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Shifan Ensembles

The flute leads, the gongs and drums answer

Introduction

Folk ensembles of some ten silk, bamboo, drum and gong instruments, played from Jiangnan to Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan

Shifan music takes its name from ensembles of about ten instruments made of silk, bamboo, hide, wood and metal. The flute usually leads, with sanxian, pipa, erhu, drums, gongs, cymbals, woodblock and clappers, and the genre is found in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan. In the Wanli reign Shen Defu recorded a newly popular drum-and-flute ensemble in the Wu region called 'ten brocades'; in the early Qing Ye Mengzhu noted that it was commonly called 'shifan', and in the 1790s Li Dou's Yangzhou huafang lu described the shifan drum ensemble in detail. Living branches include Hakka shifan of western Fujian, Chating shifan of Fuzhou, Chuzhou shifan gongs and drums, Louta fine shifan, Foshan shifan and Hainan bayin, listed nationally from 2006.

Timeline

Wanli reign of the Ming to present
1606 · OriginShen Defu's Wanli yehuo bian (main part prefaced 1606) describes the 'ten brocades' ensemble of drums, flutes, conch, clappers, cymbals and gongs, 'risen in recent years and especially loved by the people of Wu'; in the early Qing Ye Mengzhu wrote that this new Wu music was commonly called shifan.1640 · EvolutionYu Huai's Banqiao zaji, recalling the Qinhuai pleasure quarter of late-Ming Nanjing, names Qian Zhongwen as the shifan drummer and describes the shifan drum struck halfway through a banquet.1795 · EvolutionLi Dou's Yangzhou huafang lu (1795) details the shifan drum ensemble: paired flutes lead, with xiao, guan, sanxian, fiddle, cloud gongs, drums and gongs, a single-skin drum when all play, and woodblock and clappers for the beat; he adds that the music already existed under the Ming.2006 · ImpactIn 2006 Shifan music (Hakka shifan of western Fujian and Chating shifan) entered the first national list as II-44; the 2008 extensions added Chuzhou shifan gongs and drums, Shaobo gong-and-drum tunes, Louta fine shifan, Suichang Kunqu shifan, Huangshi Huiyang shiyin, Foshan shifan and Hainan bayin.
  1. 1606OriginShen Defu's Wanli yehuo bian (main part prefaced 1606) describes the 'ten brocades' ensemble of drums, flutes, conch, clappers, cymbals and gongs, 'risen in recent years and especially loved by the people of Wu'; in the early Qing Ye Mengzhu wrote that this new Wu music was commonly called shifan.
  2. 1640EvolutionYu Huai's Banqiao zaji, recalling the Qinhuai pleasure quarter of late-Ming Nanjing, names Qian Zhongwen as the shifan drummer and describes the shifan drum struck halfway through a banquet.
  3. 1795EvolutionLi Dou's Yangzhou huafang lu (1795) details the shifan drum ensemble: paired flutes lead, with xiao, guan, sanxian, fiddle, cloud gongs, drums and gongs, a single-skin drum when all play, and woodblock and clappers for the beat; he adds that the music already existed under the Ming.
  4. 2006ImpactIn 2006 Shifan music (Hakka shifan of western Fujian and Chating shifan) entered the first national list as II-44; the 2008 extensions added Chuzhou shifan gongs and drums, Shaobo gong-and-drum tunes, Louta fine shifan, Suichang Kunqu shifan, Huangshi Huiyang shiyin, Foshan shifan and Hainan bayin.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · II-44 Shifan music: Hakka shifan of western Fujian and Chating shifan · no. 75 · nominated by Longyan and Fuzhou · Fujian
  2. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage, extension itemsII-44 Shifan music: Chuzhou shifan gongs and drums · Shaobo gong-and-drum tunes · Louta fine shifan · Suichang Kunqu shifan · Huangshi Huiyang shiyin · Foshan shifan · Hainan bayin