the night of this day and evening, and what is the day of today when I can be in the same boat with the prince? I am ashamed of being good Ruoxi not to criticize the shame, the heart a few stubborn and never stop Ruoxi know the prince. There are trees in the mountains and there are branches in the trees, and the heart pleases the king and the king does not know it." Judging from the content, it reflects the song of the courtiers at that time to please the prince. This kind of song chanted by the upper class is not uncommon. The origin of Wu Yin is also the story of Chen Jing, a messenger from Chu, who sang "Wu Yin for the king" to please the king of Qin, but the content of his song has not been circulated. According to The New Story of the World, Emperor Wu of Jin once asked Sun Hao, who was taken captive, "I heard that the people in the south were good at making the Song of Er Ru, do you know how to sing it? The words of the song were: We used to be your neighbors, now we are your subjects. This is obviously a five-character quatrain with lyrics in the tune of a folk song, close to a folk song but without the characteristics of the Wu language.

During the Warring States period, Wu was defeated by Yue, which later destroyed Wu. Wu, Yue two countries are in the south of Jiangnan neighboring territories, "customs are the same, the language", "the same sound **** law", so Wu Yu Yue Yin is basically the same. After the breakup of Yue by Chu, most of the land of Wu and Yue was occupied by Chu, which was called "Wu and Chu" or "Jing and Wu". Therefore, it is difficult to explain the Wu songs of this historical period by the existing regional division. Didn't someone say that "Chu Song on all sides" should be "Wu Song on all sides"? Although Xiang Yu's era is no longer the time of Wu and Chu, but the Chu song, Wu song must not be as clear as our division.

According to some experts and scholars cited, "the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of Wu Yu, Yue Yin, is the Xia, Shang, Western Zhou period of the southern barbarians music sound song 'Nanyin' inheritance and development." The main basis for this is that during the Yu Xia period, there was the "Nanyin" sung by the women of the southern Tushan clan, which was known as the "Houren Song" in ancient times. Liu Innocenti's "Wenxin Diao Long - Lefu Chuan" included the earliest musical songs, saying: "The Tushan song "Houren" was the beginning of the Nanyin." This statement comes from the legendary account of Dayu cited in Lüshi Chunqiu (The Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Shi - The First Chapter of Sound). The hometown of the Tushan Clan, the singer of the Houren Song, is still unknown. The Yeke Congshu says, "There are four Tushan mountains, one in Aiji, two in Yuzhou, three in Haozhou, and four in Dangtu." Another said in Jiujiang, said in Shaoxing, although the same Jiangnan, but whether it is Wu Yu, Yue Yin and so on is still doubtful.

Wei-Jin and North-South Dynasties, the center of Wu is in Jianye (later known as Jianye, Jiankang, that is, today's Nanjing), "cover since Yongjia after crossing the river, and Liang, Chen, salty Jianye, Wu sound songs from here." (Jinshu - Lezhi) The Wu songs referred to at this time were later collectively called "Wu songs". It can be said that Wu Ge was the abbreviation of Wu sound songs at that time. The authors of Wu songs in the early stage were mostly anonymous, which means that they were recorded in the folk circulation. Wu songs were rarely found in writing before then, and both literary scholars and historians found the beginnings of Wu songs in Lefu. Especially the "Poetry" on the thirteen state winds, only compiled the northern ballads and no record of Wu songs, Wu songs to fill this gap, its value is very high. However, Wu songs should be analyzed specifically; the early stage of the southern dynasty music recorded the ballads of Wu land, is a song, relatively pure and simple, in the "Song of the Night" and other Wu songs retained this quality, but when the "song" was to the orchestra, on the Hall of Elegance, many literati have imitated the words, and became the upper class of the word of the line of music, the Wu songs and folk songs (Wu songs) have been compared with the This kind of Wu songs and folk songs (Wu songs) has been far away, but in the history of literature has been collectively called "Wu songs".

In fact, the information recorded by the literati in history is only the "flow" of Wu songs, and it is of course very precious to trace the flow of Wu songs and study the flow of Wu songs, but to find the real source of Wu songs, it is necessary to rely on solid field work, and to search for them from the oral literature that has been passed down by the working people from mouth to mouth and from generation to generation, and only after scientific proof will there be any discovery. scientific proof, only then will there be some discovery.

To date, we have found written records, the earliest recorded in the Wu language of the mountain song, is the end of the Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Wu Yue Wang Qian Li sang an impromptu mountain song. This song was originally published in the Song Wu monk Wen Ying "Xiang Shan Ye Records", after the May 4, the study of Wu songs of the forefathers of Mr. Yung Zhaozu, in 1936, Peking University, "Song" weekly magazine, Volume II, No. 7, published an article "a thousand years ago a song in the Wu sound of the mountains," the earliest of the Wu sound of the song, Mr. Yung, citing the "Sea of Learning Classes" of the book of the Xiang Shan Ye Records, the full text of the article, as follows:

Kai Ping Yuan (the first year of the first year of Kaiping).

In the first year of Kaiping (907 A.D.), Emperor Taizu of Liang assumed the throne and appointed Qian Wusu (鏐) as the king of Wuyue. At that time, there were people who satirized Qian for refusing his order. Money laughed and said: "I will not lose for a Sun Zhongmou yeah?" Worship accepted. Changed his hometown Lin'an County for Lin'an Clothes Kam Army. In this year, the provincial tombs, Yan old, battle-axe drums and blows, vibration of the valley. Since the former fishing place, as much as possible to the brocade. Or trees and stones, to those who have the official title. The old trade salt shoulder loads, also cut the brocade. A neighboring old woman, more than ninety, with a pot of corn to welcome the road. The old woman rubbed her back. The old woman stroked her back, but also called out in small letters, said: "money Granny stay, like you grow up." When he was born, the time was strange, and his father was afraid that he would be sunk in Yaxi. This old woman cool to stay, so the word. For the cattle wine, Chen Dazhong drink, don't Zhang Shujin for the wide tent, to drink the countrywoman. All men and women who were eighty years old were already on the golden bottle, and those who were a hundred years old were already on the jade bottle. At that time, the number of yellow-haired people drinking jade was still not less than ten. The yellow hair drink jade is still not less than a dozen or so people. He said, "I will return to my hometown in three festivals and hang up my brocade clothes, and I will return to Wu-Yue with a team of horses. Lin'an Road on the list of flags, blue sky bright Ruoxi love sunshine. Fathers and mothers from near and far to follow, family home township Ruoxi will be rare. The light of the fighting ox rises and the sky is not deceived!" Although the old folks heard the song, they did not know it. Wu Su also felt that their joy is not quite soaked. Again wine, high reveal Wu throat, singing mountain songs to see the meaning. The lyrics said: your generation to see the bottom of your joy, but also the general taste. It is always in my heart! The song was sung in a chorus of praise and laughter, and it was a joyous experience for the village. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on a new one, and you'll be able to do that.

This note is a very vivid depiction of more than a thousand years ago, the King of Wuyue, Qian Qian Jin returned home to Lin'an (now Hangzhou), he modeled after Liu Bang's "Song of the Winds", sang happily, but the townspeople do not understand, can not be happy, so he "high reveal singing, singing songs to see the meaning of the song, although only three lines of lyrics, but it is the townsfolk! Although only three lines of lyrics, but it is the native language, immediately caused **** Ming, "screaming and laughing ZhenZhi, happy feel the coccyx". From these three lines of lyrics, it is indeed all the songs recorded in Wu language, together with the annotations reflecting more precisely the characteristics of Wu sound, which makes people feel very close to each other. It is more plain and colloquial than the Wu songs recorded in the Wu sound songs of the Six Dynasties, and the vernacular flavor is particularly strong. Scholars studying Wu songs have taken it as the first Wu song sung in Wu and recorded entirely in Wu. It is cited in Mr. Gu Jiegang's A Short History of Wu Songs, written seventy years ago, and Mr. Guan Detong, in his preface to Feng Menglong's Mountain Songs, also said it was "the first record of a mountain song in Wuzhong" (see Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, "A Collection of Folk Songs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties," above). The last sentence of the original narrator: "Nowadays, there are still mountain people who can sing this song", indicating that there were still people who could sing this song in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Mr. Guan further cited Yuan Geng's "Maple Window Document" in the Southern Song Dynasty, which also recounted this matter, and then said: 'To this day, the wild children and wandering women borrow it as a song for questions and answers in the run-up to the period of the Song Dynasty.'" It is clear that this song has been passed down for a long time. It is also clear that the Wu song is mainly a "mountain song", which is the same as the mountain songs collected in Feng Menglong's time, and the modern mountain songs circulating in the countryside, which are in the same lineage.

History has been so unfair to folklore, and the folk songs that grew in the fields were passed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, with very few written records. The folk songs that have been written down by the literati are often transformed, and many of them have a strong people's character, but they are no longer the original face of oral folk literature.

Wu song has a long history. Legend has it that at the end of the Yin and Shang dynasties, Tai Bo, the son of King Tai of Zhou, came from the Loess Plateau to the watery south of the Yangtze River, built the country of Gou Wu, and taught it by song, and from then on, the song of Wu has a history of more than 3,200 years. There is a record of "Wu Cai's Acura, Playing the Great Lü" in "Chu Rhetoric - Invoking the Soul". In the Song Dynasty, Guo Maoqian compiled the "Collection of Lefu Poetry" and included Wu songs in the "Wu Sound Songs" of the "Qing Shang Songs". In the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong recorded a large number of Wu songs passed down in the folklore from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and compiled them into Songs of the Mountains and Hanging Branches. The Qing Dynasty was a period of maturity and prosperity for long narrative Wu songs, and a large number of long narrative Wu songs were preserved through the publication of booksellers, copying by literati and oral transmission by folk artists.

Before and after the May Fourth Movement, Peking University initiated a ballad movement, and the Morning Post began to serialize Wu songs in 1920, and then edited and published Wu Songs A Collection (by Gu Jiegang), Wu Songs B Collection (by Wang Yizhi), Wu Songs C Collection (by Wang Junzang), and Wu Songs A Little History (by Gu Jiegang), etc. Since the 1980s, it has also compiled Wu Songs D Collection (by Gu Jiegang) and Wu Songs D Collection (compiled by Wang Hsuhua), and Wu Songs D Collection (compiled by Wang Hsuhua), and Wu Songs D Collection (compiled by Wang Hsuhua), and Wu Songs D Collection (compiled by Wang Hsuhua), Since the 1980s, a large number of Wu songs have been collected, organized and researched, including the Ding Collection of Wu Songs (edited by Gu Jiegang and collated by Wang Hsu Hua), the E Collection of Wu Songs (edited by Wang Hsu Hua) and the F Collection of Wu Songs (edited by Lin Zongli and Qian Zuoyuan). In particular, the discovery and excavation of long narrative Wu songs and the compilation and publication of three sets of Chinese folklore integrated ballads have led to the salvage collection and preservation of a large number of Wu songs.

Entering the 21st century, the relevant departments have edited and published several million words of oral and research materials on Wu songs, such as the Collection of Bai Mao Mountain Songs, the Collection of Lu Hui Mountain Songs, the Collection of Wu Songs Heritage, and the Forum of Wu Songs. Traditional Chinese folk culture is part of the world's cultural treasures, and Wu song is now gradually attracting the attention of Western scholars. As three milestones of Wu songs, Ann Birrell's Folk Songs of the Han Dynasty and New Songs from the Jade Terrace translated Wu songs of the Southern Dynasties into English, Feng Menglong's Mountain Songs translated and published by Cornelia Topman translated Wu songs of the Ming Dynasty into German, and Sister Schnee, a Dutch scholar, published Chinese Folk Songs and Folk Singers - Mountain Songs of Southern Jiangsu Province which researches and translates some of the modern Wu songs. A UNESCO mission on the preservation of traditional Chinese folk songs visited Suzhou and Changshu in 1994 to study the preservation of Wu songs. This shows that traditional Chinese folk culture is part of the world's cultural treasures.

Under the living conditions of the small peasant economy in the feudal society for a long time, the rural transportation was closed, the peasants lived in poverty, and the cultural life was very poor, then singing songs was their only form of self-entertainment, in addition to the place of labor, the summer wind cool, the winter around the stove for warmth, as well as the farm leisure time to visit temples, all singing songs for self-entertainment, which is not only free to express their feelings, but also can show people's creative talents, express people's wisdom, enrich the culture of the world. Performance of people's wisdom and intelligence, enriching people's knowledge of labor and life. Of course, for young men and women, singing songs will bring them the joy of love, or become the medium of marriage. Therefore, songs have become an indispensable spiritual food and entertainment tool in farmers' life. Some song villages have passed down the mountain songs from generation to generation, and have cultivated many excellent singers. Some singers often in the song contest through the song, song contest, show their skills, known far and wide. Some singers have learned to sing mountain songs around their relatives since they were young, and they have superior wisdom and amazing memory. In the past, family inheritance was the main way of passing down mountain songs. In this way, the peasants' own culture was formed in its natural, uncut form. The biggest difference between it and other forms of literature and art lies in the obvious difference between its oral nature, variability, inheritance and self-indulgence and professional artists. This cultural phenomenon and folklore event, known as the voice of heaven, vividly records the life history of farmers and lower class people in Jiangnan, which is a very precious historical data and a very valuable folk cultural heritage.

Mr. Gu Jiegang said in his book "A Short History of Wu Songs" that the so-called Wu Songs are the folk songs circulating in the mouths of children in this area. This area, roughly speaking, refers to the Wu-speaking region of the Yangtze River Delta. Due to different regional divisions throughout history, the early Wu was the concept of the domain of Wu, which even included the present Nanjing and Yangzhou. Nowadays, Wu refers to the Wu-speaking area, which includes southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and Shanghai, i.e. the same Wu-speaking area language and culture circle of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, which belongs to the same traditional Wu culture. Wuxi just in its central position, it is a renowned historical and cultural city, historical collection of Wu songs, also centered on it, in the history of Chinese literature occupies a certain position.