Fengyang Flower Drum
Fengyang Flower Drum (simplified Chinese: 凤阳花鼓; traditional Chinese: 鳳陽花鼓; pinyin: Fèng yáng huāgǔ) is a traditional Chinese folk song, a form of Quyi, from Fengyang County, Anhui Province that was developed during the late Ming Dynasty. Originally, it was performed by two seated female singers (usually sisters-in-law). It was typically performed in public for gratuities, as Fengyang County was prone to flooding from the Yellow River.
History[edit]
The Fengyang Flower Drum song was associated with beggars from Fengyang County which experienced a disastrous series of flood and drought during the late Ming Dynasty, forcing residents to sing for money.[1] It is classed as one of the speech-song (说唱; Shuōchàng) folk arts of Quyi.[2]
The form was popularized by its appearance in The Good Earth, the 1937 film adaptation of a novel by Pearl S. Buck.[3] Chou Wen-Chung, an American emigrant from China, incorporated it into his 1949 composition Landscapes.[4]
See also[edit]
- The Flower Drum Song (novel)
- Flower Drum Song (musical)
- Flower Drum Song (film)
References[edit]
- ^ "Traditional Quyi Art -- Fengyang Huagu". Chinese Culture. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ Cooper, Gene (2013). The Market and Temple Fairs of Rural China: Red fire. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-203-10460-6. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ Chang, Peter M. (2006). Chou Wen-Chung: The Life and Work of a Contemporary Chinese-Born American Composer. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-8108-5296-9. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- ^ Lai, Eric Chiu Kong (2009). The Music of Chou Wen-Chung. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-7546-6500-7. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
External links[edit]
- Example of Fengyang Flower Drum on YouTube