midicnMusic History 中文

Hakka Han Music

Led by the touxian, Hakka han music divides into string ensemble, shawm-and-drum band and chamber music, strongest in Dabu

Yangqin (hammered dulcimer)Zheng

Time and place

Hakka han music is found in Dabu and Meixian in Meizhou, Guangdong, and in Hakka areas of western Fujian and southern Jiangxi. It calls itself han music, also known as ru jia yue or wai jiang xian, and its roots lie in Central Plains and Jiangnan string music and opera. Music societies cluster in Huliao and Baihou in Dabu, and its occasions are weddings, funerals, ancestor rites, Lantern Festival and summer courtyards.

What happened

As Hakka migrants moved south they joined Central Plains strings with local life, producing three kinds of playing: hexiansuo, a silk-and-bamboo ensemble led by the touxian; luogu chui, the zhongjun band of suona and percussion for weddings and funerals; and qingyue, small ensembles and solos for zheng, pipa and yehu. After the 1950s the repertory was collected and published, societies worked with schools, and Dabu became known as a home of han music.

Musical features

In hexiansuo the touxian, a high bamboo-tube fiddle with a sharp tone, leads yehu, yangqin, sanxian, pipa, dizi and sheng, each part ornamenting one melody in heterophony. Luogu chui is outdoor music of suona and gongs. The qingyue zheng pieces are the best known, with the grand tunes Chushui Lian, Yashan Ai and Zhaojun Yuan, slow in metre and full of left-hand bends. Han music divides into hard-line and soft-line modes, the first bright, the second plaintive.

What to listen for

Hear the sharp touxian, then how the parts offset their ornaments on one line. Hexiansuo ornaments are measured, luogu chui accents are exposed, and the zheng pieces leave space. The library's Kejia Shangge Te Chu Ming and Bayue Shiwu Yue Tuanyuan from Meixian and Kejia Shangge You Ming Sheng from Guangdong are Hakka mountain songs, not han music recordings, but they carry the dialect and life the ensemble belongs to.

Common misunderstandings

Han music is often confused with Hakka mountain song. The mountain song is vocal, han music is instrumental, and their occasions, forces and repertories differ. Another mistake is to fold it into Chaozhou music: Chaozhou uses the erxian and its own string poems, han music uses the touxian and grand tunes, and the two are neighbours but separate systems.

Listen in the library

Kejia Shange,te chu mingC10:15C1 梅县《客家山歌，特出名》，客家腹地的山歌；非汉乐录音DetailsBayue shiwu yue tuanyuanC10:50C1 梅县《八月十五月团圆》，客家山歌的中秋题材；非汉乐录音Details客家山歌有名声C30:15广东《客家山歌有名声》，客家山歌；C3 民歌，C1 无汉乐录音DetailsCai mi geC10:41C1 梅县《猜谜歌》，客家小调；非汉乐录音Details

All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).

Sources

  • 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 条目与年代核对，未引用
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.