The Chen family singers from Xingshan in Central China's Hubei Province sing their hearts out at the folk song competition in Beijing.

The "South and North Folk Songs Competition" is probably one of the most difficult competitions to judge, for it is so difficult to set a single standard to compare the various singing styles of the participants, who are mostly farmers, herdsmen, fishermen and boatmen from different ethnic groups and areas of China.

Held from October 23 to 25 in Tongzhou District of Beijing, the competition was the third of its kind, with the previous two held in 2002 in Zhejiang and 2004 in Shanxi provinces.

There were Mongolian throat singers in which a person can sing two parts simultaneously, "big songs" of the Dong ethnic group featuring multi-part acappella, and ancient folk songs from Xingshan County of Hubei Province, which uses a unique scale and trill technique, among others.

Though judging standards seem hard to set up, after three days of competition, two groups won gold medals, four silver medals, and six bronze medals.

"We mainly judged from the level of each group or the ability to which singers had inherited their own singing tradition," said Tian Liantao, a member of the board of judges. "Of course, this means that the judges must have a broad knowledge of the various folk music traditions in China."

Tian is a professor of traditional Chinese music from the Central Conservatory of Music. Other judges included prestigious experts in the field, like Qiao Jianzhong from the Chinese Academy of Arts, Fan Zuyin from the China Conservatory of Music, and Wu Guodong from Nanjing Arts Institute.

Three of the seven singers from Liping County of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, who presented the "Big songs" of the Dong ethnic group and won a gold medal, are sisters from a rural family in Yandong Township.

The eldest sister, Wu Yongqiong, is now a clerk at a branch of the Pacific Insurance Company, while the two younger sisters, Yongying and Yonglan, are members of the "Big Song Ensemble" of Liping County. "In our village, people sing when they farm, cut firewood, or do sewing work," said Yongqiong. "It is very natural for us to learn to sing in that environment."

She said that the Dong people liked to sing questions and answers, and at the Spring Festival, they often keep singing for days and nights.

The Dong's "big songs" are a kind of chorus of no less than three singers. The multi-part singing is its most salient feature, where the skill has been passed down from generation to generation.

"Just like birdsongs with different tunes and pitches, we sing in different parts," said Yongqiong.

"As a chorus without a conductor, we felt we did a wonderful performance, winning honor for the Dong people," Yongqiong added.

Though working at an insurance company, Yongqiong has got a lot of support from her manager and often tours to perform Dong folk songs.

"The Dong singers have inherited their singing tradition very comprehensively, since they all grew up singing traditional folk songs," said Tian.

Family tradition

Singers from the Xingshan County of Hubei Province are also members of a same family. Formed by 71-year-old Chen Jiazhen, her two daughters and two grandchildren won a silver medal with their ancient folksongs of Xingshan.

The uniqueness of their singing lies in the characteristic trill at the end of each phrase and the special musical scale containing an interval between the major third and minor third.

Chen's grandfather and father were both well-known local singers. Born in such a family, she learned to sing folk songs when still a toddler. Now she can sing over 100 traditional folk songs, like "Conquering the East", "Generals of the Yang Family" and "Picking the Tea."

During the "cultural revolution"(1966-76), Chen was forbidden to sing these songs, but in 1980, she took part in a farmers' singing competition in the county and won first prize.

Since then, she has been teaching those traditional songs to her children and grandchildren. Now 15 people in her family are singers of traditional Xingshan folk songs.

"I am illiterate, and I don't read musical notes, but the songs are all in my head," said Chen.

Now the Huxi village where she lives has been named "village of Xingshan folksongs" by the local government, and the middle and primary school of the Huangliang Township were set up as bases for the teaching of Xingshan folk songs.

Chen's 12-year-old grandson Wan Chao and 11-year-old granddaughter Liang Tao teach traditional folk songs of Xingshan at their music classes in their middle or primary school.

Because of her contribution in teaching traditional folk songs, Chen received an "award for excellent work in imparting and inheriting" from the board of judges.

Pop vs. folk

Yu Minghui and Feng Yuehong, two singers of the Lisu ethnic group also won a silver medal. Coming from the Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble of Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. They are two of the few professional musicians who participated in the competition.

Feng said their troupe usually perform folk songs and dances for visiting foreign guests and officials. For commercial performances they play pop songs accompanied by electric instruments, since many young local people like more contemporary music.

"Though pop songs are welcomed by the young generation, I think traditional music is more vital, and people seem to warm well to this," said Feng.

Their ensemble created a musical "Shangrila" to showcase the traditional folk music and dance of the area. Yu said it was created before Yang Liping's famous "Dynamic Yunnan," but less-known due to lack of publicity.

But it is beginning to be well known. "Shangrila" has got invitations to tour 12 cities in Germany, starting from November 22.

"Now we are becoming more and more confident in performing folk music and dance," said Yu.

Yu's words gave much encouragement to Li Song, director of the Centre of Ethnic and Folk Literature and Arts Development, Ministry of Culture, since recognition is what they want to achieve by holding the "South and North Folk Songs Competition."

"If we have a better environment for traditional folk songs, we would rather not hold a 'competition' as such," said Li. "We can't really compare these different music styles and the cultures behind them.

"But the competition is necessary now to arouse more confidence and people's awareness of our traditional music."

Li admitted that changing social conditions have caused the decline of many traditional folk songs, which is nobody's fault specifically.

For example, as mechanic at boats become more and more popular, the boatmen's holler has almost completely died in just two or three decades.

The boatmen's holler group from Pingshan County of Sichuan Province, which participated in the competition, is one of the only groups who can perform the genre nowadays.

"We must try our best to preserve some of these music genres so that future generations will know what to base their development of new music on," said Li.

The time and place for the next "South and North Folk Songs Competition" has currently not been fixed, but Li said they would continue to hold the competition as long as it can spur the preservation and development of traditional songs.

(China Daily October 31, 2005)