What are the classifications of Dong folk songs?

Dong folk songs are quite different in two dialect areas. In the northern dialect areas around Tianzhu, Jinping, Xinhuang and Jingxian in Guizhou, single-voice folk songs are mainly popular. There are folk songs, playing folk songs, drinking songs, ritual songs and other categories.

This folk song is called "A Gao Jing" in Dong language, which means "Gaopo Song". Impromptu singing in the mountains and rivers. High pitch and wide range. The content is mostly related to labor and love.

Playing folk songs is a love song sung by young men and women when they meet in the mountains on an appointed day. Playing folk songs is mainly aimed at unmarried young people to choose a spouse and find love. Married young people use it as entertainment to show their singing ability. Playing folk songs has a whole set of songs, which simply records the whole process of this custom. Such as dating songs, first meeting songs, hymns, answering songs, seduction songs, first love songs, exhortation songs, farewell songs, lovesickness songs, keepsake songs, lovelorn songs and so on. Folk songs include duets, solos and chorus, with different tunes. One of the songs is called "Vernacular", which sounds like singing and talking, and it is quite distinctive.

There are big songs, small songs, narrative songs and folk songs in the southern dialect area formed by Liping, Rongjiang, Congjiang, Sanjiang, Longsheng, Damiaoshan and Hunan passages in Guizhou.

Dong nationality's big song is a chorus with two voices and the same timbre. There are female songs, male songs and children's songs. Daqu is divided into four categories: Drum Tower Daqu, Narrative Daqu, Vocal Daqu and Children Daqu. "Drum Tower Song" must sing the pagoda-shaped drum tower in Dong village, and its content is mostly love songs. Narrative songs can be divided into "Ga Jiong" sung by female voice and "Ga Jiebu" sung by men and women, mainly to tell the history and the story of the legend of heroes. The Dong language of "Da Yin Ge" is called "Kasuo", which often expresses beautiful feelings by describing natural sound landscapes such as running water, birds singing and cicadas singing. "Children's Songs" have a narrow range and lively tunes, and the content is mostly for children to play and impart knowledge. (See "Multi-voice Folk Songs" later)

Brother Dong, called "Gala" in Dong language, is a solo folk song in southern dialect area. It is a solo or duet song when young and middle-aged couples enjoy the moon. Brother has a special place to sing, which is the "Moon Pond" in Dong Village. Most of them sing softly in a small voice, with short melody structure and graceful melody. On a moonlit night, singing and looking at the moon is full of romance. Xiaoqu can be divided into "knocking songs", "visiting songs" and "Aika" according to the singing procedure and content. Xiaoqu can be divided into pipa, Niutuiqin and Di Zi according to the accompaniment instruments, and it is called "folk song" or "Hequ" when it is used as accompaniment.

Dong narrative songs are called Gajin in Dong language. Mostly in the form of singers playing and singing themselves. Narrative songs from all over the country are very rich. The content mostly tells the history of Dong ancestors' migration and entrepreneurship, as well as other historical legends and stories.

There are many kinds of Dong folk songs, such as road-blocking songs, road-opening songs, wine songs, hymns and crying songs. Among them, "Road-blocking Song" and "Road-opening Song" are the most distinctive.

Singing roadblock songs and escorting songs have two folk backgrounds. First, when the wedding is festive, the man sends someone to the woman's village to pick up the bride, and the young people in the woman's village deliberately set up roadblocks, or block the village door hand in hand and shout out the "reason" for blocking the road. At this point, the other party must answer with a song, which is called "clearing the way". On the other hand, during festivals, villages often invite each other's choirs to sing and treat each other with wine to connect feelings and expand exchanges. When the guests came, the youth in the host's stockade deliberately blocked the road and exchanged songs.

The Dong nationality's wine song is called "Gakao", which is sung when entertaining guests.

There are many kinds of Dong people's hymns, including village songs, drum-tower songs, house songs and well songs.

Dong people's crying song is a kind of mourning song.