Fishing drum "Jinshan Asks" from the album "Chinese music map of hearing Shaanxi Northern Shaanxi Southern folk song storytelling collection"

Learning Taoism on Mount. Jin. Learning Taoism on mount. Jin

Quyi fishing Drum Nationality: Han Nationality Region: Shaanxi

Singing, fishing drum: Jin Peixing

The play of fishing drum, originated from the Taoist sentiment of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the Taoist stories and spiritual ideas conveyed by Taoist priests in the way of "playing fishing drum and singing songs" when preaching or collecting funds. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the religious color of Daoqing gradually weakened, and eventually evolved into a popular folk art form of rap. The fishing drum used to accompany the festival in the fishing drum opera is a traditional Han musical instrument made of bamboo tubes with a length of about 65 to 100 cm. During the performance, the opera artists held the fishing drum upright with their left hand, struck the drum covered with pig skin or sheepskin with their right hand, and sang the well-known myths and legends and historical stories in a cadence, leaving a deep impression on the spectators.

"Ask the Golden Mountain" is a break in the tradition of fishing drum opera "The Legend of the White Snake." The selected verses of this song tell the story of the discussion between Fa Hai and Jinchan Master that Xu Xian overheard when he went to Jinshan Temple for advice on Daoism. The mellow and low fishing drum plays a gentle beat, gradually introducing the audience into the vivid story situation. The graceful and clear voice of the performers, as well as the interesting, shallow and profound lyrics, make people understand the ethical concept that cause and effect are linked, and good and evil are rewarded. The performance features of Yugu Opera are both narrative and lyrical, which can be clearly seen here.