Changde Yugu (Changde)

DATE:20-05-2011

Changde Yugu is a kind of folk art that is very popular in Changde area. It stems from Taoist songs such as Jiuzhen and Chengtian in the Tang Dynasty. At that time it took tales of Taoism as subject matters to expound on the thought of renouncing the world and was thus called “Daoqing”. From the South Song Dynasty, Yugu (a percussion instrument made of bamboo) and Jianban (a percussion instrument with two long bamboo or wood flakes) are used in it, so it has been named “Yugu” since then on. From the middle period of the Ming Dynasty, it was introduced into Changde, and then it fused with local folk ballads and its subject matters were also expanded, so the Changde Yugu with distinctive characteristics were gradually developed. Usually one performer sings in various roles, and s/he can not only sing short cantos but also large plays with complete plots. The properties used in the singing are very simple, and besides Yugu barrel they consist of cymbals, cloud-shaped iron plates and bamboo poles. Yugu lyric consists of two parts: verse libretto and prose spoken part, and it takes singing as the main form and speaking as a complement.