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Chaozhou xianshi (潮州弦诗; also called simply xianshi music) is a type of sizhu music indigenous to the Chaozhou region at the northeastern part of Guangdong province in southern China. It is also performed in regions with overseas Chaozhou populations, such as Singapore, Thailand, and the United States.

Xianshi music is respected as one of the oldest Chaozhou musical traditions which has developed from a fusion of elements from various northern musical genres.

Xianshi music can be performed in the following contexts:

As an independent instrumental music genre, performed at weddings or other auspicious ceremonial events
As an accompaniment to some of the musical passages in Chaozhou opera

Repertory

The "ten great suites" are the best known pieces of the xianshi repertory. These pieces use the suite structure. Most pieces have 68 beats.

Tuning system

Instruments are generally tuned to a seven-tone equidistant temperament. Two common modes are qingliu (轻六, literally "light six"] and zhongliu (重六, literally "heavy 6"). Qingliu uses the sol-la-do-re-mi scale structure while zhongliu uses the sol-ti-do-re-fa structure. While qingliu is associated with liveliness and joy, zhongliu is associated with melancholy.

Characteristic instruments

Bowed strings

Zixian 字弦 (2-string fiddle, also known as erxian, adopted from the Hakka touxian 头弦)
Tihu (2-string fiddle of lower pitch than the zixian, adapted from the Cantonese gaohu)
Yehu (2-string fiddle with coconut shell body; comes in small and large sizes)
Dahu
Cello
Erhu
Zhonghu
Banhu

Stuck and plucked strings

References

Asian Music Tradition, v. 2, 2005

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+{{Confusing|date=February 2009}}
-[[Image:ChaoZhou West Lake.JPG|thumb|250px|''A view of modern Chaozhou'']]
-'''''Chaozhou xianshi''''' (潮州弦诗, literally "Chaozhou string-poem"; also called ''xianshi yue'' or "string-poem music") is classed as a type of ''sizhu'' music (chamber music for strings and woodwind, literally "silk/bamboo") although it typically uses stringed instruments only. It is found in northeastern [[Guangdong]] and parts of Fujian and also in regions with overseas Chaozhou populations, such as Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. The [[Chaoshan]] region of Guangdong, bordering on Fujian and comprising the cities of [[Chaozhou]], [[Shantou]] and [[Jieyang]], forms its own cultural sphere. Teahouses often accompany with Chaozhou music.
+'''''Chaozhou xianshi''''' ([[wikt:潮州|潮州]][[wikt:弦诗|弦诗]]; also called simply '''''xianshi''''' music) is a type of ''sizhu'' music indigenous to the [[Chaozhou]] region at the northeastern part of [[Guangdong]] province in [[southern China]]. It is also performed in regions with overseas Chaozhou populations, such as Singapore, Thailand, and the United States.
+''Xianshi'' music is respected as one of the oldest Chaozhou musical traditions which has developed from a fusion of elements from various northern musical genres.
-==History==
-Developed from a fusion of elements, popular song, arias of Chinese opera, ancient melodies and pieces of Buddhist music, ''Xianshi'' music falls into two styles: ''Rujia yue'' is music of the Confucian school that can be performed as an independent instrumental music genre or at weddings and other ceremonies and that aims at elegance and nobility, while ''Pengding yue'' is principally the music of the theatre, though it may be played independently: it cultivates a sober, rustic style.
+''Xianshi'' music can be performed in the following contexts:
-==Instruments==
+#As an independent instrumental music genre, performed at weddings or other auspicious ceremonial events
-The instruments most commonly employed include several varieties of two-stringed bowed lutes; the  ''zixian'' (字弦)  ''[[erxian]]'' or ''touxian'' ((头弦) the lead instrument in the ''Kejia'' style, shorter and higher-pitched than the ''erxian''), the [[Tihu (instrument)|tihu]] (of lower pitch than the ''zixian'', adapted from the Cantonese ''[[gaohu]]'') and the big and small yehu (coconut shell body), as well as several types of plucked lutes; the ''[[pipa]]'', big and small ''[[sanxian]]'' (a fretless bass instrument like the ''[[shamisen]]''), ''[[qinqin]]'' (four-stringed with short, fretted neck and round body), ''ruan'' (four-stringed with long, fretted neck and round body) and meihuaqin. Other than this, the ''zheng'' (zither) and ''[[yangqin]]'' (a hammered dulcimer thought to derive from the Iranian [[santur]]) are played as well as percussion instruments, a hand-held wooden clapper (''muban''), a pair of "temple" blocks (''daban'' and ''fuban'') that mark the beat and a small drum (''zhegu'').
+#As an accompaniment to some of the musical passages in [[Chaozhou opera]]
-==Characteristics==
+==Repertory==
+The "ten great suites" are the best known pieces of the ''xianshi'' repertory. These pieces use the suite structure. Most pieces have 68 beats.
-The ten characteristic compositions of Xianshi yue are
-* ''Zhaojun yuan'' (Grief of Wang Zhaojun ),
-* ''Xiaotaohong''
-* ''Hanya xishui'' (Jackdaws Play in the Water),
-* ''Huangli ci'' (The Oriole's Cry ),
-* ''Yue'er gao'' (High Moon),
-* ''Dababan''
-* ''Pingsha luoyan'' (Flock of Geese on the Shore) ,
-* ''Fengqiuhuang'' (The Male Phoenix Seeks the Female),
-* ''Wulianhuan'' (Five Knots of the Chain)
-* ''Jinshang tianhua'' (Adding Flowers upon Brocade).
+==Tuning system==
-The form of each of these pieces resembles a [[Suite (music)|suite]] (''taoqu'') of [[Variation (music)|variations]] upon a stock melody (''[[qupai]]'' or "noted tune"). These are called ''ban'' or "beat" variations and follow an ordered sequence with changes of tempo and measure (most pieces have six or eight beat measures). [[Augmentation (music)|Augmentation]] and [[Diminution|diminution]] of the melody is used, so that it may repeatedly double in speed through the variations. The technique of ''cui'' introduces a [[Division (music)|division-like]] filling in of the melody with [[Figure (music)|figures]] such as repeated notes and neighbouring or [[passing note]]s. Perfect-fourth transposition of the melody (''fan'') also occurs, though the tonal centre remains constant.
+Instruments are generally tuned to a seven-tone equidistant temperament. Two common modes are ''qingliu'' (轻六, literally "light six"] and ''zhongliu'' (重六, literally "heavy 6"). ''Qingliu'' uses the sol-la-do-re-mi scale structure while ''zhongliu'' uses the sol-ti-do-re-fa structure. While ''qingliu'' is associated with liveliness and joy, ''zhongliu'' is associated with melancholy.
+==Characteristic instruments==
-Four or five main [[mode]]s (''diao'') are traditionally identified. However, while elsewhere in China such modes are mainly defined by absolute pitch and by the degree of the [[pentatonic]] scale that is taken as the [[key]]-note (thus setting the [[interval (music)|intervals]] of the [[Scale (music)|scale]]), the xianshi conception of mode, rather like the Indian [[raga]] system, includes [[motif (music)|motif]], [[ornament (music)|ornament]] and intonation. Pitch is not absolute but the scale is usually constructed on a key-note approximating to western concert F - F#. Modes are pentatonic but all derive from a seven-note scale: no notice is taken of the starting and finishing tones of the melody in determining the mode and the key-note remains the same in every mode. Tunes may be adapted to a new mode, but the mode remains constant throughout any performance of the suite.
+===Bowed strings===
+*Zixian 字弦 (2-string fiddle, also known as ''[[erxian]]'', adopted from the Hakka ''touxian'' 头弦)
+*[[Tihu (instrument)|Tihu]] (2-string fiddle of lower pitch than the ''zixian'', adapted from the Cantonese ''[[gaohu]]'')
+*[[Yehu]] (2-string fiddle with coconut shell body; comes in small and large sizes)
+*[[Dahu]]
+*[[Cello]]
+*[[Erhu]]
+*[[Zhonghu]]
+*[[Banhu]]
+===Stuck and plucked strings===
-Apart from the major pentatonic scale two further tones, corresponding to a (sharp) perfect fourth and a (flat) major seventh, are employed. The "missing" steps of the scale in each mode may be used in ornament but are not part of main mode structure. The mode ''qingsan qingliu'' ("Light III Light VI") is the standard major pentatonic. But ''qingsan zhongliu'' ("Light III Heavy VI") calls for a heavy string-pressure upon the sixth degree, raising it to the seventh. ''Zhongsan zhongliu'' ("Heavy III Heavy VI"), similarly, applies this upward string-bend to the third degree as well, raising it to the fourth. The fourth common scale, called ''Huowu'' ("Live V"), resembles this last but avoids the plain third degree and instead uses a heavy vibrato on the second degree. This is said to be the most characteristic mode of the region.
+*[[Yangqin]]
+*[[Sanxian]]
-Chaozhou drum music includes the big drum and gong, the small drum and gong, the dizi set drum and dong and su drum and gong ensembles. The current Chaozhou drum music is said to be similar to the form of the Drum and Wind Music of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
+*[[Pipa]]
+*[[Qinqin]]
+*[[Zhongruan]]
 ==References==
+*''Asian Music Tradition'', v. 2, 2005
-{{reflist}}
-{{refbegin}}
-*Anon, ''Sizhu yue : musique poétique à cordes de Chaozhou'', China.org, retrieved April 2009[http://french.china.org.cn/french/183255.htm]
-*Prof. Mercedes M. Dujunco, ''The Birth of a New Mode? Modal Entities in the Chaozhou Xianshi String Ensemble Music Tradition of Guangdong, South China'', in ''Ethnomusicology Online'', Issue 8, 2003, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, retrieved April 2009[http://www.umbc.edu/eol/8/dujunco/index.html]
-{{refend}}
-[[Category:Chinese styles of music]]
+[[Category:Chinese music]]