MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Work Chants (Haozi)

One calls, all answer: songs to lift the load

Introduction

Call-and-response songs of boatmen, fishermen, dockers, carriers and rammers at work

Work chants are sung during collective labour to keep movements together and pace the breath; usually a leader sings and the crew answers. By trade they divide into boatmen's, sea fishermen's, dock, forest, carrying, workshop and ramming chants; the leading items are the Chuanjiang boatmen's chants (II-24), the river chants (II-98, with the Yellow River chants), the sea chants (II-97) and the dock chants (II-99). The Lüshi chunqiu already describes men lifting a great log, "those in front call out and those behind answer", and the Huainanzi calls this "a song for lifting weights and urging on effort". Since mechanisation, the chants survive mainly through tradition bearers.

Timeline

Late Warring States to present
239 BCE · OriginThe Lüshi chunqiu, compiled around 239 BC, records Zhai Jian telling King Hui of Wei that "when men lift a great log, those in front call out and those behind answer", likening statecraft to the call-and-response chant of a log-carrying crew: the earliest record of a work chant.139 BCE · EvolutionThe Huainanzi, which Liu An presented to Emperor Wu in 139 BC, retells the story as "those in front call ye-hu and those behind answer" and adds "this is a song for lifting weights and urging on effort", naming the chant as song.2006 · ImpactIn 2006 the Chuanjiang boatmen's chants (II-24), the Nanxi chants (II-25), the Lishui boatmen's chants (II-33) and the Bashan porters' songs (II-16) entered the first national ICH list. In the Chuanjiang chants a leader sings and the crew joins in the refrain; their home is Chongqing and eastern Sichuan.2008 · ImpactIn 2008 the second list grouped chants by trade into six combined items: sea (II-97), river (II-98), dock (II-99), forest (II-100), carrying (II-101) and workshop chants (II-102); the Yellow River chants alone divide into boatmen's, flood-fighting and ramming chants.
  1. 239 BCEOriginThe Lüshi chunqiu, compiled around 239 BC, records Zhai Jian telling King Hui of Wei that "when men lift a great log, those in front call out and those behind answer", likening statecraft to the call-and-response chant of a log-carrying crew: the earliest record of a work chant.Literature › Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals: Survey of Examining Responses
  2. 139 BCEEvolutionThe Huainanzi, which Liu An presented to Emperor Wu in 139 BC, retells the story as "those in front call ye-hu and those behind answer" and adds "this is a song for lifting weights and urging on effort", naming the chant as song.Literature › Huainanzi (The Masters of Huainan): Responses of the Way
  3. 2006ImpactIn 2006 the Chuanjiang boatmen's chants (II-24), the Nanxi chants (II-25), the Lishui boatmen's chants (II-33) and the Bashan porters' songs (II-16) entered the first national ICH list. In the Chuanjiang chants a leader sings and the crew joins in the refrain; their home is Chongqing and eastern Sichuan.
  4. 2008ImpactIn 2008 the second list grouped chants by trade into six combined items: sea (II-97), river (II-98), dock (II-99), forest (II-100), carrying (II-101) and workshop chants (II-102); the Yellow River chants alone divide into boatmen's, flood-fighting and ramming chants.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-16 Bashan porters' songs · no. 47 · nominated by Bazhong · Sichuan
  2. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-24 Chuanjiang boatmen's chants · no. 55 · nominated by Chongqing and Sichuan
  3. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-25 Nanxi chants (Tujia) · no. 56 · nominated by Qianjiang District · Chongqing
  4. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-33 Lishui boatmen's chants · no. 64 · nominated by Li County · Hunan
  5. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-89 Chashan chants (Yao) · no. 588 · nominated by Chenxi County · Hunan
  6. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-97 Sea chants (Zhoushan fishermen's chants · Changdao fishing chants) · no. 596 · nominated by Daishan · Zhejiang · Changdao · Shandong
  7. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-98 River chants (Yellow River chants · Yangtze gorges chants · Youshui boatmen's chants) · no. 597 · nominated by Henan Yellow River Bureau of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission · Yichang · Hubei and others · Baojing · Hunan
  8. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-99 Dock chants (Shanghai port) · no. 598 · nominated by Pudong and Yangpu · Shanghai
  9. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-100 Forest chants (Changbai Mountains · Xing'an Mountains) · no. 599 · nominated by Jilin · Yichun · Heilongjiang
  10. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-101 Carrying chants (Liangping taier tunes · Longgupo carriers' chants) · no. 600 · nominated by Liangping and Wushan · Chongqing
  11. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-102 Workshop chants (bamboo-pulp chants) · no. 601 · nominated by Qionglai · Sichuan
  12. 2011National list extension3rd batch · Ⅱ-97 Sea chants (Changhai · Xiangshan) · Changhai · Liaoning · Xiangshan · Zhejiang
  13. 2011National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage3rd batch · Ⅱ-150 Maoshan chants · no. 1080 · nominated by Xinghua · Jiangsu
  14. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · Ⅱ-181 Liangdang chants · no. 1395 · nominated by Liangdang County · Gansu