Kam Grand Choir
Kam Grand Choir, also known as the Grand Song of the Dong, is acclaimed as the most beautiful choir song in the East. It was once sung in the Golden Hall of Vienna and was included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
Kam Grand Choir dates back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It was well-developed in the Song Dynasty and prevailed in the Ming Dynasty. Today, it is mainly popular in Liping County, Congjiang County, Rongjiang County and other Dong communities in the Qiandongnan area and in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County in Guangxi. The songs are great in number and rich in contents. They provide a glimpse of the Dong people's social structure, marital life, cultural traditions, and intellectual life.
The Dong ethnic group does not have a written language, so its culture can only be passed on in oral form. Singing, therefore, plays an important role in this regard. It is not merely a kind of folk music or folk art, but a way to depict the best of the Dong people's inner world and the code of conduct that the Dong people abide by strictly.
The Chinese government has attached great importance to the protection and promotion of Kam Grand Choir. In 1953, singers from Liping County made their debut on the stage of China's first ever folk music and dance show. Since then, singers of Kam Grand Choir have frequently gone on international stages and putting on performances has become an important way of keeping Kam Grand Choir alive. Moreover, the culture of the Dong people, including Kam Grand Choir, has been introduced in classrooms, as a special feature of local education.
侗族大歌
侗族大歌被譽為“東方最美和聲”,曾唱響維也納金色大廳,2009年被聯合國教科文組織列入人類非物質文化遺產代表作名錄。
侗族大歌源于春秋戰國時期,至宋代比較成熟,至明代盛行。目前,它主要流行于貴州省黔東南地區的黎平縣、從江縣、榕江縣等侗族聚居區和廣西三江侗族自治縣。侗族大歌曲目眾多,內容極為廣泛,是侗族社會結構、婚戀關系、文化傳承和精神生活的重要組成部分。
侗族是一個沒有文字的民族,侗族文化只能以口頭的形式傳承,歌唱便擔負著“以歌傳文”的歷史重任。它不單純是一種民間音樂或民間藝術,更是侗族人精神生活的最高境界,也是侗族人嚴格恪守的行為準則。
侗族大歌的傳承和保護一直受到國家重視。1953年貴州黎平民間歌手首次登上“全國首屆民間音樂舞蹈會演”的舞臺,此后侗族大歌頻頻走向世界舞臺,登臺表演成為當代侗族大歌一種重要的存衍方式。此外,侗族大歌等民族文化也走進課堂成為地方教育特色。
