CONVERSATIONS WITH A LOVED ONE: POETRY, MELODY, AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN HANI DIALOGUE SONGS by Gloria Ngar-Yan Wong B.Mus., The University of British Columbia, 2000 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Music) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2009 © Gloria Ngar-Yan Wong, 2009 ii Abstract The Hani reside in the Red River region located in China’s southwest province of Yunnan. This study centers on dialogue forms of their oldest extant song tradition—laba. These songs are orally transmitted and composed extemporaneously using melodic and textual formulae. The study begins with an introduction to existing scholarship on laba epics, which provides the basis for an overview of Hani history and religious beliefs. This is followed by a study of the interpretation and structuring of dialogue songs based on recordings made between 2002 and 2006. There are two main types of male-female dialogues: those performed between lovers and those performed between siblings. The varied historical and contemporary social contexts in which these songs are performed give rise to multiple interpretations of song texts and to variations in the structuring of a song’s thematic content. Laba dialogues constitute both a type of verbal art and a form of conversation in which asymmetrical kinship relationships are maintained. The approach to analyzing laba texts as dialogical sites of cultural production is influenced by theories in ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore and literary studies. This study also examines the relationships between poetic and melodic structure. Since laba is sung in a speech-like manner, its melodic contours are closely tied to the phonological qualities of the text. This study examines how recurring formulae form the basis for variation in both poetry and melody. Parallelism forms the basis of poetic structure, while a recurring phrase contour is the basis of an indigenous concept of melody called teisa. The analysis of laba melody and discussions of an indigenous one-melody concept draws upon perspectives offered by Alan Thrasher and Antoinet Schimmelpenninck on similar regional musics. 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......................................................................................182 TABLE 5.2 SUMMARY OF MOTIVIC CONTENT IN “WATER BUCKET” EXCERPT ...............................................191 vii List of Figures FIGURE 1.1 TRADITIONAL HANI SONG CATEGORIES I ........................................................................................25 FIGURE 1.2 TRADITIONAL HANI SONG CATEGORIES II.......................................................................................26 FIGURE 3.1 EXAMPLE OF PARALLEL COUPLETS IN SEQUENCE .............................................................................94 FIGURE 4.1 PHONOLOGICAL PARALLELISM IN TWO COUPLETS ......................................................................142 FIGURE 4.2 USE OF ANTITHETICAL NOUNS ......................................................................................................145 FIGURE 4.3 REPETITION AND VARIATION FOR EMPHASIS ................................................................................146 FIGURE 4.4 EXCERPT FROM RECORDING AL1A ................................................................................................149 FIGURE 4.5 THREE REALIZATIONS OF A FORMULAIC COUPLET.......................................................................153 FIGURE 5.1 PITCH COLLECTION OF LABA MELODY ...........................................................................................158 FIGURE 5.2 EXAMPLES OF MELODIC DESCENT IN A LABA PHRASE....................................................................159 FIGURE 5.3 GENERAL MELODIC STRUCTURE OF A LABA PHRASE .....................................................................160 FIGURE 5.4 WEIGHTED MODE USED IN LUCHUN LABA...................................................................................163 FIGURE 5.5 MELODIC TENDENCIES IN F# PITCH AREA....................................................................................164 FIGURE 5.6 EXAMPLE OF A PHRASE USING A SUBSET OF THE MODE...............................................................165 FIGURE 5.7 EXAMPLES OF THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF PITCHES B AND A..................................................165 FIGURE 5.8 LA MODE USED IN CHUXIONG YI DANCE-SONGS..........................................................................170 FIGURE 5.9 TRANSCRIPTION OF TWO YI DANCE-SONGS ..................................................................................170 FIGURE 5.10 EXAMPLE OF MONOTHEMATISM IN WU AREA SHAN’GE .............................................................171 FIGURE 5.11 MELODIC SCHEMATA FROM “WU-A-HEI-HEI” TUNE ...................................................................173 FIGURE 5.12 TRANSLATED TEXT OF “DEAR BROTHER” EXCERPT FROM AL2 ..................................................176 FIGURE 5.13 TRANSCRIPTION OF “DEAR BROTHER” EXCERPT FROM RECORDING AL2..................................177 FIGURE 5.14 TRANSLATED TEXT OF “WATER BUCKET” EXCERPT FROM RECORDING CP2 ............................187 FIGURE 5.15 TRANSCRIPTION OF “WATER BUCKET” EXCERPT FROM RECORDING CP2.................................189 FIGURE 5.16 TRANSLATED TEXT OF “DEAR SISTER” EXCERPT FROM RECORDING GM3 .................................195 FIGURE 5.17 TRANSCRIPTION OF “DEAR SISTER” EXCERPT FROM RECORDING GM3 .....................................196 FIGURE 5.18 MOST CONSTANT FEATURES OF LUCHUN LABA...........................................................................202 FIGURE 5.19 MELODIC SCHEMATA OF LUCHUN LABA .....................................................................................202 FIGURE 6.1 COMPARISON OF WEIGHTED TEISA MODES ....................................................................................223 viii List of Illustrations ILLUSTRATION 1.1 THE LEONG FAMILY IN LUCHUN, 2000 ..................................................................................2 ILLUSTRATION 1.2 HANI TERRACED RICE FIELDS IN YUANYANG COUNTY, 2002.................................................4 ILLUSTRATION 1.3 LACEL (LEFT) WITH AUTHOR (RIGHT) IN DAXING VILLAGE, 2005 .........................................6 ILLUSTRATION 1.4 KUNMING-LUCHUN ROAD CONDITIONS DURING THE RAINY SEASON, 2005 .....................13 ILLUSTRATION 1.5 LUCHUN TOWNSHIP BUILT ON A MOUNTAIN RIDGE, 2005 ..................................................14 ILLUSTRATION 1.6 MAP OF YUNNAN IN CHINA.................................................................................................15 ILLUSTRATION 1.7 MAP OF YUNNAN AND HANI-POPULATED REGIONS...........................................................16 ILLUSTRATION 1.8 ALSSIL’S FATHER PLAYING YUEQIN (LEFT), AND ALSSIL PLAYING SANXIAN (RIGHT), ALZEIV LOAMA, JULY 2002.........................................................................................................................21 ILLUSTRATION 1.9 YANG PIHEI PLAYING DIZI, DAXING VILLAGE, JULY 2005. .....................................21 ILLUSTRATION 1.10 VILLAGERS PLAYING BABI (RIGHT) AND MEIBA (LEFT) IN DAXING VILLAGE, JULY 2005 ...22 ILLUSTRATION 1.11 VILLAGER PLAYING WUBAO IN DAXING VILLAGE, JULY 2005 ............................................22 ILLUSTRATION 2.1 KUZAZA FESTIVAL PIG SACRIFICE AT THE SWING SHELTER AT AQLAOQ NAHHAL, 2006 ...56 ILLUSTRATION 2.2 HANI HOUSEHOLD ANCESTRAL ALTAR (AFFIXED TO WALL ON FAR LEFT) IN DAXING VILLAGE, 2006 .............................................................................................................................................56 ILLUSTRATION 2.3 MAP OF HANI MIGRATION....................................................................................................62 ILLUSTRATION 3.1 COUPLE, SIIVQLAOQ AND SALPIEL, SINGING AZI TOGETHER IN TEA FIELDS BYALZEIV LOAMA, JUNE 2006 ...................................................................................................................................103 ILLUSTRATION 3.2 SIIVQLAOQ SINGING AZI IN A CONTEMPLATIVE MANNER, 2006 ........................................103 ILLUSTRATION 3.3 SALPIEL RESPONDING TO SIIVQLAOQ’S INVITATION TO LOVE, 2006..................................104 ILLUSTRATION 3.4 BRIDE MOURNING HER DEPARTURE FROM BIRTH KIN, JANUARY 2009..............................126 ILLUSTRATION 3.5 BROTHER CARRYING SISTER TO GROOM’S HOUSE, JULY 2009.............................................129 ILLUSTRATION 6.1 HANI WOMEN’S GATHERING, DAXING VILLAGE, DECEMBER 2008 ...................................211 ILLUSTRATION 6.2 WOMEN CONVERSING WHILE PACKAGING HERBS IN DAXING VILLAGE, DECEMBER 2008 ...................................................................................................................................................................211 ILLUSTRATION 6.3 DVD COVER SHOWING HANI SINGER, LI MINGXIU, PRODUCED 2006 ..............................220 ix Notes on Hani Orthography and Pronunciation The Hani did not have a script until 1957, when a group of linguists in the People’s Republic of China devised an orthography in response to state policies promoting the development of minority language and culture. Included in the group responsible for this orthography were linguists: Bai Zu’e, Dai Qingxia, Li Yongsui, and Wang Ersong. The script is based on the Hanyu Pinyin system, exclusively employing letters from the Roman alphabet. Since its development, this script has been used in the publication of many books, journals and newspapers, and has assisted in the analysis of much Hani oral literature. However, written Hani is not well known among a majority of Hani speakers.1 Chinese linguists divide Hani into three major dialect groups. The Hani used in this study is part of the Hani-Yani dialect group. Because the dialect of Daxing village in Luchun was selected as the standard for this dialect group, the vocabulary and grammar found in the song texts of this study fit well within the conventions of the developed orthography. Hani has both oral and laryngealized vowels.2 Three tones are spoken in oral vowels—high, medium, and low—and two tones are spoken in laryngealized vowels.3 Tonal markers are expressed in the orthography with the placement of ‘l’ or ‘q’ at the end of a syllable to indicate high and low tones respectively. Laryngealized vowels are indicated with a ‘v’ placed before the tone indicator as shown in the chart below. Hani Tone Chart (Lewis and Bai 1996) Tone Level Oral Vowels Laryngealized Vowels High --l (bal) Medium -- (ba) --v (bav) Low --q (baq) --vq (bavq) All Hani syllables begin with a consonant followed by a vowel and tone indicator(s). The tables below show the different Hani vowels and consonants and their pronunciation equivalents in IPA, with additional comments on English pronunciation equivalents. For ease of reading, I have left out tone and laryngealization markers in words that appear in the body of the dissertation with the exception of people’s names. When referring to original song texts in chapter 4 and appendices, I have retained all parts of the Hani orthography. Hani names and terms taken from Chinese sources are written out according to Hanyu Pinyin and do not follow the orthographic conventions outlined above. When referring to song names, I use abbreviated song names followed by verse numbers in the following manner (AL1:32-25). Abbreviations are based on the name of the singer or their home village. Please refer to Appendix A and B for details about singers and field recordings. For transcriptions of song texts into Chinese and English, refer to Appendix C. 1 There are both historical and political reasons for a lack of interest in Hani literacy. For Hani who have not had a formal education, there is little motivation to learn to read and write Hani since written forms of communication are so foreign to them. For Hani who are educated and literate in Chinese, there is an equal lack of interest since Chinese is the language of commerce. However, these attitudes are gradually changing among some educated Hani who are finding Hani publications to be useful sources for cultural learning. 2 Laryngealized vowels are also known as ‘tight’ or ‘creaky’ vowels, which are spoken with a tightening of the larynx. 3 Linguists describe the high tone and mid tone as having level contours (55 and 33). Although some Chinese scholars hear the low tone as going from mid to low (31), Lewis hears it as a tone that is closer to 21 in utterance initial positions (1996: 11). The Laryngealized high, mid and low tones are described as two level (33 and 11) contours and a low to mid rising contour (24) respectively. x Table of Pronunciation for Hani Consonants Vowels IPA English Approximation -i [i] as in 'bee' -ei [] as in 'said' -yu [Ø] similar to the German 'ö' -ee; -ii [] as in 'quilt' with prolonged vowel sound -e [] as in 'the' -a [a] as in 'cat' -u [u] as in 'too' -o [o] as in 'note' -ao [] as in 'dog' Table of Pronunciation for Hani Vowels Consonants IPA English Approximation b- [b] most consonants have similar pronunciation to English d- [d] g- [g] s- [s] z- [dz] as in 'grads' x- [] as in 'banshee' j- [j] ss- [z] as in 'zoo' y [j] as in 'yellow' m [m] n- [n] ng [] as in 'sing' hh- [] as in the Spanish pronunciation of 'g' in 'la guerra' l- [l] xi Acknowledgements Like a child playing with watercolors, I began this project seven years ago not quite knowing what shape it would take and at many points not having the confidence to continue productively. Fortunately, the colours on my easel eventually did take the form of a work that was found worthy of a place in the world of graduate theses, and for this I am indebted to many people. I would like to thank my supervisors, Alan Thrasher and Michael Tenzer for their many years of mentorship, and for their excellent advice and guidance on this particular project. Twelve years ago, your undergraduate courses left me in a tizzy of new sounds and presented me with new and more convincing ways to think about and know music. This experience led me down new paths of musical experience which I would not trade for the world. It has sharpened my musical senses and given me tools with which to explore how others know and experience music. With respect to this thesis, I thank Dr. Thrasher for reading through my work so carefully and for asking much needed questions that were fundamental to the cogency of my arguments. I benefited immensely from your expertise in this field and much appreciated your keen ability to detect and correct unclear writing. My deepest thanks also go to Michael Tenzer who later took on the role of research supervisor following Alan Thrasher’s retirement. Thank you Michael for your patience and generosity in allowing us to have weekly meetings at your home. These check-ups were essential to my progress and allowed me many opportunities to benefit from your experience as a scholar, writer and musician. Your editorial skills and input on a breadth of subject matter were so valuable to a well-rounded and succinct presentation of this topic. Thank you also for your hospitality on so many occasions. My deep gratitude also goes to Nathan Hesselink, Patrick Moore, Catherine Swatek, and John Roeder for their input especially with respect to their areas of specialization. During the external review process, Helen Rees graciously offered her expertise on minority music in Yunnan by looking through this thesis with great detail and contributing ccomments which have not only greatly improved the quality of this thesis but will certainly benefit my work in the form of future publications and further research. Thank you to all the Hani musicians and singers who generously shared their knowledge of Hani music and song with me. Although my language abilities kept us from the immediacy of untranslated conversation, your songs were enough to give me a taste of your culture’s creativity, imagination, and love for life. I hope that our conversations will continue into the future and that our voices will become more intelligible to each other with years to come. Thank you to Chen Lacel for her many hours of translation help and for acting as my language teacher and host during my visits. I owe much also to the hospitality and assistance of Nina and Brian Leong, and Keem and Nan Leong. Thank you for patiently looking through earlier drafts of chapters 3 and 5, and giving helpful comments. My gratitude goes to Karen Gainer who answered many of my questions about Hani grammatical usage and verb particles. Without this shared knowledge, I would have missed much of the subtleties of laba poetry. The work of editing and formatting the many translated song texts was aided by Zheng Mingfang, Joyce Chung, Rita Chung and Ariah Wong. Thank you also to Joyce for helping me review earlier drafts of chapter 2. There are also many people whose friendship and encouragement I could not have done without during this time. I would like to thank my husband Robert for his love and unwavering support through many difficult deadlines and trying months apart. Than you for helping me to keep my computer healthy and buying me a battery of back-up infrastructure in case there was a meltdown. Thankfully, our little MacBook xii Pro toughed it out very well. The arrival of our daughter Hannah two years ago has given us so much joy. Others thought you might be a burden to my research, but you turned out to be a delight and a catalyst for the completion of my writing. You are so precious to us. I thank my family, especially my parents and my in-laws for their constant encouragement and practical support. Thank you for sending us food and helping us to care for Hannah so that I could be free to concentrate on my writing. I am grateful to my UBC friends for their great sense of humour and kind words. I thank my friends at CCC for their prayers and care for us as a family. Lastly, I would like to thank God, my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me the emotional stamina and intellectual insight to conduct and write up my research. Thank you for sitting beside me and encouraging me when I sat typing for long hours in front of my computer. Without you I would have never begun this project. Thank you for being my Creator, Sustainer, and the all- knowing One. I worship you. xiii Dedication To Robert and Hannah 1 Chapter 1: Introduction First Encounters I was first introduced to the Hani and their oral song genre of laba in the summer of 2002 through some contacts that I had made at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing during a language exchange the previous summer.4 I saw this as an invaluable opportunity to visit the area and encounter its regional musics firsthand. Previous to this, I had taken some undergraduate ethnomusicology courses, which had piqued my interest in the music of China’s southwest minorities. On arriving to Yunnan for the first time that summer, my goal was to travel widely and be exposed to many different minority musics and cultures, in hopes that the contacts developed in one of these settings would open doors to future research. This coincided with the first year of my graduate studies, during which time I had only the modest intentions of developing a master’s thesis project. Fortuitously, circumstances in the field and at home coincided such that this project expanded in its breadth and scope. Spurred on by the enthusiasm of Brian and Nina Leong, American linguists and aid workers who had then recently moved to Luchun to work among the Hani, I decided by the end of that summer to develop a graduate project focusing on Hani folksongs (see illustration 1.1). My initial reasons for choosing Hani folksongs out of the many other minority musics encountered that summer were purely practical—I met expatriate colleagues who were willing to support my research by hosting me and helping me to establish local contacts. Being a young single woman with little experience on the field, the invitation extended by the Leongs was a major factor in my decision to conduct my graduate research among the Hani. 4 Central University for Nationalities (Zhongyang Minzu Daxue). 2 Illustration 1.1 The Leong Family in Luchun, 2000 Since this first trip, I have returned for further fieldwork in the summers of 2005, 2006 and in the fall of 2008. The trips combined represent a series of first encounters, a set of experiences that caused me to continually revise my perception of Hani cultural attitudes toward laba—the song genre at the centre of this study—and kinship values observed through laba texts. I was not able to piece together the many apparent contradictions that I encountered between Hani views of their music and cultural identity until much later. Furthermore, during this six-year period, many changes took place in my main location of research in Luchun township—sweeping changes brought on by urbanization and the introduction of mediated global musics that caused me to reconsider the transformative state of laba as a song genre. Coinciding with these events in the field were also changes taking place in my own personal life, which heightened my sensitivity toward social dynamics within the Hani family. The following is a reflexive account describing some key individuals and social circumstances shaping my 3 fieldwork as well as issues of representation and self-representation that emerged from these contexts. Laba is the oldest extant song genre of the Hani. It is composed and performed orally in a variety of ritual contexts and can be sung as a solo or in dialogue. Laba poetry has distinct narrative structures and themes; its extemporized texts feature canonical parallelism based on a large repertoire of stock phrases. Similarly, laba melody is also extemporized based on a melodic structure that is recurring at the phrase level. Laba is sung in a speech-like manner, in which melodic contours conform closely to the phonological qualities of the text. When I first heard about this tradition through a friend, I was eager to seek it out. To my dismay, after arriving to Luchun, I discovered that many of the locals held low views of their music. As Jiuqsal, a village elder, stated: “We do not really have our own music or songs. The only thing we have is laba but their tunes are the same. Plus very few people can sing it nowadays.” Even though I knew not to take these words at face value, the prevalence of such attitudes of inferiority regarding indigenous music- making were nevertheless discouraging words to a young ethnomusicologist looking for a dissertation project. I was familiar with the globalizing effects of mediated music on indigenous forms of music-making from a theoretical standpoint but seeing its effects on local attitudes at the ground level was still a jolt to the system. If the locals claim that their music is dead, who was I to refute it? And how was I to conduct a research project among people who had so little interest in their own music? Ironically, I received the most encouragement to continue in my study of laba through the Leong’s who had some experience of the genre’s social importance. With additional time in the field, I soon learned that local claims of musiclessness were responses to musical assessments from without. The Hani were assessing their own indigenous traditions using other state-sponsored forms of minority music as their measuring stick. Because Hani laba melody does not lend itself easily to repackaging as 4 a staged performance, or a pop tune, it has received relatively little popular acclaim compared to the music and dance of other southwest minorities. 5 Rather, what has gained the Hani people national and international acclaim in cultural tourism is their expansive development of terraced rice-fields along the Ailao-Wuliang mountain ranges (see illustration 1.2). These outward assignments of cultural value by officialdom and the tourism industry play a major role in defining the way Hani view themselves, and how they portray themselves to others. Unbeknownst to me, my status as a graduate researcher, and my connections to Brian and Nina Leong who worked closely with local governments, linked me to officialdom in a way that caused them to respond in a conditioned manner to my questions on local music. While it was true that this region of Hani practiced very few forms of traditional instrumental music, the performance of laba and its various forms of instrumental performance continue to be very popular amongst a certain age population. Illustration 1.2 Hani terraced rice fields in Yuanyang county, 2002 5 While Hani music of Honghe county has recently received national and international attention among the academic community, my interlocutors were not aware of these activities, and also do not recognize the Hani music of Honghe as being related to their own local music. 5 The second disappointment that I had to come to terms with during my initial trip was my hope of approaching the study of Hani music through some personal involvement in the music-making itself. Mantle Hood’s ideals of acquiring some degree of bi-musicality as an approach to understanding music and musical experience proved less feasible when dealing with a partially improvised song tradition (1971). When I first broached the subject of studying laba with my translator, Lacel, she shook her head at me as if I were asking for the sky: “Laba is impossible to learn, my dear! You either are born knowing it or you don’t know it. Besides, laba poetry is difficult to understand even for a native Hani speaker…and you want to learn to sing it when you can’t converse in Hani yet? Impossible!”6 While I have since found out that the informal process of learning laba for a native Hani involves stages of development and practice, Lacel was right in that my learning to sing laba would require additional time and effort that lay beyond the scope of this dissertation project. In the end, the bulk of my research was done through interviews and the transcription and analysis of recorded laba texts and melody. The process has involved close work with my translator, Lacel, who spent several months helping me to translate materials, going back and forth between different laba aficionados and singers to verify the meanings of obscure metaphors and terms used in song texts (see illustration 1.3). A 6 I speak fluent Mandarin and Cantonese, and have reading ability in Chinese characters. Since beginning this project, I have a learned some basic Hani vocabulary, but am not fluent in conversational Hani. I am now quite familiar with laba texts in terms of their grammatical structures and vocabulary, but am unable to understand them on first hearing. While it is true that learning to sing Hani would require many years of intensive study of Hani language and poetry, I continue to hold on to this aspiration. Pertaining to language use in my fieldwork, a majority of Hani in their thirties and below could converse with me in Mandarin or in the local Yunnan dialect. (I could understand most of their Yunnan dialect but could not speak it, while many of them understood Mandarin but could only speak in the regional dialect.) When speaking to the elderly and those who only knew Hani, I had to rely on my translator, Lacel, or on others who were present at the time and could speak some form of Chinese. Hani is significantly different from Chinese, although recently the language has adopted many more Chinese loanwords. The Hani language is a member of the Loloish (Yi) branch of the Lolo-Burmese subgroup of the Tibeto-Burman linguistic family. The language has oral and laryngealized vowels in three tones (Lewis 1996:6-11) (See also Notes on Hani Orthography and Pronunciation). 6 second part of the research, involved interviews with Lacel’s friends, during informal house gatherings, where women sat embroidering or wrapping herbal crops and men sipped ziba, a strong rice wine, around a low table. During these meetings, I asked many questions regarding cultural values, in particular relating to gender dynamics, kinship relationships and obligations, as touched upon by laba texts. Illustration 1.3 Lacel (left) with author (right) in Daxing village, 2005 The translating portion of this project has been a learning experience for Lacel also as she understood only about three quarters of the content of laba texts at the start of the project.7 Since the completion of this work, Lacel claims to understand almost all laba content with ease, and her recently acquired skills have helped her to secure 7 I met my main research collaborator, Chen Lacel, through Brian and Nina Leong, who initially employed her as a Hani language teacher. Lacel grew up in Daxing Zhai, a village that has since become part of the larger Daixing Township. Despite her modest education (she finished junior highschool), Lacel is quick to learn and a naturally gifted teacher. She is fully literate in Hani and Chinese, is a fluent mandarin speaker, and has developed the skills to type on a word processor as well as conduct email correspondences. At the same time, she is fully immersed and knowledgeable about Hani village life, having spent many years as a farming peasant. In many ways, Lacel has been a cross-cultural agent that has met me “part-way” and helped me in translating and negotiating issues of representation in the field. Her entry into teaching and research avenues of work for foreigners like myself and the Leong’s has radically changed her life in both positive and negative ways. To an extent, she is still working out these changes as they relate to future employment and career opportunities. 7 contractual employment with laba collection projects organized by the Honghe People’s Research Institute (Honghezhou Minzu Yanjiusuo).8 Many of my observations on the laba learning process, and the use of stock phrases, and metaphors came as points that emerged from our discussions on specific texts. To a large extent, my research benefited from the fact that Lacel was engaged in the learning process herself during our collaboration. First, her position as a learner, gave her the ability to ask elders many questions without reproach. Second, she made no assumptions about what I already new and used basic language to explain concepts that she grasped. Third, I was able to track her increasingly refined understanding of laba narrative through our repeated conversations about texts and their meanings. Her process of learning provided me with insights into how others within the culture may also learn to understand and conceptualize laba narratives, metaphors and parallelisms. Because of the schedule of my studies at the university, all but one of my trips to Luchun were taken during the spring to summer months of May to August. This coincided with their rainy season and the celebration of the Swing Festival. Conducting fieldwork during only one season of the yearly cycle presents obvious barriers to well- rounded research. (I made efforts to compensate for this by requesting detailed local accounts of other festivals of the year, and by observing various videos that the Leong’s had taken of rituals that took place outside of the rainy season.) My difficulties were compounded by the fact that the rainy season marks an inauspicious period in the Hani calendar, during which time labas are not customarily sung.9 Fortunately, my research participants were most understanding of my time constraints and the exigencies of my project, and were happy to perform on request. However, this meant that I had very 8 Honghezhou Minzu Yuanjiusuo ( ). 9 The rainy season is thought to be a spiritually dark period brought on by continuous rainstorms—a time associated with mourning and funerals. For this reason, singing laba as part of life-giving rituals such as courtship and laba are discouraged. Evidently, these prohibitions were not so strong that local singers felt that they could not make exceptions for an academic requesting special performances. 8 little opportunity to experience spontaneous sessions of laba performance, and the social dynamics at work in such sessions. Throughout my time in Luchun, my close associations with the Leong’s and their long-term presence in Luchun played a key role in shaping local perceptions of me as a foreign scholar. I am greatly indebted to the Leongs for their continued hospitality and interest in my work. I benefited greatly from their official affiliations, as well as their close associations with villagers in Luchun. Not only did they have a convenient office set-up in the heart of a village, where I was able to conduct many of my interviews and recordings, but the timing of their travels abroad often coincided perfectly with my time in Luchun such that I was able to work closely with their main interpreter, Lacel. Furthermore, their continued association with Lacel allowed me to continue email and phone correspondence with her throughout our six years of collaboration. This was extremely useful to the process of studying and understanding laba, as I was able to return frequently (however remotely) to my research participants to clarify meanings and ask further questions about issues that cropped up during further analyses. At some points in my research, however, it was necessary for me to make distinct my research goals from the activities and programs of the Leongs. This meant communicating clearly with them also about decisions that I came to in the process of research.10 Clarifying my desired goals with my other research participants did not prove to be very difficult, though, as Lacel was very skilled at acting as my representative. The main clarifications of expectations took place between Lacel and myself in terms of how I wanted texts to be translated, and what types of questions I wished to ask of individuals during interviews. Lacel was also very helpful in teaching 10 During the beginning of my fieldwork, the Leongs were enthusiastic about my presence and the potential that my work had in assisting their projects, through applied uses of music in medical clinics and literacy workshops. In the end, I had to let them know that I was not yet ready at that stage of my research to begin an applied ethnomusicological project of that scope. Fortunately, they were able to find another local musicologist, Li Mingxiu, who helped them to compose and record a set of folksongs for use in disease prevention clinics for villagers. The song topics covered AIDS prevention and the treatment and prevention of other common health concerns such as dyssentry and eye infections. 9 me socially appropriate behavior, and helped me work out many issues of compensation and payment of singers. In some cases, I would offer a monetary gift to singers, relative to their skill and time spent. In other cases, I was shown that a gift of fruit or food was more appropriate. In regard to my payment of Lacel, I followed the payscale worked out by the Leongs, which I believed to be at par with standard wages of clerical work in the town. Throughout the years, I have also given gifts to Lacel according to her expressed needs, mostly in the form of household appliances and technical equipment that would help her in future clerical work. My position as a foreign researcher gave me close associations with officialdom that I came to accept as being unavoidable and in many ways advantageous to my research. The Luchun Hani often expressed appreciation and respect for local government administration, both in speech and practice. Although, my limited language abilities may have prevented me from noticing more subtle undercurrents of dissatisfaction, the sum of my experiences have led me to believe that many villagers feel sincerely loyal to Chinese officialdom. This is because most villagers have benefited immensely from the infrastructure development that the government has introduced to this region over the last three decades. Technological conveniences such as electricity, running water, sewage systems, and roads are changes that many Hani have seen in their lifetime and have come to appreciate as indications of good governance. In the words of one singer: It happens that in this month, on this year: Because governance is good, then everything is improving, Because the people are intelligent, then all things go well. Because of good officials and good leaders, We brothers and sisters can be together. Because of good governance, we are able to gather together. We, the eldest sons, will love each of our younger siblings, In the same way that water loves fish. (GM1: 4-9) The singer continues in the song to welcome me as the “little official from the north”. I was welcomed on numerous occasions in this manner. However, the Hani were 10 not only responding to my official status, but they considered it an honor to welcome guests who had come to visit from afar. Whenever I arrived in a new home, the host would inevitably ask where I came from, and how long the journey was. After, I explained to them the different steps of my journey, they would laugh incredulously and take my hand, saying, “What trouble you have taken to come see us. Come and stay awhile.” It was under many such circumstances that I was able to oblige laba singers and audiences to perform and speak to me about laba and how its words speak about their life. My Chinese-Canadian identity, while it raised occasional questions about my appearance, did not become a point of confusion in how others perceived me. Luchun is not a big tourist town, and so the Hani there do not see many foreign tourists. Rather their exposure to foreigners has been shaped by interactions with the Leong’s and other foreign development workers. Since Nina, a Caucasian, and Brian, a Malaysian Chinese, both portray themselves as American, my Hani friends were accustomed to meeting foreigners of mixed ethnic backgrounds and citizenship. They were quick to accept my mixed Chinese-Canadian identity once I explained to them my Chinese ancestry. What were perhaps larger issues of self-representation shaping the outcome of my research was that of gender and age. As a young woman doing laba research, I was often confronted by an age and gender barrier when speaking with men. While most men were respectful and courteous, many would answer my questions with short, general responses while the women spoke at length and with enthusiasm about both the meaning of song texts, and how these illuminated kinship values. I soon came to the conclusion that these differences in conversational dynamics were a result of gender segregation in conversations. Also, mature men likely felt less at ease with my mixed status as a foreign researcher, and also as a junior female member of society. Often my youthful appearance and perhaps seemingly naïve line of questioning caused them to place me in the latter category. 11 Other times I faced difficulties in conducting research with male singers because they misinterpreted my eagerness to hear laba, especially laba courtship songs, as an invitation to romance. Furthermore, my status as a foreign visitor who was presumed to have some financial means also at times attracted unwanted attention, not so much from singers but from their relatives and friends. Fortunately, Lacel was skilled at helping me handle these awkward social situations, and I grew increasingly adept at avoiding them also. Later in my research, I learned some ways of crossing gender boundaries through active musical exchange, but these opportunities were rare, and I inevitably found myself turning more frequently to Hani women for answers to the deeper social implications of laba texts.11 My resultant research findings are undoubtedly affected by this heavy weighting toward the female perspective. My awareness of this imbalance has caused me to strive for a more balanced portrayal of gender experience—as much as is possible given my position in the field. From an alternate perspective, studying laba as a young female was a boon. My frequent and extended stays with Lacel’s family, gave me the opportunity to join in many casual conversations and social functions. It also allowed me entrée into Lacel’s circle of female neighbors and kinswomen who saw me as a younger sister, and felt obliged to teach me many things. In this way, I was able to learn about family obligations and female experience within a male-dominated kinship structure. These fieldwork experiences also coincided with my own marriage into a Chinese family that upheld stronger views of traditional gender roles and kinship obligations than I had experienced in my birth family. These personal experiences gave me a heightened sensitivity toward the female identity in Hani kinship hierarchies, and how these are portrayed in laba dialogues. Furthermore, my period of research coincides with a time in 11 There were several occasions when I mustered up the courage to respond to a laba performance with a song of my own. Such displays were well received as gestures of hospitality and friendship. In particular, the men at the dinner table seemed to open up in conversation after these exchanges, perhaps because they felt that my musical response was a display of leadership and hospitality, which demonstrated my ability to respond socially on an equal plane with them. 12 which laba, a traditionally male-dominated performance genre, is developing new contexts of performance that are female-dominated. My female identity has allowed me to interact closely with the singers and audiences at the centre of this burgeoning revival, and to examine in depth what new meanings accrue to these new performative contexts. Hani Culture in the Ailao Mountains The town of Luchun lies 450 km from Kunming, Yunnan’s provincial capital, and can be reached by an overnight bus. In early May of 2001, I entered Kunming’s bustling Nanyou Station with two friends to board a rickety sleeper bus bound for the terraced rice-fields of Luchun. Sleeper buses are common fare for Yunnan locals who travel back and forth between the village and Kunming for work, school, medical trips, and shopping. An experienced team of drivers navigates the windy roads of the Ailao Mountains through the hours of the night, while the passengers shift about on rows of bunk beds that line the side and back of the bus. The bus rides are usually eventful affairs, with a variety of people and goods boarding and exiting throughout the night. In my earlier trips, local travelers frequently brought with them livestock such as chicks and dogs kept in baskets and bags. As the years progressed, the bus aisles were more frequently filled with large appliances and televisions sets, an indication of growing wealth and consumerism in the village. 13 Illustration 1.4 Kunming-Luchun road conditions during the rainy season, 2005 The trip during the rainy season can prove to be troublesome if not dangerous, as roads are often blocked or washed away by mud and rock slides (see Illustration 1.4). We arrived that May in the morning hours to a town built along the ridge of a mountain, with an expanse of green terraced rice fields on either side, descending to rivers encircling below (see illustration 1.5). The town itself is superimposed upon a cluster of villages. The town name of Luchun is actually a dialect pronunciation of the characters liucun, referring to the original six villages that made up the town.12 When the town was assigned its official name, alternate characters meaning “green spring” were adopted to refer to the temperate climate and greenery of the locale.13 12 The Chinese term liucun () was used used to refer to the original “six villages” that were assigned a part of the town area. Before this the villages existed separately with no Hani term referring to their collective entity. 13 Luchun (), meaning “green spring”. The origins and evolution of the town name, Luchun, seemed to be common knowledge among the townspeople. Those individuals who provided the information above included: Chen Lacel, Jiuqsal, Pilsal, Bai Zhehei (2002, 2005: personal communication). 14 Illustration 1.5 Luchun township built on a mountain ridge, 2005 Luchun township, also known as Daxing zhen, is the governing centre to the county of the same name.14 Luchun county has nine other townships, of which Luchun is the most densely populated. The county covers an area of 3096 km2 and has a population of approximately 205,000, of which 88.5% are Hani.15 Luchun county is one of thirteen counties belonging to the Honghe Hani-Yi Autonomous Region, an administrative region just below the provincial level of government.16 Luchun lies at the southwestern corner of this prefectural district and shares a southern border with Vietnam (see Illustration 1.6 and 1.7). 14 The name, Luchun, is actually commonly used to refer to both the town of Luchun and the township, which includes the town and its more remote surrounding villages. The township level of government is usually referred to as xiang (), but in the case of Luchun township, the same level of local government is called zhen (). Hence the name Daxing zhen (). County is referred to as xian (). 15 Luchun county government website, http://www.lvchun.gov.cn/dwjj.asp?dwjjid=1 (accessed December 15, 2009). 16 Honghe Hani-Yi Autonomous Region is known as Honghe Hani-Yi Zizhi Zhou (   ). The prefectural districts of Yunnan are known as zhou ( ) or diqu () and are equal to some large civic administrative regions, known as shi ( ), such as that of Kunming and Yuxi. 15 Illustration 1.6 Map of Yunnan in China 16 Illustration 1.7 Map of Yunnan and Hani-populated regions The Hani once lived in the more fertile plains of the Kunming plateau, but were pushed south into semi-mountainous terrain by stronger tribes beginning from the 7th century (Shi 1999: 55). By the 13th century, Hani communities were well-established throughout the Ailao-Wuliang mountains, and further southwest into Xishuangbanna (57). The Aini of Xishuangbanna, and the Akha of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos share a common ancestry with the Hani of Honghe. Most recently these commonalities of language, history and culture have been celebrated in a number of academic conferences purposed to promote intercultural exchange and research among the Hani and Akha.17 17 The Sixth International Conference on Hani-Akha Culture (Diliuzhou Guoji Hani Wenhua Xueshu Goulunhui) took place in Luchun in November of 2008, to coincide with their annual Tenth Month 17 The Honghe Hani are best known for their development of extensive networks of terraced rice fields along great expanses of steep mountain terrain. Each year, thousands of tourists flock to see the terraced rice fields in Yuanyang county, where they cover a particularly steep and open expanse of mountainside (see Illustration 1.2). The Chinese government has recently applied to have these Hani terraces named as a UNESCO World Heritage site.18 Luchun is located only 140 km southwest of Yuanyang. Its rice terraces, built at more modest altitudes, have not drawn nearly as much tourism attention, leaving its townspeople to develop the local economy through more diversified means (see Illustration 1.5). While many Hani in Luchun are subsistence farmers, others participate also in the commercial export of tea and wild herbs.19 In addition to wet rice farming, other types of agriculture include the farming of tea, herbs, spices, and vegetables. Luchun villages are located at an altitude of between 1300 to 1600 metres above sea level. Its tropical, moist climate is ideal for the growth of wild medicinal herbs, mushrooms, and rare fungi. The harvesting of these wild crops contribute significantly to the distinctiveness of the local diet, and to commercial export. The Hani also raise a number of livestock in the courtyard of their homes, the most common being pigs, ducks, and chickens. The water buffalo is also a common sight in Hani villages. It is a revered animal in Hani mythology, and known to be a man’s indispensable companion in plowing the rice fields. Festival celebrations. This last conference was jointly sponsored by the Honghe Prefectural Government and the Honghe Prefecture Ethic Affairs Commission. These conferences began in 1993 and are jointly organized by academic institutions in Thailand, China, and the International Institute for Asian Research (IIAS) in Leiden. (http://hanitalan.yxtc.net/yinyu/qita/hnyj_0001.htm viewed September 8, 2009) (http://www.hani-akha.net/mpcd/international/4th.html viewed September 8, 2009) 18 http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5346/ viewed August 5, 2009. 19 The Hani are renowned for their commercial tea industry. The world famous Pu’er tea hails from the Hani region of Pu’er in Simao, a region west of Honghe. 18 Traditionally, the Hani village leadership consisted of three individuals: the chief (zima), the priest (mopi), and the craftsman (laqi).20 Today, the Hani in Luchun have replaced the position of the chief with a group of male leaders representing elders from the various village clans. Often, clan leadership structures overlap to an extent with official government positions. The position of the priest has remained the most intact, while the role of the craftsman has been done away with due to the availability of commercially manufactured products. The Hani are a patriarchal society in which properties are passed down from father to son(s). In some cases, positions of leadership, both political and religious, are also hereditary. Male heirs are also considered important because they perform rituals to ensure their parents’ arrival to a safe resting place in the afterlife. These are all important factors shaping gender ideologies discussed in later chapters. While the Hani follow essentially the same lunar calendar as that of the Han Chinese, their observance of the months and 12 zodiac animals is markedly different. Traditionally, the Hani celebrate the tenth month of the Chinese lunar year as the first month of their calendar year. Their new year festival, which usually takes place around November, is called Zateitei. Because of Chinese cultural influences, most people today refer to Zateitei by the Chinese name shiyuenian, roughly translated to mean ‘Tenth Month Festival’, while reserving the term, New Year, to refer to celebrations surrounding the start of the Chinese lunar new year, which typically take place in early February.21 A second festival, which takes place around July of each year, is Kuzaza or liuyuenian, ‘Sixth Month Festival’.22 During this time each village and household set up swings on which children play and swing as a form of deity worship. The festival also celebrates the successful transplanting of rice seedlings. Hani religious leaders are relied 20 zima ( ); mopi (); laqi ( ) (Shi 1999, 476). Although these terms are Han transliterations of the original Hani terms, they also correspond closely to the original Hani words with the exception of the tonal indicators being left out for ease of reading. 21 shiyuenian ( ). 22 liuyuenian (  19 upon to determine auspicious days for the celebration of festivals and weddings. This depends both on reading natural signs, and calculating the auspicious intersection of zodiac signs in the overlapping cycles of years, months, and days. The Hani practice a combination of animism and ancestor worship. During festival days, the most solemn rituals revolve around ancestor worship at household altars, and worship of the village god through large-scale animal sacrifices. Within recent years, infrastructure development in the town of Luchun has grown exponentially. Since my first visit to Luchun, the main street, on which most businesses are located, has nearly doubled in length. State-owned town property now boasts a large underground supermarket, condominium developments, a hospital, police station and soon-to-be-completed indoor gymnasium. All this is being erected within metres of village boundaries where traditional village housing is located. Within the village, many families are being encouraged through government grants to rebuild their homes using concrete and modern building methods. Luchun’s commercial district has brought an influx of Han Chinese entrepreneurs who have set up furniture shops, bakeries, pharmacies etc. While some Hani have had the resources and skills to benefit from this economic growth, the majority continue in forms of traditional farming. Unfortunately, social problems have arisen due to the inability of the majority functioning within the traditional economy to keep up with new consumer appetites. The economic disparity between the Han Chinese and Hani also encourage the Hani toward sinicization, particularly in the area of language. Many people admit that within the last decade the proportion of Chinese borrowed words used in daily Hani speech has multiplied severalfold compared to the past. The rapid language loss of recent years has resulted in the marginalization of laba performance. Language loss among youth, in particular, constitutes a significant barrier to the transmission of laba to successive generations. 20 Laba and the Wider of World of Music in Luchun Among the Hani in Luchun, the majority of music-making revolves around vocal song forms. Instrumental music is most often associated with courtship song traditions, functioning either as a form of accompaniment or as a type of speech surrogate. Instruments that are associated with courtship song accompaniment include the sanxian (long-necked three-stringed plucked lute), yueqin (short-necked plucked lute with three or four strings), erhu (two-stringed fiddle), dizi (transverse flute) and bawu (a free reed transverse flute) (see illustrations 1.8 and 1.9).23 Less permanent wind instruments that are used both as instrumental accompaniment and as speech surrogates in courtship songs include the babi and meiba leaves, as well as the wubao reed stalk (see illustrations 1.10 and 1.11)24 23 I have provided the names of Hani instruments in Chinese because they are most widely known by these names and because the Hani themselves often identify them using their Chinese names. The Hani names for some of these instruments are: lahe (sanxian) long-necked three- stringed plucked lute; cihhao (erhu) two-stringed fiddle; and bice labi (dizi), transverse bamboo flute. 24 Although I did not have a chance to study the technique of making and blowing on the wubao, it is likely that the Hani construction and playing of the reed stalk follows closely similar practices among the Naxi as documented by ethnomusicologist Yang Zenglie (1995: 71). The reed is knotted at one end and the section below the knot pinched so that the stalk splits into multiple reeds. The end with the knot and reeds is inserted into the mouth, with the hands cupped around the part that protrudes. Blowing the tubes causes the reeds to vibrate, while the pitch is controlled by a combination of the speed of the breath, the distance of the hands from the lips and the distance of the tip of the tongue from the reeds (see also Rees 2000: 64-65). 21 Illustration 1.8 Alssil’s father playing yueqin (left), and Alssil playing sanxian (right), Alzeiv Loama, July 2002. Illustration 1.9 Yang Pihei playing dizi, Daxing village, July 2005. 22 Illustration 1.10 Villagers playing babi (right) and meiba (left) in Daxing village, July 2005 Illustration 1.11 Villager playing wubao in Daxing village, July 2005 The babi is a small citrus leaf that is held width-wise with the top edge of the leaf held to the mouth and blown to produce a buzzing, high-pitched tone. The meiba is a larger, longer leaf that is rolled into a cone and blown from the narrow end. Both the babi and meiba have a nasal timbre, although the meiba leaf is lower pitched than the babi. Although the technique for playing each leaf is slightly different, both instruments use the same basic means of sound production: a player sets a leaf into vibration by sending a fine stream of air onto the leaf surface; the pitch is changed through a combination of 23 adjusting the embrouchure, strength of breath, and taughtness of the leaf (see also Thrasher 1990: 57-59). The wubao is a third speech surrogate instrument, which is made out of a rice or barley reed stalk. Although I did not have a chance to study the wubao closely, it is likely that the Hani construction and playing of the reed stalk follows practices similar to those of the Naxi as documented by ethnomusicologist Yang Zenglie (1995: 71). The reed is knotted at one end and the section below the knot pinched so that the stalk splits into multiple reeds. The end with the knot and reeds is inserted into the mouth, with the hands cupped around the part that protrudes. Blowing the tube causes the reeds to vibrate, while the pitch is controlled by a combination of the speed of the breath, the distance of the hands from the lips and the distance of the tip of the tongue from the reeds (see also Rees 2000: 64-65). The wubao has a high pitch range and a sharp, piercing timbre. Based on similarities of instrument construction, it is quite likely that many instruments now recognized as being of native Hani origins were first borrowed from Han music traditions. Common-practice instruments such as the erhu, sanxian, yueqin, and dizi were likely introduced to this area by the Han Chinese as early as the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) during a time of government-sanctioned migration into the Red River region (Shi 1998: 42). Likewise the common use of the sanxian, leaf, and reed stalk among courtship song traditions of several of China’s southwest minorities suggests that this musical traditions have been an areal feature of this region for some time (Catlin 1982; Rees 2000: 61-65; Thrasher 1990: 43-60). A particularly strong case can be made for musical exchange between the Hani and Yi of Honghe county, who share a similar dance instrumental traditions.25 However, this type of dance is not practiced among the Hani of Luchun township. 25 The circular social dances of the Hani of Honghe county, Azhahe township are very similar to the dage of the Chuxiong Yi, in both melody and use of instruments (Thrasher 1990). In the Hani dance tradition, the dance songs are typically led by a male on the sanxian or xianzi with the erhu, dizi, and voice as accompanying parts. 24 In Luchun, aside from a knobbed gong and drum ensemble which is used for social dance, and a percussion and suona ensemble which is used during funeral processions, most instrumental music is inextricably tied to vocal music. Since as early as the 1960s, the world of Hani folksong has included both traditional Hani songs, as well as popular Han Chinese folk tunes, political songs, and pan-minority songs introduced through local song and dance troupes.26 However, singers and music enthusiasts draw a clear distinction between the categories of traditional Hani folksong and more contemporary compositions. As Jiuqsal, an elder of Aqlaoq Nahhal explained, “the Hani only have one type of song that is really ours—that is laba. Other songs, like those of Alssil—they are composed songs. They are new songs that have a bit of the old language…but the tune is entirely different.” This elder was comparing traditional songs to those of Alssil, a blind musician and composer from Alzeiv Loama whose songs are extremely popular in Luchun.27 Although the term laba does not in fact cover the entirety of traditional Hani folksong, it is often used in this way to generalize about Hani traditional songs because laba repertory is among the most wide-ranging in thematic content and rich in religious and historical significance. Furthermore, it represents over 90 percent of commonly heard traditional Hani song repertoire. 28 Laba, also known in some regions as haba, is an orally composed song genre in which all songs are based upon the same melodic structure. The Hani recognize it as the oldest form of traditional song, which covers a variety of topics ranging from the telling of long epic narratives on mythological and historical subjects to communicating immediate concerns such as teaching children and welcoming guests. These songs are 26 Lacel explained that his mother and father had met through watching films together in the local town hall in the 1960s. She explained that most villagers had access to Chinese popular music by the early 1970s through radio and film (2008: personal communication). 27 For an introduction to Alssil (Long Aying) see Appendix A. His songs have been recorded extensively on cassette and in video format on VCD, as well as published in cipher notation in a song anthology (Long 1997). 28 I arrived at this conclusion based on local surveys of folksong repertories, as well as a survey of songs found in Zhongguo Yunnan Honghe Hanizu Minge, a Hani folksong anthology edited by Li Yuanqing (1995). In the Luchun town area, only children’s songs and a type of ritual chant performed by mopi priests are not based on laba melodic and poetic forms. 25 usually sung at the dinner table, and are performed amidst much toasting and drinking. Hence, they have been frequently referred to in Chinese as drinking songs (jiuge) even though this term masks the plurality of song topics and their social functions.29  The Hani use the term laba to denote two different categories. The first category refers exclusively to songs sung at the dinner table and the second is an umbrella term that includes the genre described above plus two other song genres: a courtship song genre, and a funeral song genre.30 The two categorizations of laba are represented in charts shown in figures 1.1 and 1.2. 31 Figure 1.1 Traditional Hani Song Categories I (based on performance context and social function) 29 Jiuge (). 30 It is likely that laba was chosen as the umbrella term, and not those of the other two subgenres, because it is the most functionally ‘neutral’ category in the sense that laba songs do not have associations with taboo subjects such as death and sex. Also the subgenre of laba also has the largest repertory of songs, outweighing the other two genres in importance. 31 Note that the two charts are not drawn to scale but represent an approximate representiation of the repertoire size and relative social importance of the song genres and subgenres shown. 26 Figure 1.2 Traditional Hani Song Categories II (based on poetic and musical structure) In both charts above, the male-female dialogue songs at the centre of this study are outlined in red. The green sections identify subgenres that belong to the category of laba. In the first chart, the categories of azi and sibling dialogues are recognized as being part of two distinct genres, azi being a genre of its own and sibling dialogues being a subgenre of laba. In the second chart, the two are included as subgenres within the larger category of laba. The second categorization suggests that the Hani recognize the different song types as having common themes and approaches to poetic and melodic composition.32 32 With the exception of their unique opening calls, each subgenre shares the same approach to textual and melodic composition. Some writers do not consider the use of laba as an umbrella term but instead point to performance similarities using terms like ‘laba melodic style’ () (Shi 1998, 1999). However, in my view, this does not address the unity of approach to poetic 27 This study is concerned with this broader categorization of laba and the commonalities shared by the three subgenres: laba, azi, and misa.33 The subgenre laba, as described earlier, includes songs with a variety of topics—ranging from bridal laments, to festival songs—all of which are performed at the dinner table. Azi are courtship songs that are by custom only permitted to be sung outdoors away from the presence of elders. Misa are mournings songs that are reserved for funerary rituals. My research focuses on dialogue songs belonging to the categories of laba and azi.34 The study of laba, in the broad sense of the term, is significant to the general understanding of Hani music since most vocal and instrumental forms draw heavily upon the poetic and melodic resources of laba. Research Aims and Methodology My methods of laba research developed gradually in response to aesthetic priorities expressed by performers and audiences. Since the oral composition of laba poetry was recognized as being central to the performance genre, I began by making many laba recordings and working intensively on transcriptions and translations of these song texts with Lacel. During these sessions, we spoke at length about grammar, differences between laba poetry compared to daily speech, and the concepts of parallelism and metaphor. At the same time I was trying to make sense of an intriguing local concept of melody—belief that all laba songs are performed to the same teisa (the Hani term for composition found between the subgenres, which include the use of parallelism and the structuring of themes. 33 When referring to issues of poetic and melodic composition (chapters 4 and 5), I use the term laba to refer to the broader category, while in discussion of social context I revert to specific references to laba and azi as subgenres (chapter 3). In the other chapters, the term laba most often refers to the more general category, although when speaking of differences between the subgenres, I occasionally revert to usage of the more specific term. These should be clear according to context. 34 The absence of misa in this study is mainly a result of people’s reluctance to speak about funeral rites, and songs about the dead. Their fear stems from their belief in the power of dead spirits to bring bad luck upon the living, if they are not properly treated or spoken of. For a thorough study of misa and Hani funeral rituals in Xiazixiong village, Gekui, Luchun county see M.A. thesis by Cao Jun (2004). 28 melody). Since each performance of laba clearly did not share an identical melody (from the Western musical standpoint of having a common sequence of pitches and rhythms), I was interested in finding out what parts of laba melodic structure constituted this local concept of sameness, and what types of variations were allowable within this framework. In addition, the aesthetic unity of poetry and melody in laba presented a challenge and invitation to examine the relationship between two densely interwoven aspects of this oral genre. This led me further to consider the role of linguistic and melodic formulae as building blocks in interconnected generative processes. The ethnographic significance of laba texts did not emerge as a major part of this study until much later in the research process. This is because the cultural significance of laba narrative themes and rhetorical conventions only became apparent to me after having collected and studied a fairly large number of laba texts. At this point I began to make connections between cultural ideologies presented within laba performance and ways in which these ideologies are lived out and contested in actions and speech outside of laba. This made for a rich dialogical approach to ethnography as proposed by Bruce Mannheim and Dennis Tedlock (1995). Laba represents a site of cultural negotiation between gendered voices. These gendered discourses also engage in dialogue with speech and practices outside of the framed text. In my writing, I have attempted to portray the dialogical nature of these voices. My research has been influenced by writings in ethnomusicology, anthropology, folk studies, and literary studies, drawing from the theoretical perspectives of multiple scholars. 29 Close But Not the Same The first stories, the first harangues, and the first laws were in verse; poetry was discovered before prose; this had to be so, since the passions spoke before reason. The same was so for music: at first there was no music at all other than melody, nor any other melody than the varied sound of speech, the accents formed the song, the quantities formed the meter, and tone spoke as much by sounds and rhythm as by articulations and voices. In olden days to speak and to sing were the same thing…(Rousseau 1712-1778: 318). In his famous writings on the origins of music, Rousseau argues for the origins of music within speech. Music emerged naturally from the voice, in conjunction with language; its brilliance motivated by the passions. The unity between speech and song only became separate through a degenerative process that rendered song an artificial “imitation of the accents in the speaking or passionate voice” (Derrida 1976: 196). And yet, melody and language, although they share some degree of unity in song, are clearly not the same at present. As Derrida argues, if melody and language were truly united at their genesis, we have no history of its existence, and “the history that follows…is nothing but the story of the separation between song and speech” (199). Counter to Rousseau’s claims of music’s origins in nature, Derrida argues for the necessary origins of music within society. He states that “if music presupposes voice, it comes into being at the same time as human society. As speech, it requires that the other be present to me as other through compassion…Song is at the orient of music but it does not reduce itself to voice any more than voice reduces itself to noise” (196). If Rousseau had had a chance to meet the Hani, they would have had a great many things to speak about regarding melody and language. Firstly, Rousseau would probably have heralded laba as an example of the original unity of melody and language. The Hani would likely have agreed with this view, as they attribute special authority and age to laba melody and texts. When performing a historical epic, they perform in the laba genre only those events in the distant past, and revert to speech when recounting 30 events of more recent history (Shi 1998: 366-367). Secondly, like Rousseau, the Hani view laba as being on a continuum with speech. In a home setting, it is common for laba to be interspersed within conversation as a way of attributing authority, historicity, religious or honorific significance to words that could also be spoken. When outdoors, laba is sung as a form of playful banter when traveling or at work, its dialogical nature bringing it close to speech in function. Thirdly, Rousseau’s claims to the unity of melody and language are persuasive in light of the close relationship between text and melody in laba. Laba’s melodic motives and phrases conform closely to the text’s tonal contour, and its rhythms and accents outline the inherent rhythmic qualities of the text. Concomitantly, I do not think that the Hani would be unfriendly toward Derrida’s counterarguments for the necessity of a social context in which melody, like speech, is rendered meaningful. My fascination with laba as a verbal art form has been fueled by an abiding interest in text-melody relationships, particularly in cultures where the two operate in a speech-song mode that evokes Rousseau’s descriptions of primordial melody. The fact that melody and speech have evolved so closely together, and yet are such distinct modes of communication, each having its own syntax and structure, presents a challenge to the study of sameness and difference in genres where the two are closely intertwined. This study describes the types of linguistic-musical interactions that take place in performance which contribute to a sense of unity between poetry and text. It also examines points at which the unity of poetry and melody breaks down, and each articulates independent aesthetic goals. Although the close relationship between melody and language has always been assumed in Chinese music scholarship, relatively few studies have examined the verity of these assumptions based on poetic, linguistic and musical analyses. The small collection of works that examine the practical workings of text-melody relationships in East Asian languages pertain to Chinese operatic traditions. A seminal work in this area 31 of study is Bell Yung’s Cantonese Opera: Performance as Creative Process (1989). This study provides an insightful analysis of the varied and complex relationship between language tones and melodic structure found in different song forms of Cantonese opera (1989). Other scholars whose works examine the relationships between poetic structure, linguistic tones and melodic structure in Chinese opera include Rulan Chao Pian (1972; 1975), Elizabeth Wichmann (1991), and Jonathan Stock (1999). Among these works, both Yung and Stock acknowledge that in practice, there are points at which melodic structure is given priority over adherence to language tones. How these competing aesthetic considerations are worked out in practice form an integral part of performance creativity and overall style that is often not readily recognized by either performers or mainland scholars (Stock 1999: 185, 200). This study examines similar issues of adherence to and departure from tone-melody relationships in a specific genre of minority folksong. As may be presumed from the general differences between operatic traditions and folksong genres, my findings reveal that Hani singers exercise a greater degree of structural freedom when composing both poetry and melody, and that correspondence between speech tones and melody functions according to less complex rules than is the case in operatic traditions.35 Nevertheless, this research deals with similar questions of language-melody relationships, drawing from common approaches to poetic and melodic analysis. In laba poetics, parallelism emerges as the most pervasive structure ordering patterns of sameness and difference. Roman Jakobson defines canonical parallelism as existing when “certain similarities between successive verbal sequences are compulsory or enjoy a high preference” particularly “in metrically or strophically corresponding positions” (1987: 146, 145). In chapter 4, I examine the different types of parallelism that exist within laba poetry, relating these patterns to Lord and Parry’s concept of formula 35 Some obvious differences between Chinese operatic traditions and folksong genres such as laba include the use of written versus oral texts, and the use of melodic forms such as aria types and fixed tunes, which differs largely from the homogeneous melodic texture of laba. 32 in oral texts. Parry defined formula as “a group of words which is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea” (1930). With some adaptation, I have used formula in laba to refer to the linking of a specific parallel grammatical construction with a metaphorical idea or a line of argument. I posit that laba formulae are used in a similar manner to those found in Yugoslav epics by Lord and Parry, as a basis for oral composition and extemporization. In chapter 5, this same concept of formula is applied to the melodic phrase. Here I adapt concepts of periodicity as explored in recent writings on world music analysis (Tenzer 2006) as a tool for studying repetition and variation in laba phrase units. Repetition and variation in melodic phrases are shown in many cases to closely mirror aspects of phonological and syntactical parallelism in laba poetry. However, melodic phrase formulae are sometimes shown to assert their own aesthetic drive. In such cases, the importance of maintaining melodic periodicity overrides the need for tonal and rhythmic correspondence to the poetry, showing laba melody and poetry to operate by independent aesthetics that sometimes compete in their tendencies toward sameness and difference. Such instances show oral composition to involve complex processes of unconscious mediation between poetic and musical priorities, which are constituted through continual use. Dialogue and Narrative as Ethnographic Threads In The Dialogic Emergence of Culture, Dennis Tedlock and Bruce Mannheim critique a Saussurian approach to the study of culture which “focus[es] on the individual actor as the source of parole or speech” (1995: 1). In siding with Jakobson’s vehement objections to the monologic basis of language (he went as far as to declare that monologue is a social pathology) (1953: 13), Tedlock and Mannheim argue that: 33 language, as a shared system, becomes an emergent property of dialogues rather than being granted ontological priority over all speech. Dialogues no longer consist of monologues added together, but are the very scene of production for shared language structure that may later be bent to the purposes of a monologue (1995: 1). By extension, they argue for a dialogic approach to anthropology which “radicalizes the phenomenological critique, refusing to privilege disciplinary discourse and instead locating it on the same dialogical ground as other kinds of discourse” (1995: 2). I have found Tedlock and Mannheim’s critique compelling and have made efforts to present many translations of original laba texts in my cultural analyses. The inherent dialogism in laba texts made this approach to ethnographic presentation all the more natural. The discursive nature of laba texts is seen both in the way that dialogues themselves are functionally multivocal in perspective and in how textsdialogically relate to other forms of discourse. Narrative in laba is also equally open-ended in its possible interpretations. As shown in the azi narratives of chapters 3 and 6, metaphors and meanings are reworked in new social contexts to communicate messages relevant to the times. Julie Cruikshank argues for the ability of Yukon storytellers to “build connections where rifts might otherwise appear” (1998: 2). In a similar manner, laba singers use conventional themes to make links between the past and present in meaningful ways. Hence, even narrative, which may have once seemed capable of seamless closure, is more accurately viewed as dialogically constructed and contingent. Using these theoretical perspectives, the significance of micro-structures examined in chapters 4 and 5 are brought into focus in chapters 2, 3, and 6, which examine the macro framework of text as dialogue and narrative. These chapters consider the contested meanings of texts in varying social and historical contexts, in particular focusing on laba dialogue as the site of negotiation for gender identities and kinship hierarchies. Chapter 2 presents research on some mythological and historical epic labas, 34 and compares this with the short labas at the centre of this study. I argue that the continuing popularity of short labas and the gradual waning of epic labas in Luchun is not a reflection of the relative age of the subgenres but rather results from changes to village authority structures, and to the gradual secularization of laba performance.36 Chapter 3 looks at the contrasting social contexts of laba performance, and aspects of learning and transmission. This is followed by an introduction to common themes in male-female dialogue songs, and how these come together to create narrative structure in a song. This analysis focuses on the multivalence of themes as they are reinterpreted in the context of two types of contrasting dialogues: those between lovers, and those between siblings. Chapter 6 continues the study of textual multivalence by examining the use of azi courtship songs in performances that are increasingly dominated by women. The chapter looks at the social circumstances that have led to shifts in laba’s social prestige, and changes in its illocutionary force relative to other forms of discourse.37 Related Regional Studies Folksong Categories and Related Minority Song Cultures Among the three main categories of Chinese folksongs, haozi (work cries), shan’ge (mountain songs), and xiaodiao (urban tunes), laba is most closely associated with 36 Here I am referring to the fact that in the past, epic laba used to be performed by hereditary priests, beima (today’s mopi) whose prolific performances would be well known and revered by village members. In the last century, the authority and prestige of the beima has been undercut by the presence of local state authority, which in turn has led to a gradual secularization. While Hani religion and ritual continue to play essential parts in village life, their forms have changed, leading to a decrease in laba performances given by beima. Instead, shorter labas are maintained by a broader base of performers. Their songs are more pragmatically related to religious ritual, and feature kinship relationships, and village identity as main song topics. These songs also make oblique references to mythical and historical personalities which were once central narratives in beima epic labas. 37 Illocutionary force and perlocutionary effect were terms first introduced by J.L. Austin in How to Do Things with Words. They have since been used in linguistic anthropology, particularly among scholars of speech act theory and performance theory. Illocutionary force refers to the potential of a speech act in bringing about social action e.g. a promise spoken and carried out in action. Perlocutionary effect refers to action taken as a result of a speech act e.g. the act of fulfilling a promise. Both rely upon common understandings of the speech act between the speaker and addressee (see also discussion in note 141). 35 mountain songs. This is because of the popularity of the subgenre, azi, which is essentially like the shan’ge of the Han Chinese in its social function and performance context. Laba also shares broad musical similarities with other regions of shan’ge. Its flexible pulse, and frequent high sustained pitches sung on vocables resemble musical features found in Shaonian shan’ge (Du and Body 2000) as well as Wu area shan’ge in Jiangsu (Schimmelpenninck 1997). However, as alluded to earlier, laba is not exclusively a courtship genre, and differs from other shan’ge genres in this respect. Rather it defines a traditional style of oral performance that is practiced in songs relating to almost all social and ritual circumstances. Laba fulfils diverse social functions and is performed between people of differing social relationships in both outdoor and indoor settings, in public and in private. The pervasiveness of laba in Hani social life is remarkable, especially given its melodic homogeneity. The prominence of melodically homogeneous song genres among ethnic groups in Southwest China, regions of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand is an important musical phenomenon that has received relatively little scholarly attention. Alan Thrasher has written about the melodic homogeneity of dance songs among the Chuxiong Yi of Yunnan who acknowledge a stylistic unity in their songs but conceive of them as distinct tunes. In contrast, the singers of the Wu area in Jiangsu acknowledge that most of their songs are sung to the same tune, such that songs can only be differentiated by text (Schimmelpenninck 1997: 224). This is also the case with courtship songs among Han Chinese in Kunming,38 among the Hani and Miao of Yunnan, the Dong and Bouyei of Guizhou, 39 the Hmong of Thailand (Catlin 1992), and the Khmhu of Laos (Proschan 1989). In many of these song cultures, the approach to oral composition is very similar to that observed in Hani. The texts are extemporized based on a common repertoire of 38 Alan Thrasher observed courtship performances among Han Chinese in Kunming in 1988. I observed similar performances in Kunming parks in 2005. 39 I confirmed the presence of indigenous one-melody concepts while conducting brief visits and interviews with some Miao and Bouyei at the University of Guizhou in Guiyang, with the Dong of Rongjiang and the Bouyei of Duyun, Guizhou (July 2001). 36 verse formulae, and there exists a close relationship between the phonological features of the text and the melody. These songs are often sung antiphonally in courtship and have instrumental speech surrogates such as the leaf, reed, or jaw harp (Catlin 1992; Proschan 1989). This study contributes to the understanding of these song forms as a regional phenomenon. Hani Folksong Studies The 900-page anthology Zhongguo Yunnan Honghe Hanizu Minge (Folksongs of the Hani nationality of Yunnan, China), edited by Li Yuanqing (1995) represents a major contribution to the study of Hani folksongs. Li lists eight categories of Hani folksongs: haba/laba (drinking songs), aci/azi (courtship songs), anito (children’s songs), ranagucha (lullabies), ranamibi (wedding songs), misa (mourning songs), mopitu (offering songs), and luzuo (dance songs). These are further divided into subtypes based on aspects of performance and function. The anthology introduces the general features of text and melody: presenting a tripartite division of verse structure, introducing the verse couplet as a basic poetic structure, and providing a summary analysis of rhythm, mode and melodic contour among the represented regional melodies. The breadth of this collection is impressive. In addition the source of songs is well documented, with biographical information on singers, and tables listing details about fieldwork activities and participants. Li also included ethnographic information on the use of songs in festivals and rituals, documenting in detail differences between regional terminologies. Some weaknesses found in Li’s work pertain to issues of categorization and musical analysis. Firstly, Li strives to present the richness of Hani musical culture through describing the diversity of song types. However, his work does not present at length the many performative and stylistic interrelationships between the song categories. Secondly, the musical transcriptions and analyses in the anthology lack clarity with respect to rhythm and mode: (1) the use of multiple meters in transcribing 37 songs with a flexible pulse often results in overly descriptive representations that obfuscate rhythmic and melodic regularities; (2) in his analysis of mode, many sliding tones and semitones which act contextually as substitution tones for more stable pitches in a pentatonic series are considered to be functionally unique pitches in expanded six and seven tone collections. It is also unfortunate that the anthology does not contain complete poetic and musical transcriptions of a single song.40 This, again, was perhaps because Li aimed to present a maximal range of regional materials and song types. As such, this anthology does not represent an ideal resource for the comprehensive study of song themes and narrative structure. Finally, the anthology would be greatly enhanced with accompanying audio materials, especially because of the problems mentioned previously about the quality of musical transcriptions. Nevertheless this volume is valuable as the most comprehensive survey of regional Hani folksongs to date. The anthology documents regionally diverse melodies that appear to share similarities in modal make-up and melodic phrase structure, suggesting a strong historical relationship between these regional forms. Furthermore, the anthology has helped to verify the widespread presence of the Luchun melody analyzed in this study, showing its existence in parts of the county where I did not have a chance to visit. Yunnan music scholar Zhang Xingrong has perhaps contributed the most to Hani music’s reputation in international academic circles (Rees 2001: 686-688). His ongoing partnership with Hani musicians in Puchun village has made possible the dissemination of quality video and audio recordings as well as national and international touring opportunities for a group of musicians residing in Puchun village, 40 Most songs presented contain a transcription that ranges from two to four pages. Although the total length of songs is not stated, my experience has been that songs range from 15 minutes to several hours in length. Hence what has been published is merely a fraction of a song’s actual content. 38 Honghe county.41 Much of his writing focuses on the distinctive mode used in azi melodies of Puchun village, Honghe county, which he compares to the hemitonic Japanese miyakobushi mode (2003: 116-117). He has also called attention to the intricate multi-part singing of Hani azi, calling it a “new discovery of eight-part polyphonic singing” (Zhang 1997). These claims, however, have met with strong objections from some local scholars who argue that polyphonic singing among the Hani is not unique among Yunnan minority cultures, and therefore should not be declared a “new discovery”.42 While the present study does not examine Hani melody in multi-part performances, I did encounter forms of this singing in Luchun and am equally fascinated by its musical dynamics. From what I know presently, it is likely that singers conceive of both forms of singing in similar ways, relying on a melodic structure that focuses on broad contrastive movements from an unstable pitch area to arrival at a stable tonic. However, this area of research will have to be pursued in future projects (see conclusion of chapter 6). This study aims more modestly to address questions of melodic phrase structure and mode in dialogue performances involving two people. Laba and Ethnic Re-imaginings Recent ethnomusicological writings have focused on Chinese minority music as a contested site of cultural production. Sue Tuohy has borrowed Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined communities to refer to the fluidity of cultural representations in hua’er shan’ge.43 Similarly, Helen Rees has argued for the agency of Naxi musicians in 41 A music ensemble from Puchun village were featured at the Amsterdam China Festival in 2005 (http://home.planet.nl/~chime/). 42 Personal correspondence with Li Hanjie and Bai Xueguang (July 2006). Li Hanjie is a retired ethnomusicologist residing in Kunming. He wrote a nationally acclaimed book titled, An Outline to Musicology of the Ethnic Minorities in Yunan [sic] (Yunnan Shaoshu Minzu Yinyuexue Gailun) (2001). Bai Xueguang is a native Hani and ethnomusicologist who has a research position at the Research Centre for Yunnan Nationalities Arts (Yunnansheng Minzu Yishu Yanjiusuo,    ). He was also a contributor to Li Yuanqing’s edited volume Zhongguo Yunnan Honghe Hanizu Minge (Folksongs of the Hani nationality of Yunnan, China) (1995). 43 Tuohy describes the many ethnic groups and scholarly communities that construct varied imaginings of hua’er as a local music embodying the spirit of the Great Northwest, and as state- 39 constructing narratives that simultaneously portray Dongjing music as a precious remnant of ancient Chinese music, and as music imbued with Naxi ethnic qualities (2000: 192). The multiculturalism of communist state policy and the market forces of cultural tourism have asserted an influence on virtually all forms of minority music-making. However, surprisingly the circumstances of laba performance in Luchun have not been radically transformed by either of these forces (see chapter 6). Rather the changes that are taking place have more to do with the general effects of modernization on oral art forms.44 In many respects, laba texts celebrate continuity with past traditions and a common identity in shared ancestry. Although singers always show an awareness of present relationships and circumstances, they strive to make the past relevant to the present, using history to teach, affirm, justify, and even bless a proposed course of action. For this reason, this study focuses on laba narrative as it relates to Hani identity and cultural discourse. While laba texts deal with contested constructions of ethnic identity in relation to the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups (chapter 2), these negotiations take place in a narrower field of cultural production from those examined by Tuohy and Rees.45 Yet these local discourses are not lacking in complexity as shown in the analysis of two laba dialogues illuminating patrilineal kinship structures (chapter 3). Chapter 6 discusses the impact of modernity and urbanization on the contexts of laba performance, and examines the ways in which female-dominated performance sessions transform the social function, composition, and reception of azi texts. sanctioned music capable of representing qualities of multi-nationality and nation-building. (1988: 6). 44 Here I refer to the effects of television and popular music in usurping the place of laba singing in the home as a regular pastime. Also Hani youth embrace modernity and seek to participate in it through the consumption of popular music over that of traditional oral song forms. The development of infrastructure has also increased the mobility of villagers, which in turn has indirectly affected the social contexts of laba performance (see chapter 6). 45 By this, I mean that Tuohy and Rees’ research deals with minority people representing themselves to national and international audiences while this study focuses on local interpretations of song. 40 Chapter 2: Laba Scholarship and Hani History Introduction When our Hani ancestors crossed the turbulent Nuoma River in the seventh month, the waters of the river were the highest in the year. The beima priest who carried the Book of Words was not careful and the river swallowed up the book. With that, the Hani written language was lost. From thenceforth, the beima was charged with the responsibility of remembering all the classic and sacred texts of the Hani. (Shi 1998: 360-361) This story from the historical epic laba, Abei Congpopo, gives an indication of the early importance that laba had as religious and historical literature. It also reveals an early awareness of differences between literate and oral traditions and the social prestige attached to the former over the latter. Although historical evidence suggests that the Hani did not use early forms of writing, this story claims that they were once literate but became a people who relied on oral texts due to an unfortunate accident. Why orality is portrayed as a lesser alternative to writing is difficult to say, but it may have been because the Hani had historical contact with literate cultures such as the Han, whose political and military prowess caused them to view their own oral cultural practices with a tinge of inferiority. Their orality is presented not as a choice, or an original state of affairs, but as an exigency befalling their migratory status. The whimsical nature of this passage curiously undercuts the usual solemnity and veneration inspired by laba performance and its carriers. The cultural inversion carries over to the status of the beima, a priest of high position in Hani society, who is instead portrayed as a clumsy fellow whose ultimate punishment is the preservation and transmission of these lost texts. Considering that beima priests are the singers of this tale, this subtle form of self-denigration was perhaps meant to be humorous and to express modesty, a desirable virtue even among the best singers. 41 The main purpose of this chapter is to survey Shi Junchao’s scholarship on epic labas, and to contextualize this study of short labas within this larger body of work. Shi is a professor of minority literary studies at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences.46 He is himself Hani. Shi is among the most prolific scholars of Hani oral poetry, having assisted in the collection and editing of numerous Hani epics since the mid-eighties. He has also written widely on the social and historical implications of these collected texts.47 In addition, Shi has also edited a significant ethnography on the Hani.48 His work is generally well respected among Han Chinese and native Hani scholars.49 Guided by his insights, this survey accomplishes two other purposes. In summarizing two major epics collected by Shi, Woguo Ceniguo50 (hereafter Woguo) and Apei Congpopo51 (hereafter Congpopo), we are presented with both major myths, which form the backbone of Hani religious beliefs and practices, and an overview of Hani migration history, which plays an important part in shaping contemporary understandings of ethnic identity. Such a portrayal of Hani history based on laba texts is not meant to be a purely factual account. Rather, laba narratives intermingle both historical and mythological events. The narratives, as a whole, represent indigenous interpretations of a group history, which is personal and relevant to contemporary views of identity and belonging. In Luchun, these myths and histories are grasped firmly by a few elderly individuals and specialists. However, most Hani have a limited knowledge of these epic texts. Instead their understandings of history and religion are shaped by the more pragmatic texts of short labas. Although Shi presents epic and short labas as two distinct 46 Shi Junchao is a professor at the Centre for Nationalities Literary Studies (Minzu Wenxue Yanjiusuo) at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (Yunnansheng Shehui Kexue Yuan).  47 See Hanizu Wenxueshi (1998). 48 See Hanizu Wenhua Daguan (1999). 49 Shi’s work is well respected by Zhang Xingrong former professor of minority music studies at the Yunnan Arts Institute; his work is also recognized by Hani humanities scholars Bai Xueguang and Fu Yongshou  (2006: personal communication). 50 Woguo Ceniguo is a mythological epic whose title means approximately “twelve paths”. 51 Abei Congpopo is a historical epic whose title means ”migration history“. 42 periods of literature, I argue that the two subgenres are related thematically and are interpreted in a similar manner by audiences as a form of speech that draws continuity with the past and emphasizes the constancy and wisdom of generational practices and values. This chapter is organized in three sections. The first section presents a summary and critique of Shi Junchao’s work on laba epics. The second section compares the presentation of myths and religious themes in epic and short labas. The third section presents an overview of Hani migration history based on the historical epic, Congpopo. Following this, I discuss common themes of identity and belonging that emerge from Congpopo and compare these to similar themes found in short labas. Summary and Critique of Existing Laba Scholarship With the ending of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, the decades following marked a sharp increase of local scholarship on minority cultural studies. Such was the case for Hani minority studies. The last three decades have seen a burgeoning in government-supported initiatives for the collection of Hani oral literature and song.52 Among the most significant contributions is that of Shi Junchao, whose collection of mythical and historical epics has won him recognition in the Chinese academic community.53 Shi relies heavily on recently collected texts of Woguo, and Congpopo in constructing a literary history of the Hani people (1998). In other writings, he also combines historical information from laba texts with that of Chinese documents, working toward a general historical reconstruction of Hani origins and migration (1999). Shi applies his extensive knowledge of all major Hani literary works to drawing cross-disciplinary connections between diverse areas such as archeology, geography, 52 Bai 1991; Bai 2004; Jiu 1993; Honghe 2002; Zhang 1989; Zhao 1990; Xishuangbanna 1992. 53 Shi edited and translated into Chinese a version of the mythical epic Woguo Ceniguo (  ) sung by a prolific singer of Yuanyang County, Zhu Xiaohe ( ). The poem is a two-part work, exceeding 280,000 lines in length. His publication of 1992 won the 2005 first prize from the Foundation of the Yunnan People’s Government for the Study of Minority Language and Arts (   ). 43 anthropology and history. He identifies four historical periods of Hani literary development: the Woguo-Nuju period (Neolithic Stone Age to 2nd century BC), the Migration period (2nd century BC to 10th century CE), the Beima period (10th century to 1949), and the Modern period (beginning from the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to present). Shi attributes the development of the mythological epic labas to the first period of literary development, in which Woguo Ceniguo and Shier Nuju are representative works. Migration epic labas are the material of the second period, one of the most important being Abei Congpopo, a poem that traces Hani migration from present-day southern Sichuan to southern Yunnan. The third period is called the Beima period because of the importance of beima priests in the development of laba during this time. The labas of this period are described as being more realistic, dealing with more recent subject matter. In addition, they are shorter in length and usually serve a functional purpose in ritual. (The courtship and wedding laba analyzed in chapter 3 belong to this period of literature.) The fourth period consists of contemporary written literature, which Shi views as an extension of the traditional oral works of the previous three periods.54 This last period is the only one in which written narratives, and not orally performed laba texts are the central genre of study. The interconnections that Shi draws between Hani migration narratives and other historical evidence are extremely compelling. In his reconstructive efforts, Shi matches detailed geographical descriptions found in historical epics with actual geographic locations in present-day Sichuan and Yunnan. Using Chinese historical documents as corroborative evidence, he proposes that epics such as Congpopo, though partially mythical in nature, also retain an astounding degree of historical accuracy given their oral nature. Shi argues that these epics were developed during their migratory history between 4th century BC to 7th century CE (1998: 46). 54 Shi refers here to works written after the Cultural Revolution, from the early 1980s to the present. These new Hani writings sprung up simultaneous to a revival of folksong collection and research (47). 44 However, Shi’s account of laba literary development delves only superficially into processes of orality and its role in the development and transformation of texts. While Shi acknowledges that oral transmission has led to literary change in the course of history (1998: 45-47), in his analyses of recorded texts, he often assumes that the main essence of a text has not changed since its origins (1998: 356-410). Shi’s approach to textual analysis reflects a strong adherence to Marxist social evolutionary frameworks. Such academic framing views literary development through the lens of social progress, pointing to how literary themes reflect stages of economic and social development. The need to fit a mandated model leads to conclusions that at times oversimplify the historical processes shaping the transmission and reception of oral texts.55 Shi assumes that mythological epics, such as Woguo, necessarily pre-date historical epics, such as Congpopo, since the content of mythological epics is believed to represent a pre-historic time. This view assumes rather simplistically that mythological stories merely reference a far past that cannot be remembered factually, as in historical narrative. However, such a conclusion neglects to take into account the fact that events of a supernatural nature occur frequently in the narratives of Congpopo also. Woguo, in turn, has some narrative sections that seem quite historical in nature, such as the account of the origins of the three main village leaders. Given these observations, the mythological/historical categories that Shi assigns to Woguo and Congpopo appear somewhat forced. Since both epics appear to have different narrative sections that are mythological and historical in nature, instead of interpreting mythological material as being a distorted recollection of the past, it may be more accurate to consider mythological labas as evolving texts that are constantly being re-created in the process of transmission such that its content also reflects historical concerns of other times— 55 While modernist interpretations of social and historical development continue to inform the writing of some scholars and ordinary people, one must acknowledge that anthropological discourse at large has moved on from these theoretical frameworks as shown in the writings of He Ming (2005) and Tong Enzheng (1995). 45 possibly even those of recent times. Although Shi is aware of different versions of oral texts, he does not delve deeply into how different versions of texts might relate to each other, and how performers of different regions might change texts to fit their cultural needs. Rather, he assumes that changes in oral transmission, though present, do not significantly change the core essence of a text. While narrative accounts in Congpopo refer back to events that took place during their migratory history, it seems more likely that Congpopo only took shape in its epic form later during their settlement period in the Red River region of southern Yunnan starting from 7th century CE. The Hani were firmly established in their current homes in the southwestern region of Xishuangbanna, and the south central Red River region of Yunnan by the 9th century (Shi 1999: 55-57). It is likely that the language and performance practice of laba developed most extensively during the latter years of their settlement period, when there was relative social and economic stability to support continuous development of the arts. Assuming that a settled and stable society favored artistic growth, it may have been the case that the canonization of most of the epic labas, those mythological and historical, took place between the 9th and 17th century. (The period following the 17th century was marked by greater unrest as the Qing dynasty asserted more centralized rule over local governments in Yunnan following a regional rebellion raised by General Wu Sangui).56 There are also other reasons why Woguo and Congpopo might be considered to have developed during a similar period following the Red River settlement. Firstly, based on similarities of narrative structure, poetic language, and performance practice, mythological and historical labas appear as contemporary texts. Secondly, the fact that the Aini of Xishuangbanna (a branch of the Hani that migrated from central to 56 Wu Sangui’s rebellion was part of a larger wave of civil unrest known as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories (1674-1681). Following the unrest, tribal rule and pre-existing arrangements of suzerainty came under suspicion and the Qing dynasty government exercised greater authority over local governments of Yunnan. 46 southwest Yunnan after 7th century AD) do not have analogous versions of Woguo and Congpopo within their oral texts. This would suggest that perhaps these works were only developed as oral epics resembling their present form some time after the start of the Red River settlement. Introduction to Woguo Ceniguo and Apei Congpopo The Hani view Woguo Ceniguo as the oldest and most important song in laba repertory. This epic narrative contains approximately 28,000 verses and requires seven days and eight nights to perform in its entirety. In practice, it is uncommon to hear an entire performance of Woguo from beginning to end, but excerpts or chapter units are chosen for performance during relevant rituals and festivities. Woguo is divided into two major parts with twelve chapters in each part, totaling twenty-four chapters. These twenty-four chapter units are also sometimes conceived of as twelve pairs, a number corresponding to the twelve lunar months, symbolizing completeness and correspondence to natural order. The title, Woguo Ceniguo, can be translated “Twelve Paths”, “Twelve Streams” or “Twelve Chapters.” The Hani term, woguo, refers to small pathways in the mountain created by streams, which flow down to irrigate the rice fields. In much of Hani poetry, metaphors of nature are often used to illuminate and enliven the description of human-made objects or cultural customs. In this case, the term woguo refers both literally to twenty-four divisions of the song, much like chapter units, and metaphorically to pathways, which attributes several positive qualities to the text: the chapters are like pathways or streams that flow through mountainous terrain, covering an exhaustive range of subject matter, and expounding on knowledge that is thought to originate itself from nature. The following passage from the opening of Woguo alludes to these very qualities and explains the significance of the chapter divisions (woguo) and its paired structural groupings: 47 Remember well, children of our ancestors: How many woguo did the heaven god give us? They are like twelve broad roads that lead in all four directions. How many woguo did the heaven god pass on to us? Each woguo is like a husband and wife, forming pair upon pair, The all-powerful heaven god would not have told it wrong to us. The twenty-four woguo yet again split into two. Those that are sung in the morning are called ‘Yanben Heben’; Here, we sing about the acts of the gods. Those that are sung at night are called ‘Woben Heben’; Here, we sing about the customs and ways of the people. (Shi 1998: 169, English translation mine) Woguo is of utmost importance to Hani mythology and religion; it details the creation of the world, the origins of the Hani people, and numerous rituals relating to agricultural rites and deity worship. Although modern societal influences and political ideologies have introduced new values into Hani society, the stories of Woguo continue to be the backbone of Hani beliefs and customs in contemporary life. The myths of Woguo define the Hani people’s relationship to natural phenomenon, animals, people of other ethnic origins and the spirit world. Woguo also serves as a historical narrative, giving account of how the Hani transitioned from their reliance on hunting and gathering to farming as a means of livelihood. The second half of Woguo tells of the initial establishment of the three leadership positions of chief, beima (priest) and craftsman in Hani society. The latter part of this section describes the importance of their contributions to Hani society, especially that of the beima in establishing the calendrical festivals and ritual rites relating to birth, marriage, and death. Congpopo is perhaps best known as a historical epic because of the presence of war narratives and the featuring of heroes and heroines who act decisively in determining the fate of the people. Shi collected twenty-three different performances of this epic by performers from Yuanyang, Honghe, Luchun, and Jinping counties of the Red River region. Among the most outstanding singers were Zhu Xiaohe (who also provided the most extensive version of Woguo), Li Kaiming, and Ma Pucheng. An edited version with Chinese translation was later published, totaling 5500 lines in length 48 (Yunnansheng Shaoshu Minzu 1986). The first chapter is about their original homeland of Mount Hunihuna. Each successive chapter is about their settlement and departure from temporary homes. The sixth chapter details a long battle between the Hani and their Puni neighbours at Guhamicha. Through a series of personal betrayals, the Hani lose the battle and are forced to leave Guhamicha to settle in the Red River region, their present- day homeland. Congpopo is an important piece of oral literature that offers insight into how Hani portray themselves in relation to outsiders, and how their continual displacement and migration has shaped their self-identity. Religious Themes in Epic and Short Labas Creation Stories from Laba Epics Although much of Congpopo is thought to be historical in content, the song actually begins with a creation story that takes place in their mountainous homeland of Hunihuna. Shi’s theory is that the Hani originated from the Qiang people, who had their origins in the Tibetan Plateau. 57 Mount Hunihuna, in his account, shows a remembrance of their origins in these high plateau regions of Tibet, and their migration south down to central Sichuan. The following is Shi’s summary of the creation story in Congpopo: Many years ago, in a place far in the north there was a very tall mountain called Hunihuna. When the gods of heaven came together to sacrifice the buffalo god, they made this mountain with the thickest bones of the buffalo god. This mountain was made up of a large pile of gigantic red and black boulders. On the two sides of the mountain were two rivers that flowed down from the top: one was called Weidixiye, “river of gold” and the other was called Yidigaye, “river of silver”. On Mount Hunihuna, there grew a dense forest where plants and animals of all types thrived. After 770,000 years, from the deep waters of Huninhuna’s rivers, there emerged human seeds. At first these seeds lived as floating organisms in the 57The earliest record of the Hani as the heyi () people appears in the Book of Shang (), a Chinese document that is dated between 5th to 3rd century BC. Although it is impossible to know precisely when laba became established as the primary performance genre for the transmission of classic texts, the content of historical epics allude to geographic and migratory events that can be corroborated by Chinese texts dating back to this period (Shi 1999: 38-39). 49 water. Then these human seeds took root in the dense forest growth. When they sprouted out of the earth, they developed the ability to walk. The first humans to ever exist were a father and son named Bujiao and Jiege. Bujiao resembled a field shrimp; his body was hard like a shell. Jiege was like a snail; his mouth spat out a sticky paste. The second pair of humans was a mother and daughter. When they ran about, they stood upright and walked busily like bees fluttering among the flowers. The third pair was Ahu and Jieni who walked together sideways with their hands and feet to the side, like beetles. Each pair of humans was unique and walked differently: one pair used their bodies, one used their hands, and one stood up straight to walk with their legs. By the twenty-third generation, the Great Mother, Tapo had begun to give birth to all the different peoples of the world. She bore children from all different parts of her body. The Hani people were her most beloved because she gave birth to them through her belly button. That is why Hani still like to live in the valley regions of mountain ranges, because they resemble the belly button of Tapo from which they came. The Hani eventually learned how to gather fruit by imitating monkeys. They learned to make clothes from leaves from the mantis, and learned to speak from the parrot. They also learned how to hunt, fish and use fire. However, the food on Mount Hunihuna eventually became scarce and they were forced to move to a place with more food called Lake Shenran.58 The above account of human origins is surprisingly Darwinian in its description of human development and differentiation. The Hani began as beings undifferentiated from other flora and fauna, originating from plant forms in the water, much like rice seedlings growing in a paddy. They learn the skills of gathering, speaking, and weaving from other animals. In yet other stories, the Hani come from the same mother who births the world’s animals. It is only in successive generations that differentiation occurs, and humans become distinct from animals, and the Hani from the other peoples of the world. Similarly, Woguo’s creation story begins in the water, featuring a large mother creature, like Tapo. Within the Woguo story, the mother is a large fish who creates all the gods of the spirit world, who in turn created the heavens and the earth, and give birth to humans and animals. While many of the gods and goddesses to whom Mother Fish gave 58 Summary of Congpopo chapter 1 by Shi, 357-358 (Translation mine). 50 birth became quickly embroiled in conflict, stirring up much chaos on earth, Ema, the goddess of heaven, remained uninvolved, turning her attention to birthing other gods and to overseeing creation. The Hani acknowledge Ema as the most powerful deity from whom the Hani descended. This all happened during a time when there was no division between gods, humans, spirits or animals: In the beginning, at a time so far back that the oldest elder can hardly recall it, the world was only an empty space filled with a dark mist. The darkness was like a dark wok lid covering the seas. During this time, the only living creature was a gigantic fish. It was 9999 feet long and its width was as far as the eye could see. The name of the fish was Miwuyixiyima, meaning “the golden mother fish who lives under the earth”. Mother Fish was the one who gave life to all the gods and created all things on the earth. Every 100 years, Mother Fish would turn over once. After turning over 77 times, Mother Fish awoke and created the heaven and earth gods. Mother Fish created the gods and goddesses in pairs, except for Michachama, the goddess of land and oceans. In her loneliness, Michachama challenged the power of the other gods and goddesses, and began a fierce battle in the sky and earth. Only the eldest child of Mother Fish, Ema, remained in Yanluo, the palace of the gods, where she carried on with her own affairs, oblivious to the turmoil that was taking place below. She gave birth to many gods, and gave life to all the flora and fauna of the earth. She first gave birth to two daughters, Yanyi and Maben, who left behind the Twelve Rituals for us to observe. Ema also gave birth to the Maguo people who were the first ancestors of the Hani.59 In contrast to the Congpopo story which points to the Hani’s origins in nature, the Woguo creation story emphasizes the identity of the Hani as direct descendants of the gods. Using oral genealogies, present-day Hani can trace their ancestry back to their earliest ancestors, who, in turn, share an ancestry with the pantheon of gods described in Woguo. While the Hani gradually become central figures in the latter narratives of epic texts, the genesis accounts offered in Woguo, Shier Nuju, and Congpopo depict the Hani as being undifferentiated from the deities and animals. The common origin of all living organisms is an important belief in the animistic practices of the Hani. They view 59 Summary of Woguo chapter 1 (Shi 1998: 173-174). 51 themselves as being intricately connected to the animals, flora and fauna of their natural surroundings, and to the spirits present in the natural world. Numerous stories are used to explain how the Hani eventually became separate and distinct from the spirit and animal world. Below is a genealogy of early generations of Hani, which describes their gradual transformation from deity and animal-forms to human form: Ema gave birth to many gods, among whom were Meiyan and Shala. She ruled over the great and small affairs of gods and mortals. She was also the first ancestor of mortals for she gave birth to a second generation of half-god, half-mortals named Maguo. The Maguo were the first deity-mortals to exist. Maguo gave birth to a third generation of deity-mortals named Majue…. …The Wutu started to learn to stand upright, but they could not stand firm, and merely scampered about in a half- upright manner. The Wutu gave birth to an eighth generation of ancestors: the Tuma. They were able to stand but their intellect was not well developed. Tuma and all their ancestors before them were able to enter heaven to petition the gods for help. However after Tuma, the ladder that went to heaven was cut down and the gods were no longer willing to come down to help the mortals. Tuma gave birth to a ninth generation of ancestors: the Mayue. This was a generation of female mortals who lived in caves. Mayue gave birth to a tenth generation of ancestors: the Yuexing who in turn gave birth to an eleventh generation: the Xingben. The Yuexing and Xingben were more intelligent than all the ancestors before them. They understood many things but the ears of Yuexing were deaf and they could not yet speak. Xingben, however, had ears that could hear and mouths that could speak. The twelfth generation of ancestors was the Shimiwu. This generation of mortals could recognize their mother’s milk and did not drink milk from the wrong creature. Before the Shimiwu, there was no distinction between mortals, ghosts, and gods, but after them, they became separate. After the Shimiwu came the thirteenth generation: the Wutuli. This was the first generation where males and females formed pairs to bear offspring…60 This genealogy shows similar features to the Congpopo creation narrative in which different generations of humans were born with unique strengths and limitations. Shi points to these descriptions of generational change as exhibiting an early indigenous awareness of evolutionary processes (1998: 185-186). Interestingly, humans are not 60 Summary of Woguo chapter 1 (Shi 1998: 174-178). 52 described as knowing the difference between the different animals and spirit forms until late into the genealogy. Likewise the male-female procreative pair does not take prominence until the thirteenth generation of humans. Rather early pairings of human forms are same-sex parent-sibling units as seen in the Congpopo creation myth. Many other Hani creation accounts show similar interest in descriptions of generations of beings with unique features, and the creative pairings of early deities and beings. One important belief that emerges from the above creation story is the eventual separation of mortals, ghosts, and gods. According to some oral genealogies (similar to that told in Congpopo): A mother named Tapo gave birth to hundreds of animals and beings. Among them were a human and a ghost. The older brother was the human, and the younger brother was the ghost. Of all of Tapo’s children, each kind of animal left Tapo after birth with the exception of the human and ghost. At first they got along very well but after a while, they had a disagreement and threatened to leave the family. Fortunately, Tapo was a very interesting creature: she had a pair of breasts at her front and twelve breasts on her back. She commanded the human-child to nurse at her front and her ghost-child to nurse at her back. This way they would not need to see each other and quarrel. If they had kept these rules, things would have been fine but the ghost- child had become evil and broke Tapo’s rules. He often secretly went to Tapo’s front and nursed on the breasts that were meant for his brother. What was more, he would often follow his human brother about, spying on him and seeking to take credit for any good thing his brother did. For this reason the animosity between the brothers increased and they separated forever. The human continued to live in the home but the ghost fled to live in the trees and rocks of the wilderness.61 The story above explains why Hani view ghosts as being malevolent beings who must be appeased with certain types of offerings, or chased away with curses. Because they live in the wilderness, ghosts are thought to disturb humans because they crave material comforts and as such can be appeased with offerings. The Hani also believe that all humans, once deceased, become ghosts of various types depending on the situation surrounding their death. For example, a stillborn is considered to have a ghost that does 61 (Shi 1999: 140-142). 53 not harm humans, but a person who dies from an accident is thought to have a very malevolent ghost. In contrast, an elderly person who dies of natural causes is thought to become a benevolent ghost who will protect the family’s interests. If a son is present in the family to conduct the proper rituals to deliver the deceased to the resting place of the ancestors, then over time the deceased parent will become a deity who will have power to protect and prosper the family. Short Labas and Contemporary Ritual Since Shi identifies epic labas and short labas as works representing two separate historical periods, he sees them as being stylistically distinct and makes relatively little effort to compare their thematic similarities.62 However, I argue that the two categories of oral texts were likely contemporaneous traditions that served differing social functions. In contrast to epic labas, short labas are pragmatic texts that reflect contemporary religious praxis without its full narrative underpinnings as laid out in epic texts. Because epic myths are not performed often, many of their stories that do not relate to important rituals are forgotten. However, those that have strong ties to calendrical and life cycle rituals have greater permanence in social consciousness. Assuming that functional art forms were developed in more contemporary times, Shi suggests that epic labas pre-date short labas by several hundred years (1998: 46-47). In my view, there is relatively little in either the content or form of short and epic labas that indicates that this is the case. Their differences in content appear to show mainly a difference in function rather than age. Furthermore, shared themes and approaches to framing the text suggest that short and epic labas belong to a unified genre, having likely developed as contemporaneous subgenres. 62 Here I define all other labas that are not epic labas as short labas. This terminology merely refers to the relative lengths of the two categories of laba. In actuality, a performance of short laba can also last for many hours. 54 Epic and short labas share two general similarities. First, both are performed to the same regional melodic structure, and make use of similar stock phrases. These are important symbols authenticating laba as historical texts imbued with the weight and authority of generations of ancestors. Second, both epic and short labas share similarities of thematic content. With respect to religious themes, short labas usually focus on the celebration of a festival and its ritual events, referring to mythological stories as a way of explaining the basis of ritual activities. In other laba song types, religious themes surface as secondary themes, which relate obliquely to the maintenance of relationships, and the securing of spiritual and material blessing upon a village. Ceiqpiel’s song about celebrating Kuzaza (also known as the Sixth Month Festival) is a good example of the telling of myths in short labas as a way of explicating ritual. Kuzaza celebrates several different myths, the best known being about the Lord of Rain who comes visiting on a magnificent white horse. In order to welcome the Lord of Rain (known in Hani as Sseizyu), the people make sacrifices of sticky rice cakes and place them on folded plantain leaves. Every household also places on their doorpost a bamboo container holding straw for the deity’s horse. These rituals ensure his provision of generous rain for a bountiful harvest. Ceiqpiel’s Kuzaza song (CP1) intersperses explanations of this story within descriptions of other festival activities in a pastiche manner that conveys a joyous, bustling atmosphere. Yet the frenetic burst of activities is purposefully directed toward securing the spiritual and material prosperity of the village. The song points to both the natural signs ushering in the arrival of the festival and the historical basis for the celebration. She sings, “When the crickets of the fourth month begin calling, the Hani villages will celebrate the mohhana rest day” (CP1:5-6).63 She continues later: “Kuzaza of the rainy season was not ours to first celebrate, Kuzaza of the rainy season was first celebrated by Zyuqpuv Daoljol…These calendrical laws were 63 The mohhana rest day is observed the day after all the rice seedlings have been transplanted. 55 first instuted in ancient times by our ancestors; They were told to us by our ancestor Yeilsal Leilkav” (CP1: 44-45; 48-49). When the day of the pig arrives, villagers will congregate around the village swing shed to erect a large swing beside it. Ceiq Peil describes the sturdiness of the shed, the refreshing qualities of the village well, and the joy of children and women playing on the swing, and bringing in blessings for the village. She also describes the involvement of the migu, the village priest (the present-day equivalent of a beima). He is responsible at Kuzaza primarily for directing a village-wide sacrifice at the swing shed, where meat from a hog is distributed among the different village households (see illustration 2.1). The meat is brought back to each home for a feast, and as part of ancestral worship conducted at each household shrine (see Illustration 2.2). In the passage of text below, the migu is given the honor of swinging first on the newly erected swing, as an auspicious act performed for the wellbeing of the entire village. It is also seen as a type of cleansing ritual which prepares the village for the arrival of the Lord of Rain: When the good day arrives and it belongs to the day of the pig, We will use the long reeds on the mountaintop as rope for the swing, We will build a large swing by the village gate. The first time the swing is swung— Let the first person to swing be the respected migu, Let him swing that which is not good to one side, Let him swing that which is good to the other side. The second time the swing is swung— Let his arms and legs take the bad things and swing them to one side, Let him take the sicknesses of the people and throw them to the other side. When the Lord of Rain comes, he will have a resting place, When the seven priests come, they will have a resting place. When the Kuzaza of the rainy season comes, We will pierce the nose of the water buffalo… When the Lord of Rain comes to rest in this place, We will get him cold and refreshing water from the well. (CP1: 55-67; 69-71) 56 Illustration 2.1 Kuzaza festival pig sacrifice at the swing shelter at Aqlaoq Nahhal, 2006 Illustration 2.2 Hani household ancestral altar (affixed to wall on far left) in Daxing village, 2006 This song conveys in its successive images the importance of order and good governance in all aspects of village life. The observance of ritual events at Kuzaza fulfills the requirements of proper religious governance, which is viewed as essential in 57 securing the material prosperity and life-giving potential of a village. As summarized in one passage of text: Our good home of Gyuma Naqhhal! The young brides of the village give birth to many children, And there are many ladies at the village gate. Our beautiful village is like a blossoming jasmine; Families who live at peace are like the blossoming toadi flower. O good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! In courtship and sibling dialogue labas which are examined in the next chapter, religious themes function in a similar manner to those observed in CP1. In the context of a courtship dialogue, the man often refers to the proper observance of ritual as a means of depicting his clan and village as an orderly and resourceful institution, which his lover should find worthy to enter into by marriage. This is the case in the courtship song AL3, in which the man describes a sulaku, an annual ritual conducted by each clan during the summer rainy season. This ritual involves ancestral animal sacrifices, as well as prayers made traditionally by the wife of the eldest son to call back lost spirits belonging to members of the family. As mentioned earlier, the Hani believe that each person possesses many spirits, and that some of these can be lost if an individual is severely frightened or exposed to inauspicious circumstances. A sulaku serves to restore health and wholeness to members of a family, by calling back lost spirits. In AL3, the singer Siivqlaoq assures his lover that his clan has all the knowledge and expertise to conduct a successful sulaku. This forms part of a larger body of rhetoric that aims to convince his lover that his clan and village are vigilant in observing all ritual requirements, and that these acts will surely be acknowledged by deities who will bend to offer divine protection and provision. He sings: The Hani have calendrical laws that are worth boasting of, Having called the spirits back, we will live a life of peace. We can call the spirits back to the body, And though the wind blows, it will not blow us over. The sky is like an umbrella to us, No matter where the feet travel, Every place we arrive to will be peaceful, The ancestor Miqyeil will guard the harvest, 58 Our ancestor Miqyeil will be amongst the people. The offspring of Molmil will guard our livestock,64 They will guard day and night. The children are at peace; none of their cries can be heard. Brothers and sisters born later will not leap with fear. O good home of Laoma Sseildaol! Hani Migration History The Land and Peoples of Yunnan Yunnan is the most southwesterly province of China, with Myanmar, to the west, and Vietnam and Laos to the south. For many centuries Chinese governments had made temporary claims to the region without significantly impacting the lives of the local tribal peoples.65 The mountainous and densely forested terrain of Yunnan made invasion by early Chinese civilizations difficult. Furthermore, the early kingdoms of Qin, Zhou, and Han were occupied with defending their territory from the threat of more unified tribal people at their northern borders. The influence that the early Chinese empires had on the peoples of Yunnan was limited to the establishment of a commandery used for defense and exploration.66 By the 2nd century, the Chancellor of the kingdom of Shu (present-day Sichuan), Zhuge Liang, extended Chinese rule to Yunnan under a colonial policy that left most tribes to rule themselves under Chinese suzerainty. This practice of maintaining tribal loyalty through relations of suzerainty to the Chinese state continued into the Tang and Song dynasties. Yunnan did not become an integral part of the Chinese empire until the 13th century, when the Mongols invaded China and ruled as the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). 64 Molmil is the Hani god of heaven, thought to be the most powerful and mighty god in the pantheon. 65 The Kingdom of Chu was the first to extend their territory into Yunnan in 4th century BC but with little administrative influence over the tribal peoples. After the fall of Chu the Qin Emperor annexed the kingdoms of Shu and Pa in Sichuan, but did not continue military advance into Yunnan (Fitzgerald 1972: 42-44). 66 Under Emperor Wu (140-86 BC), Yunnan was renamed the Yi Zhou Commandery, strengthening Chinese influence in the region. While the emperor did not assert direct rule on Yunnan, he sent many envoys to explore it, particularly in hopes of finding a trade route through Burma to India (Fitzgerald 1972: 45). 59 Although the early history of Yunnan’s peoples is largely unknown, the types of invasions and settlements that took place can be conjectured based on the geography of the land. The entire territory of Yunnan is a high plateau area that ranges from 7000 to 4000 feet above sea level, from its highest heights in the west to its lower ranges in the southeast. Great ranges rib this plateau, from north to south, creating deep narrow valleys to the west, and wider, more open valleys with lakes to the east. The valleys and plateau regions of Yunnan are rich, well-watered lands, ideal for heavy agricultural settlement. For centuries, different ethnic groups inhabited Yunnan’s valley regions separated from their nearest neighbours by high uninhabited ranges. As the population of tribal settlements grew, more powerful groups invaded the valley lands of weaker peoples, pushing them further up into less hospitable mountain regions (Fitzgerald 1972: 40). Hani migration as told in Congpopo bears witness to the patterns of indigenous invasion and resettlement described above. The epic narrative has value both as a historically grounded work, and as a literary work whose dramatic portrayal of characters and events play an equally important part in shaping the storyline. Told from the viewpoint of a people who were often less advanced than their neighbours, Congpopo’s portrayal of Hani migration illuminates indigenous perspectives on topics of suffering and displacement. The epic also has specific significance to the singer and his village audience, telling a personal history that reaches far back into the past and proceeds continuously up to the time of their immediate ancestors. In this way, Congpopo is an important piece of oral history that affirms feelings of shared identity with past generations. Theories of Hani Ancestry The origins of the Hani people, and that of many minority peoples of Southwest China, remain a much-debated topic amongst present-day Chinese minority scholars. 60 Two major theories concerning the origins of the Hani exist: (1) they originated from the Qiang people of the Tibetan Plateau who migrated southward to present-day Sichuan, Yunnan, Laos and Vietnam between 2000 to 500 BC; and (2) they were indigenous peoples of central Yunnan (Shi 1998: 31-33).67 Shi is a proponent of an alternate theory, which argues for the mixed ancestry of the Hani in the Qiang and the Baiyue, a rice- farming people who originated from the southeast coast of China (33-37). Written sources suggest that the Hani became a distinct cultural entity beginning some time between the 7th to 2nd century BC (Shi 1998: 34). Shi points to the Hani’s knowledge of rice-water farming as being a cultural feature adopted from the Baiyue, whilst their language exhibits Sino-Tibetan traits, pointing to their Qiang ancestry (34-35). However, more current approaches to the study of ethnic identity (Barth 1969; Guo 2008), would suggest that the dynamics of exchange between ethnic groups is in fact much more complex then what is proposed in the above theories. The formation of the Hani ethnic identity, beyond being shaped by mass migration and resettlement, was also deeply affected by varying historical patterns of intercultural exchanges between diverse peoples. The maintenance of ethnic identity in the midst of continuous intercultural exchange is made possible by the prescription of boundaries that define allowable domains of exchange in some social sectors whilst insulating other sectors from confrontation and modification (Barth 1969: 16). Hence, how Hani ethnic identity emerged from these complex historical processes of acculturation, and differentiation remains a deeply speculative matter. Congpopo Account of Hani History Hani migration as told through the epic, Congpopo, represents the most detailed extant account of Hani history. While the earliest portions of Congpopo are not documented in other written sources, its latter portions closely parallel Chinese 67 Included also among the minorities believed to be of Qiang ancestry are the Yi, Naxi, Lahu, Bai, Lisu, Jingpo, Nu, Pumi, and Dulong. 61 historical sources. The map of Figure 2.1 shows their path of migration from the Tibetan Plateau to central Sichuan, and further south to locations in central and southern Yunnan. Table 2.1 shows the names of settlement locations described in Congpopo and their geographic locations based on supporting Chinese sources. The dates in the table refer to approximate periods where there was migratory movement between two locations. As the dates indicate, there were likely periods of overlap between different waves of migratory movement. Given the length of time between the start and end of migrations, it is very difficult to determine when Hani communities were fully established and settled within a given area. This is particularly true in their early history. Starting from their period of settlement in the Red River region, written records of their interactions with Chinese and surrounding tribal governments become more numerous. 62 Illustration 2.3 Map of Hani migration 63 Table 2.1 Summary of Hani migration periods based on historical and literary data 64 According to the parallel evidence that Shi lays out, the Congpopo narrative refers to events that date back to their Qiang ancestral home in the Tibetan Plateau, which they refer to as Mount Hunihuna. The beginning of their migration story is summarized in the passage below: After Tapo gave birth to the Hani on Mount Hunihuna, they multiplied on the mountain, living as hunter-gatherers, learning their skills from the animals of the forest. Eventually, food grew scarce on the mountain, so the Hani were forced to move down from the mountain to Shensui Lake. Here the Hani prospered for a time. There were two wise women who are remembered from this time: Zhesi taught the people to capture wild boars in order to raise them as livestock; Zhenu taught the people how to plant basic crops, like corn, millet, and sorghum. Because these two women prospered the lives of the Hani, the first syllable of their names, “zhe”, came to mean “wealth”. Unfortunately, the Hani were not able to remain long at Shensui Lake. Some people were not careful with handling fire and accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed many homes and crops in the area. The fire was so great that the water of the lake dried up, so that the soil around the lake could no longer grow good crops. The scarcity of food caused the Hani to move southward once again to a mountain called Galuegaze. Here they met the Acuo people who welcomed them with open arms.68 The Acuo feasted together with the Hani. The Acuo brought out their best chickens and bamboo shoots, and the Hani offered them their wine made from corn. The two peoples did many things together and lived peacefully for two generations until one day, the daughter of the chief of the Acuo died suddenly. Overcome with grief, he blamed the Hani for the death of his daughter, saying that they had brough bad luck upon them. The Acuo threatened to forcibly remove them but the Hani agreed to leave peaceably just as they had come. In remembrance of their friendship with the Acuo, the Hani left Galuegaze with a bamboo plant, which they have since transplanted to each of their subsequent places of settlement.69 Congpopo is organized into seven chapter units, each one describing the events that took place in one settlement area. The events of the first two chapters, which details their settlement at three locations, is summarized in the passage above. (The events at Lake Shensui and Mount Galuegaze are the only two settlement narratives that are 68 Shi refers to other oral texts in which the Acuo people refer to the present-day Dai. Here the Acuo likely refer to the ancient Baiyue people who were the early ancestors of the present-day Dai (1998: 358). 69 Summary of Congpopo chapters 1 and 2 (Shi 1998: 357-359). 65 grouped into one chapter.) Chapters three and four are thought to describe two periods of settlement in the fertile delta region between the Dadu, Yalong, and Anning Rivers of central Sichuan. The first mention of the Hani in Chinese records also appears to refer to their settlement in this geographical area. The Book of Shang and the Book of Mountains and Oceans written during the Spring Autumn period (722-481 BC) make reference to the Woyi people living “in the place where the soil is black and fertile, and where the three rivers meet to form a triangle” (Shi 1998: 369).70 (The name Woyi is a transliteration of the earliest self-appellation of the Hani, meaning “people of the mountain”.)71 According to the Congpopo narrative, following their departure from Mount Galuegaze, the Hani continued to migrate south and settled into an area of fertile flatland surrounded by rivers. They called their new home Reluopuchu, “reluo” referring to the fertile land being like a “bowl that catches the rain” and “puchu”, meaning “large village”. The Hani sing about this land with great affection, recognizing it as the place where they first established practices of terraced rice farming. This was also the place where they learned how to establish the boundaries and location of a village through divination using shells.72 This was also the time when the governing structure of the village was established, and the practice of appointing three chiefs to oversee the political, religious and material needs of the village was established. After several generations had settled in Reluopuchu, a plague struck the village, causing many people to die. The Hani had no other choice but to move away from their first 70 The Book of Shang refers to Shang Shu (); Book of Mountains and Oceans is Shanhai Jing ( ). 71 The present-day name of Hani is an alternate pronunciation of this original appellation, having the same meaning of “people of the mountain”. The characters that appear in the original text are , which was historically pronounced “woyi”, and was later pronounced “heyi”. In early Tang records the Hani were also referred to using the name heman (), meaning the “he barbarians”. The official minority name of Hani reflects this more recent pronunciation of the character he () (Shi 1999: 38-39). 72 Shi notes that this practice was first found among the Baiyue and that the Hani learned this form of divination from them (1998: 359-360). 66 village home to settle in other places. This is the story that is told about the discovery of their next home: The Hani had traveled a long distance and suffered much hardship in search of a new home. One day, as they were walking in the wild, weary and discouraged, they looked up and saw a giant eagle flying in the sky. The eagle’s call was like the sound of thunder, and the movement of its wings appeared like lightning. The Hani followed the eagle for a distance. Then, suddenly, the eagle gave out a great cry and dove into the ground. In that instant, the eagle had transformed into a large and fertile plain that lay before them. Its uplifted wings became two rivers that surrounded the land. Because the soil was black and thick with mineral sediment from the rivers, the Hani called the place Nuoma’amei, meaning “the great plain between the black waters.” (Shi 1998: 360) From this point onward, the Congpopo narrative takes on more characteristics of a historical epic, featuring heroes and villains whose moral actions determine the rise and fall of the people. One of the first characters to appear during their time at Nuoma’amei is Chief Wumu. The story is told that Wumu governed the people well, and as a result they thrived in their newfound home of Nuoma’amei. Wumu taught the people how to plant bamboo forests around the rivers to prevent flooding, and where to plant rice fields for the best irrigation. He also taught the people how to establish the boundaries of a village with stone boulders, and how to worship the village god so that the people would receive his blessings. As the Hani prospered, the people from nearby heard about their wealth and sent caravans to trade with them. In particular, the Labo people came to Nuoma’amei to trade different metals and colored thread for the Hani’s cotton and red rice.73 Eventually one conniving young Labo lad came to Wumu and befriended him. Wumu unwittingly gave this man his daughter in marriage. Through this marriage alliance, the Labo man eventually took over the Wumu’s farmland, and even took possession of his hat and sash, symbols of his governing authority. Following Wumu’s 73 There are no other historical records about who the Labo and Puni people (mentioned later) were but they figure prominently in the Congpopo narrative. They may have been people related to the Dai and Yi as these groups were known to be dominant in the Dali and Kunming regions during these periods. Other songs also describe the Hani as interacting closely with Dai and Yi minorities. 67 death, the Labo man competed with the new chief for ruling authority over the Hani. The Labo man outwitted the new chief on numerous occasions owing to the young chief’s inexperience. Finally a war broke out between the Labo and the Hani over a land claim dispute. The simple bamboo weapons of the Hani proved to be no match for the metal armor and swords of the Labo. The Hani suffered terrible losses in the battle. One passage of Congpopo laments the death of the fallen soldiers in these words: “Rising from the frothing rapids of the Nuoma River floated innumerable corposes of soldiers and horses/Where the Nuoma waters run still, the Hani lie at rest, never to see the light of day again, ” (Shi 1998:362). A Hani remnant survived the war and once again traveled southward in search for a new home. Within Chinese historical texts there is a considerable period of silence between the first mention of the Woyi in the Book of Shang and subsequent references. The next most recent record of the Hani is found in early Tang dynasty documents (618-907 CE). Several Tang period documents exist, which make reference to the Hani people residing in several regions of Sichuan and Yunnan. One source cites the presence of the Hani in three districts located in the Wumeng mountain region, southeast of the Sichuan delta region; a second cites the presence of a mighty chief, Wang Luoqi, ruling over a large Hani settlement in western Yunnan; and two other sources cite the presence of renowned chiefs ruling over a Hani population by Lake Dian (present-day Kunming area) (Shi 1998: 40). 74 Based on these collected sources, the Hani appeared to have been 74 It was likely that the Hani established themselves in the Kunming area alongside an even larger Yi population that was recorded to have been present also during this time (Thrasher 1990: 15- 23). Below are further details on the four historical records cited: 1) The Ming dynasty document Mingtaizhu Hongwu Shilu (   ), describes events of the Tang period, citing the presence of the Heni () people living in the three districts of Bipan (), Wumeng (), and Mangbu ( ) by the Wumeng mountains located southeast of the Sichuan delta region. 2) In a volume entitled Southern Barbarians in the New Book of Tang written in 1060, the leader, Wang Luobu (), is recorded as ruling over the Heman () in a region south of Lake Er, near Dali in the year 656 (Xintang Shu: Nanmanzhuan, : ). 68 scattered over a large geographical area between central Sichuan and central-western Yunnan for a period of over a thousand years. Their migratory movements from central Sichuan to western and central Yunnan, likely took place over a long period of time with considerable overlap between periods of migration and settlement. At the same time that the majority of the population continued to establish themselves in communities further and further south, there likely existed smaller groups of Hani that continued to thrive for a time at various locations along their migratory path. These small enclaves of Hani eventually assimilated into surrounding cultural groups. Like many oral histories, Congpopo’s narrative simplifies this migratory history by describing the movements of the majority, surrounding their arrivals and departures with key persons and events. Because Congpopo is an epic originating from the Red River region, the focus of the narrative is on the history of their Hani ancestors and their journey of migration south. From Nuoma’amei, the Hani migrate southward to a place they named, Si’ezuoniang, meaning “The Large Plain of Si’e”. Since historical records show that the region of present-day Dali, near Lake Er was historically known as Siyu or Seyu,75 the similarity of the Hani name to historic Dali would suggest that they settled in this region, on a plain west of Lake Er beginning as early as 7th century CE. Their presence in the Dali region is further supported by Tang records.76 Their period of residence in Dali only slightly preceded the establishment of the Nanzhao Kingdom (750 CE), which became influential as a centre of cultural exchange between diverse tribal peoples between the 8th to 9th century. Congpopo records that the Hani cohabited with the 3) In the Volume 86 of Daming Yitong Zhi ( ), entitled Yunnan Fu: Yimen Xian (   ), the tribal leader, Zhong Moyou (), is listed as being present in the Lake Dian area of central Yunnan. His name is also present in Hani oral genealogies collected in the Red River and Xishuangbanna regions. 3) In a Tang document written by Minister Zhang Jiuling (673-740) entitled Chi’annan Shouling Cuanren Zheshu (#" ), the leader Meng Guwu () is listed among the tribal chiefs of the Liuzhao Mountain area near Lake Dian. (Above information taken from Shi 1999: 36-67.) 75 Siyu refers to ; Seyu refers to !. 76 As cited earlier, the New Book of Tang (1060) documents the presence of the Heman ( ) in a region west of Lake Er, near Dali (Xintang Shu: Nanmanzhuan,  : ). 69 Ha’e people of Si’e Zuonaing for a time. But just as they had established their fields, and their villages were being completed, the chief of the Ha’e people asked them to leave, saying: It is not that we have had a change of heart, but you are merely guests in our land. A visit must always have an end: you must take your strength now, and go look for a home of your own. From now on our ponds no longer have fish and shrimp for you to harvest, and the farmland on the foothills are no longer free for your planting. The Hani were forced to leave once more, and traveled south in search for a home. Their next place of settlement was at Guhamicha, a location southeast from Si’ezuoniang, in what is known today as the Kunming area, near Lake Dian. The events of Guhamicha are detailed in chapter six of Congpopo, which makes up the longest chapter of the epic, consisting of over 1700 lines. Besides the narrative of Nuoma’amei, the events of Guhamicha are by far the most significant in Hani migratory history, and form the climax of the Congpopo narrative. The Hani lived at Guhamicha for several generations but are eventually forced to leave after a long and intense war with the Puni people. The story of the events leading up to the war plays out in a dramatic fashion, involving heroes and heroines in acts of valor, sacrifice, and betrayal, which directly impact the fate of the people. Guhamicha Narrative The Hani moved southeast this time and arrived at a fertile plain by a lake. Here they met the Puni people who had come before them. As a sign of their peaceful intentions, the Hani buried their weapons when they first arrived, calling the place “Guhamicha”, meaning, “the place of the weapon burial”. Their newfound home was exceedingly fertile and the Hani found that they were able to harvest within a year the rice they required in three years. They also learned how to cast and shape plowshares and axes from the Puni, which improved their ability to farm. The people prospered and their numbers increased to seventy thousand. 70 However, because the Hani had come after the Puni, no matter how accomplished they were, they were still the Puni’s servants. As a verse states: “No matter how thick the arm of the Hani, it would always be Luoza’s helping arm. No matter how firm the thigh of the Hani, it would always be the Luoza’s running leg.” Luoza, the Puni chief, kept the Hani people subservient to him, through strategic marriage alliances; He gave his daughter Masizami (hereafter Masi) as a wife to the Hani chief, Nasuoweiqie (hereafter Nasuo). Nasuo was a hero among the people. He was the son of Zana, a respected warrior and chief among the Hani. Nasuo was a man of great determination and stature. His first wife was also a heroine, loved and respected among the people. Her name was Qisizami (hereafter Qisi). She also demonstrated great leadership and military skill, loyally assisting her husband in governing the people. For a long time Luoza had coveted the land of the Hani, and he waited for a festival day, when the Hani village defenses were down, to surround and capture Nasuo. Once Nasuo was captured, he demanded livestock and goods from the Hani, and even set up a shrine of the Puni god on the mountain where the Hani worshiped their village god. Fortunately, the wise Qisi was able to foresee Luoza’s evil plot, and quickly rallied Hani troops from without to break through enemy lines in order to rescue Nasuo. Qisi was long aware of Luoza’s desire to rule the Hani, and she had advised Nasuo with these words: The young eagle and the old eagle cannot live together in the same forest, The yellow cow and the cat do not belong in the same herd. Quickly lead the people to leave this place, before Luoza strikes, Quickly lead the people to move out, before the first person falls by the sword. Do not look greedily on this land of Guha, We can move elsewhere to re-establish a home!” Unfortunately, Nasuo’s Puni wife, Masi, connivingly argued to the contrary, convincing Nasuo to ignore Qisi’s advice. Now that Luoza had struck, the Hani had no choice but to dig up the weapons that they had buried in order to fight with the Puni in 71 defense of their land. Thus ensued a long battle on the plains of Xunaluo. The Hani fought long and hard, but because of the simplicity of their weaponry, and their lack of numbers, they were forced to retreat. They returned to the main village and ceded over the fertile plains of Xunaluo to the Puni. Nasuo met together with his army leaders in order to plan their next move. Meanwhile, Qisi caught Masi eavesdropping on their meeting and sent her away. Qisi proposed a plan using sorcery, in which they would call up a screeching legion of evil spirits to scatter the Puni troops. They planned a ruse, in which they left open the village doors; once Luoza entered with his troops, the evil spirits ambushed the troops and caused them to scatter in panic. After this, the Hani prepared spears and arrows of fire with which to strike the Puni troops, but because Masi found out about these plans, she gave the Puni troops warning of when the arrows were to be thrown. She stood on top of a house and waved a red blanket when the arrows were being thrown, so that the Puni knew when not to enter the village gates. In this way, the Puni were able to outwit the Hani, and once more they suffered great losses. After this defeat, Qisi warned Nasuo about Masi’s deceptive ways but he did not take the warning seriously, thinking that he could not be deceived so easily. In a third effort to defeat the Puni, Nasuo built seven hundred wood statues on the mountainside. Through an act of sorcery, he placed drops of human blood on various parts of their bodies so that the wood figures came to life and could fight for the Hani. Unfortunately, this plan was also foiled because Masi acted as a spy, leaking their military secrets to the Puni. In the end, the Puni used fire and burned up all the wood statues. With this failure, Nasuo was finally convinced that Masi was acting as a spy for the Puni. In a rage, he tried to kill Masi, but Qisi persuaded him not to because Masi was already pregnant with their child. Qisi again tried to persuade Nasuo to retreat and leave Guhamicha, but Nasuo was determined to fight unto death. Convinced that retreating was the only means of preserving the Hani people, Qisi rallied the people 72 together to depose Nasuo as leader. She then forgave Masi of her crime, and entreated her to pledge loyalty to the Hani. Moved by Qisi’s kindness, Masi had a change of heart and pledged her loyalty to the Hani. Under Qisi’s leadership, the Hani people retreated from Guhamicha and set out to settle in territory further south. However, twice the Puni pursued them to their new destination of settlement in Naduo and Shiqi, forcing them to continue further south into the mountainous terrain surrounding the Red River. Unlike the past when they traveled as a large group, Qisi ordered the people to disperse and settle into different regions of the Red River so that as an entire people, the Hani would be more likely to survive in the midst of warfare or natural disaster. The ending of Congpopo details the experiences of the singer’s direct descendants and their experiences in establishing his home village. The singer Zhu Xiaohe, following the death of Qisi, stops singing the text as laba, and speaks it instead.77 He explained to Shi that, within his region, stories and genealogies of the recent past are usually spoken, and as they become more fixed as history and legend, they are performed as laba.78 As a whole, Congpopo has a mournful character. The Hani portray themselves as constant wanderers, a displaced people, who are time and again forced out by stronger peoples, and whose trusting nature often resulted in their mistreatment. Glimpses of these feelings of inferiority can also be observed in certain passages of short labas. The Hani often look to the prosperity of the Dai and the Han for motivation to work hard so as to achieve their same standard of living. This type of thinking seems to reflect both historical and contemporary attitudes. (During my time in Luchun, many Hani families were in the process of rebuilding their houses, and were eager to furnish their new homes with appliances that were hitherto unknown to Hani homes, such as electric hot plates, and microwave ovens.) 77 Zhu Xiaohe ()of Honghe county (Shi 1998: 356). 78 Shi collected versions of Congpopo from several singers from Honghe, Luchun and Jinping counties, all of whom began to speak the content of the song once the genealogy approached recent generations and their stories of settlement in the Red River region (1998: 366). 73 The Red River Settlement Hani oral histories, such as Congpopo, have surprisingly little to say about a long period of settlement and growth in the Red River region. Fortunately, what is lacking in Hani oral history can be traced clearly by Chinese documents from the 8th century onward. By this time, the powerful kingdom of Nanzhao was established in Dali, a civilization of diverse indigenous peoples ruled by the Pai (thought to be descendants of the Dai) (Fitzgerald 1972: 53-54). In the midst of political pressures from strong and organized indigenous governments such as the Nanzhao, the original Hani settlements at Mount Wumeng, Dali, and Kunming gradually faded out of existence, their people assimilating into surrounding cultures (Shi 1999: 52-55). Meanwhile, those who had migrated to the south of Yunnan flourished economically and populated large regions, gaining recognition as a regional power (56-57). The area in which they settled includes regions in the Ailao, Wuliang and Liuzhao Mountains, and along the Hong, Babian and Lancang Rivers (56).79 Judging from their frequent appearance in Chinese records, the Hani, by this time, had established a strong central government, which was in frequent contact with the various dynastic governments ruling from Beijing, and surrounding tribal kingdoms (56-61). The Hani of the Red River were recognized in Song records as being one of the strongest peoples within thirty-seven regions of tribal peoples of the Southwest (Shi 1998: 41). They took part in the overthrow of the Nanzhao Kingdom led by Song Dynasty Magistrate, Duan Siping, who afterward founded the Dali Kingdom in 937 (41- 42). In payment for their military assistance, the leaders of the thirty-seven regions received additional land from Duan Siping. During the 11th century, a Hani chief by the name of Long Haiji, who ruled in the Ailao mountains, was recorded as having sent a large gift of horses and local spices and teas to the Song court in exchange for a royal 79 Also known respectively as the Red River, Black River, and Mekong River. 74 title.80 During approximately the same period, a fortified Hani city of Luopan was recorded to have been in existence in the same region. The Hani ruler, Lord of Luopan, governed from this city, proclaiming himself ruler over the kingdom of Luopan, covering a large area in Yunnan’s south (42).81 When the Mongols invaded Yunnan in 1253, they overthrew the kingdom of Dali, and ruled the Red River region indirectly. They established the Aji Prefecture and placed Long Jianneng, a descendant of Long Haiji as magistrate over the region (42).82 Later on the Yuan government destroyed the city of Luopan and strengthened central power in Hani territory. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the government sent large numbers of Han Chinese from Hubei, Hunan and Nanjing as exiles into Yunnan in an effort to consolidate their power in this region through sinicization of the minority peoples. Although the Han Chinese were quickly assimilated into surrounding cultures, they brought with them technology and skills which had a lasting effect on Hani culture, trade and farming practices. Between the 14th to 17th centuries, Chinese records describe Hani regions as being economically prosperous, flourishing in mulberry plantations, the development of roads, waterways, and mining. Relationships of suzerainty continued to exist into the Ming dynasty, as court records show that Hani ruler Long Zhening visited the Ming court and received an honorary title (42-43).83 In 1644, the Manchus drove out the Ming with the assistance of General Wu Sangui. Later Wu was sent to drive out the remaining Ming loyalists in Yunnan, and for that act, was rewarded title of governor and prince over the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou (Fitzgerald 1972: 68). When the Manchu Court felt sufficiently strong to 80 Long Haiji ( ) was given the title of “Highest Ruler of the Northeast of Dian” (Dian is the historic name for Yunnan) (Shi 1998: 42). 81 The Lord of Luopan claimed authority over an area which includes present-day counties of Yuanjiang, Xinping, and Mojiang located in the Ailao mountains and extends southward to include Tianyuan, Pu’er, Simao, and Jiangcheng counties in the Wuliang mountains, and regions further south past the border of Laos and Vietnam (Shi 1998: 42). 82 Abo Prefecture (  ); Long Jianneng ( ). 83 Long Zhening ( ). 75 challenge the independent rule of regional princes, Wu repudiated his allegiance and fought against the Manchus until his death. Since his son was not equal to him in skill, the rebel state, based in Kunming, was defeated by the Manchus in 1681 (69). The rebellion caused the Qing government to look on local tribal leaders with suspicion, resulting in the tightening of Chinese control over Yunnan. The Qing rulers continued to send large numbers of exiles into Yunnan to continue the process of sinicization, which had already begun under Wu (Shi 1999: 61-63). These changes in Chinese governing policy, likely affected the Hani to some degree, but to a much lesser extent than among the more advanced ethnic societies of western and central Yunnan whose strength were seen as a greater threat to Qing rule. Beginning from the middle of the 19th century, the Qing empire fell into decay. The Taiping Rebellion of 1851 swept through China’s southern provinces, cutting off communications between the north and southwest provinces (Fitzgerald 1972: 70). At about the same time, increasing animosity between Han Chinese and Muslim Hui populations in Kunming resulted in a Hui massacre, which ultimately led to the Panthay Rebellion. Led by Du Wenxiu, a military-minded Hui population retaliated against the Manchu court and declared an independent Islamic state in Dali in 1856 (Atwill 2003: 1089). Thus ensued a long and devastating war that was waged mostly on the Yunnan plateau between Dali and Kunming (Fitzgerald 1972: 71). The newly-founded Pingnan Guo fell into decline after 1868, and in 1872 Qing troops besieged Dali, massacring thousands of its citizens despite Du Wenxiu’s surrender (Atwill 2003: 1100). While the Hani in the south remained relatively uninvolved in the Panthay Rebellion of Yunnan’s north and central regions, the weakening of Qing power gave the them opportunity to raise an independent rebellion in their own regions. The ruler, Gao Luoyi, led the Hani to rebel against Qing rule in 1853 as a reaction against oppressive 76 farming legislation (Shi 1998: 43).84 The war was waged over a large region of the Ailao mountains, lasting for twenty years. The rebellion was finally crushed by Qing troops but only after having suffered over 10,000 casualties. A second uprising took place during the Republican period in Yuanyang county in 1917. This time, anti-Han sentiment resulted in an uprising against Chinese landowners led by female soldier, Lu Meibei.85 Several thousand Hani troops were raised within days, and the rebellion forced the Chinese landowners to flee for a time to the north side of the Red River. This rebellion was eventually put down by government troops (Shi 1998: 43). As Chinese scholar, Xiaolin Guo states in summary: Lawlessness dominated much of Yunnan throughout the Republican period. For three decades after the fall of the Qing dynasty, power changed hands repeateadly from one warlord to another. From 1913 to 1927, Tang Jiyao, a native of northeastern Yunnan, ruled Yunnan; he was toppled after a series of coup d’états by Hu Ruoyu, Long Yun, and Zhang Ruji, graduates from the Yunnan Military Academy, all of whom had participated with Tang in the uprising that had overthrown the Qing dynasty…(2008:37). Eventually Long Yun, a native Yi of northeastern Yunnan, emerged from the period of civil unrestas the leader. His amity with Chiang Kai-shek led to his appointment as governor of Yunnan in 1928, a position which he retained until 1945. Through “a balance between nepotism and experience” Long Yun led a Yi dominated army and a Han dominated civil administration to bring about Yunnan’s economic recovery (quote from Hall 1976; see also Guo 2000: 38). As part of a nation-wide tax reform, the Nationalist government carried out land surveys in Yunnan, which resulted in the registration of some additional two dozen counties. These land surveys significantly increased Yunnan’s revenue base, but also represented an overwhelming burden placed on rural farmers (Guo 2000: 39). These changes were felt also among Hani 84 Gao Luoyi (). 85 Lu Meibei (). 77 communities in Luchun, and resulted in occasional unrest toward Han Chinese landowners and Nationalist government entities (Shi 1998: 43). In the overall history of the Yunnan peoples, the Hani were relatively small players in the rise and fall of independent tribes, and kingdoms who lived increasingly in the shadow of the Chinese empire. They were neither so small a culture that no written records exist of their past, nor so large that they significantly influenced pivotal events shaping the historic governance of the region. It is interesting that even though the Hani were a strong ethnic society that dominated the Red River region for over twelve hundred years, their oral histories focus on the vagaries of their early migratory history rather than their more recent successes. This is perhaps because, in hindsight, singers viewed events of their earlier history as contributing more meaningfully to the articulation of Hani identity and values. Congpopo offers a rare indigenous perspective of historical events that would otherwise be lost in the larger matrix of regional history. This oral history allows Hani to relate their ancestors’ experiences to their current circumstance, taking qualities exhibited in the characters and actions of historical figures to shape their present understandings of group identity. Congpopo is also an important work in that it attests to the existence of local histories among Yunnan’s minorities, which have power to challenge official categories of time and space dictated by dominant powers.86 As economic historian Harold Innis points out, oral tradition is powerful because “it permits continuous revision of history by actively reinterpreting events and then incorporating such interpretations into the next generation of narrative. Its flexibility 86 Economic historian, Harold Innis, writing on the effects of British colonialism in Canada, identified oral histories as having potential to counterbalance categories of time and space as defined by colonial powers (1930). 78 allows a gifted storyteller to adapt a given narrative to make sense of a confusing situation.”87 We see this process of revision at work in the version of Congpopo examined above. The storyteller categorizes the many periods of resettlement in an overall narrative structure that purposefully advances toward their final destination in the Red River region. Certain unifying themes also exist in Congpopo’s narrative. One such theme comments on character traits that are seen as essential to the Hani identity. The Hani portray themselves as being innately peace-loving and hospitable people. This is seen both as a virtue to be cultivated, and as an inextricable part of their shared identity. These virtues are also used to explain their continuous misfortunes, as people exploited and deceived by neighbouring peoples time and again. Present-day Hani continue to view themselves in this way, using the qualities of non-violence and hospitality not only to define their own behavior but to differentiate themselves from outsiders. Hani Identity and Values in Short Labas Likewise, these qualities are present as recurrent themes in short labas. Even though short labas do not deal with historical interactions with outsiders through war and forced migration, the necessity of extending hospitality to outsiders as a sign of moral virtue is pervasive in short labas of all types. Outsiders in short labas are usually represented by the Dai and Han. The Han are usually related to officialdom, while both the Dai and Han are described as being wealthier than the Hani. While sometimes laba singers express a sense of inferiority over these stereotypes of inequality, they also show disdain toward extending hospitality for the sake of financial gain. As one singer stated in a song that addresses my presence as a guest: It is on this day in this month That a little official comes to ask about the Hani calendrical rituals, Those from the north come to ask about Hani stories. 87 As summarized by Julie Cruikshank in Do Glaciers Listen: Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, and Social Imagination (2005: 62). 79 When speaking the Hani language, One must not speak of money, If one speaks in Hani and asks money for it, Not even one phrase that is spoken will be of value. If one has money in his hands, But saves it inside his house, If one does not spend the money in his hands, Then he will not know how to spend money well. (GM1: 19-26) Hani are concerned with showing hospitality to outsiders as representatives of their clan and village. The rewards they seek come not in monetary or material compensation from guests, but in the form of increased honor for their clan and village, and in material rewards given them by deities whom they believe have the ability to see and judge moral actions. As Siivqlaoq states in a courtship song, which takes a lengthy diversion into the couple’s future family responsibilities: Under the governance of a good leader, the people live well, A good broom can gather up all the rice grains well. From now on, when the official from the north comes, Give him a chair to sit on. When the official from the north comes, Pour a cup of hot water for him. If the official comes and you give him a chair to sit on, Then the Lord of Rain will be kind to you, Then the priest will have a compassionate heart toward you. (AL1d: 41-47) As proposed by Fredrik Barth, the maintenance of ethnic identity is also dependent on “a series of constraints on the kinds of roles a member is allowed to play and the partners he may choose for the different kinds of transactions” (Barth 1969: 17). This is shown to be true among the Hani. In contrast to the largess shown in the above excerpts, the Hani depict themselves in other circumstances as being wary and distrustful of outsiders, particularly with respect to notions of inter-ethnic marriage. In one couplet, a man warns his lover not to seek a man amongst outsiders whom he describes as being like a ferret badger, dishonest and immoral to the core: “Do not ever become the lover of a wild huha,/Huha are the ones who raid the buckwheat fields” 80 (AL1a: 55-56). Similarly, a Hani man who travels abroad for work promises his lover that he will not seek another lover among foreigners. He sings: When I go to a village far away to make money, When I see the Dai people, the Han people, And many other peoples at the river Even if I see thousands upon thousands of Dai people, Even after having seen them at the river, I will not change my heart toward you. Even if I meet many beautiful Han people, And they are all beautiful from head to toe, Even after having seen the Han people, I will not turn my back on you. (GM4a: 67-73) Men and women of outside ethnic groups are seen as inferior because they are lacking in innate moral qualities. In a different song, a Hani woman is praised because her heart is “white”, referring to qualities of kindness and moral purity. These examples make apparent the fact that prescribed dynamics of intercultural exchange pivot on moral codes of behavior that are defined affirmatively, according to virtuous actions exhibited by Hani members, and in the negative, according to the lack of virtue displayed by outsiders. The articulation of moral codes is key to the dichotomization between members and outsiders of Hani society, and emerges as consistent themes in both epic and short laba narratives. The next chapter examines ways in which moral codes shape kinship relationships, and interactions between genders. These dynamics further illuminate concepts of ethnic identity as they are understood by members of differing social status based on gender and kinship hierarchy. 81 Chapter 3: From Outside In: People, Places, Themes Introduction This chapter is about the outside world of laba performance—the people who maintain the tradition and the places they inhabit—and the imagined peoples and places who make up the inside world of the text. The first part of the chapter is concerned with the outside: describing the community of active laba participants and the social contexts in which they meet. How is laba learned and transmitted? What are the aesthetics surrounding poetic composition? The second part of this chapter turns to discussions of the inside world of laba, how laba themes are created and organized to evoke relationships and concepts of belonging in the real world. The outside and inside worlds of laba are in fact intricately linked and mutually informing. Laba singers are sensitive to social contexts of performance as defined by the performance location, and those present in the audience. Their performances are always responses to these specific circumstances. In considering how social contexts shape the structuring of text, I turn to the analysis of two male-female dialogue performances of a courtship song and a wedding lament. In laba dialogues, both discourse and narrative play a fundamental role in the structuring of texts. That is, laba dialogues are as much debates as they are stories and the dynamics of the former directly influences the development of the latter. The question of how performance context influences the composition and reception of laba dialogues lies at the heart of this discussion. I argue that interpretations of laba as gendered negotiations of power and as an artful form of entertainment exist simultaneously, although a specific performance context will likely strengthen one interpretation over another. In this way, the meaning of laba poetry is fluid and fraught with contingency. 82 I wish to preface this discussion by stating that laba performance is in general decline in Luchun. As a result laba is rarely performed in some of the social contexts described in this chapter. Rather they have been replaced by new contexts which are discussed in chapter 6. The main reason for this change is the discontinuation of laba singing among Hani youth. Nevertheless, I have reconstructed these contexts through interviews and specially requested performances because I view them to be important for the historical understanding of how laba was circulated and developed as an art form. Past performance contexts are also significant because they continue to inform the structuring of themes by present-day performers. Learning, Transmission and Aesthetics Laba Community The act of musicking establishes in the place where it is happening a set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies. They are to be found not only between those organized sounds which are conventionally thought of as being the stuff of musical meaning but also between the people who are taking part…in the performance; and they model, or stand as metaphor for, ideal relationships…between person and person, between individual and society, between humanity and the natural world, and even perhaps the supernatural world (Small 1998: 13). The emphasis on relationships in music-making that Christopher Small alludes to in the above quote is a well-suited description of the social functions of laba performance. Laba represents a dramatic acting out of relationships in a village community. Through speech-song, singers address audience members through a combination of narrative and direct address. Laba texts can be both general and specific: some proverbs and stories address a general audience while other portions of text are messages for specific individuals. Salpiel, a singer from Alzeiv Laoma, described times 83 in her youth when singing was as commonplace as speech.88 She said, “a group of young people would often meet outdoor while collecting firewood and we would call to each other through the woods using laba. Unlike the present, in those days most people knew how to sing laba. So we sang to each other instead of speaking.” I had opportunity to hear some women sing to each other in precisely this manner in the summer of 2005, when we were taking a walk in the woods in search of some leaves for playing babi and meiba. The women accompanying me seemed to enjoy the melodic exchange thoroughly, occasionally breaking out in girlish giggles. Laba singers and audiences today still distinguish between the variability and spontaneity of laba texts and the fixedness of song lyrics. As Salpiel stated of the recorded labas she heard on recent VCDs, “those songs are nice but they aren’t really laba anymore because the words are set. When we sing laba, we make up the text as we go along.” This understanding of laba also emphasizes its dialectical nature and its communicative potential in lived relationships. Laba has the ability to highlight spoken words, to imbue them with special intention and significance such that relationships between singer and audience are affirmed. Many village performances are given within the home, after the sharing of a meal.89 The evening may be one where the immediate family is present, along with some close relatives and friends. The family and guests, ranging from ten to twenty people, eat and drink together around several low square tables. After most of the women and children have finished their meals the men remain around the table, eating and conversing in leisure. Some enjoy a smoke from their balu bamboo pipes,90 over small 88 Salpiel’s account describes musical activites which she took part in during her teenage years. Given Sapiel’s age (b. 1953), these activities would have still been commonplace in the late 1960s and 1970s. 89 The home setting for performing laba is perhaps the most intact performance context of those discussed. While the home performances that I witnessed took place because I requested them, spontaneous laba performances are relatively common, especially during festival times. Unfortunately, these too are becoming less frequent owing to the ubiquity of the television. 90 Balu are traditional smoking pipes made of a wide piece of bamboo with a small cylindrical opening near the bottom for the placement of tabacco leaves. The 2.5 foot pipe is held upright 84 glasses of ziba rice wine and peanuts. The women, after cleaning some of the dishes, sit close by working on some embroidery. Amidst the conversation and laughter, someone requests a laba, and the most accomplished singer present is asked to sing. The singer will decline several times at first, as a sign of modesty, but with enough persuasion he or she eventually agrees to sing. Once a singer has agreed to sing, the topic of the song must be chosen. Sometimes the audience will request a song topic, while other times a singer will choose his or her own topic. The themes of laba texts sung within the home often serve to highlight clan and kinship identities. If there is a festival approaching, or a special reason to celebrate within the family, the singer may choose to sing about these topics. If the singer is part of the host family, he or she may choose to sing to specific guests as a way of expressing hospitality and friendship. In these songs we can see that laba is meant for the Hani community in the broadest sense, including all those who are present at a given social function where laba is requested, regardless of his/her understanding of laba. The audience members participate in the performance by listening quietly to the singer and giving applause and verbal praise during breaks in the performance. If the singer is a man, the men in the audience will toast him after each section of performance. A good performance will elicit requests for more singing. Or if there are multiple singers present, guests may request a performance of dialogue singing. The evening will continue in this way, alternating between periods of conversation and singing. Whatever the occasion, singers will seek to describe through song the significance of present times and relationships. On several occasions, my presence as a guest among them became the song topic of choice. The following is the opening stanza with one end on the floor and its smoke is inhaled through the top. The bottom of the pipe holds water and the smoke is inhaled as a steamy vapour (see appendix A for illustration). 85 of a song sung by a gentleman of Goaqma to welcome me during a dinner at a friend’s home: We brothers and sisters from places far apart, We brothers and sisters from the corners of the earth come together, We meet together to speak good words and have good conversations, We brothers and sisters meet together to share good news. In the past we were strangers, Now we are like siblings from the same mother, Now we are not strangers; we are a family. In the past the buffalo and tiger could not live together, The duck and the swan could not live together, But because we live in good times such as these, Because this is a good age, We brothers and sisters from places far apart can be together (GM 4a:1-12) The above text celebrates our friendship and our ability to be together despite cultural differences, and geographic distance. By addressing me through song, the singer expressed gracious inclusion of an outsider despite my inability to understand the text. After several such songs, I thought it appropriate to respond with a song of thanks. On one such occasion, I responded with an improvised song sung in English to a Western-sounding folk tune that I quickly thought up. The words expressed my thankfulness to them and my appreciation of their hospitality. Despite my feeble musical efforts, my Hani hosts received the song with enthusiasm and deep gratitude. This experience impressed upon me the importance of improvised song as a form of public praise and the reciprocity anticipated in such musical expressions. A response, either vocal or verbal, is valued as a form of participation and engagement in the performative act. Although the social context of laba performance is inclusive in nature, people’s varied comprehension of laba language creates levels of participatory engagement. Laba language is very different from spoken Hani and requires special linguistic-musical knowledge that one learns through repeated listening. Aspects of laba structure, like phrase formulae and narrative themes, give knowledgeable audiences a framework from which to reference any given performance. In addition, insider knowledge of 86 special word usage and word pairings gives listeners entrée into an inner world of descriptive metaphors, subtle puns, hyperboles and parallelisms. Those with an understanding of the themes, formulae, and poetic devices used in laba form the members of a laba community whose verbal assessments give expression to its aesthetics. As Lacel explained: when I first began listening to laba, I could understand some of it but other parts had metaphors too deep for me. I would hear the words but they wouldn’t mean anything to me. But since I have been doing more translation of these labas, the meanings come to me more quickly now. When I go to the api (grandmother) in Aqlaoq Nahhal to ask her about the meaning of a metaphor in a couplet, she explains it to me, and then I get it. After that, I might hear the same couplet in another place and then I’ll know what it means right away (2008). The laba community itself is made up of a diverse group of individuals of varying abilities. Those audience members who understand laba language but do not sing form the outer peripheries of this community. Within the boundaries of this group, there are those who know how to sing the most popular phrases and sections of songs, and others who have a more extensive knowledge of phrase formulae, and are able to extemporize for twenty or so minutes. At the centre of this group are a few venerated individuals whom the community acknowledges as accomplished singers. These individuals are thought to be good laba singers based on the criteria that they know a wealth of text-melody formulae, and can sing complete song narratives lasting hours in length. Their special status is often reinforced by the request of paid ritual performances, the winning of government-run competitions, and the special attention given them by local and foreign scholars. Laba singers are not professional musicians in that they are not paid to sing.91 They are generally well respected but they come from a variety of socio-economic 91 Most singers perform without payment because they have an income from farming. However blind musicians such as Alssil and Li Qiqbaol are exceptions (see appendix A). They are paid for their street performances. Blind itinerant musicians have generally low social status in Hani 87 backgrounds. When I asked Sal Piaol, a singer from Deilbia village about the social status of a laba singer, she replied, “A singer doesn’t get special status in a village. You can be rich or poor, old or young. But if you can sing, you will be invited to sing during festivals and it is seen as an honor to be able to add to the joy of the occasion” (2008). The ability to sing laba is recognized as a valuable skill and appreciated by many but the identity of a villager is based on other factors such as his line of work, the amount of property owned by his family, and his position in a family. Singers are known firstly as members of a village community who incidentally have the ability to articulate in speech-song the details and significance of relationships and events taking place around them. Learning and Transmission As an orally transmitted tradition in which singers teach themselves through listening and practice, it is not surprising that the natural abilities of a laba singer are thought to be so important. For within a village there are likely to be only a handful of individuals who have the natural ability to thoroughly synthesize the musical and textual aspects of laba improvisation without the aid of theoretical discussions and formal pedagogy. The absence of the latter also poses difficulties in explaining how singers learn laba over a lifetime of artistic development. Asking singers to verbally explain their process of learning has yielded few fruitful responses. They are generally unaware of having gone through a process of laba learning since the common cultural understanding is one of knowing laba innately. While attempts to explain processes of transmission require some speculation, the structural formulae of laba poetry and melody give some indication of how improvisation is learned and developed. Much can society. Their poetic and musical abilities are not necessarily better than amateur musicians and the topics of their songs are notably different. During my fieldwork, I relied greatly on Lacel to tell me when monetary compensation was expected and when it was not necessary. This varied depending on the age and financial position of the singer, the amount of time I spent with the singer, and whether or not I requested a performance on a work day or a rest day. 88 be learned also about laba transmission through studying the social contexts in which learning takes place. The following is a description of the social contexts for laba learning and transmission that existed up until fifteen to twenty years ago. I have described these contexts in the present so as to imply that this is still the case in some remote Hani villages. It should be acknowledged, however, that where I conducted my research near the county seat town of Luchun, it is no longer commonplace to hear young people singing work and courtship labas outdoors. Nevertheless, this was the normal practice of Hani youth as recently as twenty years ago, and many singers of Luchun grew up learning laba in such an environment. The dichotomy of outdoor and indoor performative spaces is important in defining the contexts of laba transmission. For the Hani (and for many other minority cultures in Southwest China with similar speech-song traditions) what is referred to as the outdoors signifies a space outside of the village where individuals, particularly youth, are permitted to speak and behave without the social restrictions that are felt within a village. Spaces of the outdoors can be uncultivated wooded areas of rainforest, or terraced rice fields that lie some distance from a village. In places like these, Hani youth are usually sent to accomplish tasks like gathering firewood, picking wild plants, or weeding the fields, but such outings also provide ample time for singing laba, amidst other youthful forms of amusement such as playing, flirting, fighting, teasing, and telling bawdy jokes. Work songs such as rice planting songs, and courtship songs (azi) are two main types of laba sung outdoors.92 Symbolically, as emphasized in many azi texts, the outdoors represents a private space where lovers can meet in secret. 92 In some Hani regions, there is apparently some crossover between work songs and azi, as Zhang Xingrong identifies a rice-transplanting song from Azhahe township as an azi (1998). This may be in part because there is some variation in the regional use of terms. Zhang also explains that multi-part rice-planting songs have spiritual significance: when the women sing, they call back the souls of men which would otherwise be lost, leading to feelings of lethargy while at work (for more information on soul-calling see p.44). 89 In contrast, the village and the home represent public spaces where social and familial hierarchies are felt most strongly. Here, youth are required to behave respectfully toward elders, showing restraint in self-expression. For this reason, in the home laba is usually performed by the heads of the household and elders. These performances usually take place at the dinner table when all are present. The themes of songs performed are quite different from those sung in the outdoors. Most pertain to social decorum and the maintenance of relationships within the family. Common topics include: affirmation of friendship with guests, didactic songs teaching children how to care for a family in adulthood, and how to succeed in work. Songs sung at home can also describe important rituals, how to carry them out, and the reason for their existence within Hani mythology and religion. The following is a passage of laba describing how a couple should show hospitality to a father’s guests: When a man welcomes a guest into his house, The woman should wear a smile on her face. If the man does not welcome the guests, Those who come will say bad things about him. If the woman does not wear a smile on her face, Then they will say that the children of the father are not mature. If the man hospitably welcomes the guests, And the woman wears a smile on her face, Then those who come will be happy When the father is happy with his children, Then the children are happy also. (AL 1d: 59-69) Although there is some overlap in thematic material between songs sung in indoor and outdoor settings, performance of courtship themes within public settings is strictly taboo.93 The boundaries between the outdoors and the village are strictly observed in performance and are frequently featured in the imagined spaces of song narratives.94 The dichotomy also represents two distinct performance spaces: the 93 This is the case in many courtship song genres of China. Yang Mu also gives attention to the assignment of outdoor spaces and designated village buildings to youth for what he terms Erotic Musical Activities. He documents these among the Li minority of Hainan Island, the Hani of Dianzhou, and the ethnically diverse singers of Hua’er in China’s northwest (1998). 94 The taboo of performing courtship songs in the village remains strong even today. Singers firmly refuse to sing courtship songs in a building or within earshot of elders. Once in a field 90 outdoor constituting a developmental training ground that prepares a young singer for the added responsibility and expectations of performing laba in the village. The outdoors is a place where young singers of relatively equal ability can sing together without being criticized by more experienced singers. Although singing outdoors does not preclude the scrutiny of peers and the competition inherent in dialogue singing, it provides a place for practice and peer critique that is beneficial in providing a form of feedback whilst shielding younger singers from the shame of being ridiculed by village elders. Outdoor laba performances are also entertaining social events for Hani youth. Good singers can draw a large crowd of onlookers who listen with rapt attention to the verbal dueling, and gradual unfolding of the narrative. Singers recall their youthful days of singing in the wild with fondness, describing it as a time of freedom and uninhibited self-expression. Their freedom undoubtedly was felt in large part because they could sing of all types of romantic subject matter in their songs without censure, but also the outdoors afforded them a place to be free from the scrutiny of elders. In a passage taken from an azi, the outdoors is a place filled with the allure of romance and youthful freedom: In the day, we will meet and have a friendship in the wild, In the night, we will meet and have a secret affair in a hidden place. Let us go out into the open fields where we can dance about, Let us go to a place where we can leap about without turning back. (AL 1a: 21-24) Learning to sing laba for a young person involves both opportunities to listen and practice. While the outdoor spaces provide a place for practice and listening amongst peers, the public spaces provide opportunities for young people to listen to accomplished singers perform laba in a formal social setting. During the learning process, young people mature as singers: through accumulated knowledge of laba outside of the village, the singers relax and feel free to sing loudly and at length about courtship and romance. 91 language and narrative, and through acquiring general wisdom and knowledge pertaining to life, social responsibilities, and ritual requirements. Since laba transmission does not take place in formal lessons where instructions are verbally given, the learning process is largely a personal journey. Singers acquire the skills necessary to sing laba by their own means—using personal methodologies and cognitive processes—and in their own time. The influence of laba singers in the family on younger developing singers cannot be understated, although some singers claimed not to have such influences and actively sought out singers outside of the home. Many singers claimed to have started singing at a very young age and to have continued to do so into their adulthood, while other singers emphasized a time in their late twenties and early thirties when they actually began singing in village settings. Male singers such as Beiq Leilbo of Goaqma were especially conscious of a marked transition in their twenties and thirties when they were no longer only singing outdoors but were included in laba performances in the village. Their ability to sing laba in the village corresponded with their graduation to positions of leadership and influence within the community. Not only is entrée into village laba singing a mark of approval of one’s singing ability but it also symbolizes an initiation into adulthood. It signifies the acceptance of a singer as one who has attained a level of wisdom and knowledge, which enables him to properly articulate Hani cultural values and ideologies. The elder singing within the village must show an awareness of the responsibilities incumbent to his position of leadership—he must endeavor to teach and reinforce the importance of local customs and rituals. As Pilsal states about the maturation of a laba singer: All laba singers are born with the gift to sing and compose texts. Without that inborn talent, there is no way that a person can sing well. But even then, singers will improve with age. You become older, and gather more life experience. You learn more wisdom from your elders. You learn about all the rituals and festivals. You live longer and you learn to use the language better. Then what you sing about will become deep with meaning (2005). 92 Aesthetics What Makes a Good Singer? Both audience members and singers emphasize repeatedly in conversation that the ability to sing laba requires natural gifting. To be able to teach someone to bring together the aesthetic demands of vocality, musicality, and poetry requisite to singing laba is thought to be impossible.95 Although there is no formal training, there is evidently a process of informal learning that takes place as young audience members absorb the language and song form through listening. In times past, when the laba tradition was practiced more widely, the number of very capable singers per village numbered around a dozen in a village of approximately three hundred. Today a village of three to four hundred will have between two to five good singers. The criteria for evaluating good laba singing can be summed up in the following three categories: vocal ability, ability to improvise using text-melody formulae, and knowledge of themes and how to arrange them into appropriate narrative structures. Singers and audience members will often openly evaluate laba singing both during and after a performance. Lacel explained that it is common to hear people critique a performance with words like: “he was too repetitive”, “she’s using all the wrong words” or “the song isn’t moving along like it should.” Audiences are equally unreserved in their praise as Shi records audience members both praising the quality of a singer with comments like, “what a beautiful voice!” and verbally empathizing with the characters of a story with comments like, “what a brave man!” (1998: 49). Both male and female voices sing in a range slightly higher than the speaking voice. Among female singers, the ideal vocal timbre combines a nasal vocal timbre with considerable use of the chest voice in an upper range. Among men, the ideal timbre does not have the nasality of the female voice, but is sung with a taut chest voice. Both 95 Audience members who emphasized this view included, Lacel and Ceiq Hhyu Piel, and singers who also voiced this view included Salpiel, Ceiq Piel, and Siivq Laoq (2005, 2006: personal communication). 93 nasality and use of chest voice are desirable for creating what is perceived to be a bright and forward timbre. Singers of both genders will usually choose their upper range of their chest voice for singing laba. This upper range combined with a fare amount of laryngeal tension is desirable and thought to give good sound projection and clarity to the voice.96 Good singers are also expected to sing with a range of vocal expressivity that conveys the emotions of the text. As an example, when siblings sing about the inevitability of parting through a sister’s exogamous marriage, they express their somber emotions through performing at a low tessitura, with softer dynamics, and use of a narrower pitch range. In contrast, when courtship dialogues are sung outdoors, they are often sung in a flirtatious manner, with well-projected tone, frequent use of portamentos, and frequent use of the full pitch range.97 Parallelism Textual composition requires knowledge of how large and small scale structures fit together. Small scale structures, as represented by parallel couplets, are flexibly combined to build up the larger narrative. Parallelism is a canonical feature of laba. It consists of phrase formulae that are linked by common grammatical structure, metaphorical language, and phonological patterns such as tonal assonance, alliteration and rhyme (see chapter 4). The example in figure 3.1 demonstrates the use of a sequence of parallel couplets to emphasize one point. In the passage below, the singer, Salpiel, is expressing her fear of having agreed to marriage too quickly. The broken string refers to a wedding ritual in 96 Laryngeal tension here refers to increased pressure applied to the vocal folds and a simultaneous decrease of airflow through the larynx which results in a tight vocal timbre. 97 Note, however, that courtship songs can also convey many different moods. Li Yuanqing identifies three different types of courtship songs (azi) based on volume (1995: 14). Those sung at the loudest volume are called chima (), those sung at a medium volume called luobai (), and those sung softly are called chirana (). Li describes physical distance between singers and the content of songs as main factors in determining which performance style is chosen. Although Luchun singers are not familiar with these categories, they acknowledge that depending on the context, azi can convey a range of emotions. 94 which the bride walks over the threshold at the groom’s house and symbolically seals the marriage by breaking the string tied across the gate; similarly a bride is required to embed a string under a bamboo slat in the groom’s house to symbolize her permanent membership into the family. The singer is suggesting that a rash decision on her part cannot be reversed and may result in future suffering. The word-for-word translation shows a similarity of grammatical structures between couplets, particularly between couplets a and d, and b and c. Parallel grammatical structures are also effective in juxtaposing related metaphors and images. In couplets b and c the string at the gate, and the one on the bamboo slat is placed in the same syntactic position, showing them to be metaphors that emphasize the same point. This pairing of related metaphors contributes both to the strength of an argument at the discursive level, and to the evocation of imagery at the narrative level. Figure 3.1 Example of parallel couplets in sequence Aqkal ngal teiq peev haqoniaoq peevkul lal maq hev, a later I in-rush cook sticky rice burn-it will not knowing Aqma ssaqmiq teiq yil ssaqmiq yil saq lal nga. this daughter in-rush to (marry) out lady go suffer will Maq yevq qiq nao sul a hhoheiq kaolbev saqkaol cev alngaoq, b not careful one day stranger’s gate string break if Yevq lal qiq nao aqma ssaqmiq kaolmil cavq dav maq qivq. skillful one day this lady string repair not able Maq yevq qiq nao sul a haqcil kaolbev heiqcav piav yil ssol, c not careful one day stranger’s bamboo slat string pull go Yevq lal qiq nao aqma ssaqmiq aol lavq aol keel hhe duv maq qivq. skillful one day this daughter left hand left foot pull out not able Alkal ngalya diq li aqkoq civ bu ya yi qo lal maq hev, d later (they) me hit (with) firewood (in)rage find not know Ngal dulma ssaqmiq teil lal haolcuv lavqbaq caq lal maq hev. I this daughter crush three stones hand-take use not know 95 Who knows if I have cooked sticky rice in a rush and burned it? A daughter who is in a rush to marry out will suffer. If I am not careful, one day I will break the string at a stranger’s gate, Then this daughter, though skilled, will not know how to mend the broken string. If I am not careful with my hands, one day I embed a string on a stranger’s bamboo slat. Then this daughter, though skilled, will not know how to pull it out with her left hand and left foot. Who knows if they might one day come in a rage and beat me up with firewood? Who knows if they will crush me with the three stones by the fireplace? (AL 1a: 287-295) When creating parallel couplets, a singer has the freedom to extemporize, drawing from a large repertoire of phrase formulae. Different singers may vary the details of a formula, such as details of wording and syntax, while retaining certain core elements such as metaphors and images. While further research is required to clearly understand how phrase formulae are constructed, and what are the parameters of variation, I present a preliminary analysis of how one formula is varied by different singers in chapter 4 (see section on semantic parallelism). Narrative Structure A good laba singer is both a craftsman and an architect. That is, he is able to carve out the fine micro features of laba parallel couplets to fit within a laba’s macro structure, as represented in its rhetorical and narrative dimensions. The aesthetic of these macro structures are more difficult to understand than laba’s micro-features owing to tensions between what laba participants say is important, and what structures are actually found in the text. Laba participants stress a sense of completeness as being essential to a good laba performance. Singers Pilsal, Ceiqpiel and Bopiel use the metaphor of “climbing stairs” to describe laba narrative structure. They say that a good song must ascend step by step, without missing a step. This metaphor suggests that there exists an ordered progression of themes whose unfolding builds tension. The presence of tension and climax is also 96 alluded to in a second metaphor used to describe dialogue songs. The singer, Siivqlaoq, described azi duets as being like a debate between two lawyers in court. A man pursues his lover, and his lover resists. The dynamics of the debate directly shape the narrative: when the man succeeds in persuading his lover to various stages of commitment, the narrative advances, while the woman’s resistance stalls the narrative. This resistance, however, is seen as a positive counterforce, which allows for a rich descriptive unfolding of the story. Even though the relatively small collection of songs used in this study make it difficult to arrive at a conclusive description of laba narrative, the available song texts allow for a modest comparison of narrative structure which serves to clarify the meaning of indigenous metaphors. Table 3.1 below presents a comparison of four azis and their narrative structure. Each song follows a general narrative scheme made up of six sections: 1. Secret Rendezvous a. Planning the Escape b. Outdoor Romance 2. Marriage Negotiations 3. Allusions to Sexual Intimacy 4. Agreement to Marriage 5. Humble Beginnings 6. Established Home This narrative is created dialogically following a sequence of arguments which are outlined in the second and third columns. As is evident from the four right columns, AL1 offers the most exhaustive coverage of themes, while the other songs, AL2, CP2, and GM4 only partially cover the themes outlined. According to my translator, Lacel, AL1 represents a relatively complete but extremely condensed version of an azi narrative while the other songs represent incomplete versions. However, she continued by saying that the lack of completeness was the result of time constraints rather than of skill. I similarly observed many performances that were assessed as being of good quality, but which later were also described as being somewhat incomplete. These 97 observations have led me to think that the term “completion” (as translated from the Chinese term wanzheng) is an ideal that has many levels of realization, of which many satisfy a listener’s subjective experiences.98 A survey of this study’s collected texts show that thematic progression is indeed important but that an ideal narrative structure is far less systematic than is alluded to by the “climbing stairs” metaphor. Song performances are rarely complete in the sense of having linearly progressed through all the steps of a narrative. Rather, it is considered normal performance practice to to end a performance at a conclusion of one thematic section. Usually this occurs because the performance has taken place amidst outdoor tasks that must be eventually attended to. Hence the completeness that is alluded to in the “climbing stairs” metaphor is both an abstract ideal as well as a reference to the necessity of maintaining an orderly sequence of narrative events. 98 When describing completeness, Lacel used the Chinese term wanzheng (), which also connotes wholeness. 98 Table 3.1 Comparison of Narrative Structure of Four Azi Most of the songs presented in Table 3.1 follow the order of narrative events outlined in the first column. Exceptions are found in CP2 and GM4, in which sections highlighted in yellow, green and orange, are shown to be out of sequence from the structure outlined in the three left columns. In addition, the purple highlighted section in CP2 indicates a theme that is not part of the conventional azi narrative. These textual transformations are responses to new social contexts of performance, which will be discussed further in chapter 6. The flexibility evident in laba narrative structure should not cause one to dismiss the salience of indigenous metaphors. Instead, the survey of narrative structure brings 99 into focus the meaning of concepts such as progression, climaxing and completion, alluded to within metaphors. Both the “climbing stairs” metaphor and that of “lawyers in court” stress the duality of the rhetorical and narrative dimensions of text structure. They also emphasize progression, climaxing, and completion as subjective experiences, which are defined in the abstract by constellations of metaphors and images, rather than by linear sequence. While new metaphors mark the introduction of a new theme, past metaphors continue to be interspersed in subsequent narrative sections. In this way, laba narratives proceed like a conversation rather than a play, its divisions transitioning gradually with the ebb and flow of lingering thoughts and sentiments. The use of metaphors and images in the structuring of themes in laba shares some parallels to metaphorical usage in the gisalo songs of the Kaluli people (Feld 1990). Steven Feld describes gisalo songs as being the only form of Kaluli communication, which makes use of metaphors, or bali (‘turned over words’), for self-reflective purposes. He states that: The text of song, cast in a poetic grammar, is a special modality of appeal, rather than of assertion. Song poetry goes beyond pragmatic referential communication because it is explicitly organized by canons of reflectiveness and self-consciousness that are not found in ordinary speech (Feld 1990: 34). Similarly, I argue that laba metaphors not only serve a pragmatic role in the rhetorical structure of texts, but they also function as “canons of reflectiveness” within narrative structure to evoke events and relationships through the naming of places and objects. In this way, laba poetry draws out the complex interconnections between people, places, and events in ways that illuminate local perceptions of the world. 100 Laba as Love Conversations Kinship, Courtship and Marriage This next section examines the polysemy and multivocality of azi and sibling dialogues in light of contrasting contextual interpretations. I look at two specific performances of azi and sibling dialogues for insight into gender relations as they are constructed and negotiated within laba texts. Before this, I return briefly to the “outside” world for context on how kinship hierarchies inform gender relations in the family, in courtship, and in marriage. Accounts of courtship music genres and their relationship to kinship and sexuality among Chinese minorities have often emphasized difference between Han and non-Han cultures. Courtship music has been described as a central activity accompanying freely practiced pre-marital sexual relations (Thrasher 1990; Yang 1998). This is contrasted to the prohibitive nature of pre-marital sexual relations among the Confucian-influenced Han majority (Thrasher 1990: 38; Shi 1998: 204). Yang presents a comparative study of courtship songs among a Han population and minority population of Hainan Island, in which music is preparatory to free pre-marital sexual relations among youth. The existence of free sexual relations among the Han is described as resulting from acculturation with the neighbouring minority groups (Yang 1998: 208). Yang’s study stresses the social function of courtship song genres in youth subcultures that are set apart from kinship networks. These songs are described as precursors to sexual activities that most often do not lead to marriage (1998: 205). Likewise song texts consist mainly of sexual metaphors, which suggest that singers are primarily concerned with immediate possibilities of romantic sexual encounters (1998: 213-215). In contrast, azi texts are deeply rooted in kinship contexts and their performance is part of a courtship that does in fact lead to marriage more often than not. While the Hani take a liberal stance toward premarital sexual activities, these attitudes do not 101 necessarily undercut the importance of marriage. Lovers are consistently described in azi texts as anticipating the stability and permanence of marriage even though marriage prospects are also portrayed as being fraught with risk. Neither are gender relations in premarital romances isolated from constructions of gender in kinship circles. Instead, the negotiation of assymetrical gender relations in real and potential kinship relations lies at the core of both azi and sibling dialogues. These negotiations are realized as tender conversations between loved ones—between a woman who seeks protection, and a man who seeks honor and loyalty as a protector. However, the consistency of these themes in azi in no way prevents different singers from treating them with varied degrees of seriousness. In the case of Salpiel and Siivqlaoq, their azi conversations blossomed into sincere exchanges of the heart which led ultimately to marriage. In contrast, both Lacel and Salpiaol agreed that often azi is sung for pleasure in which case gendered negotiations and female expressions of kinship loyalty are but part of the fun and rhetoric of the game. Up to the point of marriage, a Hani woman is considered to be a dependent of her birth family. A single woman views her loyalty toward her parents and her siblings with great seriousness. While her sisters are her equals, her parents and brothers hold a position of authority over her and also exercise a responsibility to protect and provide for her. This changes only with marriage, when the sister is described as sumi yi, “the woman who goes out to the home of another.” After marriage, a woman is required to transfer her allegiance toward her parents and brothers to her parents-in-law and husband. This transitional process is shown within male-female dialogue labas to be fraught with relational tension and upheaval. Sibling dialogues are sung between a brother and sister. The brother urges the sister to get married because it is required by custom, while the sister resists marriage and clings loyally to family ties. This conflict is only overcome when the sister is convinced that the brother will continue to demonstrate familial affection toward her 102 through the provision of various goods during the wedding ceremony, and in subsequent times of need. In the past, these songs were best known as bridal laments, which were performed during the wedding ceremony. They were also performed informally between siblings and good male-female friends as a pastime. Today, these duets are rarely heard sung between actual siblings in wedding ceremonies since most youth do not know how to sing laba. However, they are sometimes still performed by older family members and friends on behalf of a young couple during wedding ceremonies. At present, most performances of these duets are heard sung by middle- aged and elderly performers who value these texts as sources for self-reflection. Azi courtship dialogues contain similar forms of rhetoric between a man and woman, except that these are performed between lovers. The man sets out to persuade his lover that they should meet. Once they have fallen in love, he continues by persuading his lover that they should marry. The woman resists invitations to meet and to be married because of continuing feelings of loyalty toward her parents and brothers, and fear of abuse and shame within her prospective family of marriage. These tensions are only resolved when the man succeeds in pursuading his lover of his family’s kindness, and his own fidelity as a spouse. In the past, azi dialogues were used in many contexts of courtship. These included casual outdoor encounters while travelling or at work—these sometimes led to entertaining performances that could draw a sizeable audience. Depending on the singers involved, these performances might or might not have led to serious long-term relationships. Other private performances, such as those sung softly between couples within in a make-shift canopy by a field, were likely to be interpreted as genuine love conversations. At present, azi are rarely heard within courtship because most Hani youth are unfamiliar with azi performance.99 However, they continue to be sung as a 99 While azi dialogues are not known to still function within courtship in the Luchun town vicinity, it is likely that they are still practiced in more remote villages of Luchun county. 103 pastime in casual laba performance gatherings by singers ages thirty and older (see illustrations 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3). During these sessions, laba singers may sing about a number of different song topics but the themes of azi dialogues are by far the most popular and are sung by both female pairs and male-female pairs. Illustration 3.1 Couple, Siivqlaoq and Salpiel, singing azi together in tea fields byAlzeiv Loama, June 2006 Illustration 3.2 Siivqlaoq singing azi in a contemplative manner, 2006 104 Illustration 3.3 Salpiel responding to Siivqlaoq’s invitation to love, 2006 The Hani of Luchun have traditionally practiced village exogamy, although today couples from the same village are permitted to marry if they do not share the same surname. Past generations of youth met while working in the rice fields or gathering firewood in the forest. During these outdoor encounters, azis played a central role in communication between lovers. Large rituals and festivals also offered young people from different villages the opportunity to socialize (Shi 1999: 199-202). Young couples wishing to pursue a more serious relationship would continue meeting privately outdoors. This was a time when couples could engage in intimate conversations and sexual activities, often in the privacy of a make-shift canopy. While these relationships did not always lead to marriage, song texts imply that these were not usually casual sexual encounters. When romantic relationships were pursued to this degree of intimacy, they were usually invested with a high degree of emotional commitment. At this stage, lovers typically anticipated a more permanent future together, although this was not always the case. If a couple wished to marry, they would consult with their parents who would arrange for a matchmaker to help in conducting dowry negotiations and wedding arrangements between the two families.100 A range of variations to this scenario also exist, including the occurrence of elopement and a 100 Zouhun (). 105 tradition of stealing the bride, known by the Chinese term zouhun (Shi 1999: 256-261; Bai and Wang 1998: 71-114). Many times these variations occur because there is a clash between the wills of parents and the lovers. Parents may object to marriages because of clan conflicts or assymetrical unions based on wealth or other criteria of social standing. Present courtship practices do not differ greatly from those of the past in principle, although the social circumstances under which they take place have changed dramatically. This is to say that courtship involving intimate relationships that may or may not lead to marriage remain the same, while the contexts in which youth socialize has changed greatly. Today young people typically meet and socialize in school and in town establishments such as karaoke bars and bubble tea shops. Thus, courtship has moved from the traditionally private places of the outdoors to the enclosed privacy of homes, and businesses. This breakdown of traditional dichotomies of private and public spaces has also been assisted by the enlargement of village homes, which now have more enclosed rooms for private use. Although premarital sexual relations are commonplace, there is still a considerable degree of secrecy surrounding this topic. Making these practices known to one’s elders is considered improper in the same way that azi must not be sung in the presence of elders. However, parents are often aware of these happenings—particularly in today’s enclosed contexts of courtship intimacy—but they usually remain silent about them. Hence, unlike the overt acceptability of premarital sexual relationships among the Li of Hainan, and Han of Danzhou (Yang 1998: 205, 211), premarital sexual relations are prevalent among the Hani of Luchun, but they are often associated with feelings of prohibition since their status is unofficial and vague. If elders allow these relationships to exist indefinitely, their authority is called into question because these unofficial arrangements undermine the necessity of marriage as a foundation to kinship practices. 106 Depictions of Marriage and Sexuality in Azi In keeping with the priority of marriage as an anticipated union between lovers, most azi song texts are actually not about the man winning the woman’s affections through flattery, sexual innuendo, and flirtation, but rather the man winning the woman’s affections through guaranteeing her status, physical security, and material wealth on entering into his family. In sibling duets, a brother must persuade an unwilling sister of the necessity and merits of getting married. In the process, he also promises the sister material gain and honor within the family as does the male lover in azi. In both azi and sibling duets, the woman uses her youth and inexperience as excuses to avoid marriage. In azi duets, the woman lays out her far-reaching fears of being exploited in various ways as a wife, to which the man must respond by reassuring her that at every step of the way, he will look out for her best interest. Similarly, the woman accuses the brother, in sibling duets, of having selfish motives in desiring for her to be married out of the family. The brother must convince her that he really does have her best interest in mind and will continue to provide for her even after marriage. These practical negotiations surrounding the status of the female in family hierarchies represents a prominent group of themes in both azi and sibling duets. The texts illuminate female concerns in light of male-dominated kinship structures (see table 3.2). The following comparison of these themes represents a categorical approach to organizing the different units of narrative and rhetorical argument found in laba. I borrow Albert Lord’s concept of theme as a grouping of ideas within the text that are common to different songs (or in the case of laba, song types) and which can be developed and varied in the performance process (2000[1960]: 69). In the case of the Yugoslav epics, Lord identified themes characterized by narrative settings, such as nobles gathering for council, or soldiers assembling for battle. Within a given theme, singers share stylized approaches to describing characters, and narrating action. In a similar way, themes within laba are defined by a combination of time, place, and 107 relational predicament. As an example, azis often begin with a narrative section on meeting outdoors in secret. The secret meeting theme contains a narrative sequence that includes: deceiving the female’s parents, sending secret messages to each other, describing the place and purpose of meeting, and professing mutual love for one another. In laba, too, singers can expand and contract the various parts of thematic sequences such that each performance is a new creative act whereby thematic divisions constitute a conceptual framework for improvisation. Comparisons of an Azi and Sibling Dialogue Performance I will begin by presenting a summary of the themes found in an azi (hereafter referred to as AL1) performed by a husband and wife in their fifties, Siivqlaoq and Salpiel, from the village of Alzeiv Laoma. The performance was given in a tea field by the village upon my request. The entire song is approximately one hour in length and was performed with two rest breaks.101 Following this, I will compare the themes of this azi with those of a sibling duet hereafter referred to as GM3) recorded in the neighbouring village of Goaqma. Table 3.2 shows a comparison of the thematic divisions in these two particular song performances. The divisions also reflect local perspectives on narrative structure, as I tried to use many of the thematic categories as explained to me by singers whom I interviewed. The themes present in AL1 approach an exhaustive presentation of all azi themes while GM3 is considerably shorter in length and appears less comprehensive in thematic coverage.102 101 The singers took rests at approximately twenty-minute intervals. I have divided the song into sections labeled ‘a’ to ‘c’. The pause between section ‘a’ and ‘b’ was a result of some technical difficulties I had in working both video and audio recording equipment. This recording was the first song out of three that were sung that afternoon. The two songs that followed afterward are considerably shorter but have some related thematic material to this one. Interestingly, in many recording sessions, I found that singers have the tendency to begin a new narrative theme after a pause as is the case in this azi. 102 Because GM3 was the only sibling duet that I was able to record, I do not have sufficient data to make generalizations about sibling duet themes. 108 Table 3.2 Thematic Summary of an Azi and Sibling Dialogue 109 Before quoting poetic passages extensively, I would like to point out one subtlety in the use of pronouns and proper nouns in laba that differs greatly from English usage. In the Hani language, a subject noun is not a requisite part of a complete sentence. In fact they are often omitted and implied by context. Laba texts, without exception, also treat subject nouns in the same way, omitting them with the effect of shifting the focus of the sentence from the actor to the action and the object of the action. Singers also refer to themselves and each other with different third person nouns. Proper nouns almost always refer to kinship identities such as: dulma ssaqmiq, meaning “mother’s daughter”, hoqhhyu molmeeq, meaning “good brothers”and ssaqbo dama, meaning “parents who bore me”. The following is an example of how dulma ssaqmiq is used by a man to address his lover: “This mother’s daughter is one who can think of solutions” (AL1a: 31). These proper nouns are used interchangeably with the first person such as in the couplet: “Today, I will not listen to my parents’ words/I will go and listen to the words of my lover” (AL 1a: 235-236). The use of third person nouns emphasizes kinship identities, and renders the text more inclusive, inviting audience members with the same kinship identity to relate to the singer’s experiences. Table 3.2 shows a comparison of themes found in AL1 and GM3. The themes of AL1 were previously discussed pertaining to narrative structure. GM3 has comparatively fewer themes, with several subdivisions per theme. These include: 1. Necessity of Marriage a. Appeal to Age b. Appeal to Custom/Appeal to kinship 2. Rejection and Indignation 3. Promises of Provision a. dowry and wedding gifts b. reunion gifts Despite notable differences in narrative structure, these two song types share similarities of rhetorical themes relating to arguments for and against marriage. I have highlighted related sections between the songs with the same colour. Green highlighted sections represent arguments based on appeals to age. These sections make prominent 110 use of livestock and plant metaphors. Yellow highlighted sections represent arguments for marriage based on the authority of ancestors and gods. These sections make common references to the first Hani man, Yeilsal. Orange highlighted sections have as their main theme male assurances of provision. The metaphors used to reinforce this theme differ significantly between the two song types owing to contrasting obligations required of a brother and a husband. Analysis of an Azi Performance The first section of AL1 is about planning a secret rendezvous. For the meeting to succeed, both male and female must do their utmost in devising a plan for the female to escape from her house undiscovered at night. The discussion usually touches on how the man will make up secret signals and sounds to alert the woman of his presence outside of the house. The male usually waits behind a tree close to the house, entering the house once the female signals for him. If the family hears the man make a sound while in hiding, the woman must deceive the parents by explaining away the sounds. If the man enters the woman’s house at night, she must hit the dog so that it will not bite him; she must also pretend to go to sleep early so that no one in the family suspects her. And likewise she must set up the timing of her escape so that all are asleep when she leaves. The man instructs the woman to do the following: Before your parents go to sleep, Go to the bed at the end of the fireplace and pretend to fall asleep. Before your good brothers go to sleep, Go to the bed in the dark corner where the fire is and pretend to be asleep. When you come out, do not let the bamboo slats creak, When you come out, do not let the bamboo boards echo. I will come and tickle you with a piece of eqjil weedstalk, I will blow on a blade of jamol grass or a branch of alzei and send you a hidden message (AL 1a: 31-38). The manner in which the meeting unfolds is closely related to the debate taking place between the man and the woman. At the outset the woman is shy, and is not 111 interested in meeting with him. The man must woo the woman to a point of trust and willingness to meet. He does this by convincing her that he is a man of good qualities. He also describes the excitement and allure of the rendezvous experience, and encourages her to take the initiative to plan an escape one evening. He flatters her, saying that she has the intellect to think of conniving ways to deceive the parents so as to avoid discovery. The woman at first expresses her fear of her parent’s disapproval, but after further persuasion agrees to the plan. The swiftness with which the narrative proceeds after the point of agreement demonstrates clearly the woman’s change of mind and resolve, for it is she who must devise the plan of escape, and execute the means of deception. The woman describes her plans in song: This mother’s daughter will spit saliva on the door so that it will not creak, This mother’s daughter will use her nasal mucus to grease the door so that it will not creak. If the bamboo boards sound, I will say that it was a big female rat scurrying across. If the bamboo slats sound, I will say that it was the big female cat hunting for its prey. (AL 1a: 195-198) This theme of escape from the home is interwoven with the next narrative theme as a reminder of the repeated risks involved in meeting together secretly. It is also a constant reminder of the presence of the female lover’s parents and brothers who are portrayed as disapproving authority figures. The second narrative section features the lovers meeting together in different outdoor settings: dancing in a field, sitting together in the shade, making promises to each other in a rest shelter by the rice field, and sleeping together under a tree. In the first scene, the lovers frolic in an open field by the village gate. They compare themselves to a pair of dancers on a stage. There is an atmosphere of freedom and uninhibited self-expression in their frolicking, and their dancing together quickly becomes a metaphor for marriage, and their hope of being together for life. The man 112 sings: “May those who have the same fate meet and dance together on the road of playfulness” (AL 1a: 79). Activities done outdoors by the lovers are often used as figures of speech that illuminate the rhetorical content interwoven with the narrative. The man urges the woman to meet often with him, using the following hyperbole: If we do not frolic for three days, then the grass and shrubs at the gate will become overgrown and tangle our feet, then beneath the grass and shrubs there will be snakes that will coil up around us. In this way this mother’s daughter will lose her soul in fright.103 (AL1a: 69-72) The outdoor meeting theme also gives rise to metaphors of longing, and an optimism in the possibility of overcoming great opposition in order to be together for life. The man expresses his hopes with these words: The mountain does not separate us, Neither do the river waters, But what separates us is a small stream. The rainbow and the mountains do not separate us But what separates us is one little hill. A field ripe for harvest is a good field, And the journey to the field does not feel long. I have a lover whom I see in the night, Even if rivers separate us, We can use our eyes to close the separation. If a rainbow separates us, We will use our feet to run so that we close the distance between us. (AL1a: 150-156) The passage of time is implied through the repeated descriptions of meeting together, and the growing intimacy of their speech. The deepening relationship is also expressed metaphorically in the sequence of actions: from the initial playfulness of dancing, to the seriousness of vow-making, and sexual acts performed in secret. As the lovers progress to the furthest stages of intimacy, the threat of discovery by their parents and their potential opposition loom larger than ever before. The man describes his longing and fears in this way: 103The Hani believe that when people are overly frightened, they are at risk of losing their souls, which will lead to physical illness. 113 I will not forget in a day the promises left behind in the hut by the field. We have left behind promises for each other in the hut by the field, Those promises are good; they are better than the stream that runs forth from the mouth of a spring. Do not let our parents hear our words spoken in secret, Do not let our parents see when we walk on the same road. Let’s hide under the aolbiq tree in front of the house, Let’s hide and sleep below the miaovqlal tree behind the house. (AL 1a: 160-165) The dialogue of persuasion between the lovers develops along points of argument that are standard to azi texts. After some time spent frolicking together, the male lover is convinced that they are fated to be together, and that furthermore they are at an age when they should be considering marriage.104 The woman is not so certain of this: she feels that she is still too young and immature to be married. In addition, she lives comfortably in a home where she is neither judged nor criticized. Why would she desire then, to take on the heavy responsibilities of being a daughter-in-law and wife? She says: Because I live a carefree life in the care of my parents, Because my parents let me prance about without a care. I am as lively and carefree as a young bull; 105 I do not wish to be someone’s lover. Even if there is a vivacious man wanting me, I would not want to marry him. (AL1a: 100-101) Using a series of metaphors from farming, the man argues that she is no longer young but ready to get married: Do not say that you are like a piglet that the sow has just birthed, Do not say that you are like a baby chick that is only three days old. A newborn piglet of the sow after only three cycles of the moon will know how to dig a pit in the mud. A newborn chick after only three days will know how to go to the gate to dig in the dirt, 104 Both azi and sibling laba texts feature a verse like this: “when a woman reaches the age of fifteen to twenty, when a man reaches the age of twenty or so, then (s)he will want to look for a lover” (for examples see GM3: 6-7; CP2: 27-28; AL1a: 119-120). 105 The original Hani implies that this type of young bull does not need to plow the fields as the grown water buffalo does. 114 Do not pretend that you are a little bird: You have already eaten your parent’s hhoqcil vegetables and are grown up. Do not pretend that you are like the qeiltao lolbiq plant, never growing up:106 When the spring rains come from the mountaintops, it will cause the plant to grow a new section. (AL 1a: 103-112) Furthermore, the man is certain that he has chosen the right woman, and praises her for her kindness and pure heart. He promises to honor her before others. He says, “I will wear you like a rope or a badge on my chest” (AL 1a: 220). When the woman is won over by the man’s words, her change is decisively marked by the transference of allegiance from her family to her lover. She says: When my parents call me I will not answer. When my lover calls me I will answer. Even if my parent’s rice is as sweet as honey from the honeycomb, I will not turn to them for it. But if there are just a few grains of rice left at the corner of my lover’s mouth, I will turn to him for it. (AL 1a: 221-224) The woman finds it necessary to be exclusively committed to either her family or her lover—there exists no middle ground. Even though this may not be the case in reality, the antagonism between the woman’s family and the lover is necessary in azi to show that the woman’s love for the man comes with great personal sacrifice. Extreme expressions of loyalty such as these are consistent with the frequent use of hyperbole for contrastive effect in azi. With each profession of love, the woman exposes her vulnerability in transferring her allegiance from a group of individuals who have shown her many years of affection and love, to one whose mettle remains untested. She requires reassurance from the husband-to-be that he intends to follow through on his promises, especially in view of the impending wrath of her parents. The woman expresses her desire for protection in this way: 106 The qeiltao lolbiq plant is a wild plant that is known not to be very large even when fully grown. 115 Before the anger of our parents burn like fire, My lover in this romance can be to me like a brother. My lover in this romance can be to me like a parent. If the waters from the reservoir come flooding out, You will be a concrete slab to block it from coming. If there is a big windstorm, you will shield me from it. (AL1a: 256-260) The debate between the lovers, however, is not so quickly resolved after the women’s capitulation. The third section of narrative continues with a slightly different type of rhetoric. In this section, the husband sets out to describe a prosperous future together, but the woman resists the advancement of this narrative through continuing uncertainties and fears. The woman wonders whether she made a decision to marry too rashly and fears that this irreversible choice will haunt her. She also fears that her in- laws will mistreat her. She spurns the thought of being exploited and overworked by a family who in the end may not give them any house or field as an inheritance. Lastly, she fears that her husband will marry a second wife so that she will be dishonored among her friends. The man is only able to win her over by assuring her that she will receive good treatment, a place of honor in the family, material rewards for her labour, and his utmost fidelity toward her. The woman expresses uncertainty in her profession of love using two metaphors that allude to rituals of the wedding ceremony. When the bride enters the house of her husband for the first time, she must break a string tied to the front gate of the house, and likewise kick over a bamboo slat at the threshold of the door to signify her permanent entry into her husband’s household. Here the woman is implying that if she makes a decision to marry a man too rashly, it is as if she stumbles into a stranger’s house, committing to an intractable relationship that will result in much sorrow. The last two lines reveal some of the underlying fears that are a source of her ambivalence: If I am not careful, one day I will break the string at a stranger’s gate, Then this daughter, though skilled, will not know how to mend the broken string. If I am not careful with my hands, 116 one day I will pull the string on a stranger’s bamboo slat. Then this daughter, though skilled, will not know how to pull it out with her left hand and left foot. Who knows if they might one day come in a rage and beat me up with firewood? Who knows if they will crush me with the three stones by the fireplace? (AL 1a: 289-295) The woman’s view of the potential in-laws as strangers who are likely to abuse and exploit her is expressed repeatedly, stressing the economic nature of these negotiations. When marrying, a Hani woman is concerned with how well her husband will treat her but her ultimate happiness depends on her treatment by all members of the family. After marriage, women experience significant changes with far-reaching consequences affecting home and work environments. These concerns are common themes in female dialogues in both azi and wedding duets. The prominence of these themes is perhaps a reason for the popularity of these subgenres among groups of female performers and audiences today. In contrast to his preceding tone of optimism, the man responds to the woman with a degree of realism. He uses the repeated refrain, “There is no wind in the seventh month that does not blow hard,” suggesting that starting out a marriage always has its difficulties (AL 1b: 1). He proceeds to reassure her that they will be patient with her weaknesses and not treat her harshly: A daughter-in-law who is not strong will still be praised, Cutlery that is not good will not be hastily thrown away… If a daughter-in-law wastes some grain when storing it, she will not be scolded. If a man is not in a good mood, he will not divorce his wife in a rage (AL 1b: 2-3, 7-8) Debate of this nature between the lovers is restated in many different ways throughout this narrative section. The woman describes many scenarios in which she is susceptible to abuse because of her inexperience: she does not know how to make 117 breakfast for her in-laws; she does not know where the bowls and kitchen tools are stored etc. In response, the man reassures the woman of his family’s kindness in each of the scenarios mentioned. While such dialogue may seem repetitive, azi audiences take pleasure in anticipating how each complaint is addressed. Each response by the male elicits additional metaphors that show creativity, wit and humour. Furthermore, the repetition of the same point using multiple images and illustrations evokes the spatial dimensions and activities of the home, bringing out the narrative and experiential qualities of a passage of text. Uses of metaphor and imagery in rhetorical sections of azi create a collage of images, articulated both with and against the dominant narrative. Indeed, the borders between narrative and rhetorical themes are somewhat porous, and, to some extent, all narrative material serves to emphasize points within an individual’s argument. As a way of convincing the woman of the imminent success of their union, the man turns to the task of envisioning their future life together. Although he admits that they will start from humble beginnings, he assures her that they can overcome all hardships with love, which will inspire them to perseverance and hard work. The man says: Even if we do not see a grain of rice in ten days, because we are in love, we can look at each other and forget our suffering. If we do not inherit the small plot of rice field from my parents, we can develop a new field of our own. (AL 1b: 17-20) The man proceeds to evoke the legendary woman, Ceiqkyul Kyulnuv, to describe the type of prosperity and wealth that his lover will bring to him. He envisions them having seven sons and seven grandsons who will in turn help them to build seven cow pens. When they acquire seven cows and seven horses, he will put the horses to work to build seven roads for them. 118 As the crowning point of his argument, the male brings back the theme of fate, which was first mentioned in section I. This theme of fate uniting lovers together is expanded upon as a union ordained by the gods and ancestors. He explains that he has already gone to the diviner who told him that they are meant to be a pair. This divination is seen to be an act of the gods that cannot be revoked by human will: We are fated to be together, The prophesies that our ancestors left for us are able to join us together. The fate of two people must arrive at a point, If it is not fate that brings us together, we will not get the blessing even if we pray for it. The sky god, Aoqmavq, uses a scale to weigh things, The matters ordained by our ancestors are level and flat, like a piece of land raked by the teeth of a harrow. The scale that Aomavq chooses is level and balanced, If you think it is not you can bring your scale to measure it. (AL 1a: 297-304) Even though the man’s words are many and varied, appealing to fate, promising the woman and her family good treatment, the woman seemingly never comes to a point of complete agreement. Like the previous sections, the woman appears to be sufficiently convinced and concedes only to take up more arguments and complaints in successive verses. Her complaints, however, do gradually subside, and by the conclusion of section 5, have dissipated. Having no further female opposition, the male narrative of the prosperous marriage life develops swiftly. By the end, the woman’s responses consist of “if…then…” statements that express her agreement to be a loyal and industrious wife as long as the husband faithfully follows through with his promises. Here, again, the comparison is made between the lover, and the woman’s parents and brother: If my lover will be as good to me as a good brother, If my lover will treat me as well as my parents treat me… Then I will listen to my lover’s bidding. (AL 1b: 69-71) Increasingly, the couple joins together to develop the narrative of the prosperous life. The husband promises to build a bedroom for the wife. He promises to help carry 119 the firewood, and to manage the aqueducts in the fields so that they will have a plentiful harvest. The wife promises to keep the fireplace swept clean and to manage the family storehouse.107 All aspects of life prosper in the marriage. When they plant a vegetable patch, the vegetables grow so tall that their leaves sag to the ground with heaviness. The chickens, ducks, and pigs at the gate are fed thrice a day, and they grow stronger and healthier by the day. With a bountiful harvest, the husband and wife gain honor and respect in the community. Their good reputation is further enhanced by the fact that Dai and Hani friends from afar deign to pay them a visit. This event begins the fourth and last section of narrative on welcoming guests into the home. This last section of narrative is unlike the others in that the wife and husband are now in complete agreement. Up to this point, even after the wife agrees to marriage, there are uncertainties to be set aside, but now marriage is assured. The wife and husband now work together to create a narrative on welcoming guests into the home. As in the previous section, the couple begins modestly, greeting their guests with a humble offering of their best vegetables. Although the couple does not have much wealth as represented in the ability to offer their guests bountiful dishes of meat and much wine, they are certain that they can be resourceful and impress their guests with what they have. They sing, “We can make the vegetables in the ground taste like meat. The wife can think of ways to solve a problem, and the husband can think of solutions too” (AL1c: 1-3). The couple perform many other tasks for their guests: they make a bowl of lapi chili dipping sauce for their dinner, feed their horses hay, brew tea for them on a fire, refill their bamboo smoking pipes with water, and offer them warm blankets for the night. 107 Daughters-in-law in Hani culture traditionally are given possession of the key to the storehouse, and have the task of managing the family’s food reserves. This is seen as an important task that signifies that a woman has come to full maturity as an adult, and has gained a place of honor and respect in the family. 120 The theme of welcoming guests from afar came up in several azi and laba that I recorded on the field. I came to realize only later that these sections of narrative were specifically addressed to me as a guest to their village. Even though during the recording session, the singers told me that they would sing a portion of text to welcome us, I was not aware until later that what they sang for us was also intricately woven into their lovers’ narrative. In doing this, the two singers demonstrated their ability to reinterpret and rework traditional themes and narrative to serve their immediate communicative needs. Laba singers show a constant sensitivity to the lived significance of their performed texts. In this case, the singers showed their hospitality to us both in actions and in song. The song text gives insight into their motivations for showing hospitality. In Hani culture, the willingness to show hospitality is of utmost importance in maintaining one’s honor in the village and as a means of gaining favor with the gods. Although I did pay the singers some money for their help during a busy harvest period, their agreement to sing was clearly motivated by other intangible rewards as expressed in the passage below: From now on, when the official from the north comes, Give him a chair to sit on. When the official from the north comes, Pour a cup of hot water for him. If, when the official comes, you give him a chair to sit on, Then the Lord of Rain will be kind to you, Then the priest will have a compassionate heart toward you. (AL1c: 45-47) There are also negative spiritual consequences to withholding hospitality as this verse suggests: “If we see you and do not offer you a smoke, then we will become short- tempered spirits” (AL1c: 32-33). Likewise, there is also social judgment to be issued on how well a family treats guests. Guests are often referred to as father’s friends. It is thought that if the children welcome the father’s friends, then they will give honor to the elderly and to the family name. In the passage below the importance of showing 121 hospitality as a sign of respect to one’s elders is stated in both positive and negative terms: If the man does not welcome the guests, Those who come will say bad things about him. If the woman does not wear a smile on her face, If they do not pour tea for Father’s friend, They will say that the children are immature. If the man hospitably welcomes the guests, And the woman wears a smile on her face, Those who come will be happy, And the children who are loved by Father will also be happy. (AL1c: 61-69) Such passages conform to traditional azi textual content in its concern for honoring elders. Since the couple’s father is no longer alive, and we did not ever know him, these references to the Father’s friends form a disjuncture with other areas of text that are clearly references to me as the “little Han official from the north.” From an example like this, we can see that there are areas of thematic material within azi and laba that are extremely fluid. In any given performance, a singer holds in tension the goals of song re-creation based on conformity to narrative and rhetorical structures, and the exigencies of the social context. The fact that the two purposes may generate certain inconsistencies in narrative detail is not perceived to be a problem. Finally, showing hospitality is a means of promoting the good reputation of one’s village. The theme of the prosperous village, as first heard in the conclusion of section 4, returns in a section that links the village praise theme with the hospitality theme. The song ends exuberantly with the following verses: From the corners of the village we cry, “jyuljyul!” We cry out so that our offspring’s road to fortune will be good, So that villagers will live in peace and harmony, And we cry out for the fame of our offspring, our future hope. (AL1c: 107-110) The above passage can be interpreted in terms of its practical and spiritual significance. The onomatopeia jyuljul refers to the sound made by the blowing of meiba 122 and babi leaves. This sound is made to invoke good fortune and is also frequently associated with azi singing. The singer is, in essence, using these final verses to sum up the significance of their entire performance. He might have said in other words, “We have sung a song about a good future together. May the gods hear it and bless us with peace and harmony. May those like our little scholar from Canada hear it and spread our fame afar for the benefit of our future generations.” In sum, the thematic content of this azi touches on a diversity of topics that cover different spheres of private and public life. Although azi is primarily used in courtship, its breadth of thematic content suggests that it serves multiple societal functions. In addition to being a youth pastime, and an entertaining verbal duel that may contain serious implications leading to marriage, it also serves as a ritual invocation to the gods for prosperity and peace in the family, and functions as a genre in which familial and societal roles among the genders are defined and opposition to them articulated. Particularly in performances such as the one discussed, in which older singers perform azi, we see them incorporating a wider range of themes within their songs to reflect their breadth of lived knowledge. What also stands out is the strength of narrative themes in structuring rhetorical content and chronology. This is not the case in many shorter versions of azi and laba, in which rhetorical discourse is dominant over narrative. It is not that these shorter versions are of inferior artistic quality but there is simply insufficient material with which to develop a full chronology in a short performance. (This is also the reason why many singers are reluctant to begin a performance unless they know that there will be sufficient time to complete a song.) When a longer performance does allow for the full presentation of a narrative, singers and audiences express great satisfaction in the completeness of the work. Such estimations are reminders that structural completeness is the main evaluative aesthetic criterion of laba performance. 123 Structural completeness, however, is not simply achieved by the ordering and grouping of major narrative and rhetorical themes, rather, completeness must be built up from the micro-content of the themes. While thematic content accrues improvisationally with many types of arguments and accompanying narrative sequences, the dialogues must also follow a general step-by-step development. As an example, when the husband reassures the wife that his family will treat her well, he must state his intentions in many different ways so that the theme is sufficiently developed. Likewise, in order for the argument to be resolved, the wife must express acceptance of each of the promises made, and in turn must make reciprocal promises of her own. Neither is an analysis of narrative and rhetorical thematic divisions meant to imply that the two are perfectly complementary and free of tensions. Themes interact in complex ways. Some overlap with others, or recur later. Others create some ambiguity in the conflation of time such as in the narrative and rhetorical material of section 5. In this section, the man advances the narrative by projecting a picture of prosperity and family harmony that assumes the female’s agreement to marriage has been secured. In contrast, the woman recasts this dominant narrative as a theoretical construct whose reality is threatened by lingering fears that must be assuaged. My purpose in analyzing AL1 was to examine how narrative and rhetorical themes are structured in dialogue performance. One must keep in mind, however, that this is an analysis of but one azi performance whose content in part reflects the age of the singers, their experience and position in life, and what they perceived to be the communicative needs of that afternoon’s context. If we were to consider an azi sung by a young unmarried couple, it might be the case that a performance of similar length would contain more extensively developed material on the initials stages of planning a secret rendezvous and meeting outdoors, since this narrative material is most pertinent to their courtship stage of life. 124 Also, for present-day laba singers who are ages thirty and older, since courtship is no longer the goal of azi performance, they are free to shape their compositions according to other priorities. Whereas during courtship, a couple may begin an azi and choose not to bring the song to completion so as to express their mutual disinterest in pursuing a closer relationship, such considerations are absent from azi performed by those already married. In the present context, older performers return to azi because they are still attracted to themes offered in this subgenre, with its familiar metaphors and arguments, but they do so with different goals in mind. For them it is a way of looking back: of recalling past life stages, and of re-imagining no longer extant material and cultural environments. These perspectives may lead mature singers to dwell more on descriptive passages.108 Analysis of a Sibling Dialogue Sibling dialogues, like azi, dwell on conflicts caused by gendered power asymmetries. The dialogues also revolve around the tenuous transfer of kinship loyalties at marriage. In both azi and sibling dialogues, the woman is faced with the dilemma of giving up her loyalty for her birth family in order to devote herself to her husband and his family. The brother, like the male lover, appeals to the authority of tradition, and draws metaphors to domestic agricultural life to point to the necessity of marriage as an indication of growth and maturity. The sister’s arguments are similar to that of the female lover: she is well-loved in her own home and has no desire to leave her family of birth. She perceives herself to be still young and immature, not yet ready to take on the responsibilities of a wife and daughter-in-law. The difference between the two subgenres lies in the identity of the male: in azi, it is the lover who invites the woman to enter into a new family; in sibling labas, it is the brother who must ask the woman to leave her birth family. In azi, the male lover 108 An example of this can be found in CP2, in which Ceiq Piel devotes a lengthy passage to the description of different types of trees and their appropriate uses. 125 represents an outsider who competes for the loyalty of the woman. To win the female’s affections he must guarantee her provison and protection.109 In sibling labas, the brother must exercise his authority over his sister by recommending marriage. At the same time, he must not appear overly harsh or unloving, lest he be accused of denying sibling affinities. Surprisingly, the brother’s role in the sibling duets is not antithetical to that of the pursuant male lover but rather supports him in recommending marriage. These two subgenres together portray gender conflicts—the female being pitted against the male authority figures of brother and lover/husband. The varied nature of ritual and non- ritual performance contexts play an important role in determining the varied interpretations of power and resistance in these texts. The sibling duet chosen for analysis is approximately thirty minutes in length. It was recorded in the village of Goaqma in July of 2005. The duet was sung by female and male singers, Ssaljov and Muqzeq, ages 65 and 57 respectively, who are from the same village but not related kin. They take on the roles of sister and brother in this sibling laba. Although sibling duets are often performed informally as a pastime, they are most strongly associated with bridal laments sung before a bride’s departure from her family (see illustration 3.1). Unlike the previous azi, whose narrative themes structure its rhetorical content, this laba structure is based on its rhetorical themes, with narrative content emerging only sporadically in the form of sequenced metaphors and ritual events. The first half of the duet does not have a continuous narrative. Rather a number of plant and animal metaphors are developed in dialogue to describe relationships and processes of growing up. The brother, in the second half of the duet, uses a sequence of ritual events that take place during and after the wedding ceremony as a way of enumerating the wealth of goods that he will provide for his sister. 109 The daughter-in-law, when first married, takes on a low social position in her new family. In the past, it was common for daughters-in-law to suffer abuse by her husband’s family without recourse since she was isolated from her birth kin. Although domestic violence still occurs in Hani families today, the daughter-in-law is not as vulnerable as in the past since contact between villages has improved. Despite the risk of hardship, marriage is also seen as holding promise of a woman’s rise in social status, since it leads naturally to motherhood, and eventually to eldership. 126 Illustration 3.4 Bride mourning her departure from birth kin, January 2009. Sibling dialogues contain texts that wrestle with conflicting kinship loyalties and issues of economic exchange in the transition to marriage. The brother and sister take on opposing roles, the former arguing for the necessity and benefits of marriage, and the latter resisting change, and clinging to the loyalty of original kinship ties. The brother urges the sister to get married while she is of a marriageable age, and urges her by appealing to tradition as laid down by generations of ancestors. The brother begins with this statement, which is subsequently repeated as a refrain throughout the song: My sister must grow wings that can fly outside, When a woman grows up, she should go out to another’s home, A brother, younger or older, must manage his own family. This has been so since the ancient times of our ancestors, Since the time of our first ancestor Yeilsal.110 (GM3: 1-5) The sister counters his claims by pointing to her youth and immaturity, and appeals to their close sibling bond. She sings, “Let us not leave behind the love between 110 Yeilsal is known in genealogies as the first Hani man. 127 brothers and sisters/Let the happiness of times spent together as siblings not come to an end” (GM3: 21-22). The brother treats her protests tenderly in the repeated refrain, “My sister, your heart is as thin as the wings of a moth,” but he firmly counters her appeal by pointing to the impermanence of their sibling bond by saying: No matter how deep our feelings are for each other, We cannot be together for life. The feelings between siblings can be deep But we cannot establish a family together, This has been so since the ancient times of our ancestors, Since the time of our first ancestor Yeilsal (GM3: 30-33). The juxtaposition of sibling and spousal relationships in the verses above suggests a desired intimacy between brother-sister ties that appears to border on incest.111 Such uses of hyperbole are meant to emphasize the deep-rootedness of kinship bonds and the difficulty of giving up these bonds at the time of marriage.112 Even though marital expectations such as these are not unique to the Hani people, and these traditional values are pervasive even in urban Han Chinese communities, the cultural pressure to conform to this moral code appears much stronger in Hani village settings than perhaps in urban settings. Marriage is seen as important in establishing mutually- benefiting clan alliances and also as a necessary means of relieving a female’s birth- family of financial responsibility for her. The tenuous relationship between the woman and her birth family approaching the time of marriage can be seen clearly in GM3. The authority-figure in the family, as represented in the role of the brother, must recommend marriage to the daughter without overtly rejecting her claims of loyalty to the family. In Hani culture, a brother, whether younger or older, has a position of authority over a sister and also assumes responsibility for caring for her up until the point of marriage. The ceding of this role to 111 I confirmed with my research participants that incestuous relationships are taboo and thus, fairly uncommon in Hani families. They interpret this reference to incestuous desires as an example of hyperbole in laba. 112 Even today, the Hani consider marriage to be necessary as stipulated by custom. Today, most young people in Luchun will get married by their mid-twenties. 128 the spouse is symbolically expressed in the wedding ceremony when the brother (not the spouse) carries the bride on his back to the house of the groom’s family (see Illustration 3.5). Laba sibling duets serve a similar function in that the brother is expressing his willingness to allow his sister to be married into another family. Such demonstrations of approval are essential in formally establishing goodwill between the families of the bride and groom. However, the sister interprets the brother’s recommendations of marriage as a breach of kinship loyalty and a personal rejection. The brother must persuade her that marriage is for her benefit also, and that their existing kinship ties will be affirmed with various material provisions in the course of the wedding ceremony and beyond. One might ask why the brother is the representative authority-figure of choice in wedding labas. Although wedding dialogues of this type are not limited to sibling dialogues, and mother-father-daughter dialogues also exist (Honghe Renmin 2002), sibling duets are by far the most popular dialogue form for this subgenre of bridal laments.113 It is perhaps the case that the brother figure assumes both a role of authority and affinity with the sister that makes him particularly suited to discuss such sensitive matters with her. The brother is neither overly threatening, as a father might be, nor overly emotional and attached, as a mother. Furthermore, he is a close sibling who has grown up alongside the sister, and who also uses this occasion to grieve the imminent loss of a sister. 113 For examples of different dialogue wedding labas see Hanizu Hunsu Ge edited by Yang Yangjui, 2002. 129 Illustration 3.5 Brother carrying sister to groom’s house, July 2009. Janet Carsten, in her research on the Malays of Langkawi Island, defines kinship as socially constructed forms of relatedness. These are actively created and reinforced through repeated communal acts such as playing, cohabiting and meal-sharing (Carsten 1995: 321). Carsten’s interpretation of sibling affinities illuminates the interpretation of relational loss for siblings at the point of marriage. Even though it is not the case that the brother and sister cease to be siblings after marriage, it is perceived to be an abrupt breaking of kinship ties as defined by shared communal experience. Such loss requires mourning, and affirmations of sister-brother loyalty. While the sister initiates these expressions, the brother must walk the fine line between showing sympathy and laying down the dictates of custom—he must console the sister and affirm sisterly-brotherly affections whilst making a strong case for the promising prospects of marriage. The sister’s unwillingness to give up her sibling loyalties pitted against the brother’s determination to cede his sibling role to her spouse is common rhetoric in sibling duets. However, even as laba rhetoric represents a socially appropriate, and 130 requisite part of the theatre of ritual, embedded in such rhetoric also exist original arguments and dialectic that reflect ambiguity, genuine emotion, personal volition, and dissent. In the verses below, the brother introduces a metaphor that is woven through the dialogue. He describes the sister as a water buffalo, saying: A woman who does not marry into another family will not acquire peace, If a water buffalo is not sold to another family, There is no way of knowing its worth. (GM3: 9-10) The use of livestock as metaphors for people is a common cultural practice both in speech and in laba performance and is not perceived to be degrading. However, what the brother suggests here is quite offensive to the sister, since he implies that her primary worth is in serving the family to which she marries. It does little to assuage her fears that she will only be a servant in her new family, receiving neither love nor honor. She responds by extending the metaphor: A woman who marries into another family may not have a happy heart, A woman who marries into another family may have a heart that will gradually melt into sadness. The water buffalo is only there to turn over the soil and flatten the fields so that the owner will be happy. (GM3: 39-41) The dialogue continues with the brother insisting that he must manage his own household and thus, cannot continue bearing the responsibility of caring for her. If the sister does not marry into another family, she will not have any role in the existing family. To this the sister reassures the brother that she would be of no harm if she stayed. Following this, the brother begins a second line of argument that occupies the remainder of the song: he provokes the sister by saying that she will not receive any of the land that the parents leave as an inheritance, nor will she receive even a small room in their living quarters because her fate is to marry into another family. The sister responds with indignation: 131 When we built our house, We siblings built it together, Why do I not even get a small space in these living quarters? When we plowed the fields, I had a part in plowing too. Why do I not even get a little piece of land as an inheritance? We were born from the same mother after all. (GM3: 98-103) Thus ensues an extended negotiation of economic exchange. The sister points to her years of labor investment in the family and the economic inequalities inherent in being a woman who must marry into another family with little material compensation. The brother replies by acknowledging her past work and promising that she will be rewarded for her work on the wedding day, when no chickens or pigs will be spared in preparing food for the ancestral offerings and wedding banquet. She is also promised an invitation to return home to eat the first grains of a new harvest, and the loan of a water buffalo if she should need one for plowing her fields. The song concludes in an open- ended manner, with no apparent resolution to the disagreement. Neither side capitulates but both sister and brother have the opportunity to voice their sentiments. This is perhaps surprising, since the narrative progression implies the growing imminence of marriage. Yet sibling dialogues typically end in this manner, without requiring the sister to verbally agree to marriage. This is perhaps because marriage has already been decided in the context of a performance given during a wedding. The lack of resolution also allows the sister to be portrayed as virtuous in her unrelenting loyalty to her family.114 Interpretations of Resistance in Laba Dialogues The question that naturally issues from these two analyses of laba dialogues is: to what extent are laba dialogues a type of theatre—that is predetermined rhetoric between individuals that assume culturally stereotyped roles—and to what extent do dialogues 114 If the sibling dialogue were to resolve in the same manner as AL2, in which the woman rejects her family outright and expresses exclusive devotion to her lover, such words would be viewed as an affront to her birth family and reflect poorly on her moral character. 132 represent genuine expressions of dissent that hold power to effect change, or at the very least, challenge and destabilize hegemonic structures? I posit that the theatrical nature of laba allows for the articulations of resistance against official gender and kinships ideologies. In the texts examined, the unmarried female is the most prominent figure of resistance against these ideologies. Also present within azi is the resistance of the lovers, representing the acting out of youthful volition against kinship authority, particularly against the authority of the female’s family. In order to ascertain whether articulations of resistance in laba impact social action requires an examination of the different contexts of performance. Performers’ expectations of social action as an outcome of laba dialogue are greatly dependent on context. That is, laba dialogues are treated more theatrically in some contexts, and more as effective conversation in others. I argue, however, that even in contexts where laba is strongly interpreted as theatre, the articulation of resistance as rhetoric still effects social change by calling forth thoughtfulness and reflection on existing behavioural codes. I will begin by considering some historical contexts for the performance of sibling duets and their possible social outcomes followed by a lengthier discussion of present performance contexts. In the past, as recently as thirty years ago, laba was sung and understood by a wider Hani public. It was common in those days to hear laba sung as an alternate form of speech, especially out in the wild while traveling, looking for firewood, or farming. In informal contexts such as these, sibling duets could be heard sung by actual siblings or by good friends of the opposite sex. In the past, when females who were not yet married performed these dialogues with their brothers, these performances were received in a similar manner to actual conversations whose outcome had real life consequences. During a sibling dialogue, if the sister argued well on her behalf, she had the power to delay marriage for a time and also to gain for herself the assurance of material rewards 133 at the time of marriage. Similarly, in an azi, a woman had the power to accept or reject a suitor based on his treatment of her in performance.115 Although laba dialogues share common themes, each performance gives rise to unique and individualized arguments that reflect the thoughts and desires of each singer. When sibling duets are sung between friends they do not have the power to effect change in a specific situation but the debate has significant general social consequences: the male in every case must hear out the female perspective on marriage and family, and must respond at least somewhat sympathetically if the dialogue is to continue. In this way, laba singing gives equal room for subversive and authoritative voices, an equality that is not mirrored in everyday speech. The inequality of female speech in the home can be seen during larger social gatherings, in which gender segregation takes place during meal-sharing, and the men engage in extended conversations over wine to the exclusion of the women, who must tend to the children and household chores. It is not the case that Hani women are generally quiet and submissive, for many are capable of being quite opinionated in the presence of men, but their perspective and input is often limited in public conversations, and in important clan decisions. Thus, laba performance provides a social context in which female perspectives are voiced and heard, functioning to counterbalance the existing gender inequalities that surface in everyday conversation.116 During a wedding ceremony, sibling duets have no power to effect change since the marriage has been decided. Instead the song has ritual significance: the dialogue represents a reenactment of thoughts and feelings that did exist, and which now must be purged in order to begin a new life. In some respects the duet marks a rite of passage for 115 These varied performance contexts and interpretations of sibling dialogues were described to me by Lacel (2008: personal communication). 116 This interpretation should perhaps be counterbalanced by the observation that certain gender asymmetries still exist in laba performance. For example, in some villages, the male singer is expected to take the lead in creating a narrative. Although I did observe this to be the case in some songs (AL1), in other performances, I found the dialogue to be generally equal (GM3). Nevertheless, such dialogues are effective in stimulating reflection on gendered experience among both male and female participants. 134 both siblings: for the male, the new life represents a milestone to adult maturity, a giving up of sibling relationships as they existed in childhood in order to take up leadership in his own family; for the female, the change is more drastic, and requires a complete uprooting from existing family and friends, a total change of living and work environments to assume a new identity in an adopted family. Sibling dialogue performances in both informal and ritual circumstances provide youth with a context for reflection on the changes necessary to growth and adult maturity. Whereas both male and female are relatively free of mutual responsibilities in youth, entry into adulthood requires a clear understanding of mutual obligations between genders. With this interpretation, female resistance represents more generally youthful resistance against the inevitability of adulthood, which is a shared sentiment of both sexes. Such a perspective recasts male and female performers, not as opponents in gender struggles, but as conversationalists who take on opposing views as an exercise in reflection—a meditation on the regrets and hopes that come with life-changing processes. The varied examples above demonstrate that male-female laba dialogues, in certain contexts, can be a powerful vehicle for expressions of resistance but in other settings they represent reflections on life processes. But there are also other ways in which laba structure supports official kinship and gender ideology. Anthropologist Lila Abu-Lughod warns against the “tendency…to romanticize resistance by read[ing] all forms of resistance as signs of ineffectiveness of systems of power and the resilience and creativity of the human spirit in its refusal to be dominated” whilst failing to explore the implications of resistance and the complex interworkings of structures of power in the course of historical change (1990: 42). In applying these thoughts to interpretations of power in laba dialogues, one must acknowledge that the female both resists and supports official ideologies in the performance of these texts. Female forms of resistance are bounded by laba structure. As an example, women have the power, through laba, to negotiate for material goods from male kin and suitors, but narrative expectations 135 encourage the woman to eventually cede to marriage; a refusal to do so is possible but breeches the norms of structural expectations. The narrative trajectory of male-female dialogue labas always leads toward the end goal of marriage. In this way, the range of resistance is delimited, contributing to the preservation of official ideologies. Laba dialogues are love conversations between a man and a woman whose love relationship is tested by their unequal status in the family hierarchy. The man is powerful and self-sufficient because his kinship status is stable, and his promise to inherited resources assured, while the woman’s kinship identity undergoes transformation and her access to resources dependent on her relationship to those in power. The complementarity of unequal social positions is mediated by ideals of love and unity within the family. Those who are powerful have the responsibility to love and care for those who are dependent, and those who are dependent, if they are well provided for, will reinforce the social status of those in positions of power through giving them honor and respect.117 This reciprocity is recurrent in the rhetoric of laba dialogues. While gender asymmetries are portrayed with detail in laba narratives, the dynamics of gender rhetoric at times present an inverted view of power relations: the woman is portrayed as powerful in her freedom to express thoughts that go against cultural ideologies, and her ability to make demands upon those in power. In contrast, the man is portrayed as weak in that he must prove his honor by showing utmost patience and largesse; furthermore, he is limited in his freedom to express personal sentiments of regret (as in the case of the brother). This is because those who exercise 117 Abu-Lughod describes similar hierarchical relationships between men and women based on moral codes of honor and duty in Bedouin families. She states: “the familial idiom downplays the potential conflict in relations of inequality by suggesting something other than simple domination versus subordination. It replaces opposition with complementarity, with forceful notions of unity and identity, emphasizing bonds between family members: love and unity (1986: 81). 136 greater power must hold more stringently to cultural ideologies.118 These analyses demonstrate laba dialogues to be textured narratives and thoughtful conversations that give witness to the complexity of power structures as they are subjectively experienced and enacted. The image-traces and feeling-tones created by the grouping of people, places, and themes within the text contribute not only to the artistry of laba but also to understandings of gender and identity in the family. 118 This is similar to what Bourdieu calls “elementary forms of domination.” He notes of the Kabyle that “the ‘great’ are those who can least afford to take liberties with the official norms, and that the price to be paid for their outstanding value is outstanding conformity to the values of the group” (1977: 193). 137 Chapter 4: Verse Formulae: Playing with Pairs The oral-formulaic theory, first proposed by Milman Parry and later developed by Albert Lord, was seminal in establishing a new approach to the study of oral literature (1930, 1964). Later anthropologists such as Richard Bauman assessed their work as being one of the first to conceive of folklore texts as emergent and performance- based rather than fixed and memorized (1977: 38-39). Parry defined formula as “a group of words which is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea” (1930). They were able to demonstrate through their study of Yugoslav epic folk songs that poetic formulae formed the basis for oral composition. Although Parry and Lord’s theory has undergone considerable criticism through the years, their research on oral formula has nevertheless been immensely influential in the comparative study of oral genres from around the world.119 Within laba, formulae are also central to oral composition, sharing striking similarities to creative processes observed by Parry and Lord in the Yugoslav epics. While Parry’s specific definition of formula requires some adjustment when applied to laba formula, his concept as defined by the linking of poetic structure with recurring ideas is entirely relevant to laba orality and performance.120 In this study, I use the concept of oral formula as it relates to a specific poetic feature in laba—that of parallelism. Parallelism is a prevalent feature in the poetry of many cultures. Roman Jakobson describes it as the constitutive essence of poetry, 119 H.L. Rogers questioned the value of the oral-formulaic theory in establishing the oral provenance of a text (1966). More recently, Boudewijn Walraven argued that the oral performance of ritual chants in Korean mudang does not reflect the oral model proposed by Parry and Lord, and that the methods of transmission of texts are diverse, ranging from memorization of written and recorded texts, to planned-out revisions of oral texts, and orally composed texts (1994: 29, 58-91). Similarly, Boudewijn questions the usefulness of the concept due to the overly broad definition of formula. As Lord states, “everything in the style is in the category of formula.” He includes within the category: “characteristic syntax, rhythmic, metric, and acoustic molds and configurations” (1965: 592). 120 The part of Parry’s definition of formula which focuses on meter is not so relevant to laba. Instead, laba uses formula of close but not exact meter. What is of more importance in laba structure are similarities of rhyme, assonance and tonal prosody. 138 defining canonical parallelism as existing when “certain similarities between successive verbal sequences are compulsory or enjoy a high preference,” especially when these sequences occur “in metrically or strophically corresponding ways” (1987: 146, 145). This study examines parallelism as the pairing of structure and idea between two phrases, and as a more broadly encompassing term that describes the pairing of structure and semantics between larger units of narrative. Parallelism in laba is pervasive and canonical. Parallelism is the main poetic device used in laba to structure a vast repertoire of oral formulae. This study examines the multiple aspects of parallelism, and how these come together to establish the interconnectedness of related ideas, particularly in the form of metaphor. This chapter also considers parallelism as a product of the performative process. If laba singing is a game, then the opponents play with pairs, building their arguments out of couplets that in turn link to each other in intricate and complex ways. Still more fascinating is the way in which the opponents build their rhetorical structures against each other, dismantling and recombining traces of couplets to form witty jabs, a verbal slight-of-hand, a thrustful denial or a nod of concession. Parallelism in performance heightens listener expectation, and contributes to dialectic continuity. The Basic Units of Laba Verse Laba verse can be divided into three basic parts: opening call, main text, and an ending phrase.121 The opening call of a verse is optional; some singers perform it at the start of every verse, and others will sing it less than half the time. Singers often decide on the length and elaborateness of an opening call based on the degree to which they desire to express themselves emotionally. Opening calls are often sung on vocables such as “sso” or “sayi” for laba, “yosei” for azi, and “eu, eu” sobbing sounds for misa.122 121 Li also identifies this three part structure in his writing (1995:18-19). 122 Even though these vocables do not function as words, they are rich in symbolism. Shi speculates that the laba vocable “sayi”, which sounds close to the Hani word “saq” meaning 139 However, opening calls can also be sung to ending words of previous verses. The main text contains the majority of verse content, and is also the primary location for parallelism. Verse endings are quite diverse; they may represent the conclusion of the main text, consisting of all meaningful words, or they may consist of a combination of vocables, filler words, and grammatically functional ending words. What is perhaps most semantically important about verse endings is the use of different word particles that provide information regarding tone of voice, and the subjective framing of the verse in the context of a dialogue. Some common particles are: “leil”, a quotative expression, meaning “that”, as in “you say that”; “nga” an evidential verb particle expressing that a statement is known to be objectively true; and “ya”, an evidential verb particle expressing that a statement is subjectively inferred to be true. Table 4.1 contains a list of commonly used ending words with their grammatical function and meaning. Table 4.1 Common Conjunctions and Verb Particles used in Laba Endings123 Word Grammatical Function Meaning yaol accusative used with animate nouns in the accusative, also used as an exclamation nga verb particle objective; "what I am saying is objectively true" ssol conjunction connective as in "so". sso verb particle (in a positive sentence), means "it is possible to do it" verb particle (in a negative sentence), means "it is alright not to do it" jol verb means "to exist" (animate noun) jav verb means "to exist" (inanimate noun) meil adverbial particle takes everything before it and makes it modify the following verb lal verb to come nial verb particle to be willing or to want to (first person only) yil verb to go leil adverbial particle quotative; function likes "that" as in "he said that she sang." ya verb particle subjective; "I know something to be true because I feel it or infer it" duv preposition out nia verb to be able to (someone has the knowledge or strength to do something) alngaoq topicalizer topicalizer; functions like "if", places conditions on what precedes it liq adverbial particle even; used to compare extremes yoq verb particle to avoid something “meat”, was historically sung during a communal hunt ritual, in which the men cried out auspiciously for the meat to come and enter a trap. He further postulates that “saq” later developed into the more abstract term “sal”, meaning good, because of the symbolic association that meat had with general health and well-being (Shi 1998: 80). Misa is a subgenre of laba that is performed during funerary rituals. 123 This table was created with the assistance of Karen Gainer and Nina Leong. For additional information on Hani grammar and particle usage, see Gainer 2008 and Lewis 1996. 140 Word Grammatical Function Meaning laq e perfective aspect shows that the action is being seen as a whole (often in the past) kal verb particle cohortative; functions like "let's" in "let's go." qaol verb to be able to (someone can do something in a certain circumstance) qivq verb to be able to (something is possible, or similar to nia) wul verb particle volitional (first person only); someone knows something because he is doing it xilmeil this+adverbial particle in this way hev verb to arrive; also a verb particle meaning an action has been completed Parallelism in Laba In proposing a dialogical approach to writing ethnography, anthropologist Dennis Tedlock argues against the belief that prose is transparent and closer to “natural” language whereas poetry “wears its artifice on its face” (1999:156). He explains that this dichotomy is a product of Western poetics and does not accurately describe much of the poetry of the rest of the world. Rather, he proposes that many types of ethnopoetics are inherently dialogical, based on parallelisms, which link together similarities and differences in syntax and/or semantics at the phrase level. He further claims that syntactical parallelism causes “phonological patterns [to] move in concert with patterns of meaning,” resulting in an ongoing process of translation through paraphrase, a process akin to what Roman Jakobson called intralingual translation. I have found that laba poetry clearly exhibits these qualities of paraphrase and dialogism within its extensive network of paired and grouped phrases. Parallelism in laba dialogue fulfills five main communicative functions: • first, a singer can restate his argument in multiple ways for emphasis; • second, a competing singer can recontextualize a statement sung by another to serve her own communicative purposes; • third, singers can interlink specific ideas and phrases between parallel verses to develop a larger unit of thought; • fourth, all parallelism is heard in reference to a stock repertoire of phrases, such that the ways in which phrases conform to and depart from stock repertoire elicit contrasting emotional responses from listeners. • fifth, parallelism is an artistic metalinguistic commentary that demonstrates the singer’s abilities. 141 Laba uses several types of parallelism, including: phonological, lexical, grammatical, and semantic parallelism. Although the various types of parallelism interact at the most basic level, making it difficult to examine one without encountering another, for the sake of clarity, I present them first independently, followed by a discussion of their overall poetic effect. Phonological Parallelism Tonal prosody and assonance are two of the most important aspects of phonological parallelism in laba. Often aspects of phonological pairing are closely related to the repetition of words, and the use of parallel sentence structure as seen in the examples below. Figures 4.1 and 4.2 show examples of two sets of couplets, with patterns of tonal contour and assonance diagrammed below the translated text.124 Since the text is often performed with a short-long rhythm that groups together disyllabic words, I have numbered these words from 1 to 6.125 Laba verse couplets are usually similar in metrical length but often not exact as seen in both examples. What is important, rather, is a degree of parallelism within the tonal contour and vowel patterns of the phrases. In both couplets there is both a degree of similarity and difference in the tones of the paired words. In most cases, the first syllable of a disyllabic group shares the same tonal quality between phrase a and b of a couplet, while the second syllable often exhibits a contrasting tone. While tonally alternating couplets in laba are not as strictly patterned as those found in literate traditions, such as in modern Chinese parallel prose studied by David Branner, it is a canonical feature of laba that does adhere to certain general rules (2003). For example, the first phrase of a couplet generally uses more high 124 In the diagram of tonal parallelism, I have used a solid circle to indicate low tone (), the hollow circle to indicate high tone (), and the half-circle to indicate mid-tone (). 125 Note, however, that group 5 in figure 4.2 has three syllables as a result of a customarily repeated verb ending. 142 tones and the second uses more low tones. Also, the contrast of high and low tones occurs most often in the words of groups 4 and 5.126 Rhyme in laba couplets often occurs as a result of repeated words or repeating root syllables shared by paired words. However, assonance created by non-repeating words is also common in laba couplets and can be found in the first-syllable pairings of “aoqto” and taoqdiq” in the couplet of figure 4.1. Other vowel patterns found in a majority of verse couplets is the use of low-front vowels, such as /a/ and /ei/ in the first half of the phrase, contrasted by the use of high-back vowels such as /ao/ and /o/ in the second half of phrase. This is a phenomenon that Frank Proschan has also documented in Kmhmu poetry from Laos (1992). It is also generally the case that locations of tonal contrast coincide with areas of vowel contrast within a couplet and, conversely, locations of tonal parallelism coincide with locations of rhyme and assonance. The result is an intricately worked out scheme of similarity and contrast whereby vowel patterns contribute to the aural regularity of a phrase, and tonal patterns assert the two part structure of the couplet, but both simultaneously articulate specific patterns unique to the couplet at hand. Figure 4.1 Phonological Parallelism in Two Couplets Example 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.15 Naollo baqleiq aoqto milzeil yaol hhao yil sso, a daytime friendly-meeting wild-outdoors circle-around In the daytime, let us go around to the wild to have a friendly meeting 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.16 Qivqlo baqsal taoqdiq lollaq yoq yil sso. b nighttime love-affair hiding place cross over In the night time, let us cross over to a hiding place to have a love affair. (AL1a: 15-16) 126 The term group refers to the disyllabic groups indicated with numbers above the text in figure 4.1. 143 Tonal Parallelism: 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.15       v.16       Assonance: 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.15 ao/o/ a/ei/ ao/o/ i/ei/ ao/ao /i/o v.16 iv/o/ a/a/ ao/i/ o/a/ o/ i/o127 Example 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.98 Ngal dama lavqhhaq wuqduq hhaseil seil yil ssol, a I parents palms in frolic go Because my parents care for me with their palms, I frolic about joyfully. 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.99 Hoqcuv dama lavqnaol wuqduq hhacoq coq yil ssol. b (I) parents back-of-hands on dance go Because my parents care for me with the back of their hands, I dance about freely. (AL1a: 98-99) Tonal Parallelism: 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.98       v.99       Assonance: 1 2 3 4 5 6 v.98 a/ a/a/ av/a/ u/u/ a/ei/ei/ i/o/ v.99 o/uv a/a/ av/ao u/u/ a/o/o/ i/o/ Lexical Parallelism The repetition and variation of words with related word particles are essential aspects of laba parallelism. Two examples of lexical parallelism in laba are found in the repetitive construction of verbs, and in the recombinant nature of disyllabic words. In the first case, it is common grammatical practice to repeat the second syllable of a disyllabic verb to emphasize the ongoing nature of the action, as in hhacoq coq, meaning “to frolic”.128 When a verse follows strict grammatical parallelism, the repetition of verb 127 The letter ‘v’ indicates a tense vowel (see notes on Hani orthography and pronunciation). 128 A verb like haqcoq coq is actually considered one word, even though the word is written as two separate parts. Reduplication is found in many languages. For example, it is also used extensively in Salish languages (Patrick Moore, personal correspondence). 144 particles becomes an apparent part of the lexical parallelism in a couplet (see yellow highlighted verbs in Figure 4.1). The second, more pervasive, case of word parallelism occurs in disyllabic words, which are formed out of two separate monosyllabic words whose meanings are partially incorporated into the newly formed word, either additively or through abstraction. This is similar to how disyllabic words are formed in Chinese.129 In laba couplets, lexical and semantic parallelism are achieved when two words are used which share one repeated word particle. Bi-particle words in Hani can be nouns, adjectives, or verbs. In Figure 4.1, the green highlighted nouns, lavqhhaq and lavqnaol (meaning the palm and the back of the hand), share the root word, lavq (hand), which contributes additively to the meaning of the nouns. In addition, the verbs, hhaseil seil and hhacoq coq (meaning to frolic and to dance), share the common word particle, hha (to play), contributing abstractly to the meaning of dancing and frolicking as a form of play. Bi-particle words are used often in laba couplets, and constitute a key part of phonological, and semantic parallelism. Semantically opposite word pairs are also common to many laba couplets. These often create a dichotomy between nouns, and prepositions placed in parallel grammatical positions in the phrase. Common ones include: night/day, mother/father, brother/sister, children/elders, over/under, and up/down. The use of oppositional prepositions in couplets is similar to that found in a type of reciprocal phrasing called hu-wen in Chinese poetry (Frankel 1976: 165-167). Figure 4.2 shows a couplet that uses night and day (mil and yavq) as contrastive pairs. 129 The Chinese term ci () refers to a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Ci are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined. As with the Hani language, Chinese words are often made up of two morphemes. 145 Figure 4.2 Use of Antithetical Nouns Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil maq bi kaq qivq nga, We must not stop frolicking and leave it for three days. Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq maq bi kaq qivq. We must not stop dancing and leave it for three nights. (AL1a: 59-60) Grammatical Parallelism Grammatical syntax applies at a more general level to groups of verse formulae. For the singer, grammar is the main vehicle for organizing ideas; its inner workings must be thoroughly absorbed and intuited so as to enable their use in the compositional process. Even though the skeleton of grammar is never abstracted from the flesh and bones of words and phrases, a good singer has practiced and explored the recombinant potential of the various formulae, using them to create couplets that uniquely suit the context at hand. This intuitive ability to play with these rules of grammar is what distinguishes the process-oriented act of oral composition from memorization. The basic grammatical structure of Hani sentences has a subject-object-verb word order. However, the actual structure of sentences can take on many contrasting forms. Since the subject is optional in Hani grammar, many sentences, particularly those referring to the first person, omit the implied subject. Often when this happens, the object noun and the verb become the main content of the sentence, while the implied noun is constant. This grammatical structure creates an imperative and persuasive tone of voice.130 The speaker urges the addressee to a certain course of action that is elaborated upon using different metaphorical actions. Often the first person plural object, ‘us,’ appears at the beginning of sentences, emphasizing the impact of such actions on both speakers in the dialogue (see figure 4.3, vv. 62 and 64). Another commonly used grammatical form is a two clause structure that has an object-verb-object-verb construction. Figure 4.3 shows phrases a of each couplet as 130 While I did not have the opportunity to confirm this with native Hani speakers, it appears to be self-evident from the repetition of the content and the action-oriented nature of the grammatical structure that the tone of voice must be at least somewhat persuasive and strong. 146 having this type of grammatical construction. As in much of laba poetry, the relationship between the two related clauses are inferred by context. In this way, Hani poetry is extremely economical in its word usage. Such word economy lends itself well to parallelistic treatment, as sparse statements are fleshed out through repetition and variation, creating paraphrase, in particular, through related metaphors. As an example, the two couplets of Figure 4.3 are almost the same in meaning such that the second couplet exists for emphasis. While a good proportion of words are repeated (see highlighted words), the switching around of negative and positive statements in phrases a result in a slightly different tone of voice.131 The placement of the verb at the end of a sentence, and its rhythmic duration in performance contribute to an emphasis on the necessity of actions leading to the preservation or avoidance of a stated scenario. Figure 4.3 Repetition and Variation for Emphasis 61 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq maq heivq, a tree rely branches not cut If you rely on the branches of the wintermelon tree for shade, then do not cut down its branches, 62 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq maq luv qivq wulnaq. b us two shady area not enough Or else its shade will not be enough for the two of us. 63 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq heivq yil kal leil, a tree rely branches cut go If you rely on the branches of the wintermelon tree for shade, but you go and cut its branches, 64 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq heivq lul maq hha. b us two place of shade cut enough not have Then the remaining shaded area will not be enough for the two of us. (AL1a: 61-64) Semantic Parallelism: the coming-together of the parts Metaphor in Semantic Parallelism In a sense, all previously examined dimensions of parallelism derive their significance from the ways that they accentuate and support semantic parallelism. Semantic parallelism is by far the most important form of parallelism in laba, and 131 Interestingly, this habitual restatement of an idea or an event is quite common even in modern daily speech, as my Hani friends often narrated past events to me twice as a point of emphasis. 147 functions as its most basic defining feature. While a couplet can have varied degrees of phonological, lexical and grammatical parallelism, its ultimate parallelistic strength, as judged by laba audiences, lies in the complementarity of its semantic pairing. The analysis of paired textual meaning also reveals a complexity of thought that is built up from the interlinking of couplets with contrasting metaphors. These metaphors often relate to each other in oblique ways, causing listeners to ponder the text. As a whole, the contiguity of metaphors in laba creates a narrative pastiche that relates to various life stages, reflected in different activities conducted in natural and village environments. Concomitantly, metaphors also serve a rhetorical function in the love dialogue, as they usually have actions embedded within that reflect a desire to either pursue or resist the development of a romantic relationship. The following is a brief analysis of an azi excerpt that demonstrates how small- scale parallelistic features contribute to large-scale forms of semantic grouping. Figure 4.4 is part of a larger section that explores the theme of dancing as a metaphor for the lover’s romantic encounters (see chapter 3, section on azi). The man urges his lover to come outdoors often to meet him. He portrays their outdoor meetings as being full of carefree play, contrasting this with extended metaphors, using hyperbole to suggest the terrible tragedies that might take place if the lovers failed to meet frequently.132 The effect of the hyperbole is witty humour, a kind meant to communicate the lover’s seriousness of intentions as well his knack for the zany and imaginative. Nestled within this extended dancing metaphor is a section on a tree metaphor (couplets C1 and C2). The two images are meant to communicate similar messages, equating specific actions and non-actions toward nature with romantic intentions. In both cases the man is inviting the woman to action or non-action as a sign of her romantic intentions, simultaneously communicating his desire for the success of the 132 The Hani believe that a person has many souls or spirits, and that being frightened is one of the main ways in which souls can be lost. The result of soul loss is physical illness. It is believed that if a person loses too many souls, it will result in eventual death. 148 relationship. In the first metaphor, frolicking in the fields is portrayed as a desired pastime and a necessity in keeping the wild growth at bay. In the second metaphor, not cutting down the branches of the wintermelon tree for firewood is seen as a type of non- action that considers the comfort of the couple, and anticipates the possibility of future outdoor encounters. Metaphors in laba frequently use actions of work and play in nature to express social realities. In this way, the resultant parallelisms are markedly different from those found in Chinese love dialogues like those of the Shi Jing (Book of Songs), in which nature and man are treated separately as a dichotomy marking a contrast between the first and second couplets of a quatrain (Granet 1932). The two metaphors are composed using related conditional grammatical structures, which accentuate their paired nature. As an example, verses 61 and 63 use an implied “if…then” structure which is continued into verses 62 and 64 respectively. Likewise, the triplets, D1 and D2, expand upon this structure by listing a succession of events that follow as a result of the first action. The series of three events stated increases progressively in its seriousness as well as its unlikelihood. We can see that the various small structures of couplets and triplets contribute to a meta-structure. Couplet B is an opening and closing couplet, stating the basic theme of the passage, and couplets C1 and C2 combine with D1 and D2 to form meta-pairs, a kind of pair of pairs. This passage demonstrates some common compositional methods used in developing and elaborating thematic ideas within laba verse. 149 Figure 4.4 Excerpt from Recording AL1a Woman: 57 Ngal molmeeq hhacoq coq laq zaolhhuv puvteil yaol, a My brother frolics (at) village entrance My good brother frolics about at the village entrance, 58 Hhaseil aqda seil ssol nyuqdei duqhaoq yaol. b (He) dances (on) flat stage He dances about on his flat stage. Man: 59 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil maq bi kaq qivq nga, a (open) frolic not three days not leave it alone We must not stop frolicking and leave it for three days. 60 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq maq bi kaq qivq. b dance not three nights not leave it alone We must not stop dancing and leave it for three nights. (Tree Sequence) 61 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq maq heivq, a tree rely branches not cut If you rely on the branches of the wintermelon tree for shade, then do not cut down its branches, 62 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq maq luv qivq wulnaq. b we two shady area not enough Or else its shade will not be enough for the two of us 63 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq heivq yil kal leil, a tree rely branches cut go If you rely on the branches of the wintermelon tree for shade, but you go and cut its branches, 64 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq heivq lul maq hha. b we two place of shade cut enough not have Then its shade will not be enough for the two of us. (Field Sequence) 65 Hhacoq coqduq zaolhhuv puvteil, x frolic-field (at) village entrance The open field at the entrance of the village where we frolic: 66 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil kaq e hhoheiq daqhhoq keel a leel lal a frolic not three days leave entrance grass-shrubs feet tangle If we do not frolic there for three days, then the grass and shrubs will tangle up our feet. 67 Daqhhoq hul’a eelniul leel lal ssol b grass-shrubs below snake coil up (around legs) Then beneath the grass and shrubs there will be snakes that will coil up (around our legs). 68 Alli ssaqmiq tyulmeil guv lal bal lal nga c little sister this way frighten soul In this way, the little lady will lose her soul. A B C1 D1 C2 150 69 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq kaq alngaoq a dance not three nights if If we do not dance there for three nights, 70 Zoqnia aqli coqcil bol ma saol caoq meeq ssol behind house thickets trees three-times-size grow Then the thickets and trees behind the house will grow three times larger, 71 Zoqnia coqcil bol ma hul’a ssiiqlaq xavq lal b behind house thickets trees below rodents inhabit Then the place beneath the thickets and trees will be inhabited by wild rodents. 72 Ssaqmiq nilnaol tyulmeil hhaqlo baq lal nga c sister this way many souls lose In this way, the little lady will lose her soul. 73 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil kaq yil ssol a (close) frolic not three days leave it alone (This will happen) if we stop frolicking for three days, 74 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq maq bi kaq yil b dance not three nights not leave it alone If we stop dancing for three nights. Local Perceptions of Parallelism In discussing laba parallelism with audience members, it became apparent that levels of parallelism exist and that certain couplets are felt to be more strongly paired than others. Laba community members identified meaning as the main evaluative criteria for determining the strength of a couplet. Even though many verses were clearly related as couplets by phonology, word repetition, and grammar, they are often not recognized as parallel couplets. Instead, the term couplet or pair (zaol) is reserved only for those couplets that had clearly developed semantic parallelism. The relative importance of semantic parallelism was most clearly demonstrated in my interactions with Lacel during the translation process. I had initially asked Lacel to indicate all couplets within her transcriptions. After reviewing her work, I identified many verses which I thought could be considered couplets but which Lacel did not mark as such. When I pointed these out to her, she explained to me that these verses had paired words and sentence structure but that its meaning was not sufficiently paired. However, she also admitted that some couplets, which I identified, could be considered a parallel couplet even though in her mind the parallelism was not particularly D2 B 151 pronounced. Later on, I was able to confirm that such perception of different strengths of parallelism were also commonplace among other singers and audience members. Couplets recognized as having strong parallelism often contain concepts or images that are well known in the repertoire, and which mark a specific point in the dialogical argument and its accompanying narrative. For the audience, the performance of the first phrase of such a couplet creates a strong expectation for completion of the idea in the second phrase. The sense of satisfaction or surprise that is created by the completion of an idea that either conforms to or departs from known formulae represents a major facet of the audience’s involvement in the dialogue as a type of game, in which they mentally test their own poetic abilities against the singer’s. As a further demonstration of poetic prowess, singers often run couplets together, moving from the first phrase of a couplet immediately into a second phrase, almost as if to “beat” the audience and opposition to the idea’s conclusion. Both the audience experience of parallelism described above, and the use of aural enjambment,133 are common to other traditions of Southeast Asian antiphonal love dialogues as documented by Proschan and Nguyen Van Huyen.134 Such similarities of linguistic usage and performance practice are areal features common to ethnic groups whose languages otherwise belong to different linguistic families. (Hani belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman language group, while Kmhmu and Vietnamese belong to the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language group.) The similarities of 133 Aural enjambment is a term that Frank Proschan uses to describe poetic performances in which “lines that are distinct semantically and syntactically are run together during performance” (1992: 15). Although I do not use this term elsewhere, aural enjambment is also a common feature in laba performance. Consecutive phrases are purposely crowded together as a way of demonstrating poetic skill, and the ability to generate verses before they enter the minds of listeners. 134 Frank Proschan documented these performative aspects of parallel poetry in the love dialogues of the Kmhmu (1989); Nguyen Van Huyen documented a similar tradition among the Vietnamese (1934; 1941). Although Yunnan’s minorities are often recognized as being part of East Asian ethnic cultures due political divisions, I argue that their historico-cultural relations to Southeast Asian ethnic groups in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar are worthy of further study. The areal features common to many of these groups offer particularly persuasive evidence of their cultural relatedness. 152 Southeast Asian courtship song genres with respect to function, musical and poetic structure are remarkable and deserve further study.135 Parallelism in Dialogues The recontextualization of well-known couplets into different lines of dialogical argument constitutes an important way in which new meanings accrue to formulaic pairs. Figure 4.5 shows three realizations of a couplet as performed by different singers under different performance contexts. The couplets have in common a specific concept: that once one has reached a certain age, one is ready for marriage and greater social responsibility. The highlighted words are those that belong to the formula, while those that are not highlighted are specific to the particular formulaic realization. Note, however, that both formulaic and non-formulaic words come together as a whole to contribute to aspects of grammatical and phonological parallelism. This is an indication of the giftedness and experience that is required to readily compose songs using oral formulae. Although the three examples of Figure 4.5 are based on the same formula, each is completed in a slightly different way so as to communicate the subjectivity of the singer. In example 1, the man uses the couplet to persuade his lover that she should consider marriage to him, because their ages place them in a position of readiness to enter into this new life-stage. Conversely, in example 2, the woman sings this couplet to persuade her brother that she is not prepared for marriage, using her youth as her grounds of defense. 136 In example 3, the couplet is used in the context of a solo, in which the woman sings about herself in more general terms of maturity. (Since she sings this love 135 Ethnomusicologist Sara Davis has also identified common musical and cultural practices among the Tai in Xishuangbanna, Burma and Thailand (1999). 136 In performance, it matters very little whether or not the person being referred to is in fact over fifteen or not since the numbered age is symbolic, used to communicate a subjective stance on feelings of readiness toward marriage. Also the use of “a cycle of thirteen” in the second phrase of each couplet is numerologically important because it represents a full cycle in the Hani system of lunar months and years. 153 song as a solo, she transforms what is traditionally a narrative filled with romantic innuendo and rhetorical subtext into a narrative that focuses primarily on the experiences of growing up from childhood to adolescence. Within her overall narrative, she uses the formula as a temporal marker, indicating the ending of her childhood narrative, and the beginning of her account on adolescence.) Figure 4.5 Three Realizations of a Formulaic Couplet Example 1: dialogue azi sung by male Ceil yuvq ngavq huvq hev e baqsal zol deil. a fourteen fifteen years reach lover learn start At the age of fourteen or fifteen, I will start learning how to court a lover, Huvq yei ceil saol hev e baqsal miltiv daoqpeiq bei deil. b years cycle thirteen reach lover roots start Having reached a cycle of thirteen years, I will seek a lover with whom to plant the roots of a family. (AL1a: 115-116) Example 2: dialogue sibling laba sung by female Ngal ceil yuvq agli ngavq huvq maq biao meil yaol a I fourteen or fifteen years not full yet sulmil maq yil movq ya, marry-out not go want I have not yet reached the age of fourteen or fifteen, and so I do not want to marry out. Huvq yei laq e ceil saol maq biao meil yaol b years cycle thirteen not full yet hhuv duv daoqpeiq maq bei movq ya leil wul. go out roots not start want Not having reached a full cycle of thirteen years, I do not want to plant the roots of a family. (GM3: 19-20) Example 3: solo azi sung by female Naolhao ceil yuvq aqda ngavq huvq biao e qiq siil pal wulnaq, after fourteen or fifteen years full same-thing change-will At the age of fourteen or fifteen a maturing change will take place, Huvq yei mavqnei ceil saol biao e qiq jivq yaol jivq nia wulnaq. years cycle thirteen full same-thing thing-becoming Having reached a cycle of thirteen years, there will be a gradual change. (CP2: 27-28) 154 There is a vast repertoire of laba stock formulae, which are based on parallel couplets. When singers performing in dialogue have a shared knowledge of these formulae, they are able to use them and re-use them for a variety of purposes—whether it be emphatically, as a thematic reminder, or conceptually, as a departure point into ideologically related metaphors, or transformatively, as a way of turning the concept around to argue for the opposite. Parallelism as a feature of laba oral formulae constitutes a specific style of linking words and poetic structure with ideas. These formulae, as a whole, illuminate the broader ideological and cultural contexts in which this art form is embedded. And yet the boundaries of these networks of structure and meaning are constantly being challenged and reinterpreted. Anthropologists Richard Bauman and Charles Briggs argue for the potential of performed arts to be reflexive and open to the process of entextualization—that is, to processes of extraction and reinterpretation within new contexts (1990: 73). These processes come to bear on broader social issues, such as the political economy of texts, how texts relate to power, and how the decontextualization and recontextualization of texts represent acts of control (76). Within laba performance, developing the skill to use parallelism and its collection of formulae to one’s communicative ends is not only one of the major accomplishments in a game of artistry and wit, but it also constitutes the means to asserting and decentering power (see chapters 3 and 6). 155 Chapter 5: Melodic Formulism in Laba Introduction The study of laba melody has perhaps been the most enigmatic and troublesome topic in my research. My journey toward more accurately understanding laba melody has been one fraught with the ambiguity of a diversity of local opinions, from how melody is composed to assessments of its value and importance. To add to the confusion, I came to the field with presuppositions of what a minority song culture should be like. I was expecting to collect a variety of songs from local singers and to analyze a corpus of different melodies that might lead me to make certain generalizations about their song culture. To my disappointment, during my initial months of fieldwork in 2001, both laba audience members and singers pointed out to me repeatedly that all laba singing uses the same “melody.”137 Although some individuals merely stated this as a fact, others stated this rather apologetically, perhaps feeling that their music was inferior to those of other minorities whose music has received popular acclaim through the media, and perhaps knowing that musicologists tended to be most interested in music that exhibited a degree of musical complexity. In this latter assumption, the Hani had me pegged. My first aural impressions of laba melody were that each performance, though not exactly alike, used essentially the same melodic style. Although I was convinced of the ethnomusicological maxim that all types of music are worthy of study, I was not certain that I wanted to be the one to plumb the depths of melodic tendencies in Hani laba. The restrictive gamut of four recurring pitches appeared at the time to offer relatively little to study from a musicological standpoint. Fortunately, my initial lack of interest in laba melody was sufficiently counterweighted by an increasing fascination toward the content and structure of laba texts and how they are orally composed. Having considered first how 137 When saying this, the Hani used the Chinese term diao (), which I refer to here as “melody.” 156 the text is put together, and having privileged the text before the melody (as I believe laba singers do also from a compositional standpoint) I was able to return to the study of melody with renewed enthusiasm and insight. Three fieldtrips later, after much listening, study and reflection, I have come to a deep appreciation of the expressive potential of laba melody: in the range of variability that exists in realizing a basic melodic contour, in its flexibility and functionality in supporting poetic texts with irregular meter and tonal patterns, and most of all in its simplicity and visceral expressivity as a type of vocalization that is based on the elemental act of exhalation— outlining a progression from high to low pitch and tonal intensity.138 This chapter’s study of laba melody tells a part of this most satisfying intellectual and musical journey. The primary purpose of this chapter is to identify, using specific examples, the main melodic features that define this one-melody concept of laba. As may be presumed, laba melodies in performance are never exactly the same from one performance to the next, having been composed extemporaneously in an oral process similar to that of textual composition discussed in chapter 4. In this chapter, I use the term melodic formulism (not to be confused with formalism) to describe the compositional process governing the constant and variable aspects of this one-melody song culture. This musical formulism is closely linked to the literary formulism discussed in chapter 4, as song text formulae play an important role in shaping melodic formulae through linguistic tonal correspondences. This chapter is divided into two main sections. The first describes concepts of melody, mode and rhythm as they relate to the local concept of teisa. The second examines in greater depth how teisa are realized in performance, using several transcriptions of different singers as examples. This chapter is a study of only one teisa type used in most of the Luchun county area. This one teisa type is used in the laba of all but two of my field recordings. 138 Melodic descent also parallels the normal falling pitch of a sentence, phrase or breath group in ordinary speech. 157 Although there exists many regional types of laba melody, which likely share similar structural features, it is not within the scope of my research to consider these similarities. Rather, I study one region of laba melody in depth to investigate the textual and melodic aspects of laba composition. But this study also has more general significance. Given their common historical roots, it is likely that the principles of textual and melodic composition in Luchun labas are relevant also to other regional types. Local Concept of Teisa When asked to describe laba melody, singers claimed that all labas are sung to the same melody. In attempting to explain local terms in Chinese, they often referred to the term diao to describe a local term called teisa.139 While the Chinese term diao has both meanings of mode and melody, their contextual use of the term implied that they referred to a concept that is closer in meaning to melody.140 When questioned further, singers were not able to provide more details about the musical qualities of teisa, except to say that each region of Hani sings laba using a different teisa, citing Gekui laba teisa as an example of a different teisa type.141 On close listening of mutiple laba performances, it is clear that teisa does not refer to a melody that is repeated identically pitch-for-pitch in each performance, but that it refers to a melodic structure that recurs at the phrase level, 139 Hani singers and audience members such as Pilsal and Jiuqsal often tried to explain local musical concepts to me in Chinese, using the term diao as an equivalent term for teisa. It appears that teisa always referred to aspects of traditional melody as well as the concept of “voice” or “vocal quality”. Based on the present contextual use of the term, it appears that they have expanded its use to include reference to the melodies of non-traditional songs. It is my impression that most Hani use teisa and diao as exact equivalents. Given that most Hani do not have a grasp of the modal aspect of diao, it is likely that their references to diao and teisa refer to a teisa type when speaking of their traditional repertoire, and to a distinct, recognizable tune when speaking of all other types of music. 140 When laba singers compared laba teisa to other types of folksong teisa, they pointed out that Chinese people’s folksongs have many different teisas while labas only use one teisa. This statement seems to imply that they are referring to concepts of melody rather than mode, since most Chinese folksongs broadcasted over media have distinct tunes, and are not easily identified according to the Chinese pentatonic modal system (Thrasher 2008: 80-90). 141 Gekui is a town in Luchun County, located only 32 km away from the town of Luchun (for examples of this teisa type, see songs performed by Li Qiqbaol). 158 and which is subject to constant variation based on the text’s phonological qualities and a singer’s idiosyncratic style. Main Features of Luchun Laba Melody Before outlining the major features of Luchun laba melody, there are several aspects of my transcriptions and analyses that require some explanation. For ease of comparison, I have transcribed all laba performances into the pitch collection: [E], [F#], [A], and [B]. In my recorded performances, the actual lowest pitch of the scale used ranges from D3 to E4. Since laba is performed in an unmetered style, the rhythmic durations shown in my transcriptions are approximate, showing relative rhythmic lengths. I also use fermatas to indicate notes of very long durations. Although there is no regular pulse in laba, I do perceive a flexible pulse which I express in the beaming of notes. The dotted measure lines in my transcriptions indicate divisions of motives. In most cases, I divided motives based on rhythmic duration and accent, the longer and more accented notes marking the end of a motive. The measure units are also used in subsequent examples to show the vertical alignment of periodic features in teisa phrases. Straight lines indicate glissandos between pitches. Luchun laba teisa uses a four pitch collection, separated by ascending intervals of an approximate major 2nd, minor 3rd, and major 2nd as shown in figure 5.1. (The second-lowest pitch of the collection tends to be sung more flexibly, ranging between a minor and major second measured from the lowest pitch.) Laba teisa is performed in an unmetered style, with groups of fast articulations contrasted by longer durations marking key structural points in the text. Laba teisa is fairly simple in its melodic construction: the main melodic feature is a descent of a fourth or a fifth from the topmost pitch to one of the two bottommost pitches of the collection. This basic melodic motion is repeated several times in the course of a verse as can be seen in figure 5.2. Figure 5.1 Pitch collection of laba melody 159 Figure 5.2 Examples of melodic descent in a laba phrase I have analyzed laba melody according to two levels of melodic detail: the phrase and the motive. (Both these musical units are categories that I use for the purpose of analysis; laba singers and participants show no awareness of these musical divisions.) The melodic phrase corresponds to laba verse structure, and is defined by recurring structural pitches. The motive is a smaller grouping of pitches, which are categorized by general melodic contour. Motives are the building blocks of the phrase, which consists of between three to six motives. Within the teisa phrase structure, the beginnings and endings have the greatest motivic consistency, featuring a sustained or repeated [B], which is often followed by a descent to [F#] or [E]. The different melodic descents in each motive are shown in boxed enclosures in figure 5.2. Note that the first and last motive (outer motives) descend by leap, while motives that lie between the first and last motives (inner motives), are more variable. Sometimes, they descend gradually, employing intermediary pitches as in the motive of measure 2. Sometimes inner motives descend by leap as in the one in measure 3. In many cases, as in the motives of measure 2 and 3 of figure 5.2, the descending motion found in inner motives is embedded in broader arched contours due to the use of secondary tones. The motives in the second and third measures of figure 5.2 are examples of descending motion embedded in arched contours. The second measure motive is an inverted arch ( ) that begins and ends with [B], and the third measure motive is an arch () that begins on [F#] and ends on [E]. The secondary tones are [F#] and [A]. 160 Using the same phrase, figure 5.3 shows a reductive model outlining the main structural pitches of Luchun teisa: [B] and [E]. The overall structure of a phrase involves a gradual departure from [B] down to [E], followed by a return to [B]. The portion of melody between the first [B] and [E] is enclosed in a rectangle to show the variability of melodic material in this part of the phrase. Sometimes there are connecting pitches between the [E] and the return to [B], but often the return to [B] occurs by leap, without any intermediary pitches. Figure 5.3 General melodic structure of a laba phrase Melody and Language What factors contribute to this type of periodic structure? Part of the way laba melody is structured relates to the practical needs of performance. The sustained [B] heard in the opening motive of a phrase allows the singer time in between verses to think about how to sing the next verse. (For this reason, this first sustained [B] sung on vocables is optional, and is sometimes omitted when a singer feels that he can continue without pausing to generate the next verse.) Laba melody is also highly functional in the sense that its form and structure serve to outline similar and contrasting aspects of poetic speech. In almost all text formulae, grammatical syntax places repeating and rhyming words at the beginning and end of a sentence, in the form of subject nouns and verbs respectively. Conversely, the middle parts of verse formulae are contrastive, containing the adjectival and adverbial details that clarify the action. Laba phrases support verse structure by having melodically similar material at the beginning and ending, and more variable material in the middle. 161 Having identified strong correlations between locations of textual and melodic similarity, what specifically links the two? Laba melody and text are most immediately linked by a high level of correspondence between spoken language tone contours and sung melodic contours. This association is by no means mechanical since each phonemic language tone is assigned a fixed pitch in the collection. Rather the association is more flexible and contextually-defined, and hence requires more careful examination. From scanning a verse of text such as the one in figure 5.3, it is evident that not all melodic detail can be explained by phonemic language tone correspondence.142 However, tonal correspondence does seem to play an important role in defining structural pitches in a verse. A survey of many different phrases shows that it is generally the case that pitches at beginnings of verses, and at motive endings, have a stronger degree of tonal correspondence than in other parts of a phrase. For example, the ending syllables of each motive in figure 5.3 have their phonemic language tones appropriately paired to the highest and lowest pitches of the collection respectively. Although one might assume that the three Hani language tones play an equal role in shaping laba melodic contour, this is not the case. Rather the four pitch collection allows for a variety of ways to express the contrast between high and low tones, leaving the phonemic mid-tone of spoken language variable as a repeated pitch or as an intermediary pitch. As an example, the second mid-tone syllable of “lalna” in measure two of figure 5.3, repeats the pitch [B] as determined by the first syllable of the word. The above observations on speech-melody interfaces in Hani laba can be illuminated by reference to work done by Bell Yung on Cantonese opera (1989). Yung arrived at similar conclusions regarding the important role that the nine Cantonese dialect tones play in shaping melodic contour in opera aria types (1989: 82-91). Likewise, he found certain exceptions to tone-melody correspondence, which could be 142 Hani orthography indicates high tone with an ‘l’ at the end of a syllable, low tone with a ‘q’, and mid-tone with no ending consonant. 162 explained by the need to satisfy certain melodic structural requirements (Yung 1989: 88). These general observations also apply to laba speech-melody relationships. Although laba teisa do not follow consistent tone-pitch matching as is the case in Cantonese opera aria types, they adhere to “localized” forms of tone-melody correspondence which more closely resemble speech-melody relationships in Cantonese opera fixed tunes (Yung 1989: 137). Owing to the relative simplicity of laba teisa and the fact that there exists only three Hani speech tones, the role that speech tones play in shaping laba melodic contour is considerably less complex than is found in Cantonese opera melodies. Nevertheless, in both cases, speech tones play an important role in aiding textual intelligibility and in defining the aesthetics of melodic improvisation. Mode Numerous transcriptions show that text formulae play an important role in determining the phrase structure and motivic details of laba melody. (See Appendix B.) Yet, there appear to be other aspects of melodic motion and contour that cannot be explained by language, but which are instead dictated by musical-aesthetic goals. These goals are best understood by considering the range of acceptable variability in laba teisa, beginning from the level of pitch and pitch hierarchy. Since teisa motion, as stated earlier, can be summarized as a melodic descent from the top to one of the bottom two pitches of the collection, one must ask if a pitch hierarchy indeed exists. If one does exist, one must also ask if this involves all the pitches in the collection, since the two bottommost pitches appear in many contexts to be interchangeable. Or perhaps in an even more reductive interpretation, a modal concept is overcomplicating the issue since laba teisa is primarily about the binary contrast between high and low pitches, the pitches, [A] and [B] being high, and [E] and [F#] being low. 163 While these interpretations are not so far-fetched, I would still argue that in most teisa phrases, the full complement of pitches is expressed, and the melodic tendencies of the four pitches can be summarized in a modal concept. Figure 5.4 shows these pitches notated in a weighted scale: the more important notes are indicated with longer rhythmic durations, and those less important with shorter durations. Figure 5.4 Weighted Mode Used in Luchun Laba The topmost pitch [B] is given by far the most importance in laba melody, since it occurs at most phrase beginning and endings as a sustained or reiterated pitch (or both). Because of its prominence as a sustained pitch, it has qualities of stability and rest but also qualities of initiation and energy that the other pitches do not have. Through the course of a melodic phrase, the different motives that occur generally emphasize a melodic descent from the opening [B] down to [E]. Sometimes this will occur as a straight leap, although, more often a motive will pass through the secondary pitches of [A] and [F#] before arriving to [E], as can be seen in the motive of measure 2, figure 5.3. The pitch [E] is of second-most importance in laba teisa. Since [E] is the furthest removed from [B], and it appears at prominent points in a phrase as a sustained pitch, a polarity is created between the two pitches. This polarity is further emphasized by the way in which [F#] approaches [E]. The secondary pitch [F#] is considerably more important than [A] for the reason that the arrival to [E] is often emphasized through two techniques involving the use of [F#]: (1) through a gradual portamento from [F#] to [E], and (2) through embellishing oscillations between [F#] and [E] (see enclosed notes in figure 5.5 for examples.) The pitch [F#] also accentuates the pull toward [E] in its microtonal variability, particularly 164 in performances where singers make prominent use of a pitch approaching [F], creating an approximate tritone descent from [B], which gradually moves by portamento to rest on [E]. The opposite, however, is not true melodically for how [A] functions in relation to [B]. The pitch [A] does not exhibit a pull to [B], in the same manner that [F#] emphasizes (particularly in the portamento) a magnetism toward [E]. Rather [B], as a cadential pitch, is most often emphasized through duration, and through approach by leap as seen in the box on the right of example 1 in figure 5.5. [A] most frequently acts as a passing tone to bridge the gap between high and low pitches, the low being a general pitch area that includes varying pitches between [F#] and [E].143 Figure 5.5 Melodic Tendencies in F# Pitch Area As mentioned above, there are also instances when the inner pitches of the mode function interchangeably with the outer pitches. In some phrases [F#] acts as the lowest pitch in a trichordal subset of the tetratonic collection as shown in figure 5.6. While [A] is sometimes found to be interchangeable with [B], it does not fully substitute for [B] in the same way that [F#] does for [E], since [A] is never found to be the topmost pitch in an entire melodic phrase. [B] is invariably present as the topmost pitch. Figure 5.7 shows two examples of consecutively sung verses that share similar textual content. The 143 The fact that some singers use [F#] and [F] interchangeably seems to confirm this concept of a pitch area; The various exact pitches sung within the pitch area are considered to be equivalent because they serve the same function of bringing out the melodic importance of [E]. Note also that [A] is often used as a neighbouring tone to [B] but not with nearly the same frequency as [F#] is to [E]. 165 rectangular enclosures show the interchangeability of [A] and [B] within these two melodic motives. Note, however, that [B] is still present in the phrase of example 1. Figure 5.6 Example of a Phrase Using a Subset of the Mode Figure 5.7 Examples of the Interchangeability of Pitches B and A From these examples of pitch interchangeability, one might assume that laba melodic motion can be reduced to the melodic mapping out of the three language tones: high, medium, and low. Yet this is seldom the case. Even in figure 5.6 where there are only three pitches, melodic correspondence to the three language tones is not exact. The presence of exceptions seems to point to a certain range of individual stylistic variability in singing an identical text. Furthermore, melodic contours of phrases appear to emphasize similarities in parallel verses where sometimes similarities in language do not exist. For example, the third measure of example 1 in figure 5.7 shows a syllable with a low language tone, “soq”, being assigned to the upper pitch [A], while its subsequent mid-tone syllable, “lu”, is assigned the lower pitch [F#]. How is one to explain such a contradiction between language tone and melody? It may be that singers purposely emphasize melodic similarities between parallel verses even when linguistic tonal contours do not conform to the same detail of parallelism. The many examples of exceptions to tonal correspondence suggest that laba teisa has musical-aesthetic goals that “live” outside of its linguistic function, which can be 166 better explained through musical concepts such as mode. Having only four pitches in its collection, laba teisa fulfills perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of mode: the polarity between two opposing pitches, with various secondary pitches bridging this distance. Nevertheless, the ways in which such a restrictive gamut is used to convey emotion, and variety in the expression of melody and text is astounding, and raises stimulating questions in the age-old discussion of the relationship between language and music. Rhythm Rhythm is essential in guiding a listener’s hearing of motivic units since longer durations naturally parse motivic divisions, marking the end of a group of pitches. The relative rhythmic length of pitches is also the main factor in determining a pitch hierarchy. In this way, rhythm is an integral constitutive feature of laba melody, which contributes as a whole to the clarity and dramatic delivery of verse formulae. Most often laba’s tactus-like pulse is communicated through units of disyllabic grouping that consist of short-long rhythms (See figure 5.5.).144 Extended passages featuring short-long rhythms usually appear in sections of text that are performed at a moderate tempo, while passages performed at a faster tempo make use of more even and rapid rhythmic attacks at beginnings of motives, featuring accented short-long rhythms only nearing the ends of motives. (See figure 5.7.) Most performances of laba proceed at a moderate tempo of between 88 to 92 M.M. per pulse unit. However, the delivery of text in a performance often seems to come at a fairly rapid pace since most pulses, excepting at phrase beginnings and endings, feature two to five articulations per pulse unit (see beamed groupings in musical transcriptions). 144 As mentioned before, pulse units are expressed in transcriptions through beaming. Three types of approximate rhythmic values are used: sixteenth notes, eighth notes, and eighth notes with hollow noteheads. The latter note value is used at motive endings to indicate a note of long duration, which spans an unspecified number of additional pulses. 167 Textual and Melodic Formulism Judging from transcriptions and analyses of laba melody, the concept of teisa broadly defines a style of singing that includes concepts of mode, motive, and phrase structure. Although laba participants cannot speak about teisa in analytical terms, their general use of the word hints at its all-encompassing character. Laba participants seem to have a well-defined idea of what is acceptable and unacceptable in performing laba melody. When asked about how one differentiates between good and bad singing, a number of responses pointed to the need for an appropriate amount of variation in pitch, and the necessity of having melodic contours that fit appropriately with the text so that its delivery is clear. Furthermore discussion surrounding laba performance in the context of leaf-blowing suggests that laba melodic contours are understood formulaically in a more codified form than one might presume. As mentioned in chapter 1, the Hani have a practice of performing laba melodies using speech surrogates such as leaf-blowing (babi/meiba meel) (see illustrations 1.8 and 1.9).145 This is sometimes used to accompany azi singing, and other times substitutes for the actual singing. An intriguing aspect of leaf-blowing is found in singers’ claims that they can communicate actual texts through leaf-blowing, and that those who can sing are able to understand the text on hearing the melody.146 On several occasions I was able to test and confirm these claims. 147 The fact that knowledgeable singers are able to understand 145 The Hani have two forms of leaf-blowing: one involves blowing on the stretched membrane of a small citrus leaf (babi), the second involves blowing on a larger, plaintain-like leaf that is rolled into a cone (meiba). A third, slightly less common, speech surrogate is the rice reed stalk (wubao). 146 The use of leaf-blowing and other wind instruments such as Jew’s harps as speech surrogates in courtship song traditions is common to other minority groups in Yunnan, as well as further south in Thailand, Loas and Vietnam. See below for references to leaf-blowing and speech surrogate wind instruments; the Naxi of Yunnan make use of the Jew’s harp and barley reed stalk (Rees 2000: 61-65); the Chuxiong Yi of Yunnan are historically known to have used the Jew’s harp in their courtship dance songs (Thrasher 1990: 24); Miao of Yunnan, and Hmong of Vietnam and Thailand use reed stalks and mouth organs (Catlin 1982); and the Kmhmu of Laos use the Jew’s harp (Proschan 1989: 381-420). 147 I was able to confirm this claim by doing a simple experiment in which I recorded a leaf- blowing performance and asked the performer to sing the same text to me also. I then played the leaf-blowing performance back to another singer who was able to interpret the melody as text. 168 text through only hearing the melody implies that there is a very tight association between text and melody. How might one explain this ability to encode linguistic messages within melodic material? When singers perform, they draw from a shared pool of verse formulae. Each verse formula is melodically realized using specific melodic contours and rhythmic cadence. Over repeated hearings, these melodic and rhythmic patterns become recognizable as a distinct musical unit that references a specific verse formula. This process of text recognition suggests that teisa, as an indigenous melodic concept, is strongly rooted in textual formulism. One-Melody Traditions in China Many regional types of music in China—both vocal and instrumental—have a great deal of melodic homogeneity in their entire repertoires. Within some traditions, structurally similar tunes are thought of as being melodically distinct entities, which share a common musical style or mode.148 In other regional song cultures, all or a majority of the melodies in a genre are recognized as being the same.149 This is the case for Hani laba, where the local concept of teisa is used to refer to a uniform style or approach to performing and composing all laba melody. The Hani use teisa in a variety of contexts to describe aspects of melody. Often they say that laba has only one teisa, but that Chinese folksongs have many. In this statement, the Hani use the term teisa to describe two contrasting types of music, one in which the text and melody are fixed and one in which they are not. It seems, then, that teisa is a broad musical category that is used rather flexibly to refer to elements of melody. In some cases, this melody has a distinct and fixed pitch order (as in a tune such The text that the listening singer told me was indeed largely the same as that sung by the original singer. 148 This is true for the dance songs of the Chuxiong Yi (Thrasher 1990). 149 This is also true for the Bouyei of Duyun, Guizhou, and the Miao of Wenshan, Yunnan (2001: personal fieldwork). Ethnomusicologist Mei Han also discusses a one-melody concept in her research on Dong songs (1996). 169 as the Chinese folksong Moli Hua); in other cases, it is realized as a style or a set of familiar melodic contours as in laba. While music scholarship shows that one-melody genres are common to many folksong cultures in China, particularly among song cultures of the southwest minorities, there have been only a few studies that have addressed in depth how indigenous concepts of melody are understood and realized. Among the studies that I have found most helpful are those by Alan Thrasher and Antoinet Schimmelpenninck. Alan Thrasher, in his study of the La-li-luo dance songs of the Chuxiong Yi of Yunnan, identifies a melodic homogeneity that is related directly to mode (1990: 81-88). He proposes the concept of a mode model, which refers to the structural similarities of tunes using the same mode. Among three pentatonic modes used in the Yi dance genre, Thrasher identifies the most popular la-do-re-mi-sol mode as having a high degree of melodic homogeneity between tunes based on similarities of opening motifs, melodic contours, the rhythmic make-up of motivic phrases, and cadential pitches. Figure 5.8 shows the la mode in weighted form, and figure 5.9 shows two examples of Yi dance songs transcribed and analyzed by Thrasher.150 Despite their contrasting social functions, Yi dance songs share broad similarities of structure to laba in the high tessitura of opening phrases, the flexibility allowed in the combining of short phrase motives, and the consistency of concluding cadential pitches.151 Unlike the Hani, however, the Yi recognize the different variations of the mode model as being distinct and separate tunes. Thrasher makes the point that what Yi musicians identify as a common style of playing, is perhaps musically better understood as an aspect of melodic structure (1990: 86). Although the Yi and Hani share contrasting understandings of melody in their respective song traditions, the actual structural make-up of the two song 150 Mode and transcriptions are taken from La-li-luo Dance-songs of the Chuxiong Yi (Thrasher 1990: 79, 83). Used with author’s permission. Note: smaller noteheads and double stemmed notes in song transcription refer to common motivic variants. 151 Yi dance songs and labas are also different because the former are accompanied by a plucked lute and adheres to a regular meter, whereas the latter are not. 170 genres is similar in its reliance on mode, and in its flexible combination of small-scale melodic motives. Figure 5.8 La Mode used in Chuxiong Yi Dance-songs Figure 5.9 Transcription of Two Yi Dance-songs Dutch ethnomusicologist Antoinet Schimmelpenninck, in her study of shan’ge courtship songs of the Han in Jiangsu province, uses the concept of monothematism to describe the one-melody culture of the Wu area folksingers (1997).152 The Wu area shan’ge melody shares several structural similarities with laba melody: (1) its recurring melodic structure is verse-based, spanning the length of a four-line stanza; (2) the opening sung on vocables is the highest and most expressive part of the melody; (3) its melody begins high, and descends gradually in a smooth, step-wise contour. Figure 5.10 shows eleven transcriptions of the “wu-a-hei-hei” tune, one of the most prevalent melodies of the Wu area, performed by different singers. Each shan’ge verse opens with a set of vocables sustained in a high tessitura. In this tune, the opening vocables are “wu- a-hei-hei”. In a similar manner to laba vocables, Wu shan’ge vocables function practically to give singers time to generate the next passage of text. Since texts are memorized in han’ge performance, the opening vocables allow performers time to recall text in units of stanzas. 152 The Wu area refers to a dialect area in Jiangsu province. 171 Figure 5.10 Example of Monothematism in Wu area shan’ge Eleven Performances of the “Wu-a-hei-hei” tune recorded in the Luxu-Shenta region.153 153 Transcriptions taken from Chinese Folk Songs and Folk Singers (Schimmelpenninck 1997: 234- 235). Used with author’s permission. 172 173 Figure 5.11 Melodic schemata from “wu-a-hei-hei” tune154 In laba, where texts are partially memorized and partially improvised, the vocables provide time between verses to compose new verses out of stock formulae. For both shan’ge and laba, portions of text sung on vocables also constitute one of the most expressive and climactic parts of a song. Wu area shan’ge differs considerably from laba melody, however, in that its melodic structure represents a fully developed tune, with four distinct sections. The different variants of the “wu-a-hei-hei” tune correspond closely in detail such that the four phrases of the melody can be generalized according to a melodic schemata (see figure 5.11). In contrast, laba does not have a fixed tune in the sense of a skeletal melody that is varied. Instead its periodicity is based on a simpler phrase structure defined by recurring cadential pitches.155 While some periodicity of motivic contours can be seen between phrases using similar text formulae, the same cannot be said of performances use contrasting text formulae. For this reason, laba phrase periodicity is much less predictable than that found in Wu area shan’ge. The contrasting ways in which text is set to melody lies at the root of the melodic differences between these two genres: in Wu shan’ge many different texts are sung to the same melodic structure while in laba, the tone and rhythm of texts shape the motivic details in melody phrases. For this reason, 154 Melodic schemata taken from Chinese Folk Songs and Folk Singers (Schimmelpenninck 1997: 237). Used with author’s permission. 155 Periodicity refers to a recurring structural feature in music. Here, I use it to refer to a recurring melodic contour that accompanies the start of each phrase of text. Periodicity is introduced as an analytical tool in the study of diverse musics in Analytical Studies in World Music (Tenzer 2006). 174 the term monothematism, which Schimmelpenninck developed to describe Wu shan’ge, is not completely suited to describing the one-melody culture of laba. Yet it serves as an interesting point of cross-regional comparison. Schimmelpenninck also explores instances in which the basic “wu-a-hei-hei” structure is substantially manipulated to the extent that the resulting melody is considerably transformed. She uses the concepts of seriation and formulism to explain some aspects of shan’ge variation: The basic idea of ‘seriation’ in the shan’ge tunes is that they consist of melodic units strung together in series like beads on a string. There is no organic growth in the melody other than by various forms of repetition or by chaining melodic units to form longer units. Under certain conditions, these units can be viewed as formulae, which serve as basic building blocks for the construction of the melody. The melodies tend to be cyclic. They contain elements that may return several times within a single melody (287). Although the principles of seriation and formulism act quite differently in the melodies of Wu area shan’ge and Hani laba, the terms, as defined by Schimmelpenninck, are relevant to key aspects of melodic composition in laba. The following section examines three excerpts of contrasting laba text by three singers from different villages. The comparative study examines the ways in which teisa can be varied—how specific motives are “strung together in series” to create larger units of melody that enforce a cyclical structure. In addition, I examine the relationship between melodic and textual variation, considering questions of how texts shape melody, and how melody, in some cases, expresses musical periodicity apart from linguistic considerations. Teisa in Performance How do the foregoing characterizations of laba melody hold up in actual performance? What types of exceptions exist? And what are the different ways in which these general melodic contours are varied? Furthermore, when is melodic variability related to individual style, and when is it shaped by textual needs? These 175 questions lie at the forefront of this case study of three excerpts of performed laba, ranging from 11 to 15 verses in length. My goal in choosing samples for this case study was to select performances that would contrast in as many ways as possible, whilst still belonging to the same type of regional melody. The three excerpts chosen were taken from performances that were judged to be good representations of Luchun teisa. Yet they were performed under contrasting social settings, reflecting marked differences in mood, textual content, and poetic form. Their contrasting aspects make them particularly suitable for the study of the relationship between text and melody. Analytical Categories Figures 5.13, 5.15, and 5.17 show musical transcriptions of three excerpts. Each system of music corresponds to a phrase of text. Consecutive phrases are vertically aligned in units of five columns, labeled in roman numerals. The main purpose of these divisions is to track small-scale melodic similarities within and between excerpts. The divisions also mark out the [B-E-B] cadential phrase structure described earlier. In most cases, the beginning and ending [B] are realized in columns I and V, while the sustained [E] is heard in columns III or IV. The motives present in most column divisions can be summarized in terms of four basic contours: descending, ascending, arched and inverted arched contours.156 In a small number of cases, motivic material within a column is disjunct or consists in a single reiterated pitch (see figure 5.10). In all the excerpts, it is a common occurrence that not all columns of a phrase period are completely filled: these are indicated with blank spaces, which should not be misinterpreted as breaks in the performance. Neither does the absence of certain columns of motivic material necessarily mean that the periodic structure is incomplete. This is because the great majority of phrases, even when they have a minimum of motivic content, will satisfy the basic [B-E-B] cadential structure. 156 An arched contour refers to a curved contour in which the highest curved point of the contour faces upward ( ), and an inverted arched contour refers to the opposite ( ). 176 While in most cases one verse of text fills a phrase of melody, sometimes there are exceptions in which a verse of text occupies over two melodic phrases, or two verses of text occupy only one phrase period. In each case, I have labeled systems by verse number. For those exceptional cases where one verse scans over two phrase periods, numbers and lower case letters are used to specify first and second parts of a verse. In addition to verse numbers, I have labeled parallel couplets and groups of verses related by formula using upper case letters and square brackets. In my analysis, I will often refer to a location in the transcription using verse and column numbers, e.g. 2III. Figure 5.12 Translated text of “Dear Brother” excerpt from AL2 1 (Eil) Lalna algo ssaqheiq aqsol gaq e yul hhaq yaol, My dearest brother, the one I love dearly, 2 Lalna ssaqheiq baqnaq gaq e aqcol yaol. My lover, the one whom I love passionately, 3 (Yil...) Ngal joq e yil ba maq gaq nga leil, Joq e meilpavq eqleq balcil nal lal leil. If you do not know which field I went to, Use your ears and follow the sounds of my meiba leaf blowing—sounds that arouse our emotions. 4 (Na la) Daol a yil ba maq gaq alngaoq, Alli ssaqmiq pavqbil allaoq balseq yaol nal lal. If you do not know where I am, Then follow the sound of my babi leaf blowing—sounds that arouse our desires. 5 Joq a yil ba maq gaq alngaoq, Alli ssaqmiq seiqnyul seiqma duqhovq hu meil dav lal. If you do not know where I am, Then follow my footprints and come find me. 6 (Lal) Daol a yil ba maq gaq alngaoq, Alli ssaqmiq dulma ssaqmiq paoqkeeq laqcav xa a hu meil dav lal. If you do not know where I am, Then look for my carrying yoke and come find me. 7 Sulna aqda baqnaq gaq e aqcol yaol leil. My lover, the one whom I love passionately, 8 (Hei yil…a) Sulna ssaqdov tyul pyu jol e col yaol. My lover from across the mountain! 9 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol (leil), My home is in Dafxil Aolmeil, 10 (Ceil) Ngalya algo ssaqmeeq baqmeeq jol ssol Dafxil Puvma a yaol, And my brother’s home is in Dafxil Puvma 11 Soqma laq e ngalqeil jol e aqgaoq yaol. The birds in the forest live in their own trees A B C D E 177 Figure 5.13 Transcription of “Dear Brother” excerpt from recording AL2 178 179 Analysis of “Dear Brother” Excerpt from Recording AL2 This excerpt by a female singer, Salpiel, was part of a courtship duet performed with her husband by a pond near their village, Alzeiv Loama. It reflects an animated style of courtship singing, in which a higher tessitura is used, and the opening vocables are sung with a yodel. Because of the sexual content of the text and the practice of performing this repertoire in dialogue separated by large distances, this excerpt was performed at a faster tempo and louder volume than the other two excerpts. The translated text is shown in figure 5.12 and its transcription in figure 5.13 above. The content of “Dear brother” represents one complete interjection in the azi dialogue, with a single point of argument developed over two parallel verses (couplet B and C), sandwiched by opening and closing refrains (couplet A and D), followed by a closing statement that introduces a new topic for continuing dialogue (couplet E). This excerpt occurs near the end of a long dialogue in which the woman continually resists the man’s advances; at this point, the woman finally yields, reciprocating her lover’s affections. She invites him to find her in the fields, where she will be blowing her meiba and babi leaves, whose sounds arouse intense sexual desires. She ends by alluding to the barriers that separate them from being together, namely that they are from two distant villages. This ending statement gives the man grounds to continue the conversation, perhaps by proposing ways in which they can overcome barriers to their relationship. In all the examples discussed, verse formulae play a major part in determining melodic similarities and differences between phrases. In this excerpt, there are three main types of verse formulae used. The first is seen in couplets A and D, and consists of a simple two-part structure that addresses the lover, identifying the man in multiple terms of endearment. The second type is found in the verses of group E, which share a simple subject-object-verb sentence structure, made up of a single clause. The third type of verse formula, found in couplets B and C, uses a complex sentence structure, that 180 involves an “if…then” conditional statement. As can be seen in the transcription, those verses that employ the same verse formula are sung to a more similar melodic contour than those that employ a different verse formula. For example, note the similarities in rhythm and melodic contour of motives in column II of verses 3 to 6, and in the concluding melodic material of column V, verses 10 and 11. Perhaps the most obvious difference between simple and complex formulaic structures is that of length, as seen in the fact that couplets B and C are the only phrases that require use of melodic material in column III. The study of melodic phrases with common verse formulae enables one to examine the degree to which variation is permitted in sections where text is repeated. For example, in verse 1 and 2, the phrase for “dear brother”, “lalna ssaqheiq”, is sung differently each time. In verse 1, “lalna ssaqheiq” takes the pitches [B-B-F#-A-F#], while in verse 2, it is sung on the pitches [B-F#-E-E]. These slight differences enforce two points mentioned previously: first, in some instances [F#] and [E] function interchangeably; and second, there exist a variety of ways to melodically express mid-tone syllables, such as “na” of “lalna”. (Note that most mid-tone syllables are the second syllable in a disyllabic word. From this, one sees that the Hani language naturally emphasizes the first syllable of a word through the use of a full phonemic tone contrast.) The third point that should be noted from this sample is the common use of sliding pitches to ornament a melodic line, such as can be seen in the [F#] slide to [A] in verse 1 (see also example in 10IV). Perhaps the most important reason for slight variations in repeated words is owing to the aesthetic requirements of fitting repeated words with contrasting words that follow in a phrase. In this example, the pitches [B-B-F#-A-F#] of “lalna ssaqheiq” in verse 1 were chosen because they connect to the [E-B] of “aqsol” in the most stylistically appropriate way, emphasizing the “aq” of “aqsol” as the lowest pitch in the motive. (The word “aqsol” is usually emphasized in laba verse; it is a pronoun that means approximately “the one whom”.) In contrast, the series of pitches used in “lalna 181 ssaqheiq” of verse 2 quickly descends to [E], emphasizing the tonal similarity and short- long rhythm of the words “ssaqheiq” and “baqnaq”. A similar type of sensitivity to contour is evident in the contrasting treatment of “ngalya” of verse 9 and 10 (column II). The motive of verse 9 tends toward an arched contour, and that of verse 10, a descending contour. One might ask whether laba singers are actually aware of such levels of pitch detail in their singing. I would argue that Hani singers are aware of very subtle levels of melodic detail because they affect how words are heard and emphasized in the context of a phrase. By awareness, though, I do not mean to say that singers think consciously about pitch, but they share a very specific understanding of how different phrases of text, and their distinct combinations of tonal contours and metrical patterns, should sound as a whole. But what defining criteria are there to describe types of variation that are considered acceptable? I have observed that several general principles apply to laba motivic variation: (1) the emphasis on melodic contour, not exact pitch; (2) the desirability of smooth contours within a motivic unit (and avoidance of disjunct motivic lines); (3) a tendency for the last syllables of a motive to define the overall motivic contour of the text phrase; and (4) the desirability of using at least one intermediate pitch, when traveling between outer pitches of the mode. The table 5.1 contains illustrations of how each principle applies to specific examples. 182 Table 5.1 Principles of laba motivic variation Melodic Tendencies Examples and Commentary (1) Emphasis on contour The two examples below achieve the same contour with use of different pitches. Boxed pitches are those that remain constant. (2) Aim for smooth contours In general, laba motives have smooth contours that allow repeated back and forth motion only between stepwise pitches, that is between [B] and [A], and [F#] and [E]. The two examples below show an arched motive, and a descending motive that employs some stepwise pitch oscillation. Note that the first four syllables of both motives have the same language tone combination but takes on quite contrasting pitch contours. This is because the syllables are treated in context with the tonal combinations in the entire phrase to achieve the smoothest contour possible. Below I switched the melodic material of the first four syllables of each line, resulting in a disjunct motivic contour that would not likely be used. The example is meant to show the importance of smooth motivic contours over strict tonal correspondence. 183 Various examples in “Dear brother” make clear the fact that the grammatical construction of verse formulae directly shapes melodic formulae. While the use of Melodic Tendencies Examples and Commentary (2) Aim for smooth contours (continued) As seen in the first example of this table, disjunct motives do exist but they are relatively uncommon. Usually they occur at a phrase ending where there are two consecutive words with repeating high-low tonal combinations. (3) Last words of phrase determine motivic contour There is greater emphasis on tone-melody correspondence for words located at the end of a phrase of text. (Usually this applies to the last two disyllabic words of a phrase.) Hence ideal melodic contours are created relative to the pitches set to these words with less attention paid to tone-melody correspondence of other words within the motivic unit. The example used for principle (2) demonstrates this clearly. (4) use of intermediate pitches to bridge outer pitches Most laba motives make use of either one or both intermediate pitches to bridge outer pitches, particularly when descending. The example below shows two motives that each use a different three- pitch subset of the mode. In each case, there is use of one intermediate pitch. As can be seen in the opening of the first motive above, ascending leaps do occur but they usually follow with a descent that features intermediate pitches. Ascending leaps, especially that of [F#] to [B], are commonly used as a cadential gesture, punctuating the end of a motive as in the example below. 184 repeated words and phrases naturally contribute to melodic similarities, how do contrasting portions of text function in the periodic phrase structure? Couplets B and C of “Dear brother” have sections of contrasting text that show varying degrees of melodic similarity (see figure 5.12). Both couplets are based on the same verse formula, beginning with a conditional clause that is largely the same in all four verses. This clause concludes with a series of vocables (middle of column III), and immediately continues into the main clause with the subject, “alli ssaqmiq”, meaning “dear sister”. (Here, the singer is referring to herself in the third person.) After this point, the remainder of the main clause found in columns IV and V are textually contrasting. In the verses of couplet B, the motivic material of column IV is similar owing to similarities of rhyme, tone, and meter in the text. However, the material found in column IV of couplet C is quite different; verse 5 has a disjunct contour, and verse 6 is a continuation of the melodic descent from [B] begun in column III. Interestingly, though, the motivic material of 5IV and 6V appear to share some contour similarities as indicated by the boxed pitches. What makes this example even more intriguing is the fact that the motivic material in 6V does not actually correspond in tonal nuance to the accompanying words. This can be seen clearly because the same words of 5V are sung entirely differently. How is one to account for such melodic similarities, which seemingly have little to do with linguistic parallelism? It is possible that singers are aware of the need to group parallel phrases melodically, even when the verse material does not necessarily call for such parallelism. In general, parallel verses in laba have a degree of tonal and metrical similarity in contrasting sections of text, which is closely reflected in the melodic contours of parallel phrases. However, exceptions do exist as seen in couplet C. This apparent departure from tone-melody correspondence shares some parallels with examples found in Peking opera (jingju). Ethnomusicologist Jonathan Stock identifies consistent departures from tone-melody correspondence in a multi-couplet sequence of a xipi yaoban aria performed by Zhou Xinfang (1999). In his analysis, he 185 proposes that the frequent use of certain cadential pitches, which can neither be explained by speech tone requirements nor dramatic needs, is only explanable as a feature of a larger four-line aria structure (Stock 1999: 197). In a similar manner, some examples of consecutive teisa phrases intimate a certain performer awareness of melodic variation and repetition at a multi-phrase level, which exist quite apart from speech-tone considerations. One aspect of “Dear brother” that appears to challenge the [B-E-B] periodic structure outlined earlier is the motivic diversity found in column V material. While in every case [B] is featured as a sustained pitch in column V, there are many instances in which the concluding pitch is [E]. Furthermore there is an unusual case in verses 10 and 11 in which the phrase ends on [A]. How is one to account for these differences of cadential pitches? It is likely that concluding motives vary owing to differences in verse length, and also to the personal expressivity that is allowed in performing closing vocables. In particular, many singers have the habit of performing a parallel couplet with [B] as the first verse finalis and [E] as the second verse finalis. This type of alternating cadential pattern occurs in couplets B and C. (Similar examples of alternating cadential patterns can be seen in column V material of couplets E and F of the “Water bucket” excerpt.) The unusual [B-F#-A] motivic endings in verses 10 and 11, however, are more difficult to explain. Judging by the fact that this type of ending is only heard as a concluding phrase in this particular performance of azi, it is likely that this cadence pattern is used exclusively in azi performance, and only in cases where performers feel uninhibited in expressing their full emotions. Analysis of “Water Bucket” Excerpt from Recording CP2 The excerpt in figures 5.14 and 5.15 is from a solo azi performed by a female singer, Ceiqpiel, from the village of Aqlaoq Nahhal. The content of this azi reflects a contemporary adaptation of a secondary theme in traditional dialogue azi into the 186 central narrative focus of a solo performance. In this passage, the singer develops the theme of growing up, and transitioning from a stage of dependence on parents to one of independence and readiness for courtship. She does so by describing the different tasks that she performs when she is young compared to when she is older. This song was sung in a house, despite its courtship content. It was performed at a moderate tempo, in a clear, deliberate manner. “Water bucket” has verses that are relatively similar in length with melodic content that has a high degree of similarity throughout. This is particularly true of material in columns I, II and V. In columns III and IV, there is a greater degree of variability, but even then, all motives within a column can be categorized under one of only two distinct motive types (see table 5.2). Such homogeneity in motivic material can be attributed both to the individual performance style of the singer, and to the consistency of verse formulae used. How does the verse structure of the text relate to aspects of melody? At first glance there appears to be quite a variety of different verse formulae. The first being the “water bucket” verses (verses 1 to 5), consisting of a compound sentence made up of two independent clauses; the second being the “leaf mat” verses (verses 10 to 13), which employs a simple sentence form. The remaining couplets C, D, and G appear to be parallel verses that do not share structural or topical similarities with each other. Couplets B and D, shown in boxes, were composed using an enumerative technique that gives verses a particularly strong parallelistic quality. As may be presumed, a brief scan of figure 5.15 shows that verses within a couplet have striking motivic similarities. However, unlike “Dear brother” where contrasting verse formulae resulted in contrasting melodic phrases, the verses in “Water bucket” appear to share many melodic similarities even among verses using differing formulae. (Compare, for example, the melodic material of couplets A and C.) This is owing to similarities in tonal contour and meter between many topically and structurally unrelated verses. The linking of different 187 verse formulae through aspects of rhyme and meter enables singers to create a second plane of association between texts that are typically used in close combination. These characteristics, in turn, enforce the periodic nature of melodic phrases heard in close succession. Figure 5.14 Translated Text of “Water Bucket” Excerpt from Recording CP2 1 (Nga…eil) Ngal eelquvq laq e baoqteiq eq ssol soqlu naohhaol qi meil jol lil. I carry a water bucket around and play all day, 2 (Yoq jol lil leil) Miqkoq yeilqi mavqnei eq ssol naollu aoqzaq movq meil jol lil. I carry firewood on my back and play all day. 3 (Yoq jol lil leil) Ngayaq niq baoq baoqzao eq e galzeil zul meil jol lil I carry two water buckets on my back and kneel at the road’s edge, 4 Saol baoq baoqzao eq e alhhaol laolqei soqmoq xovq meil jol lil. I carry three water buckets and stand in the middle of the road. 5 (Yoq jol lil eil) Saol baoq baoqzao eq alnei soqlu mavqnei eelhovq qeilma hhaqmeil tavq a gal yil lil. I carry three water buckets and go to the well in the morning. 6 (Yoq gal yil lil eil) Ngal aqma ssaqmiq aqlavq lavqhhev zalpeel hhao meil yi lil. This mother’s daughter crosses her arms; 7 Aqma ssaqmiq aqkeel keelhhev zaqyevq diq jol lil. She crosses her legs, feeling comfortable and carefree. 8 (Yoq jol lil eil) Naolhao ceil yuvq aqda ngavq huvq biao e qiq siil pal wulnaq, At the age of fourteen or fifteen a change will take place, 9 Huvq yei mavqnei ceil saol biao e qiq jivq yaol jivq nia wulnaq. Once passed the age of thirteen, a change will occur. 10 (Joq jivq nia wulnaq eil) Hoqzyu dama guvq e sseilgeel siillov hovseiq yaol eq alnei. I will put the sseilgeel leaf mat that my parents made on my back, 11 (Yaol eq alnei) Aqqoq baziq diq e miavma sekal yaol bavq alnei. I will hold the miavma sekal that someone made in my other hand.157 12 (Yaol) Qiq mavq diq e to’leil miavma wuqmuvq yaol bavq alnei. I will hold a miavma wuqmuvq that someone made in my hand,158 13 (Yaol bavq alnei) Hoqhhyu molmeeq mavqnei siiqnil dev laq e paoqkeeq saoq to hha’lul yaol eq alnei. I will put the bark mat that my brothers made on my back, and I will go in search of firewood. 14 (Yaol alnei) Ngayaq miq heivq ssaq a cellel xa meil jol lil leil. I will go and gather firewood. 157 A miavma sekal is a type of saw that has a rounded blade used for gathering firewood. 158 A miavma wuqmuvq is another type of saw that has a rounded blade and sharp teeth near the tip of the blade; it is also used for sawing branches. A B F G C E D 188 15 Hhoheiq duv yi cellel xa wul nal wul, aqma ssaqmiq zaolzeil duv li e doqzaq laq meil jol . I will go up the mountain to cut firewood, and I will greet others on the mountain. 189 Figure 5.15 Transcription of “Water Bucket” Excerpt from Recording CP2 190 191 Table 5.2 Summary of Motivic Content in “Water Bucket” Excerpt Column Main Motives Verses Using Motive I Motive 1 Motive 2 Motive 1: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 Motive 2: 10, 11, 13, 14 II Motive 3 Subsets of Motive 3: Motive 3a Motive 3b Motive 4a Motive 3: 1, 2, 6, 8, 10 Motive 3a: 4, 7, 15a Motive 3b: 3, 5, 9, 14 Motive 4a: 11, 12 III Motive 4 Motive 5a Motive 5b Motive 4: 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15b Motive 5a: 3, 4, 5 Motive 5b: 6, 14 IV Uses motives from columns II & III Motive 3a: 4 Motive 3b: 5 (first half) Motive 5: 13 192 Column Main Motives Verses Using Motive V Motive 6a Motive 6b Motive 7 Motive 6a: 1, 3, 6, 14, 15a Motive 6b: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15b Motive 7: 11, 13 The melody phrases of “Water bucket” also demonstrate a fair degree of melodic contrast between two paired verses. Many couplets of “Water bucket” use [B] and [E] cadential tones in column III and IV material to mark the contrast between the first and second verses of a pair. This is similar to the [B] and [E] cadential tones of column V mentioned earlier in “Dear brother” couplets, except that these motivic cadence tones are built into the actual text of a couplet. This can be seen clearly in the contrasting upper and lower tone syllables marking the ending of column III motives in couplets A and C. The melodic contrast between paired verses is a common phenomenon in laba performance. Depending on the structure of the verse, the melodic contrast can take place in columns III, IV or V. If the verse uses a structure that emphasizes similar verb endings, then the contrast is likely to take place in column III material. If the concluding clause of a verse is not tonally contrasting, then the singer can choose to place the cadential contrast at the very end, as a phrase finalis sung on a vocable. The technique of seriation is very apparent in melodic phrases of “Water bucket” compared to those of “Dear brother”. As shown in table 5.2, different motives are treated as independent units that are strung together in mixed combinations to form a phrase. For example, motive 3b is used twice in columns II and IV of verse 5 to accommodate the unusual length of the verse. In this way, verse 5 can optionally be interpreted as being made up of two periods: one spanning from column II to III, and the other from IV 193 to V. In verse 15, I did interpret the unusual combination of motives in this way, scanning the phrase across two lines of staff. Subsets of motives are also used in order to accommodate texts of different length and tonal contour (e.g. motive 3). Motive subsets also function to enforce what parts of a motive are structurally important in a column. For example, the subsets of motive 3 enforce [B-F#-E] as being the most structurally important pitches within this portion of the phrase period. The repetition of motives in the same phrase, and their flexible use across columns is a common feature in “Water bucket”. As an example, motive 4 and its variant, 4a, is found in both columns II and III. It is interesting, however, that the singer makes a clear distinction between motives 4a and 4, using the former only in column II, and the latter in column III. From this example, one sees that certain subtle melodic differences are counted as functionally important whereas others are not. See, for example, verses 10 and 12, where motive 4a and 4 are heard in succession. Here, slightly different pitches are used to express the first two syllables of the phrase but the latter syllables use a deliberately fixed pitch combination each time. This enforces, again, the tendency described in principle 3, of endings words having more priority in the production of a motivic contour (see table 5.1). This example perhaps shows that ending words possess more fixedness overall, even to the point of requiring fixed pitches. Analysis of “Dear Sister” Excerpt from Recording GM3 This third excerpt is the opening passage of the sibling duet discussed in chapter 3. The male singer, Bai Muqzeq, performed this passage, outlining the main reasons why his sister must marry out into another family. This duet was sung indoors at a fairly soft volume and low tessitura compared to the other two excerpts. Although the tempo of this laba is somewhat fast, the quiet demeanor of the performers conveyed an overall 194 solemn atmosphere.159 The mood of “Dear sister” is markedly different from those of the previous two excerpts, reflecting the anguished and mournful sentiments of the text. The text of “Dear sister” shares several structural similarities with the previous two excerpts (see figure 5.16). It opens and closes with a repeated refrain (verses 1 and 13) and is grouped for the most part according to couplets. There are a total of five couplets, with two of these couplets being part of a triplet groupings of related verses. The two groups, which I have labeled X and Y, consist of one tightly linked couplet followed by an additional verse that relates loosely to the pair according to topic and structure.160 This same type of grouping is present in “Water bucket” (group B). A little less than half the verses in “Dear sister” have a simple subject-object-verb sentence form (verses 1,3-5, 13). The remaining verses use a variety of complex and compound sentence forms.161 In particular, the excerpt has many “when” sentence forms that emphasize the need for change once the two siblings have grown up (verses 2, 6-8). The verses of group Y use the “when” sentence form in an enumerative sequence, similar to that introduced in couplets B and C of “Water bucket”. Couplets D and E are translated into a variety of sentence types in English but the original verses are based on one verse formula, which uses double negatives emphatically, using both direct and metaphorical language to recommend marriage in the imperative. 159 Performers took frequent breaks in their singing. Whereas azi performance breaks would sometimes be filled with laughter and casual comments, the performers of this sibling duet sat in silence, as if deep in thought. 160 The strength of couplets is often established through convention. With repeated use of a popular couplet, a strong expectation is created for the two verses to be performed together while additional verses are perceived as structurally related but not essential to the completion of a poetic thought. 161 Complex sentence forms have one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause. Compound sentences have two or more independent clauses and no subordinate clauses. 195 Figure 5.16 Translated text of “Dear Sister” excerpt from recording GM3 1 (Sa yil) Ngaldu dulma ssaqmiq nilbi aqdaol eil! My sister, you need to marry out as a bird needs to spread its wings! 2 Hoqcuv hoqzaol xilmeil hha qo wulnaq, ssaqmiq heq e hyulnil duv leil bo. When a woman grows up, she should go out to another's home. 3 Hoqhhyu aqli dalmol nil e hhyulhhovq kaovq leil bo (nga yil). A brother, younger or older, must manage his own family. 4 Hoqcuv hoqzaol xilmeil hha qo wulnaq. Galhhu pyuqloq yeilbei aqhhal jav nga yil, Long ago, since the time of our ancestors this has been so, 5 (Ya lo eil) Pyuqloq mavqnei Yeilsal yeilbei miqnieiq jav ssol (leil wul eil). Our ancestor, Yeisa, handed this custom down to us. 6 Ssaqmiq ceil ngavq donia niq ceil biao lal ngaoq leil wul, When a woman has reached the age of fifteen to twenty, 7 Ssaqyo niq ceil donia aqzeiq e ceil yuvq aqli ngavq huvq biao ssol, hoqcuv hoqzaol xilmeil hha qo wulnaq. When a man has exceeded the age of twenty, when he has reached fourteen or fifteen, then he must find a partner. 8 (Ssol) Ssaqyo mavq nei niq ceil biao ssol hoqcuv daoq peiq nyuq wul leil wul. When a man has reached twenty years of age he will want to establish the roots of a family. 9 (Ssol) Ngal dulma ssaqmiq sulbee maq yil neesal yaol maq hha nga leil wul, A woman who does not marry into another family will not be at peace, 10 Ceilcuv laq yil sulbee maq yil daqgoq maq heq nga yil leil wul. p If a cow is not sold to another family, there is no way of knowing its value. 11 (Yil wul) Ssaqmiq sulbee maq yil yaol maq na nga yil leil wul, A woman must not remain and not and go to another family. 12 Hovqtov hhavqpaq eelma ceil lol maq yoq maq taq qivq nga yil leil wul, The pig at the gate, when sold, does not know the ten rivers that it will cross. 13 Dulma ssaqmiq nilbi aqdaol! Sister, you need to marry out as a bird needs to spread its wings! A X B C D Y E 196 Figure 5.17 Transcription of “Dear Sister” excerpt from recording GM3 197 198 Although “Dear sister” has text that is comparable in construction and length to those examined in the previous two excerpts, the melodic realization of this text contrasts to those of previous excerpts in several significant ways. First, the singer performs opening vocables only sporadically (see figure 5.17). When opening calls are present, they are not elaborate; two are even sung using an unusually narrow range. (In verses 6 and 8, column I, vocables are sung on [A-F#], a narrow descent that is not seen in column I material of other excerpts.) Second, as a whole the text is performed in a more ascetic style, using a narrower range, more repeated notes and less rhythmic differentiation between parts of a phrase. The narrowness of range is particularly evident in the absence of [E] in entire melodic phrases (verses 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11). Accompanying this narrowing of range, is the increased use of repeating pitches, and oscillations between [A] and [F#] (8II, 12II). Third, the melodic phrases of “Dear sister” contrast to those of other excerpts simply in its economical use of motivic material. Whereas previous excerpts have an average of three to four motives in a phrase (excluding the optional opening call), all phrases of “Dear sister”, excepting verses 2 and 7, have between two to three motives per phrase. What accounts for these melodic differences? I have observed that they are best explained as stylistic traits that are unique to the performers of Goama village who uphold a more austere aesthetic of laba melody. Yet despite these differences, the Goama style of melody has enough commonalities with those of other villages to be understood as being of the same regional teisa. The question that follows is perhaps: if differences in melodic style exist, do they relate also to stylistic preferences in the composition of text and the choice of verse formulae? This is a more difficult question to answer and would require further analysis of a greater body of recorded material. However, my observation from this particular Goama song is that average verse lengths are slightly shorter than those found in other songs. This accounts, in part, for differences also in how motivic seriation 199 occurs. In “Dear sister”, motivic units are parsed at slightly different locations in each periodic phrase structure—this is to say that melodic phrases have a periodic structure based on generally repeating pitch areas, which do not always line up precisely with motivic divisions. To illustrate this point, I have made slight changes to the presentation of motives in figure 5.17. I use horizontal square brackets to indicate motives, and use column divisions, instead, to show the periodicity of pitch areas. (In the previous two excerpts, the column divisions were used to indicate motivic units.) From the transcription in figure 5.17 one can see that the motives of columns II and III are quite varied. The pitch area of column II is dominated by [A-F#-A] near the end of the column, while column III is structurally defined by the presence of [B] at its beginning. While some motives are divided cleanly according to these contrasting pitch areas (verses 1, 9, 10, and 13), others are made up of overlapping subsets of columns II and III. See, for example, the arched motive of 7a, which features an [F#-A-F#] oscillation from column II, and a [B-F#-E] descent from column III. The result is a high degree of variability in the length and number of motivic units present, and in the types of contours that are realized. While varied verse lengths are a factor in the parsing and subset realizations of motives, perhaps a larger part of motivic variability can be attributed to Hani sentence structure and the fact that the different proper nouns, such as pig (hoqtov hhavqpaq), sister (dulma ssaqmiq), and brother (ssaqyo), placed at the beginning of sentences have distinct tonal contours that combine in unique ways to recurring phrases of text that follow. The variability of motivic material in a phrase is greatly dependent on the location of textual variability in a verse formula. In “Dear brother”, the “if…then” formula used required textual and motivic variation in the latter part of the verse (column IV). In this excerpt, the location of variability occurs at the front of the phrase, because the singer is making subject comparisons using contrasting subject nouns paired 200 with similar verb phrases, as in: “brother must get married”; sister must marry out” in the same way as “the cow and pig must be sold out”. This type of parallel sentence structure is also the basis for the relative melodic consistency found in columns IV to V of “Dear sister”. Whereas in the previous two excerpts the pitch material of column IV was sufficient in forming a motive of its own, column IV in “Dear sister” has a minimum of pitch content such that it must combine with column V material to form a complete motive. Like column II, column IV features [A] and [F#] as structural pitches, while column V features reiterations of [B], as commonly heard at laba phrase endings. While most motives in columns IV to V span across the entirety of the two columns, there are some instances when motives take on a subset of column IV material or when column IV material is absent altogether. This tendency toward pitch stability at motive endings and greater variability at beginnings once again demonstrates the relevance of principle 3. As seen in previous excerpts, phrases that use the same text formula share a greater degree of melodic similarity than those that do not. Couplet D in “Dear sister” demonstrates this melodic parallelism clearly as no other phrase in the passage resembles its specific melodic and rhythmic make-up. Group X is an unusual example of melodic parallelism in that verses 1 and 2, the central couplet, share a phrase period, while verse 3, forms a parallel melodic structure with the phrase of verse 1 and 2. This curious case of melodic periodicity suggests that, although melodic periodicity conventionally takes its cues from textual formulism, sometimes it articulates itself against the asymmetry of text in order to maintain a desired regularity in tonal contour and meter. “Dear sister” also has some examples of melodically contrasting couplets, similar to those analyzed in “Water bucket”. Couplets B and C demonstrate similar melodic treatment of first and second verse phrases. Verses 4 and 6 open with four-note motives, and conclude with inverted arched motives, while the motives of 5III and 7aIII share 201 contour and rhythmic similarities. However, the remainder of verses 5 and 7, differ greatly in length and melodic contour. This example demonstrates how laba melody succeeds in both accentuating areas of textual parallelism and accommodating extreme differences, such as the contrast of verse lengths. Multi-faceted Melodies In the analyses above, I have chosen examples showing how laba melody is shaped according to multiple textual priorities and aesthetic goals. Among the most important concepts discussed was that of how the periodicity of the phrase unit is established, and how melodic ideas on the motivic level contribute to as well as challenge phrase periodicity. A second dimension of melody discussed was its relationship to the text: how large and small-scale units of text and melody map onto each other; and how melodic phrases support textual parallelism, as well as articulate their own independent periodic drive. A third dimension discussed is that of how laba teisa can retain its structural integrity within different stylistic environments. Out of these complex interactions between large and small-scale structures of melody and text, the question emerges of whether there are distinctions to be made between primary and secondary factors shaping melodic outcome? Furthermore, what generalizations can be made about these multiple interactions? It is evident from these and other transcriptions that the phrase period is the most constant structural feature of laba teisa. Although many verses have motivic details that deviate from this structure, it is maintained in the majority of verse settings. In my introduction to Luchun melody, I summarized the periodic structure as a simple descent and return to a tonic pitch, in the form of [B-E-B] (see figure 5.17). In light of the periodic realizations examined in the previous three excerpts, I wish to propose a more fleshed out model of this periodic structure (see figure 5.19). 202 Figure 5.18 Most constant features of Luchun laba Figure 5.19 Melodic schemata of Luchun laba A summary of the laba phrase period includes the following features: • Column I: sustained [B] descending by portamento to [F#] • Column II: more elaborate motive featuring descending, and upper ellipse as most common contours; motive includes gradual descent from [B] to [E] • Column III and/or IV: usually 1 or 2 motives in this location; shorter motives with varied contours; most common is descending contour with [F#/E] finalis; second most common is ascending motive with [B] finalis. • Column V: repeated [B] with one longer duration; occasional motivic ascent to [B]. Given the close relationship between the tonal contours of verse and melody, it can be said that laba periodic phrase structure is shaped by the sum of poetic formulae and its generalized patterns of rhyme and meter. However, the pull to conform to the periodicity of the phrase as an aesthetic goal exists in constant tension with the need to express the particularities of individual verse formula. This tension is seen most clearly on the motivic level, in the ways that the linguistic qualities of a group of words affect motivic contour and seriation. The melodic expression of poetic parallelism also plays an important role in shaping the contextual details of teisa phrases. Often consecutive couplets will mirror each other in melodic detail, showing deliberate contrast between first and second verse phrases. This too is part of the constant balance that is sought between articulating sameness and difference in parallel structures. At times, couplets 203 have grammatically contrasting verse formulae but the periodicity of the melodic phrase brings out locational similarities in tonal contour. Ultimately, one must bear in mind that a laba teisa is composed extemporaneously without pre-planning. The singer conceives of melody and text together, as inseparable and integral units of thought. The singer’s goals are simple and pragmatic—to deliver clear poetry in a stylized manner of singing. And yet the melodic creativity that is a product of spontaneous and unself-conscious composition is infinitely complex, involving interactions between multiple levels of textual and melodic structure. These myriad interactions give witness to the power of orality to act as a crucible in which poetry and music coalesce over a long historical period to achieve a unified aesthetic that is central to the culture and values of a community. 204 Chapter 6: Social Change in Laba Performance Introduction In chapter 3, I discussed the meaning and interpretation of laba dialogue songs in non-ritual and ritual settings of the past. In non-ritual settings, laba is interpreted as an artful form of conversation between lovers and between siblings. During weddings, sibling dialogues do not have the illocutionary force to avert marriage but they act as expressive texts that affirm kinship loyalties. In recent years, significant changes in village social life have led to the emergence of new contexts for laba performance in which new meanings and emphases accrue to traditional texts. This chapter examines the social and political factors shaping these new contexts of laba performance and reception. It also looks at the transformation of traditional themes in laba text, and how these illuminate changing cultural attitudes and social dynamics. The latter part also proposes applied ethnomusicological projects that may contribute to the sustaining of laba as a local art form. State Policy, Tourism and Luchun Laba The Chinese Communist Party, since its early years, has made allowances for the rights of its fifty-five official “minority nationalities” (shaoshu minzu) to various forms of cultural expression, albeit within the unified socialist state (Rees 2000: 15). In 1949, the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conferences declared the freedom of national minorities “to develop their dialects and languages, [and] to preserve or reform their traditions, customs and religious beliefs.” Furthermore, the People’s government was to “assist the masses of the people of all national minorities to develop their political, economic, cultural, and educational construction work” (quoted in Moseley 1966: 168-169). Such goals contrasted Republican policy, which favored assimilation, allowing for few special provisions for non-Han in most constitutional documents (Rees 2000: 13). However, the discouragement of Han chauvinism did not 205 necessarily preclude certain forms of Han paternalism. In the realm of music, this was seen in the syncretic treatment of minority musics, which were thought to necessitate certain processes of “renewal” (gexin) and “modernization” in order to better reflect the people’s new economic and political state.162 This thinking was also validated by Marxist theories of social evolution, which were prominent in the government rhetoric of the time. Recent studies have dealt with the continuing uses of minority music in state propaganda, particularly in the use of minority musics in government sponsored festivals and song and dance troupe performances (Tuohy 1988, Yang 1994). Other studies have examined how the burgeoning tourism industry inYunnan has played a role in transforming local forms of music-making (Davis 1999, Rees 2000, Tuohy 1988). Local musicians have responded to new tourism markets by re-presentations of their musics in staged performances (Rees 2000: 184-192). While other forms of traditional Hani song and dance are commonly found in both state-sponsored and touristic events, laba in Luchun has remained surprisingly persistent as a locally practiced genre.163 Certain social, historical and artistic reasons have led to laba’s somewhat unique position as a predominantly local art form. First, unlike other types of folksongs and ritual music, laba performance was not suppressed in Luchun during the Cultural Revolution.164 None of the singers I interviewed recalled censorship of laba during this period, although they recalled the hardships of collectivization as having prevented them from singing for a time. It is difficult to know why this was the case since most research of traditional music in China shows that there was at least some censorship of 162 The need to infuse traditional minority musics with the new and modern in order to guarantee its survival in a new economic and political era is clearly articulated in a 1985 article in Minzu Yinyue by Yu Li. 163 Note that the multi-part performance of azi from Puchun village in Azhahe represents a unique case of staged laba performance. A Hani music troupe from Azhahe has performed local dance and songs internationally, backed by Yunnan scholar Zhang Xingrong who has called attention to the uniqueness of their polyphonic style of singing. 164 This can be contrasted with types of music that were heavily censored during the cultural revolution, such as Dongjing ritual music of the Naxi. The suppression of its original ritual institutions has led to its transformation and revival in more secular contexts (Rees 2000). 206 minority music and religious practices during extremist political movements such as the Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957), the Great Leap Forward (1958), and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). While laba performances contain content of ritual practices and sexual customs that could have been denounced as “superstitious” and “immoral”, it may have been the case that only ritual specialists such as mopi and beima were forbidden to perform their songs and rituals. For other singers who were neither professional musicians nor religious specialists, their singing may have been viewed by communist cadres as being acceptably neutral in its topical coverage. Another consideration is that labas sung outdoors while travelling and working could have been easily ended at will, and thus, may have been too elusive for officials to effectively suppress. Furthermore, the regional application of cultural policy in those tumultuous times was uneven. Luchun’s geographical remoteness to administrative centres of the time may have inadvertently resulted in a more tolerant political climate. Ethnomusicologist Steve Jones also documents such unevenness of music and ritual censorship during the Cultural Revolution among Han village shawm bands in Shanxi (2007). Second, Yunnan’s tourism business has not yet fully expanded into Luchun and other Hani areas where laba is sung. Compared to the convenience of highway travel from Kunming to tourist destinations in the northwest such as Lijiang and Dali, travel to Luchun and other Hani regions on long stretches of windy and at times washed-out roads is considerably less comfortable and safe. In addition, laba does not share the type of prominence at local festivals that other genres of mountain songs like Hua’er have at local festivals. Luchun laba performance continues to be rooted in personal relationships that are affirmed most often in private settings outdoors or in the home. As yet, Luchun laba has not been widely adapted for representation in touristic events, although this may change with the rapid expansion of cultural tourism in Yunnan. 207 Third, both the melodic and textual qualities of laba do not lend well to adaptation for stage performance because text and melody are conceived as an integrated whole in oral performance. Furthermore, laba teisa and textual formulae are regionally specific and cannot even be easily understood and appreciated by Hani from other regions. The laba teisa of the Luchun region in particular is considered by Hani of other regions, and even by some locals, as being rather plain and unattractive. For these reasons, state officials and tourism venues have used other forms of traditional and composed musics to represent Hani culture and ethnicity.165 Modernization in Luchun Although Luchun laba has so far avoided intentional musical transformations by state interests and tourism markets, broad social changes brought on by state efforts to urbanize and develop rural regions have impacted laba transmission and performance greatly. The practical non-existence of laba transmission to Hani youth is perhaps the greatest cause of social change in laba performance today. This has led to laba being practiced exclusively among villagers of thirty years of age and older. In this present context, songs that were used for courtship in the past are now sung by individuals who are already married. Instead of songs that represent negotiations leading up to marriage, laba dialogues today are appreciated for their artfulness and as a way of remembering the importance of traditional institutions and kinship obligations. Sadly, laba conversations that used to be the exclusive domain of youth no longer exist in that context, nor do laba dialogues have the ability to communicate cross-generationally as before. 165 As an example, the composed songs of Alssil, have been used widely in state media and in tourism performances in Yuanyang. Alssil is a blind musician who knows traditional idioms well but who composes in a more contemporary style that incorporates pan-minority musical elements into his melodies. He won a prize at a minority music competition in 1997 for performances of his original tunes accompanied by folk sanxian, a three-stringed lute. Since then he has published a book of his songs (Long 1997), recorded several music videos, and travelled widely with state song and dance troupes. He presently resides in Luchun where he sells his VCDs at the local market. 208 A number of factors have led to this predicament. The introduction of mandatory schooling since the 1980s led to the increased use of Mandarin and the local Chinese dialect as a standard for local commerce, resulting in considerable language loss. The long school hours have also resulted in decreased exposure to local language and customs, as well as learning opportunities that would traditionally have taken place between parent and child.166 The abandonment of traditional Hani culture in general by Luchun youth has been further accelerated in recent years, with the development of road infrastructure and the increased availability of products and businesses that allow youth to participate in modernity and cosmopolitanism through consumption. The cosmopolitan lifestyle is promoted in a range of local products from bubble tea and smoothies to hair salons and clothing stores stocking trendy fashions similar to those touted on the streets of Shanghai and Beijing. A wedding photography studio opened in 2008 and numerous discos and karaoke bars lining Luchun’s main street since the early 2000s continue to thrive. The introduction of infrastructure and modern amenities has moreover led to an overall decline in laba performance among all age groups. With the introduction of electricity as a source of power for cooking, heating, and light, villagers no longer needed to spend considerable hours in the forest looking for firewood. Similarly, the building of road networks between neighbouring villages resulted in decreased travel on foot between villages. These changes resulted ultimately in the decreased frequency of laba singing during outdoor work and travel. The rapidity of these changes is difficult to imagine. Even comparing my initial fieldtrip in 2001 to subsequent trips in 2005 and 2006, I observed a marked change in local attitudes toward travel by foot versus travel by car. In my latter visits to Luchun, locals no longer considered traveling by foot an 166 The school hours of Luchun children vary according to age. Elementary school students attend school for an average of 7.5 hours each day. Class hours are split into three sessions: 7:00- 11:30am, 2:00-3:30pm and 7:00-8:30pm. 209 option since they no longer felt physically able to do the strenuous climbing, and because the popularity of the automobile left the foot paths overgrown and unfit for use. Growing affluence among the Hani has also resulted in increased consumerism and participation in popular forms of mediated entertainment such as television, karaoke, and radio. These influences, along with the use of Chinese language within schools, have deeply penetrated everyday language use in Luchun. Increasingly, Hani is becoming a form of pidgin that incorporates many terms from both Mandarin and the regional Han dialect. These syncretic processes take present-day spoken Hani increasingly far from the vocabulary and poetic expressions of laba. Whereas traditional Hani language and poetics—as they have developed largely independently for several hundred years—were still in circulation in the everyday speech of a few decades ago, providing a starting point for laba learning among Hani youth, the youth of today are increasingly removed from more poetic and subtle uses of proverbs and metaphor in daily speech. As a result, even though some youth I spoke to expressed an interest in learning laba, they felt unable to access the vocabulary and structures of laba texts without being taught. But since formal teaching is not a part of traditional laba transmission, these youth are left to their own means. New Contexts of Laba Performance and Reception The social changes described above have paved the way for the revival of laba in informal house gatherings in which the majority of singers and audience members are women. These social gatherings usually take place in the open courtyard of a home during evenings or rest days. Women usually gather around to gossip and chat about the day’s events, bringing with them embroidery or herb-processing tasks. In this relaxed atmosphere someone may ask another in the gathering to sing laba for their entertainment (Illustration 6.1 and Illustration 6.2). Depending on who is present, this may result in extended solos or duets. Despite the many different topics that can be 210 chosen for performance, most women favor azi and sibling dialogue songs. This is surprisingly the case despite the absence of male performers. If there is only one singer present, then she will adapt the themes of either type of dialogue song to fit into a solo. If there are two singers present, they will sing in dialogue with one woman singing the female part and the other the male part. While these laba gatherings are not usually intended to be all-female events, the fact that laba is sung while performing many other exclusively female pastimes usually discourages men from taking part. Moreover, involvement of a male singer in azi performances creates socially awkward situations since most singers are already married. The involvement of a male singer in an azi dialogue would too closely resemble its original courtship context, leading to some suspicion and awkwardness between singers and their respective spouses over the actual intentions of performed texts.167 Instead all-female groups of performers can enjoy the banter of male-female dialogues without concerning themselves with their original social functions. 167 One widowed woman in her sixties, Ceiq Piel, expressed a willingness at first to sing azi with a male friend, but after some consideration she decided it would be inappropriate to do so, since it might cause his wife to become jealous and suspicious of her. 211 Illustration 6.1 Hani women’s gathering, Daxing village, December 2008 Illustration 6.2 Women conversing while packaging herbs in Daxing village, December 2008 This new social context for laba performance naturally gives rise to the question: why has laba gained such popularity recently among women but not men? Lacel and others explained to me that in the new urban environment the men have a number of choices of evening entertainment: they can gamble, visit nightclubs, or take trips to remote cities with friends, while it is still considered improper for women to be involved in similar activities. As a result, women find forms of entertainment that are appropriate to the home environment such as embroidery, conversing, storytelling and laba-singing. This new performance context in which women exclusively shape the themes and narrative of the text directly contrasts with traditional contexts in which men take the lead in determining a song’s content, while women respond to their propositions, albeit with some power to resist undesirable outcomes of a debate. For example, during festivals and large dinner banquets, typically a male singer will welcome guests with a laba. Their singing on these occasions symbolizes the taking-up of leadership in the clan 212 or village. Both new and traditional performance contexts continue to exist in Luchun society, though the former is gaining popularity whilst the latter is in stasis. And why do male-female dialogues enjoy such popularity among a wide range of other possible topics? I argue that laba texts have significance for current participants as a form of remembrance. Azi dialogues stimulate memories of past romances and recreate in sung conversations lived experiences and emotions. Likewise sibling dialogues reference life stages common to all Hani; they allow singer and audience to relive the sorrow of parting with kin, and to reflect on the inevitability of life changes. For women, these songs may have particular significance because they trace their progression from socially humble positions of daughter/sister to daughter-in-law, and later to positions of honor as mother and grandparent. As, Li Bolcel, an elderly woman of Daxing village told me, “I will never be bored with hearing siblings duets because they make me think back to the day when I was married. When I hear a good duet, these memories will come flooding back, and they will make me cry.” The content of azi and sibling duets resonate with meaning for married women because they articulate common fears and hopes in light of their vulnerability during periods approaching and shortly following marriage. Beyond laba dialogue as a form of personal remembrance is its significance as a genre that represents traditional Hani culture at large. In these new contexts, the discourse of authoritative and dissenting voices is reconstituted into a narrative whole that symbolizes for its audience the stability of traditional Hani cultural practices, which resists the homogenizing effects of state and modernity. Laba references the past in multiple ways. Not only does laba poetics establish a continuity with historical performance practice, but the material culture—places, tools, and customs—referred to in song texts reaffirm generational wisdom and local knowledge. Furthermore, the actual vocalization of laba melody in its sustained opening call, forward nasality and predictable descending contours constitutes a powerful symbol of local Hani identity. 213 These aspects of poetry, knowledge, and sound come together to form a web of associations that call attention to Hani identity in poignant and meaningful ways. A further reason for the recent ascendancy of women in laba performance may be attributed to the fact that men are more implicated in modernizing processes due to their control over resources. Hence they are less able to resist the homogenizing effects of modernity. In contrast, middle-aged to elderly women do not have the same resources to participate in modernity, and so cling more tenaciously to traditional cultural practices. The prominence of women in laba performance represents an exceptional inversion to traditional gender ideology. In most other social settings, men continue to take the lead in performing rituals and in representing the family, clan, and village. The ascendancy of female laba singers and audiences has also taken place in a social climate in which laba’s association with authority and prestige has been weakened by the introduction of capitalist economies. Increased consumerism has resulted in a wealth-based prestige system that competes for validity alongside traditional prestige systems based on clan identity and land ownership. These tensions continue to be negotiated in daily speech and actions. Textual Transformations in Female Laba Performances Not only do female laba performances recontextualize male-female dialogues through reinterpretation, but singers in these contexts also transform traditional narrative and themes to reflect new performance dynamics and to speak to current social circumstances. The topic of textual change in female laba performances is deserving of further research.168 I touch only briefly on these changes through an analysis of a solo azi by Ceiqpiel, a widow in her sixties. 168 Due to time constraints in the field, I was not able to request a recording of a dialogue sung by two women. Knowing how narratives and themes are transformed in this type of dialogue performance would contribute greatly to this area of research. 214 The process of adapting a dialogue song into a solo requires a great deal of narrative restructuring because of the essential part that rhetorical discourse traditionally plays in building narrative momentum. Since the male counterpart was absent in the storytelling, Ceiqpiel turned to her own creative resources to sustain narrative interest. Interestingly, this performance was unlike any other that I recorded. Ceiqpiel invited a friend to create the song narrative with her. They did this in several sections, stopping my recording occasionally to discuss how to proceed with the next section. In this respect, the song is a collaborative composition that reflects the shifting emphasis on laba as a type of creative art form that is appreciated between individuals of common social standing rather than as speech that maintains social relations between actors of unequal social positions. Using J.L. Austin’s terminology, laba texts within their new performative contexts have weakened in their illocutionary force and perlocutionary effects. This signals a shift in laba’s social position in relation to other forms of speech.169 The general structure of Ceiqpiel’s azi follows standard laba conventions: moving from innocence in youth, to puberty and interest in romance, to meeting her lover and declaring her devotion to him. However, in adapting a love dialogue to solo performance, Ceiqpiel is forced to give up some conventional characteristics of the female voice and to take on characteristics of the male voice. For example, she gives up the formulaic lines of female resistance and instead takes up the male’s optimism. In fact, in order for the narrative to progress, the woman must show willingness to make sacrifices for her lover. These actions, which demonstrate the willingness to protect and provide for a future family, are more typical to the male voice in traditional azi, but are 169 As stated by Bauman and Briggs, “the illocutionary force of an utterance often emerges not simply from its placement within a particular genre and social setting but also from the indexical relations between the performance and other speech events that precede and succeed it” (1990: 64). 215 here taken up by the woman. At one point in the song, she agrees to carry her lover’s load of firewood. She sings: The bundle I want is a good bundle, The beautiful bundle that I want is indeed beautiful. Come to the front And help me to place the rope between my neck and the yoke, Come to the back And help me lift the load onto my back. If the bundle is not good to carry, Then come and help me. If the bundle is not good to carry, Then use your foot to stomp on it thrice. Even if my yoke is uncomfortable, I do not feel it crushing my neck, Even if the bundle is not good to carry, it does not bother me. Although solo azi inevitably focuses more on the self, i.e., on female experience and desires, the above passage shows the soloist maintaining the dialectic nature of azi through inviting the man to act in ways that affirm his desire for her. Ceiqpiel also uses other poetic conventions to sustain narrative momentum and poetic interest. She uses enumeration to expand on childhood themes. She describes herself carrying buckets to get water at the well and uses this as a metaphor for her carefree childhood (CP2: 20-24). She also uses a long series of parallel metaphors to reference different types of trees in the forest and how each should be treated. This description weaves seamlessly into a narrative about her and her lover playing and flirting in the forest until dark: The caogao tree at the corner of the village cannot be cut for firewood, The caogao tree at the end of the village is a tree that turns over yearly. The gyuma tree cannot be used for firewood, Because gyuma trees are monthly turning-over trees. The cissa tree up in the mountains cannot be used for firewood. In the future when the cissa tree has grown old, it can be used for a threshold. The sisa tree cannot be used for firewood, The good brothers say that it is used to make the floor beam of the storage loft inside the house. The apio tree in the mountains cannot be used for firewood, When the bark of the apio tree is cut open, Its wood can be used to make a table. The heinyu tree in the mountains cannot be used for firewood, Because the place where the heinyu tree grows is said to have rich soil… We can go to the village corner to chop a leeto tree for firewood, In the future, may we be as tightly embraced 216 as the leeto tree at the village corner.170 We can go behind the house to chop the laqei tree, May we share words of desire for each other like the laqei tree behind the house.171 (CP2: 35-56) The last six lines of this passage re-introduce the romance between the lovers by punning with the tree names. The leeto tree has a unique trunk that is differentiated into a series of closely set branches. The singer alludes to the tree’s physical traits, and its name, meaning “to roll or to tie”, as metaphors for the lovers’ physical intimacy. Laqei is also a play-on-words, which means “to desire someone”. Ceiqpiel relates the tree to their words of love, encouraging her lover to speak honestly of his romantic desires. The overall effect of these textual transformations is the telling of a love story that is occasionally foregrounded by themes of childhood, nature, work, and play, which were traditionally peripheral topics. Perhaps what is most outstanding about this solo azi is its unusual ending. Although Ceiqpiel takes up many qualities of the male voice, she chooses not to completely throw off her female role by proposing marriage. Instead she conforms to the traditional stereotype of the woman resisting marriage and opts for a completely unrealistic resolution of tensions between loyalty to a male lover and to her birth family. She concludes by singing: I am not getting married, so I will be a good person to both sides, I will be like a bridge built with two bamboo sticks; I will be a good person to both sides. I will flirt like a young unpicked leaf, This mother’s daughter will not marry And will look after her brother’s family. I will flirt like a young unpicked leaf, When others come to buy and sell, They will not pick the young leaf to sell. The mother’s daughter will not marry out, She will manage her brother’s house. If others come to propose, I will spurn them. I will continue flirting Without desiring another man in marriage. (CP2: 120-127) 170 The name of the tree leeqtoq is a pun for the word ‘embracing’, which is leel. 171 The name of the tree laqqeil is a pun for the verb ‘to speak amorous words of desire’, which is qeiqdoq in Hani. 217 This narrative conclusion affirms that loyalty to birth kin lies at the core of Hani female identity, and is an inextricable part of laba courtship narratives. A Hani woman’s dignity and character are judged by these expressions of loyalty, and it is unthinkable for a woman to capitulate to marriage even in non-courtship performances of azi. What results is a fantasy narrative in which the woman remains single and continues to have a secret affair with her lover. In reality, this scenario may have been allowed for a time, but it is clearly unacceptable as a permanent state of affairs. As such, this azi would not have been permitted to conclude in this way if a male singer was present to enforce cultural gender ideologies. These narrative transformations are intriguing explorations of female autonomy. Although they do not defiantly oppose gender asymmetries as seen in earlier dialogues (chapter 3), their proposition of hypothetical scenarios of autonomous romance challenges the status quo, and is permitted in this new context to remain unopposed. However, one must view these expressions of dissent as being motivated by a hint of “play”, having come from married women who have long proven their honor in traditional kinship structures. Other textual transformations in CP2, such as passages descriptive of Hani forest and village environments, may have been intentionally expanded because of their importance in evoking the culturally particular in time and space. Descriptive passages in female laba performances are significant because they call to mind past environments and inherited wisdom concerning how to live in and protect these places. These performative acts are not merely passive forms of speech, but they have the power to resist homogenizing forms of authoritative speech such as those representative of the state and globalization. My interpretation of dialogue labas as a site of resistance against global hegemonic structures can be illuminated by reference to theories posited by literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin. Writing in the 1930s of post-revolutionary Russia, Bakhtin looked to everyday spoken language for more effective forms of political resistance than the violence he observed. He identified the use of disruptive humour in 218 conversational forms of oral poetry as a means of opposing authoritarian speech (Cruikshank 2005, 63). Using the metaphor of a centrifuge with two countervailing forces as a model for communication, he describes authoritarian speech as a force that displaces local ideas to the margins countered by the force of irascible, irreverent, brash orality straining to hold a centre (Clark and Holquist 1984: 9). I posit that laba dialogues, particularly those sung in recent contexts challenge the homogenizing effects of modernity at large. This interpretation shifts the imagined centre of power from the social hierarchy of traditional Hani culture to that of powers of the state and globalizing forces. This perspective does not negate the narrative of female dissent but reframes the discourse in a way that places it in the background. While singers of the past used laba performance as a way of negotiating kinship identities and obligations, singers of the present re-create these discourses as a way of holding onto institutions and customs that articulate cultural difference. Laba for Sale One might find it somewhat ironic that after having argued for the agency of Hani singers to resist global hegemonic forces that I should introduce in this next section the implication of laba and its participants in late capitalism.172 But perhaps it is possible to retain perceptions of local agency in laba performance while observing the effects of video recordings on traditional performance practice. The consumption of laba in the form of music videos sold in VCD format has been taking place since the late 1990s. A 172 Here I assume that global forces negatively affect local culture because they have the power to introduce musical products that replace locally practiced forms of music. At the same time some scholars also argue that mediated musics maintain representations of local identity. Nimrod Baranovitch argues for the agency of individuals voices in Chinese popular music (2003: 8-9). I would say that the consumption of recorded laba has a mixture of positive and negative effects toward localized articulations of culture. While laba recordings have the power to disseminate local knowledge to a broad audience, it also discourages live performance, and has certain small- scale homogenizing effects among local song cultures. 219 skilled Hani videographer, Li Xuelin, is responsible for the vast majority of these products.173 Li has produced over fifty VCDs on Hani culture and festivals both in Luchun and abroad. Of these, approximately fifteen are recordings of local laba performances. These videos typically feature singers performing in peaceful outdoor settings. In some recordings, footage of the performer is interspersed with scenes of village activity or nature which relate obliquely to the sung text. The singing is presented in most cases without accompaniment. When I first arrived at Luchun, these VCDs were being sold by several ladies at a small booth on Luchun’s main street for 30 RMB each.174 They were played throughout the day on a dusty television set, which at any one time drew a small crowd of villagers. They clustered around the booth located in a little alcove underneath a set of stairs, listening intently with slight smiles on their faces. About two years ago, a second booth boasting a large flatscreen television opened in a public square further down the street. These vendors sold similar videos, some produced by Li Xuelin and others produced by Yunnan Recording Company (Yunnan Yinshang Chubanshe). Videos produced by the latter company feature a young female singer named Li Mingxiu. She is originally from a neighbouring county but presently works at a government post in Luchun. Having received further vocal training at the Yunnan Minority Arts Institute (Yunnan Yishu Xueyuan), and with significant financial backing from government institutions, 175 Li produced a collection of three videos that feature her performing laba in breathtaking scenery and elaborate costumes (see Illustration 6.3). Although Li Mingxiu’s recordings feature some laba tunes and 173 Li Xuelin(  ) produces videos under the company name Yajia Yinghsi Guanggao Zhizuo Zhongxin  ). 174 30 RMB in 2002 converted to approximately $6 Canadian. 175 Supporting government affiliated institutions include the Yunnan International Cultural Exchange Centre of China (Zhongguo Yunnan Guoji Wenhua Jiaoliu Zhongxin), Foundation for Yunnan International Cultural Exchange, Film Department (Yunnan Guoji Wenhua Jiaoliu Jijinhui Yingshibu), and Yunnan Anyi Cultural Broadcasting Company (Yunnan Anyi Wenhua Chuanbo Youxian Gongshi). 220 instrumental music from other regions, most of her laba are sung in the local teisa. This may be because Luchun audiences are her greatest consumer market. Li Mingxiu’s music videos are also very different from those produced by Li Xuelin because some of her songs feature subtle instrumental accompaniment, and others are sung as texts to contemporary tunes accompanied by synthesized harmonies. Most laba aficionados are curious and appreciative of this music, but they see it as being pre-planned and composed, and therefore entirely different from traditional laba. Illustration 6.3 DVD cover showing Hani singer, Li Mingxiu, produced 2006 Today, the average Luchun household owns at least one of these music videos, which receive frequent playtime. Needless to say their popularity has affected laba performance and reception in significant ways. Firstly, local performers who are featured in Li Xuelin’s videos gain considerable prestige in the laba community. They view it as a badge of honor, a symbolic recognition of their artistic skill. Three of the singers whom I recorded and interviewed, Ceiqpiel, Siivqlaoq and Salpiel, were featured in these videos. One of the first things that each singer did during our initial contact was 221 to proudly show me their recorded performances. At other times, singers hoped that I could videotape their performances and offer them a professional video similar to those produced by Li Xuelin. (This may have been because they wanted a personal keepsake with visuals, but it also indicates that Li Xuelin has set a precedent for specialists with recording ability to “repay” singers by enhancing their prestige through this form of documentation and dissemination.176) Secondly, in according prestige to some members of the laba community, other less capable singers are discouraged from singing in the home. Instead of singing themselves, they opt to play a recorded performance to enjoy the skill and artistry of the best singers in the township. Thirdly, the prevalence of laba music videos causes the genre to be increasingly viewed as a form of entertainment which lacks social function. While singers in live performances structure narratives to communicate to a specific audience in a given social setting, these parameters are irrelevant in the recording and reception of laba music videos. Aside from the new contexts of laba performance and production, laba orality has influenced other seemingly unrelated forms of storytelling and singing. For example, Alssil, a professional blind musician whose music videos are immensely popular in Luchun, claims that about seventy percent of his song texts are directly inspired by laba poetry.177 In fact, he views his compositions as being a fusion of contemporary folk melody and laba poetry. His song tunes are partly inspired by other pan-minority song recordings and instrumental music from his home village, while his song texts have the traditional themes and metaphors of laba but are considerably simplified to fit into a verse-chorus song form. 176 As far as I am aware, local singers were paid for their initial recorded performances but do not receive royalties from subsequent recording sales. However, most singers are not familiar with the concept of royalties and are simply appreciative that they have received special honor in the community through their participation in these videos. 177 2002, 2006: personal communication. 222 Other examples of laba-inspired orality can be found in the extemporaneous composition of texts set to familiar Chinese folk tunes or pop songs. While the practice of composing new texts set to existing tunes is by no means unique to the Hani (Yang 1998: 204), the case of laba-inspired texts is somewhat unique in that they retain many of the traditional thematic content of traditional laba, as well as the use of common figures of speech such as parallelisms, metaphors, and hyperboles. The relationship between laba and these more contemporary expressions of Hani orality deserves further study. Conclusion Future Research Directions This dissertation has focused on the text and melody of dialogue songs in one specific culture and location in China. This research proposes specific approaches to the interpretation of oral texts and to the study of text-melody relationships, which has potential relevance to the research of similar regional song genres. As other scholars have pointed out, orally composed dialogue song genres are a significant regional phenomenon in Southeast Asia, but have so far received very little scholarly attention (Catlin 1992: i-xvii; Proschan 1992: 2). This study is a small contribution to this growing body of research. The topics covered in this dissertation can be expanded in a number of directions. One area that I am most interested in pursuing is the study of melodic structure and text-melody relationships between different regions of laba. While the historic relationships between laba of different regions has been argued based on comparisons of texts (Shi 1998), little has yet been written about the similarity and differences between regional concepts of melody as embodied in the term teisa. The comparative study of regional melodic structures has the potential to shed light on the 223 historical transmission and transformation of tunes across a geographic area.178 Furthermore, comparative regional studies of text-melody relationships in oral performance may contribute to the understanding of how language and melody develop over time, and how similarities or differences between regions might support or disprove claims of their contiguous development. This again recalls Rousseau’s compelling claims for the unity between poetry and melody. Along similar lines of comparative research, Zhang Xingrong’s work on the multi-part performances of Puchun village azi raises questions concerning the relationships between solo and polyphonic performances of azi (2003: 91-130). A brief comparison of Luchun and Azhahe melodic contours and mode shows the two regions’ teisas to be similarly structured. The mode of the Azhahe teisa and its phrasal descent are more complex than the Luchun version, but their structural similarities are undeniable (see figures 6.1 and 6.2). Figure 6.1 Comparison of weighted teisa modes Figure 6.2 Comparison of Luchun and Azhahe teisa schemata Tentative melodic schemata for multi-part performances of Azhahe teisa179 178 Li compares different regions of modes in the introduction to The Hani Folksong Anthology (1995: 20-31). However, his conclusions are difficult to follow because he does not explain how he establishes a mode’s tonic. It seems that he establishes tonicity in part according to the frequency of a pitch’s appearance in a song, and in other cases, he bases tonicity on the way in which modes superimpose with the Chinese pentatonic gongshang system. This mixed basis for defining modal hierarchy is problematic. 179 This schemata was developed based upon a recording of Azhahe azi made by Zhang Xingrong (see discography Yunnan Zhengyuan Wenhua Chuanbo Gongsi, . 224 Melodic schemata for Luchun teisa By comparing the melodic structure between different regions of laba with varying degrees of melodic complexity, one may be able to identify the core structural elements common to all regions. This, in turn, may shed light on how melody is conceptualized in more complex performances, such as the multi-part azi of Azhahe township. This line of thought is also supported by local perceptions in which multi-part performances are considered conceptually analogous to solo or antiphonal laba performances.180 In this way, the use of “polyphony” as a term describing Hani multi- part singing can perhaps be supplanted by heterophony, in that all parts relate to one overarching melodic structure and not to multiple melodies. Future research should look at how the complexity of multi-part performances can be understood according to more basic melodic structures. This will hopefully also lead to a better understanding of teisa as an abstract concept that includes both synchronic and diachronic melodic variation. This proposed direction of research relates to Simha Arom’s use of reductive 180 Luchun singers claim that they can sing multi-part labas in a large group. However, they explain that multi-part performances are rare today because there are so few capable singers per village. The Luchun Hani do not have a particular term to describe the musical processes involved in their multi-part singing. (Hence, it is not possible to verify using local terminology the relevance of descriptive terms such as polyphony and heterophony.) Their description of the musical process, however, leads one to think that perhaps heterophony is a more useful descriptive term. They describe multi-part laba singing as being similar to other forms of laba performance: the same teisa is used and each person sings “in unison” but not in exactly the same way. They also acknowledge that there are types of acceptable and unacceptable melodic variations. 225 models as a basis for analyzing the polyphonic music of Central African instrumental ensembles (1985). A second potential area of future research pertains to efforts toward cultural preservation. These goals are proposed at an opportune time in which national academics of the arts are riveted on the topics of sustaining traditional musics. These trends have taken place in the wake of China’s recent involvement in UNESCO initiatives181 and in the 2001 ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Since the early 2000s, the term yuanshengtai yinyue “original ecology music” has fueled discussions in musicological circles of how village traditions can be sustained and protected in their natural setting, relating the protection of traditional music to similar rhetoric on the protection of the natural environment (Fu 2007; Qiao 2006; Yu 2009). In addition, since 2001 UNESCO proclaimed several of China’s traditional musics to be ”Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.182 These events, likewise, have raised interest in the protection of traditional arts and have fueled much discussion on the practical workings of selecting and distributing government funding to various levels of chuanchengren (tradition-bearers). In light of these current trends, I am interested in partnering with government institutions to develop projects that encourage intergenerational interaction between laba singers and Hani youth. As was alluded to earlier, the breakdown of laba transmission to this present generation of Hani youth marks a critical point in the decline of laba performance, and will lead to its imminent disappearance from this locale in a matter of decades. What I propose is a partnership effort with local officials such as Li Mingxiu to run regular workshops (either in the community or as a supplemental school event) in which children and youth will have an opportunity to 181 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). 182 UNESCO proclaimed kunqu opera as a “Masterpeice of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2001. Likewise, the music of the qin received this title in 2003, Uyghur muqam of Xinjiang in 2002, and the Mongolian urtin duu long song tradition in 2005 (http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php, accesssed December 17, 2009). 226 listen to elders sing laba and to have the language, themes and stories of texts systematically explained to them. The purpose of these workshops is to get children and youth to see traditional forms of cultural learning as being equally essential and relevant to their present lives. Furthermore, these forums of exchange might have the potential of helping us to identify youth with special interest in learning how to sing laba. These individuals would then be offered the opportunity to train with a local singer. Projects integrating folksong learning into educational systems have been implemented among the Dong in Ronjiang county, Guizhou with great success beginning in the mid nineties, spearheaded by musicologists such as Zhang Yong.183 As Daniel Avorgbedor has stated in a case study on the impact of rural-urban migration on a Ghanaian village music culture, “original modes [of musical transmission] rely heavily on natural endowment and personal initiative,” but the present exigencies of musical decline require “a more formal and regular mode of recruiting and training musicians” (1992: 51). Although such a project has many foreseeable challenges, particularly with regard to traditional views of teaching and learning laba, it also stands to benefit from other social factors. Firstly, laba participants in Luchun are aware of laba’s decline and wish to preserve it.184 Secondly, the themes of dialogue labas, when understood, should still strike Hani youth as being relevant to their lives. Despite the influence of modernity, traditional village institutions, gender ideologies, and kinships structures still run deep in Luchun. Thirdly, Luchun villagers have a history of cooperation with local authorities on cultural projects. The Luchun laba community has participated in short-term projects organized by government institutions for the last few years, and 183 Zhang Rong (see also Zhang Rong et al: 2000). 184 In an informal survey, most laba participants expressed an awareness of laba’s decline and were interested in doing something to preserve it, although they could not readily think of how to do this. 227 would likely welcome any additional projects as ongoing efforts toward cultural preservation.185 The Luchun government’s support of indigenous art forms is likely a reflection of broader national interests among academics and government officials toward the protection of traditional musics. These interests demonstrate a clear departure from previous state policy and practice. Although the national discourse on sustaining traditional music mentioned previously does not seemingly square up to continued uses of minority performing arts in song and dance troups186 nor with recent government actions that appear to limit the freedom of minority rights,187 we are reminded by Xiaolin Guo of the complexity of cultural responses in China: Although government organizations, legal systems, and educational and other public institutions have indisputably facilitated sinicization in terms of language and other forms of public demeanor, as a process it must not be taken to mean that the features of local societies are simply replaced by a single national norm. Ecological, social, and economic conditions exhibit tremendous variation, and responses from individuals and communities differ accordingly. Fortunately, the historical and social circumstances of Luchun have resulted in an atmosphere of cooperation between local villagers and the local government, which perhaps can be used advantageously for the purpose of preserving a valuable art form. Furthermore, the preservation of traditional practices has the potential to be mutually beneficial to local and state interests: by maintaining a level of local diversity, while 185 According to villagers, the government has sponsored a laba competition as part of the Tenth Month Festival since 2001. The government has also invested considerable money in the past years, in promoting other Tenth Month Festival activities both in the main town area and in the villages. Villagers have a positive view of government-sponsored events such as these, as the additional resources increase the cultural reputation of the region, and also engender feelings of pride at the village level. 186 For a summary of Communist minority policy and its implementation in the performing arts, see Rees 2000: 15-27. Rees describes the implementation of minority policy as resulting in a type of “domestic orientalism” which exoticizes minorities, portraying them as being constantly involved in dance and music in comparison to “the more staid and sober Han” (2000: 24). Stevan Harrell makes similar comments about the government’s promotion of minority culture through “festivals, costumes, and the inevitable dancing in a circle” (1995: 27). 187 Edward Wong, “China Locks Down Restive Region After Deadly Clash,” New York Times, July 6, 2009, Asia Pacific Section, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/world/asia/07china.html. 228 concurrently promoting a biculturalism that equips youth to move between values and structures of local importance and those required in modern and sinicized environments. Conversations with a Loved One Ultimately, this study of laba dialogue—its themes and narratives, its interpretive frameworks, and its patterns of poetry and melody—is about the extraordinary poignancy of an art form that constitutes conversations between loved ones. The formality of laba does not distance loved ones but draws them into the nexus of passions and obligations that define their relationship. These love conversations are filled with tension and pathos, as the turmoil created by competing love relationships are wrestled with. The woman is positioned at the centre of these struggles. Her romantic passions must be diminished by her relentless loyalty to birth kin, until her lover shows himself and his family to be worthy of her loyalty. If he succeeds in persuading her of his worthiness, then the woman must reject her kin and follow her lover. Their relationship, begun in passion, will become one that is sealed by the permanence of obligation. Laba dialogues offer a window into the maintenance of obligations between those in authority and those who are dependent. Those in authority have the obligation to protect and provide for dependents, so that they win their respect and validate their position of authority. Conversely, dependents have some means of resisting authority, but they can be won over to submission by assurances of protection and provision. 188 These dynamics are played out artfully using nature imagery, action metaphors, and disarming hyperboles, which allow singers to move slowly and thoughtfully through 188 This analysis is similar to Abu-Lughod’s perspectives on kinship hierarchies among the Bedouin. She argues for the complementarity of familial relationships of inequality, in which the opposition between the powerful and the weak are downplayed through obligations and responsibilities that enforce bonds of love and notions of unity and identity within the family (1986: 81-82). 229 relational scenarios fraught with contingencies. Laba dialogues progress through many different stages of agreement and opposition, a journey that has acquiescence of the dependent as its desired outcome but which may not necessarily conclude as such. In the past, laba dialogues empowered the weak by providing them a forum for self-advocacy. Although the same cannot be said of most contemporary performances, present-day participants continue to cherish laba dialogues for their evocation of resistance and for their tender portrayal of promises and aspirations exchanged between loved ones. One wonders how the gradual disappearance of this conversational art form might affect the negotiations necessary to maintaining these relationships and the common understanding of mutual kinship obligations. Perhaps speech will suffice as it suffices in so many other cultures. Perhaps new forms will replace older ones. Or perhaps traditional kinship hierarchies will be replaced by other ideologies. Having gained a deep appreciation for the richness of laba poetry and melody, and the breadth of its communicative potential, I would naturally lament these changes. But for now, it is enough that there are some who still find solace and joy in laba dialogues—in the ways they illuminate familiar relational predicaments in all their complexity and emotional depth. 230 Appendix A: Background Information on Laba Singers Shi Ceiqpiel ( ) and Bai Bopiel ( ) Ceiqpiel was 60 years old at the time of recording (2006). She is originally from the village of Daxing and later married into the village of Aqlaoq Nahhal. She has been singing laba since her twenties, and learned as a youngster from neighbours and peers. Her father also sang laba. After Ceiqpiel got married, she did not sing as much because her husband thought that it was improper to sing azi. Since her husband passed away nineteen years ago, Ceiqpiel began singing laba again. In the past she would sing with others while farming, now she sings with other elderly people when they go on outings. Ceiqpiel has a passion for singing laba and continues to do so often to express a spectrum of moods and emotions. She states that the presence of TV and radio have no influence on her desire to sing and she sings just as much now as she did in the past. In fact, she says that many elderly people are able to sing more now than in the past because their material circumstances have improved and they no longer need to work as hard to put food on the table. Ceiqpiel has appeared on one of Li Xuelin’s laba VCDs and she is well respected as a singer. During our recording session on May 18, 2006, Ceiqpiel sang several songs, including an azi and a laba about the kuzaza festival. The recording session was unique in that Ceiqpiel stopped frequently to discuss lyrics with her friend Bopiel, a 70 year-old woman from the village of Aqlaoq Nahhal. Although Bopiel claimed that she could not sing laba, she was clearly familiar with laba stock phrases, and collaborated with Ceiqpiel to come up with metaphors and parallelisms that formed sequential units in the overall narrative. 231 Chen Siivqlaoq ( ) and Yang Salpiel ( ) Siivqlaoq and Salpiel are a couple from the village of Alzeiv Laoma. Siivqlaoq was 56 and Salpiel was 53 years of age at the time of recording (2006). Their performances of azi and laba on June 2, 2006 represent the longest and most developed song narratives among the songs collected for this study. Siivqlaoq and Sal Peil live in a more remote village located at a high altitude and relatively removed from Luchun town affairs. They claim that they have known how to sing laba and azi since their teens. They describe their youth as a time when most villagers were familiar with how to sing laba and they would commonly greet each other with laba when working and travelling outdoors. Laba was essentially a substitutionary form of speech. Siivqlaoq and Salpiel met each other while working outdoors and singing azi. They are one of the few remaining couples in Luchun who know how to sing azi together. According to traditional conventions, Siivqlaoq takes a leading role in determining the direction of a narrative, while Salpiel wittily resists the advance of the narrative. This also means that in general Siivqlaoq sings more than Salpiel. 232 Long Alssil ( ) Alssil is a 43 year-old singer and instrumentalist from the village of Alzeiv Loama (2006). Although he is not featured as a laba singer in this study, he was instrumental in helping me make contact with Siivqlaoq and Salpiel. Alssil is a blind musician who is well known locally for his original folksong compositions. He has won prizes at provincial folksong competitions and has published a song anthology and produced two VCDs. His songs are household tunes in Luchun and are well loved by Hani of all ages. The texts in his composed songs are strongly influenced by laba textual conventions. Although he claimed to be able to sing laba, he seldom sang any but preferred to perform his composed songs. He is featured as one of the meiba (leaf) players in AL2.189 189 Biographical information above is taken in part from Alssil’s folksong anthology (Long 1997) and through personal communication (2001, 2006). 233 Bai Muqzeq ( ) and Bai Saljovq ( )  Bai Muqzeq was 57, and Saljovq was 65 years of age at the time of recording (2005). They are both from the village of Goaqma, a village located across the valley from Luchun. Goaqma villagers travel frequently back and forth between the village and the town, which can be reached by a thirty-minute car ride. Both Beiq Muqzeq and Saljovq are married and have several children. They do not sing together often but their collaboration in the sibling duet of GM3 shows that they share a common knowledge of stock phrases and narrative conventions circulated within their village. 234 Bai Leilbo ( ) Leilbo was 53 years old at the time of recording (2005). He is from the village of Goaqma. Beiq Leilbo learned how to sing laba from his parents. He has been singing since around thirty years of age. He performed a solo azi which has unique narrative qualities among those collected in this study. In the song, he describes himself as a man who is working abroad and separated from his lover. Despite having met many other beautiful Dai and Han women, he expresses his unyielding loyalty to his lover. 235 Li Qiqbaol ( ) Qiqbaol was in his early twenties when I first met him on the streets of Luchun (2001). He is originally from Xincun village in Gekui but travelled to Luchun as a blind itinerant musician. During our recording sessions, Qiqbaol performed music on the dizi (transverse flute) and erhu (bowed fiddle), as well as performing some azi. His azi are distinct from other performances in that he sings about the foreignness of Luchun, his longing for home, and his sad fate as a blind musician. These stand in contrast to most other labas of this collection, which have a celebratory atmosphere based on feelings of security and belonging found in one’s family and home village. Qiqbaol’s azi (LB1) is also unique in that it is sung to a different teisa (melody) than the others in this collection. (Gekui is located 32 km north of Luchun. The teisa of labas in Gekui are closer in style to those of Azhahe in Honghe.) About one year after our first meeting in 2002, Qiqbaol was recruited by a Luchun business entrepreneur to become a masseur. He is presently employed at a massage clinic in Luchun and is well provided for financially. Because of the social stigma and poverty that accompanied his previous life as a itinerant musicians,Li Qiqbaol does not sing labas anymore and avoids talking about them. 236 Appendix B: Table of Recorded Songs 237 Appendix C: Translated Song Texts Notes for all Song Translations For each song the Hani-Chinese translation is shown first. This includes three lines of text: the first line is the original Hani text, the second line shows a word-for-word translation in Chinese, and the third line shows a poetic translation. Song texts were translated by Chen Lacel with small editorial changes by Zheng Mingfang. The English poetic translations were done by the author. They are presented on their own after each Hani-Chinese translation. Parallelisms are indicated in the English translation with a ‘p’ at end of a couplet or triplet. Songs AL1 and GM4 are broken into subsections indicated by lower case letters. The divisions also mark places where singers requested a short break. CP1 “Kuzaza festival song” Han-Chinese Translation  1 Hhaol li saoq la maq jil meil sseil hhaq qiq heiq miao ya !  #   4 5 ' + !#)45 + 2 Sseilzyuq aqpyuq sseilbei leilseil deivq wulyaq 4, . 4,-  * 4  3 Yuvq la aqmavq hev ssol yuvqcei ceilhhaol gyuq wulyaq  # # 2  #-2  4 Haqniq Holtol leilmil moqhhaq naq tovq hev wulyaq   (   3  Moqhhaq naq   (Moqhhaq naq "#/10 ) (Holtol -%) 5 Ngavq la aqmavq hev e qiq siil xilmeil pal ya  #    #  6 Ngavq la aqmeel hev e qiqjivq jivq  # (   #  $ 7 Kuvq la mavqnei hev alngaoq # & &  # 238 8 Kuvq la aqmavq hev e qiq siil pal <    <7 9 Ngaldu naoq bo aqnil hoqcuv daoqpeiq bei e qiq col / )$ K , .! XF   79;$ (%6=JL79;$1 -J#]) 10 Ngaldu xovq li milguq colhaol dama eil e / P W(N)    /LW  11 Naoq bo aqnil hoqcuv daoqpeiq bei e qiq col )$ K , .! XF   79X;  12 Ngaldu nao meeq nao zaq ha leil aqnao hev alngaoq / 7  7  7  ? ?7' 7 13 Daol a mavq nei nini bol dav cavssaq eq li alnei ( V $V T (TGL$E> 14 Ngaldu galheiq haqbaoq qil cuv yuvq ssaoq tavq / " Q @     /L"Q Z\ 15 Galheiq hhevma hhaqqaol leelde daoqmiq tavq a eq deel " O O0 & Z\ T  2ET>4O0L&[ 16 Hhovqli paqmoq dev cuvq e hhaqqaol yaol HS + O0 HS + LO0 17 Coq puv lalna hhaqqaol maq biav hovqmoq yaol Y R B O0   0 O0A!*U 18 Soqlo eel hovq qeilma hhaqmeil 8: C 3/T C  :CD 19 Qeil hhaol lalna hhaqqaol maq ziivq duq ziivq miq alnei  5 O0  M  M 5LO0MLI 20 Soqlo eel hovq qeilma hhaqmeil 8: C 3/T C  :CD 239 21 Eelbeeq qivq e baqduv laqmoq kevq meil jol nga '& 2 +5 " :"2'&)+5 22 Eellavq qivq e deilnil aqma ssaqmiq kevq meil jol '& 2   " "2'&) 23 Ngaldu milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol   # )Gyuma Naqhhal 24 Ngaldu sal milcaq gyuma naqhhal yaol    # )Gyuma Naqhhal 25 Miq seiv mavq nei seiv ya    / 6 26 Coq puv hhaqqaol maq biav hovqmoq tavq a seiv ya 7 . ,     9:  / , ) 27 Miq seiv mavq nei qiq jol seiv e   %  %/ 6 28 Soqlo mavq nei eelhovq qeilma hhaqmeil tavq a seiv alnei ! &/1&  9:  / &;8 29 Col seiv mavq nei qiq jol seiv ya   % */ 30 Coq puv mavqnei hhaqqaol maq biav hovqmoq tavq a seiv ya 7 . ,     9:  / , 9: 31 Ngaldu sal e milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal    # )Gyuma Naqhhal 32 Puv hhaol laolqei miqnaoq ssaq bo maq cil #   (   #)(0 33 Galheiq miqleil duv saq maq naq meil jol      "  34 Yoq puv puvsiq sal e aqpeil yeiv 3 # #  $4  -)#$4 240 35 Yoq hovq hovqlaol sal e taoqdiq yeiv ?  %  @  %98@ 36 Sal e milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal   / Gyuma Naqhhal 37 Coq puv hhaqqaol maq biav hovqmoq D = ; (   ( 6; ( 38 Galheiq haqbaoq yuvqli yuvqqil cuv  < B  0  6<B 39 Tavq a naqneil yuvqli yuvqmiaq kavq meil jav F 1 B * ) . F6B1!) 40 Aqhhuv daoqpeiq yuvqli yuvqqil cuv F $ B 0  F$6B0! 41 Naolhao ssaqssyuq zeiq qil hhel qil cuv   4   4 6 C 42 Tavq a naqneil yuvqli yuvqmiaq kavq e F 1 B * ) )F6B1 43 Naoq bo aqnil zeiq miaq hhel miaq kavq e nga # 5&    ) , #6& 3A7 44 Sseilnei kuqzaq bei ssol ngaldu maq ngeel nga E -" / '  , E6 -"+,' 6 45 Sseilnei kuqzaq Zyuqpuv Daoljol bei nga E -" * / E6 -"+,Zyuqpuv Daoljol 6 46 Caoqnei galtaol bei ssol ngaldu maq hhuvq nga  -" / '   6 -" '  47 Caoqqnei galtaol bei ssol Haqlaol Jalgyu ssavqyivq bei nga  -" / *  / 6 -"+,Haqlaol Jalgyu  6 48 Galhhu pyuqloq yeilbei Jaqhhal nga > : / 2 , ,>: 62 241 49 Pyuqlo Yeilsal leilkav dudaq nga yil 4  & * %*4Yeilsal Leilkav 2& 50 Ngaldu aqyivq gaq e meilnaol hal naol ei eiq     " 2  51 Ngaldu gaq li milguq colhaol dama   9(5)  '29 52 Ngaldu caoqsaol milguq ssavqyivq saoq meil aqnaol   9   29 (9,* 2#) 53 Galheiq hhavq seivq luvma piqteil jav nga  1  3 3- + +123- 54 Galheiq hhavq seivq luvma piqteil yaol  1  3 3- 23- 55 Nao meeq nao zaq hhavq leil aqnao hev alngaoq )  )  1 )  . .)1) 56 Daol a nini leilmil bol dav cavssaq yaol hhei alnei  0   8:20 ! 57 Galheiq hhevma lavqlaol nga yil  6  26 58 Huq li huq meil huq a qiq taq ziiq e /  7/ 59 Gaq li milguq colhaol dama huqteil ziiq nga  9   29 60 Maq meeq saqzaq gee a ziiq pyul   2 (  ( $2 61 Meeq e kalsol lolnia ziiq heq miq leil ziiq e nga  ; (    $2 242 62 Naolhao naoqli naoq meil qiq taq ziiq e     1  A 1* 63 Seiqcuv lavqcavq gee a ziiq pyul D " ' ' #<  64 Piaqdao nalyeil ziiq zei miq leil ziiq e nga  ;   #; 65 Sseil nei hhoqzyuq yiv e naqhhal F F8 / 2<' F8/-2<' 66 Siivq pil naqyei dalduq  > 2<' >/-2<' 67 Sseilnei kuqzaq aqniuq nalmeil taol F , 7 H ?E F< ,?E7H 68 Sseilnei kuqzaq aqniuq nalmeil taol alnei F , 7 H ?E F< ,?E7H 69 Nao meeq nao zaq hu leil aqnao hev alngaoq (   G (  (G( 70 Sseilnei hhoqzyuq yiv e naqhhal yaol F F8 / 2<' F8/-2<' 71 Soqlo eelhovq qeilma hhaqmeil )+ 3 %/C 3  +34 72 Ngaldu aldovq qiq hhaq qiq mol bavq alnei ! 5#   $= ! $=5# 73 Ceilniq puv’laol hoqcuv yolqoq kevq meil 6B .  6B 74 Ngaldu qiq ciivq dev e neecev bavq alnei !   39 $= !$=39 75 Saol ciivq eelqul leilmil baoqzao saol baoq eq alnei   3: 0  & C= C=&@0C3 243 76 Huq li huq meil qiq hhaq huq e  8) 77 Gaqli milguq colhaol dama miqteil hovq  ?   :.  5? 78 Caoqsaol milguq ssavqyivq saoq meil aqnaol hovq alngaoq  ?    " : ?  : 79 Aqyoq eelhovq aqnia buqdeil taq bi sil leil eil yil miq e nga  .: ( =<  , 7=<,B 80 Aqyoq eilmil meiqbaoq heiqmiaol miaol  ;  7 >; 5 7 81 Eil qivq meiqpyul doqsi aqgaoq pieiq e ;   ' >; 5 $ 82 Eel milnia a hhavqlo maq bi byuq leil hel nga . ( 2   & $ $2 &. 83 Aqyoq eilmil meiqbaoq doqsi heiqmiaol miaol e   7 >; 5 7 84 Eil qivq meiqpyul doqsi aqgaoq peiq e ;   ' >; 5 $ 85 Naolhao ssaqssyuq zeqqil hhelqil mol lal leil eil e nga   1 1 +  5 @9+ 86 Naoq bo aqnil zeqhhaq hhelhhaq hav lal leil eil e nga !5"  C + !5" C 87 Ngaldu sal e milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol %   * %5Gyuma Naqhhal 88 Ngaldu pavq heq heq e dama nei xa laq e alqul alpavq heq e %   0- 5 /   0-5 /# 89 Sseilnei Hhoqzyuq yiv e zalhel maq hel qivq D D4 + 6  63; D4+;>A /63 244 90 Sseilzyuq aqpyuq yiv ssol zaolgu pavqtov maq tov qivq ;) . 6   3 ;) 379& 6 91 Daol a alpeel peelma saol caoq heq alnei  :&   ! :& 92 Sseilnei Hhoqzyuq yiv e zalhel nga yil ; ;) /( ;) <7:& 93 Sseilzyuq aqpyuq yiv ssol hoqgav lavqpeq tov duv guq nga yil ;) . ='  <7 ;) <79:& 8 ,=' 94 Pyuqloq yeilbei aqhhal nga yil 1 . %   1.,% 95 Pyuqlo Yeilsal Leilkav dudaq nga yil .    .Yeilsal leilkav , 96 Ngaldu eelqul hovq e hhoqsaq yaol  $* 2 0" 2$,0" 97 Pavqlo eelbaoq pavqcyuq hha cyuq  0"    <7& 0" 98 Sseilnei Hhoqzyuq yiv e zalhel hha hel ; ;) /( ;) <7/( 99 Aqma xa e guqqil qiqma aqpavq cev yil miq al #  5    #, 100 Daol a yiqciivq zallo moqzal bavq yil miq al  4 =   ,4 101 Sseilnei Hhoqzyuq moqpiul ziiq alnei ; ;) +  ;)-+ 102 Sivqpil yiv ssol moq goq ziiq meil yiv /  >  /-> 103 Sseilnei Hhoqzyuq yiv e moqzal hha zei ; ;)   ;)  245 104 Moqceil beima heiqyeiq hha zei miq nga % $   % 105 Pyuqloq yeilbei aqhhal nga yil ; 6 / ( (;6 4/ 106 Pyuqlo Yeilsal Leilkav dudaq nga yil 6  # ( " (6 Yeilsal Leilkav 4# 107 Nao meeq nao zaq hu leil aqnao hev alngaoq & & D & &D& 108 Nao meeq nao zaq hu leil aqnao & & D & &D& 109 Caoqli bossil leilmil hu leil qiq soq hev alngaoq . D  ) D&') 110 Galheiq hhavq seivq luvma piqteil jav nga  1  5 5, * *145, 111 Galheiq hhavq seivq luvma piqteil yaol  1  5 5, 415, 112 Ceilniq aqmavq colma gulhaol xa e 0;    0; 4 113 Ceilniq aqmavq ssaq saqhel bavq yil alnei 0; 7< ! 0; 7 -  C@9 246 118 Pyuqlo helgeel zaoltev aqheiq tavq a bavqhel miq      247 CP1 “Kuzaza festival days”: English Translation 1 The third month of spring is upon us; the rainy season has not yet passed and the buckwheat is ripe for harvest. 2 The rainy season has arrived, 3 The cricket of the fourth month is calling, 4 Hani villages will celebrate the Moqhhaq Naq rest day. 5 The fifth month marks the change of a new season; 6 When the fifth month arrives, there will be other festival days. 7 When the sixth month arrives 8 The sixth month will mark a changing over to yet other festival days. 9 The Sixth Month Festival is our smallest festival and for this reason deserves special honor. 10 Our milguq and elders say that 11 This was the first festival of our ancestors. 12 When the good day arrives, the one belonging to the chicken, 13 We will go to the mountain top to climb and fetch tweed-rope from the cavni plants for making a swing. 14 Our village corner has four bamboo poles that are firmly planted in the ground. 15 When we carry the tweed-rope back we’ll put it at the end of the shelter beside the swing. 16 Our parents and elders made the swing shelter, 17 The swing shelter is like a good house; we cannot let it fall into disrepair, 18 In the morning we go to the edge of the well to get fresh water and rest in the shade. 19 Beyond the well there is a swing shed that is sturdy and well built. 20 In the morning we will get water from the weel that is cool and refreshing. 21 In the well there are frogs that can swim, 22 There are also lady-redfish that can swim. 23 Our good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! 24 Our good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! 25 Many ladies gather together here, 26 Man ladies gather on the roof of the swing shelter, 27 Many ladies gather together there this one time in the year. 28 The ladies gather together close by the well, 29 Here people gather together this one time in the year. 30 The ladies gather together in the swing shelter. 31 Our good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! 32 The young women in the village give birth to countless children. 33 There are so many ladies at the village gate, 34 Our beautiful village is like a blossoming pear blossom. 35 Families that live in peace are like blossoming flowers. 36 Our good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! 37 No matter how we jump or turn the swing shelter will not go bad. 38 The four bamboo posts marking the four corners of the village stand solidly in the ground. 39 Above, the four corners are marked by the four treetops that are bound together. 40 Below, the four corner roots of the village are well established. 41 In the future, the grandchildren will have a road of fortune with money flowing in like waves. 42 Above, the treetops in the four corners are bound together. 248 43 In doing this, we bind together wealth for our younger siblings, assuring them growing fortunes. 44 We are not the first to celebrate the kuzaza festival of the rainy season. 45 Zyuqpuv Daoljol was the first to celebrate the kuzaza festival of the rainy season. 46 We were not the first to celebrate the gatao festival of the winter season. 47 Haqlaol Jalgyu, the eldest son, was the first to celebrate the gatao festival of the winter season. 48 These calendrical laws were started in ancient times by our ancestors. 49 The story is told according to Yeilsal Leilkav, our first ancestor. 50 My dear brothers and sisters! 51 Our respected milguq elders! 52 Our three respected milguq elders! 53 At the gate there is a stone slab for killing the pig, 54 The stone slab at the gate is for killing the pig. 55 When the good day arrives, the one belonging to the pig, 56 We will use the long tweed-ropes gathered up in the mountains as rope for the swing, 57 We will build a large swing by the village gate. 58 Who will swing on it first? 59 First let the respected milguq swing on it: 60 Let him swing the bad things to one side, 61 Let him swing the good and clean things to the other side. 62 The second time: 63 Let him take the bad physical things and swing them to one side, 64 Let him take the flues and sicknesses and throw them to one side. 65 Then when the Lord of Rain comes he will have a resting place, 66 When the seven priests come they will have a resting place. 67 When the kuzaza festival of the rainy season comes we will pierce the nose of the water buffalo. 68 When the kuzaza festival of the rainy season has come, we will have pierced the nose of the water buffalo. 69 When the good day arrives, the one belonging to the rat, 70 The Lord of Rain will come to rest in this place, 71 We will get him cool and refreshing water from the well, 72 We will each take a torch in one hand-- 73 And the elders will also take part. 74 We will hold a water bucket in our other hand, 75 We will carry three bamboo buckets on our backs. 76 The first person who carries the water back is 77 The respected milguq, our elder. 78 The three milguqs, the three respected brothers, will carry it on their backs. 79 They will pray that the worms will not die in the well, 80 They will pray with mouths that can speak. 81 They will recite scriptures with mouths that can speak. 82 The texts they recite will keep the pigs from wandering and drowning in the well. 83 They pray with mouths that can speak, 84 They recite scripture with mouths that can speak. 85 May our offspring have a road of fortune flowing with wealth, 86 May our younger siblings increase in strength. 87 Our good village of Gyuma Naqhhal! 88 The plantain leaves of our parents are large, 249 89 When the Lord of Rain comes, we cannot use those plantain leaves to offer sacrifices 90 When the Lord of Rain comes, we cannot use those plantain leaves to wrap food. 91 Up in the mountains there are three hedges of wild plantain trees, 92 When the Lord of Rain comes we need to use those wild plantain leaves. 93 When the Lord of Rain comes we need to use those wild plantain leaves to wrap food for him for the road. 94 These are the calendrical laws of our ancestors. 95 The story is told according to Yeilsal Leilkav, our first ancestor. 96 The bamboo water buckets that we use 97 Require plantain leaves to plug up. 98 When the Lord of Rain comes we will need to make sacrifices to him, 99 We will need to go and pick guqqil vegetables that our parents planted, 100 We will need to go up to the mountain to fetch horse feed and yiqciivq grass for his horse. 101 The Lord of Rain rides a white horse, 102 The priests come riding here in large horses. 103 When the Lord of Rain comes we will need to feed his horse, 104 We will need a lot of horse feed to feed the horses. 105 This is the calendrical laws of our ancestors. 106 The story is told according to Yeilsal Leilkav, our first ancestor. 107 When the good day arrives, the day belonging to the rat, 108 The good day of rat, 109 On the morning of the good day of the rat, 110 The village gate will have a stone slab for killing the pig. 111 The stone slab for sacrificing the pig at the village gate, 112 When the messenger sends word to all the village families, 113 The village families will come to the stone slab to fetch meat to bring home to the family. 114 We will need the good rice and good sticky rice of the field, 115 When the day comes we cannot miss celebrating it: 116 On the day we must have sticky rice cakes, 117 On the day we must have red sticky rice 118 To offer to our ancestors on the offering altar. 250 CP2 “I will carry my lover’s firewood” Hani-Chinese Translation 1 Ngayaq lavqlo maq ciq meil jol e, ( )  8  (8) 2 Hoqhhyu molmeeq mavq nei hoqpiul hul’a lavqnuvq caq meil jol lil leil. $   >  )   $>  3 Ngal keello maq ciq meil jol e, ( A  8   4 Hoqhhyu molmeeq lolnia wuqhhaol nal meil jol lil leil. $  (4 )    $=  (E-4!$=E = ) 5 Ngal dama laq e niaq alkaq ssaqnaol sal meil jol lil, ( :3    #! C/  (:3-C/= 6 Ngal eelma aqda niq lol alkaq ngaqssaq zaq meil jol lil leil. ( 5   0   @  5B<=;9 (E-4:3%B<"D5%'9) 7 Dama laq e alkaq ssaqnaol sal meil jol alnei, :3   #! C/   (;9:3&-C/= 8 Maq meeq lal na laq e siivq ceil leilmil geeldiq mavqssaq lal e liq maq mol ya leil wul.   1  (4+)*  1   1* += 9 Ngal eelma laq e niq lol alkaq ngaqssaq zaq meil jol alnei, ( 5  0   @   5B<=;9 10 Deihhvq lalna laq e Biqcaoq hhazei saoq daol lal e liq maq mol ya. 7 , ?  2 1   2,1?. (E-4:3%6.; = ) 11 Ngayaq maq siq sulla ssaqnaol gee meil jol leil wul, (   #!   (-#!=!    251 12 Maq hev alyeil saol huvq ssaqguq gee meil jol lil.   -  #/  !   *4B! -BRS. (T4:4!  ) 13 Maq siq sulla ssaqnaol yaol ngeel alnei,   %! 4  %! , 14 Ngal yevqlavq bavq puv eeldaol bavq alnei hoqzyu dama meiqsi ssuq alnei doq yal * + .  L;B" . >9 T N  gee meil jol lil.   *+.D;8>9BT MB 0C. 15 Maq hev laq e alyeil saol huvq ssaqguq yaol ngeel alnei,   -  #/ ! 4  B! -BRS 16 Ngayaq neehhul hoqsiq ceq aqnil gee meil jol nga leil wul. * I G / !   *BI/D G 17 Lavqbaoq aqbeil ceq ssaqnaol gee meil jol leil, +K U= / %!  +K/DU= (T4:%!B! -R,A) 18 Ngayaq aqma mavqnei qul dol dol duv ssaqnaol gee meil jol lil. * 9      %!  *D9B 19 Dama laq e baoltav coqseil seil meil jol lil leil >9  J P@ @  ! >9BJP@ (2B)(4>9B4&$EB) 20 Ngal eelquvq laq e baoqteiq eq ssol soqlu naohhaol qi meil jol lil, * ; ;8? H 35   *HD?;82@ 21 Miqkoq yeilqi mavqnei eq ssol naollu aoqzaq movq meil jol lil. 67 - H   HD672@ (T4:,<1'2@) 22 Ngayaq niq baoq baoqzao eq e galzeil zul meil jol lil, *  ;8 H O Q  *HD;8QO. 23 Saol baoq baoqzao eq e alhhaol laolqei soqmoq xovq meil jol lil.  ;8 H ' F 252 HC=9E Q( (R3 <->0 () 24 Saol baoq baoqzao eq alnei soqlu mavqnei eelhovq qeilma hhaqmeil tavq a gal yil lil.  =9  H 24 = ( G) Q HC =9 24 =H=. 25 Ngal aqma ssaqmiq aqlavq lavqhhev zalpeel hhao meil yi lil. * ; ! + ( O++ ) 7 *C+7. 26 Aqma ssaqmiq aqkeel keelhhev zaqyevq diq jol lil. ; ! I ( 1I) *1CI'K5 . (R3 <'JA) 27 Naolhao ceil yuvq aqda ngavq huvq biao e qiq siil pal wulnaq.     %/     B. 28 Huvq yei mavqnei ceil saol biao e qiq jivq yaol jivq nia wulnaq. %/       B (R3 <) B) 29 Hoqzyu dama guvq e sseilgeel siillov hovseiq yaol eq alnei. ?;  LM  (:@) H HC?;BLM. 30 Aqqoq baziq diq e miavma sekal yaol bavq alnei.    () / /C B. 31 Qiq mavq diq e to’leil miavma wuqmuvq yaol bavq alnei.   (  ) /C B . 32 Hoqhhyu molmeeq mavqnei siiqnil dev laq e paoqkeeq saoq to hha’lul yaol eq alnei. & () (!HN OB$) H HC&B$. 33 Ngayaq miq heivq ssaq a cellel xa meil jol lil leil. * 68  ( DP ) 34 Hhoheiq duv yi cellel xa wul nal wul, aqma ssaqmiq zaolzeil duv li e doqzaq laq meil jol .  7 ; ! "  F *#8,.. 253 35 Aqma ssaqmiq bovqlovq tyuq’a qiq bol yaol mol lil leil. (  ( ) 46   !46+ $&. 36 Ngal soqma zaolgee allavq mol ssol dulma neesal hha meil jol lil. !  * %     !+ *% . 37 Tyulliq zaoldaoq mavqnei caoqgaoq bol yaol miqlo taq yiul leil eil nga. " 2 ( )  &    "2*caoqgaoq /$&. 38 Ngaldu zaoldaoq mavqnei caoqgaoq huvqpeiq puv bol nga leil eil nga. ! 0 ( )  -  "  !0*caoqgaoq"-*. 39 Gyuma mavqnei albol miqlo taq caq leil eil nga.   $&    Gyuma/$&. 40 Gyuma mavqnei albol lapeiq puv duq nga leil eil nga.   # -  Gyuma"-#*. 41 Daol’a mavqnei ciqssaq bol miqlo taq yiul miq leil eil nga.    $&    *ciqssaq/$&. 42 Aqkal ciq moq dev ssol hhoteev guq nga yil.   .   71   . 43 Silsav mavqnei bol yaol miqlo taq caq miq leil eil nga ))  $&    ))/$&. 44 Hhovqliv mavqnei ceiljil laqdaoq daqmiaq guq nga yil, molloq beelduv aqmol eil e. 6 3 ' 71 (  )  713*'. 45 Daol a mavqnei aqpioq bol yaol miqlo taq yiul miq leil eil nga.  ( )  $&     5*aqpioq$&. 46 Aqpioq cevq laq e hhaqbieil guq nga yil. ,&  71 Aqpioq,71. (8 ") 47 Daol a mavqnei heiqnyuq bol yaol miqlo taq yiul miq leil eil nga.  ( )  $& 别    5*heiqnyuq别$&. 254 48 Daol a lalna laq e nyuqmoq deivq e milnia milma yocul nga leil eil nga.  (*) '(   +&  - nyuqmoq'(+&(. 49 Nyuqmoq mavqnei albol deivq e milcaq yomeeq nga yil leil. (*)  '    Nyuqmoq'((. 50 Aqkal hoqhhyu molmeeq nyuqmoq deivq e milnia yalmil sal li nial yil.  (  )* '( ())    nyuqmoq'()(. 51 Nyuqmoq mavqnei albol deivq e milnia lavq caq cuv li nia leil eil nga. (*)  ' (      Nyuqmoq'( . 52 Ngaldu zaoldaoq mavqnei leeqtoq bol yaol miqlo qiq jol yiul yil kal yil.  , ()  !$ %   ,(leeqtoq!$. 53 Aqkal zaoldaoq mavqnei leeqtoq aqmeil niq hhaq bi leel kal yil.  , ()       ,(leeqtoq. 54 Zoqnia mavqnei laqqeil bol yaol miqlo qiqheiq caq li kal yil.  ()  !$   (laqqeil!$. 55 Zoqnia mavqnei laqqeil aqmeil niq hhaq qeiqdoq hoqhhyu bi aol kal.  ()       (laqqeil . 56 Daol a lalna laq e deivq e zyuqpia piallavq heivq li kal yil.  ' () #  zyuqpia(#!$. 57 Ngaldu zaoldaoq mavqnei loqtoq bol yaol miqlo qiq jol yaol yiul alnei.  , ()  !$ %  ,(loqtoq"!$. 58 Zaoldaoq mavqnei loqtoq aqmeil niq hhaq bi leel kal yil. , ()       ,(loqtoq. /. 0 59 Zoqnia mavqnei laqqeil bol yaol miqlo qiq heiq caq alnei1  ()  !$   (laqqeil !$(. 60 Zoqnia mavqnei laqqeil aqmeil niq hhaq qeiqdoq huq ya.  ()       (laqqeil ( . (. ) 255 61 Pavq heivq laolnaoq laq e aqmavq niq hhaq jol qil xilmeil xa.     1     1 . 62 Pavq naoq mavqnei li ssol niq hhaq jolduq xilmeil ssivq wulyaq.      2    02. (8') 63 Pavq heivq niq hhaq jol qil xilmeil sal alnei.     1     1 . 64 Qiq nao beello mavqnei aoqcil xilgei seilhaoq qivq alnei.   $ 7 /  $7/. 65 Caoq naolma mavqnei miqzaq haol’a dal yil zeil wulyaq.  - -.    3 0. 66 Alkal ngaldu niq hhaq pavq’yul maq bioq pavqsiivq heivq puv heivq pal aol   !    &    %  %     meil jol yil sso.  ! 0&5% . 67 Ngaldu niq hhaq jolduq haolci saoq tul taq bi dav lal. !  2      ) ! 02 . 68 Ngaldu niq hhaq jolhhal haolhav leiqjoq taq duv lal. !   2 6  ! 02 . (8') 69 Haolhav mavqnei leiqjoq duv ssol lavqnei sov biul aol meil jol yil sso. *4  5")#. 70 Haolci mavqnei saoq tul duv ssol lavqnei sov miaoq aol meil jol yil sso. * 5"#. (8') 71 Ngaldu mavqnei pavq’yul maq bioq pavqsiivq heivq puv heivq pal aol meil  !  &    %  %    jol yil sso.    !& %. 72 Daol’a mavqnei deivq laq e joqpia pial lavq heivq li kal.     +   0joqpia+(,. 256 73 Aqma ssaqmiq bovqlovq tyuq’a qiq bol yaol mol alnei.   67   1  01 (,. 74 Soqma zaolgee allavq mol ssol dulma neesal hha meil jol wul. ( 0 * 1     1 0*. 75 Miqkoq heivq ba gaq e alyeil dov lal leil. (,    "  )  (,0:) (,0". 76 Hhavqzal cev ba gaqmil naol eq havkavq yaol kavq lal. /3 %   2 0 4  %/30:)20. (9&) 77 Qiq xaoq heivq e ceil lo laol lal leil.     )  ). 78 Qiq lo mavqnei lo ssol hhyuq sseiq ceil sseiq sseiq lal.     . .  ). .. 79 Aqma ssaqmiq hal eq movq e qiq yeil yaol ceil lal nial.   ' 2   "  ) 0)'20". 80 Sal laq e movqdov alyeil sal nga. 5 0 "  50"&0. 81 Sal laq e lavqdov alyeil sal nga. 50 " 50"&0. 82 Zaq laq e movqdov alyeil zaq nga. - 0 " -0"&- 0. 83 Meiqsi pyu nei paoqkeeq lavqcav haolciil lal leil. 9 2+   # ) 952+0 )#!. 84 Naolhao pyu nei lavq e alyeil yeilhav haoq deiq lavq naoq lal leil. 9 " 8" $ )9$!8". (9&) 85 Ngal yeilpi mavqnei maq sal leilmil wuqduq daqyevq caq yil nial leil.  "2  2   "2 . 257 86 Yeilpi mavqnei maq sal leilmil caoqnaoq saol lavq yaol naoq alngaoq. %7  8     .%7;8. 87 Ngal paoqkeeq maq sal laol yaol maq qiv wulyaq. $ 7/      7/7$5. 88 Yeilpi mavqnei maq sal leilmil jovqngaoq maq ngaoq wulyaq. %7$. 89 Yil e qiq nao puq qivq mavqnei gal ssuq lavqnee hhaqdaol tavq a quqzyul wulyaq.  5 6? = < 6? 56?=. 90 Lal e qiq nao galhaol niq pav quqpuq wulyaq. -5  =>  6? -56?=>. (A() 91 Tyulliq yeil meeq aqli yeil zaq tyul jol yaol hoqhhyu aqmol mol lal miq. ( % %2 @   (725%@+ ! . 92 Yeilbiul yeilbiav eq e tyul jol yaol colssaq yolqoq mol lal miq. 25% 7 @ *  725%@+ 9*. (A() 93 Ngaldu qiq mavq naqduq sal e milnia yeilzil dol alngaoq. $ #5 '  $ #5.). 94 Ngaldu mavqnei naqhhal sal milnia pavqloq yaol heivq alngaoq. $ #5 '   .$ #55. (A() 95 Puq qivq mavqnei gal ssuq lavqnee aqdaol. 6? =< 6?5=. 96 Zyul qivq mavqnei galcaol niuqmeiv duq zaq yaol leil. 6? = 6?5=. (A() 97 Caoq naolma miqzaq haol’a dal yil movq wulyaq.  3  ": . 98 Ngaldu hoqzyu dama mavqnei sal e hoqtavq biao wulyaq. $ 41 5 &,05'  $41 5&,05'. 258 99 Dama lavq e zal qavq teiqcal lal wulyaq. :7 J; 9 *) :7*)9J;)(4 . 100 Hoqhhyu molmeeq mavqnei zal zaol qivq e caqxaq kevq wulyaq.  & J;   F &>J;FG . (H1) 101 Ngaldu ba’la aqli lassaq cuvq e hhaseil seil yil kal leil eil wul. . 2 2# < <   2 4.< 102 Tavq a mavqnei aqgeel cuvq e hhazaoq qiq heiq yaol zaoq yil kal leil wul eil.  00 - . 104 Nol laqhev mavqnei hevssaq bavq ssol puvma zaolzeil hhao lal naoq.  ' # / ? 3"  4  /?#'43". 105 Nol bilcev aqda laqbil bavq ssol puvma zaolkaq yaol luvq lal naoq.  6> C / ? 3 " 4  /?C4 3#%. (H1) 106 Ngal dama aqli miqnieiq maq mi aqhaol yaol. . :7 -  A  :7> -8!. 107 Hoqzyu dama mavqnei hoqceil maq savq alkaq. :7 = E  :7>= 8E. (H1) 108 Nol zoqgee mavqnei aolbiq hul’a huq jol.  $ H   $>aolbiq. 109 Zoqnia mavqnei miaovqlal bol a hyuq xavq naoq. $  @  ,,>@$miaovqlal. (H1) 110 Nol zoqgee mavqnei haqpial leilmil zaolcov qiq heiq gyuq e.  $ B5 I  $B5>. 259 111 Ngal hucavq aqma ssuqgal aol ya leil eil yil nial. ' *501/. 116 Zoqgee mavqnei aolbiq bol a huq jol li e leil. "   " 5aolbiq. 117 Ngal nilto mavqnei ssiiqlaq lal ya leil luv zei maq aol nial ' C <= , 8     '%C5<=,8. 118 Zoqnia lalna laq e miaovqlal bol a huq xavq e. "   7 7"5miaovqlal. 119 Aoqtav mavqnei saoqzeil lal ya leil kavtev maq ngaoq nial.  < , #;    '%5<,#;. 120 Ngal maq yil dulma aqli miqzeiq niq pyu colhaol gee meil jol nial. '      ' 5. 121 Ngal haqbaoq mavqnei laolzaol niq pyu hheinaoq zaq meil jol nial. ' 9-     '?95.5. 122 Ngal maq cev laq e neizaq nildu gaoqmol seil meil jol nial. '  (   4 '?(54. 123 Aqma ssaqmiq maq yil dulma mol hhaovq kaovq meil jol nial.     $5 : ' :6 $5 . 260 124 Maq cev neizaq nildu gaoqmol seil e.  #   ' /#)'. 125 Sul’a mavqnei zeiqcil leil ssol qiq nei maq niuq meil jol nial.     .  $ !#. 126 Ngal aqma ssaqmiq maq yil dulma mol hhaovq kaovq e.    ) , ,* ). 127 Bilmi mavqnei sulcil lal e qiq baq maq sev.   $      $". 128 Maq cev aqli neizaq nildu gaoqmol seil nial leil.  #   '  ' . 129 Maq dev laq e alniul saol xaoq saoq zaq luvq meil jol lil.   &     . 130 Haqbaoq mavqnei laolzaol niq pyu hheinaoq zaq e. +%    -)+. 131 Xo’lo ssaqdov hal naoq mil a bi sal nial. (    ( 0. 261 CP2 “I will carry my lover’s firewood” English Translation 1 I do not wash my hands 2 When eating dinner in amidst my good brothers. p 3 I do not wash my feet 4 When listening to the words of my brothers. p 5 I feel very at home with my parents: 6 I am a fish that swims freely in the water. p 7 Because I feel secure and protected in the midst of my parents, 8 I do not encounter thousands of soldiers at war. 9 Because I am like a fish swimming freely in the water, 10 I do not see thrice Dai fishermen coming with their nets. p 11 I am a young child and I do not understand matters of the world, 12 I am a child of three who does not understand the weight of a burden. p 13 Because I understand nothing as a child, 14 I can hold a water bucket in my right hand and in the midst of my parents I can use simple words to make requests. p 15 Because a three year old child does not understand the weight of a burden, 16 (I can go about with) bits of rice stuck on my chest. 17 (I can go about with) snot hanging from my sleeves. p 18 I am still nursing at my mother’s breast. 19 I am a child who still plays on my parents’ laps. p 20 I carry one water bucket and play all day, 21 I carry firewood on my back and play all day. p 22 I carry two water buckets on my back and kneel at the road’s edge. 23 I carry three water buckets and stand in the middle of the road. p 24 I carry three water buckets and go to the well for water in the morning, 25 I cross my arms, 26 I cross my legs with ease. p 27 At the age of fourteen or fifteen a change will take place, 28 Past the age of thirteen there will be a change. p 29 I will put on the leaf mat made by my parents, 30 I will hold a sekal saw made by another people, 31 I will hold a miavma wuqmuq saw made by another people, 32 I will put on paoqkeeq yoke on my back, which my brother made from the siiqnil tree, 33 And I will go to cut firewood. p 34 I will go up the mountain to cut firewood. And there I will greet others. 35 I see over there a tree that is good for firewood, 36 When I see dry firewood, then my heart is comforted. 37 But the caoqgaoq tree at the edge of the village cannot be used for firewood, 38 The caoqgaoq tree at the foot of the village is a many-year tree. 39 The gyuma tree also cannot be used for firewood. 40 The gyuma tree is a many-month tree. 41 The ciqssaq tree at the top of the mountain cannot be used for firewood, 42 When this tree grows old it can be used as a threshold. 43 The silsav tree cannot be used for firewood, 262 44 My dear brotherssay that it can used as the floor beam of the store house. 45 The aqpioq tree in the ountains cannot be used for firewood, 46 When bark of the aqpioq tree is removed, its wood can be used to make a table. 47 The heiqnyuq tree in the mountains cannot be used for firewood, 48 Neither can the nyuqmoq tree be used because it is said that the soil is rich wherever it grows; 49 The place where the nyumoq tree grows is a good place. 50 In the future, my good brothers will start a new field where the nyumoq tree grows. 51 It is said that the nyumoq tree is like a sign post that stakes out a future field. 52 We can go to the village corner to chop the leeqtoq tree for firewood, 53 In the future, may we be as tightly embraced as the leeltoq tree at the village corner. 54 We can go behind the house to chop the laqqeil tree, 55 May we share words of desire like the laqqeil tree behind the house. 56 We can go to the mountain top to chop the zyupia tree for firewood, 57 We can cut down the loqtoq tree at the edge of the village for firewood. 58 May we be like the loqtoq tree at the village edge, wrapped tightly in each other’s arms. p 59 We will make a sign on the log of the laqqeil tree that we cut down from behind the house. 60 Let us be like the laqqeil tree behind the house; let us first speak to each other genuine words of love. p 61 How peaceful it would be for us to cut off a branch, and the two of us sit on it together, 62 How peaceful and stable it would be to have two young leaves of the tree mark the place where we sit together. p 63 We will cut down leaves from the tree and sit happily together, 64 We will play there all day until darkness comes. 65 We will stay past the time when the sun sets, past the time for cooking dinner. 66 In the future, when we sit together again, even if the old leaves have not become rotten, let us replace the old ones with new ones. (The need for new leaves alludes to the singer’s desire for fresh emotions and experiences at each encounter.) 67 We must not let mold grow three tul where we sit, (tul is the measure of a hand span) 68 We must not let others sit where we have sat before. p 69 If others have sat there, we must wipe the spot clean with our hands before sitting again. 70 If the mold has grown three tul where we sat, then we will use our hands to wipe it clean before sitting there again. p 71 Even if the old leaves have not rotted away, let us replace the old ones with new ones. 72 We will go up to the mountain to chop joqpia branches for firewood. 73 This mother’s daughter has seen a tree that is good for firewood. 74 If I see dry leaves on the soqma tree, then my heart will be at peace. 75 When I hear the sound of firewood being chopped, I will come to help to bundle and carry them home. 76 When I hear the sound of pig hay being picked, I will come to help carry a large load home. p 77 Out of one tree I can get ten sections of branches, 78 Out of one section of branches, I can get nine to ten pieces of firewood. 263 79 This mother’s daughter will come and pick the bundle of firewood that she would like to carry most. 80 The bundle I want is a good bundle, 81 The bundle I reach for with my hands is a good bundle. 82 The beautifully thatched bundle that I wans is indeed beautiful. 83 Come to the front and help me to place the lavqcav rope between my neck and the paoqkeeq yoke, 84 Then come to the back to help me lift the bundle onto my back. p 85 If the load is not good to carry, then come and help me. 86 If the bundle is not good to carry, then use your too to step on it thrice. 87 Even if my paoqkeeq yoke is not good, I do not feel the load crushing my neck. 88 Even if the bundle is not good to carry, it does not bother me. 89 (This will happen) on the day that we meet each other on the road, 90 (This will happen) on the day we come back and bump into each other by the two sides of the road. p 91 But on the day I carried a beautiful bundle, I hoped to see my dear brother (lover). 92 On the day that I carried beautiful bundle, I hoped to see my friend. p 93 If we have the good fate to meet at the resting place, 94 If we can cut down some tree leaves in the place where we rest, p 95 O! The road where we meet by chance! 96 The crossroad where we meet and become acquainted! p 97 The sun is setting and we should go home to cook dinner, 98 The place where my parents store firewood is already full. 99 Our parents are busying themselves with cooking food, 100 The food that my good brothers are making is full of taste by now. p 101 The moon has come out and we should go out to play together, 102 The stars in the sky are bright and we should go outside to meet each other. 103 My love, the one whom I passionately desire, 104 Come to wander about in the village lanes with your laqhev in hand. (laqhev is a three-stringed plucked lute that resembles the Chinese sanxian.) 105 Come and strut the alleys of the village with your laqbil in hand. p (laqbil is a bamboo transverse flute which resembles the Chinese dizi.) 106 Come before my parents finish their housework for the night, 107 Come before they have fully steamed the hoqceil rice for making wine. p 108 Wait first below the aolbiq tree at front of the house, 109 Quietly sleep below the miavqlal tree behind the house. p 110 When you send me a signal by rustling the bamboo branches at the front of the house, 111 I will say that it is only a mouse scampering about, 112 I will pretend that it was only a cat chasing its prey. 113 I have twelve tales of the night with which to deceive my parents, 114 I have twelve false stories with which to deceive my parents. p 115 I will choose the best way of deceiving my parents, 116 First, go and hide below the aolbiq tree at the front of the house, 117 I will not think that you are a wild tiger and throw rocks at you. p 118 First, go and sleep below the miaovqlal tree behind the house, 119 I will not think that you are an old eagle and come to attack you with bow and arrow. p 120 I am not getting married, so I will be a good person to both sides, 264 121 I will be like a bridge built with two bamboo sticks; I will be a good person to both sides. 122 I will flirt like a young unpicked leaf, 123 The mother’s daughter will not marry and will look after her brother’s family. 124 I will flirt like a young unpicked leaf, 125 When others come to buy and sell, they will not pick the young leaf to sell. 126 The mother’s daughter will not marry out; she will manage her brother’s house. 127 If others come to propse, I will spurn them. 128 I will go out to play without desiring another man in marriage, 129 I will not cut down three alniul trees. (Meaning: I will not act rashly.) 130 I will plant my feet on the two sides of a bamboo bridge, 131 May my lover find peace wherever he goes. 265 CP3 “In praise of Gyuma Naqhhal” Hani-Chinese Translation 1 Ngalya sal e mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol ( &  ) # , (3"Gyuma Naqhhal ;sal*5 2 Yoqpuv aqli puvsiq sal e aqpeil yeiv meil jav lil 9, ,# & .   +  9,5.: 3 Yoqhovq aqli hovqlol sal e taoqdiq yeiv meil jav lil 9" 9" & taoqdiq   +  9"5&! taoqdiq 3 @?*A 4 Sal e mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol &  ) # , 5&!3"Gyuma Naqhhal 5 Ngavq pieiv aqli ssaqguq duv yi eelxul yeiv meil jol lil  @' A$ - 6   ' 3$ -6% 6 Ceil pieiv mavqnei miqleil duv yi seqpiaq yeiv meil jol lil @' A 0 - 1   ' 30 ->46 @?*A 7 Sal e mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol &  ) # , 5&!3"Gyuma Naqhhal 8 Gee meil gee a aqgee qiq zaoq zaoq e     = =7 9 Deihha ssaqnaol lal nei zaqduq ssaoq e nga 2 ' - |/ = 23' 8 10 Hhaolli hhaol meil hhaol a qiq zaoq zaoq e     =3 11 Hhaduv ssaq nei miaoqzil ssaoq e qiq zaoq zaoq e nga 2    < =    23  < 266 12 Nia’li niameil qiq zaoq zaoq e   6 13 Hhovqli lal na paqmoq laolseiv wuqpiul zaoq e nga ;# + 28 5 < );#6528 14 Ngalya mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol '  (  * '6Gyuma Naqhhal 15 Naqduq sal e gyuma albol yaol &6 7 $   gyuma   16 Naqhhal sal e ciqdaol gyuzu aqzal yaol &6 7 $  0/   aqzal  3 6 7 >=)? 17 Niamaheiq e zyuqmoq yi e naqhhal xilgei sal lal ya (   + &6 7 ; + (6+; & 18 Niamaheiq e aqhhol yi e naqduq xilgei ssivq lal ya (   +  &6 7 ;  + (6+; & 19 Puvhhaol laolqei miqnaoq ssaq bo maq cil aqnei  %  4    *6!49, 20 Galheiq mavqnei miqleil duv saq maq naq alnei "   1     "1 21 Aqyivq gaq e meilnaol ei eiq        22 Alquvq mavqnei gaq e lolbaq ngaqsaq qiqmavq leil -  .   .- >=)? 23 Collo mavqnei ceil hhaq lal e maq gal nga      +   >?: 6 +: 24 Moqlo mavqnei ceil kaol lal e maq beq nga         +  : 6+: >=)? 267 25 Ngaq e mavqnei sal e milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol   "   ( .Gyuma Naqhhal 26 Collo mavqnei ceil col lal e bupiaol aqlov ceqduq jav lil     ) 7'    !  & .)&!7. 3 27 Moqlo ceil zaoq lal ssol moqhhav ceqteil sal meil jav lil     ) : !   & .)&!:. 3 ;9 $< 28 Sal e mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol  Gyuma Naqhhal /.(Gyuma Naqhhal 29 Ngalya sal e mavqnei milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol  Gyuma Naqhhal  /.(Gyuma Naqhhal 30 Galheiq haqbaoq qil cuv yuvq ssaol  2 +   +.2 31 Galheiq hhevma hhaqqaol leldeq daoqmiq  1 1  .1 32 Seilnei Hhoqzyuq yi e naqhhal nga 8 8, ) .  $8,." 33 Caoq tav lalna siivq pil yi ssol laqyeiv daolduq   )  0 65 3 $0 6." 34 Sal e milcaq Gyuma Naqhhal yaol  Gyuma Naqhhal /.(Gyuma Naqhhal 35 Caoq puv lalna maq biav soq zaq yaol jav lil  4   #% *  .2- 36 Galheiq haqbaoq qil cuv yuvq ssaol yaol  2 +   +.2 37 Galheiq hhevma hhaqqaol leldeq daoqmiq yaol  1 1  .1 268 38 Sseilnei aqda Hhoqzyuq yi e naqhhal nga        39 Sseilnei Aqpyuq Molmil yi ssol hhaqnaq naqduq nga        40 Niamaheiq e zyuqmoq neema yopiul ei eiq       41 Ngaldu niamaheiq e aqhhol neema yomeeq ngeel ssolnei       42 Niamaheiq e zyuqmoq hhyul ssol Haqniq caqgol nga yil       43 Niamaheiq e aqhhol hhyul ssol Haqniq doqciivq nga yil       44 Ngaldu Haqniq mavqnei sal e doqciivq caqgol pieivl li nia yil           269 CP3 “In praise of Gyuma Naqhhal” English Translation 1 Our spacious and auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal!190 2 Our village is as auspicious as the blossoming alpeil pear tree,191 3 Our hamlet is as auspicious as the fanned out toaqidiq tassels (of a woman’s headdress).192 (Hani women wear a headdress that is black with colored embroidery and bright colored toaqdiq tassels that fan out from the top and hang loosely at the back.) 4 Our spacious and auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 5 Five children of different ages run out with blossoming smiles, 6 Ten unmarried girls of different ages come out with open smiles showing teeth. 7 Our spacious and auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 8 At your south side gathers a large crowd of people, 9 There, the young people play and converse. 10 In the middle gathers a group of people, 11 There, the children come out to discuss affairs. 12 At your north side side gathers a group of people, 13 They are the white-haired elders who gather within the houses. 14 Our spacious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 15 The resting place underneath the gyuma tree is auspicious, 16 The resting place underneath the aqzal tree is auspicious and refreshing. p 17 Even the officials come from the north come here to find rest under its shade, 18 Even the officials of the north come here in search of a resting place. 19 At the heart of the village, the young wives give birth to children without ceasing, 20 At the end of the village, the young girls come out without ceasing. 21 The older siblings love the younger ones, 22 As the fish love water. 23 If ten people come, we do not need to worry, 24 If ten horses arrive, we do not need to be concerned. p 25 Our spacious and auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 26 Even when ten people come, there will still be room to hang their coats, 27 Even if ten horses come, there will still be room for hanging up their saddles. 28 Our auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 29 Our spacious and auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 30 At the end of the village, four sturdy bamboo sticks are used for building 31 A swing and a swing shelter at the tail end of the village. 32 This is where the Lord of Rain will come to rest during the rainy season, 33 This is where the priest will drink his tea. 34 Our auspicious home of Gyuma Naqhhal! 35 The bamboo slats that we lay down in the morning will remain beautiful, 36 AT the end of the village, four sturdy bamboo sticks are used for building 37 A swing and a swing shelter at the tail end of the village. 38 This is where the Hhoqzyuq (Lord of Rain) will come to rest during the rainy season, 190 The term translated auspicious refers to the word sal, literally meaning flat. The gyuma tree is a large nut tree with flat, bitter nuts. Its woods is not used for building. 191 Reference to the auspiciousness of the pear tree, is likely tied to Chinese language associations. The sound of the word pear ‘li’ and its character composition are closely related to the Chinese word for auspicious, also pronounced ‘li’. 192 Hani women wear a headdress that is black with colored embroidery and bright colored toaqdiq tassels that fan out from the top and hang loosely at the back. 270 39 This is where Aqpyuq Molmil will come to rest during the rainy season, (Aqpyuq Molmil is a second, less commonly used name for the Lord of Rain.) 40 The official from the north has a white (kind) heart, 41 Our official from the north has a good heart. 42 The official from the north likes to sing Hani songs, 43 The official from the north likes the Hani language. 44 She should go and take our words and turn them into songs.193 193 The singer here uses the borrowed Chinese term caqgol (chang’ge) to recommend the use of these texts for composing songs other than laba. 271 AL1a “Let’s meet outdoors in secret” Hani-Chinese Translation  Ssaqyo 3: (0:00) 1 Hal pyu duv lal e qiq col wal  / 1   914 2 Hal pyu duv lal e qiq mavq wal / 1 914 :0 3 Nil li qiq nao miavpyuq maq suq e gee suq kal yil %  :!     %  4 4 Nil li qiq nao galkeel maq biaoq e gee biaoq kal yil %  75  .  % 7 7 (:0) 5 Nil li qiq nao miavpyuq suq laq e hoqbiol maq lol qaol ya taq eil %  :!  #&  '      6 Nil li qiq nao galkeel biaoq laq e keeqlo maq leiq hhaq ya taq eil %  75 . 2  6 '   %7*62 (:0) 7 Alli ssaqmiq keeq diq lulhhuv aqbal a jol yil naoq  2 -   +-28  8 Keeq gul xaolma hhoheiq luvq yil naoq 2  ,  " )2 +"  (:0) ; 9 Ngaq e salqivq milmeeq Dafxil aolmeil yaol +4  /    +4$ 10 Nol pyuqlo maq hev qiq col ngeel ssol  :!  /   0 4:!+(< 272 11 Ngalya aqma ssaqmiq miaol maq hev yoqssaq ngeel ssol &       ) &8 &:) (B)) 12 Nol aqma ssaqmiq hhoheiq duv yi teilsal nal yil e     . C  .8C 13 Ngal hoqhhyu molmeeq hhuvhaol duv yi baqloq xo yi nga &  #  . $  & #E. 14 Nol pyuq maq hev qiq col ngeel ssol  B  /   ) 0)& 8 5F 15 Naollo baqleiq aoqto milzeil yaol hhao yi sso 7  A  7A 16 Qivqlo baqsal taoqdiq lollaq yoq yil sso D  ; =8'  D+ =8' (B)) 17 Hhavq keeq aqma lul lal beeq a maq jol movq 3 2 / $    % /3/2$-@6 18 Hhavqciil lul lal beeqcyuq maq xavq movq 3 $    % 3 2$-+%@6 (B)) 19 Nilto ssiiqlaq ssuq e galjo jav A A41 > ? , A41>!8? 20 Soqlo hhavqciil yiuvq e galhyuq jav (* 3 9 ? , 3 9<,<"8? (B)) 21 Naollo baqleiq aoqto milzeil hhao yil 7 & A 7&A 22 Qivqlo baqsal taoqdiq lollaq yoq yil D  ; =8'  273 [ < RJ7 (Z:) 23 Ssaq bo dama hhacoq coq duq zaolhhuv puvteil duv lal naoq %$G E@ V ) > 8D5E@IW. JY5F\ 5*+2F 24 Hhaseil geeqdyuq saoldyuq xovq yil V 1 M 5F9;1 ] 25 Ngaq e salqivq milmeeq Dafxil aolmeil yaol 5J ! 7!   5J!( 26 Nol maq gaq qivq e kaoldaol niq lov bakaq kaq hu qiq jol aol yi    / Q N    K ? KK5E@: 4 27 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil aolmeil yaol 5 J (   5J( H] 28 Maq gaq qivq e kaoldaol niq lov alkaq kaq movq kaq yil miq   Q N    3 TOE@J 29 Meiqlo maq eil dulma neenyuq yaol kevq yil -   "# 03 = "#-0XT=6 30 Dalma ssaqmiq yiqqeiq qeiq e qiq col yaol qeiq yil qivq e qeiq "# B 3  3 Q "#:=4J \P'Q3!B 31 Ssaq bo dama sul yiuvq maq cil aqhaol %$ GE@  L  &  E@AL 32 Laolgee miqdaoq tavq a yiuqbal bal yil naoq C , WX SL  *SLCU 33 Hoqhhyu damol maq yiuvq alkaq !/  L  /AL 34 Lolnia aqbal tavq a yiuvq hheivq caq yil hu C ;WX L SL *SLW;JCU 274 35 Duv yi e haqbaoq geelgei maq meel meil duv yi naoq 4 D5    4 4))D5 36 Duv yi e haqcil geelgei maq gyuq meil duv yi naoq 4 D>    4))D5 (Q2) 37 Neelgee laqheiq qeil e eqjil dalcov cov lal nial ' 3'  HI   4  ,'@HI4LM ( N2,2 :GJ 1<E) 38 Caoq duv aqli jamol xovq e alzeiv gaoqjuq caq lal nial O I C 8?  ,JOBHI74LM S 39 Nol nil duv aqda laqheiq qeil ssol eqjil dalcov cov lal alngaoq    A! 3'  HI   4 6 63'4,R $@OHI 4L, (Q2) 40 Caoq duv miavl meeq xovq ssol alzeiv gaoqjuq caq lal alngaoq O  8?  C 8? ( 4 6 6OI74 B 41 Ngalya aqma miqhhaoq tyuqdil davdil dil yil nial ,   &   ,F#))4 42 Dallo aqda haqjil tyuqqeiq dav’qeiq qeiq lal A! A! +< +< A!R A!RJ+<4/, 43 Ngal siivq e baqma alquvq diqceiv maq eil , ; 9 -0  ,.;9G-0T 44 Hoqhhyu molmeeq hhuvhaol laqgee diqjuq nial  %  -  ,. , %B- 45 Ngal molmeeq hhoheiq duv yi baqcil xo yi nial , %  4 *  ,K4 %B4,B* 46 Hoqhhyu molmeeq hhuvhaol duv yi baqloq xo yi nial %  4 *  ,, %B="-P4,* (Q2) 275 =T 47 Meiqlo maq eil dulma neenyuq yaol kevq yil ssol #    (, 5 #(LH50 48 Dulma ssaqmiq yiqqeiq qeiq e qiq col ngeel ssol  8 ,  3 3D,8> 49 Qeiq yil qivq e qiq hhaq ngeel ssol ,  D  3 3D,8> 50 Saoq qa lalna yiqqeiq qivq e qiq col yaol qeiq yil qivq e qeiq   8 D  ,  D , 8 51 Yiqqeiq sultav qiq zyul kaol yil sso 8   O  78 K. 52 Qeiq yil sultav qiq teivq zeiq yil sso ,     I , >83P B 53 Hhacoq coq duq zaolhhuv puvteil a duv yi J>  6 6 M6"+: 54 Hhaseil geeqdyuq saoldyuq xovq yi J * A :14 * 55 Joqto aqli huhaq zei maq yil meil qiq siil zaol yil naoq M 9    ;  H/'N2F() T 57 Ngal molmeeq hhacoq coq laq zaolhhuv puvteil yaol - & J J  -> &+M"+) 58 Hhaseil aqda seil ssol nyuqdei duqhaoq yaol J J $ M!3->E 276 :J 59 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil maq bi kaq qivq nga A  =  +-  7 ; C3 60 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq maq bi kaq qivq A  =    =   ; $3 61 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq maq heivq 2 8 E 1   2 8(I(=,;1 62 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq maq luv qivq wulnaq (  ;   0,;1I;$ ( 63 Nyuqbol dal nyuqlavq heivq yil kal leil 2 8 E 1   0,;1 64 Ngal niaq joqlaq hhellaq heivq lul maq hha (  ;    & ;$ ( 65 Hhacoq coqduq zaolhhuv puvteil A ! ! 66 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil kaq e hhoheiq daqhhoq keel a leel lal A   +-   ?/ >  -(7I;D?4/&)( 67 Daqhhoq hul’a eelniul leel lal ssol ?/ F @  ?/F @ 68 Alli ssaqmiq tyulmeil guv lal bal lal nga " B ' *G B"*G; 69 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq kaq alngaoq A     0 0 7 70 Zoqnia aqli coqcil bol ma saol caoq meeq ssol % ?/     .< %$.<;4/ 71 Zoqnia coqcil bol ma hul’a ssiiqlaq xavq lal % ?/  F D96 %;?F9#5H 277 72 Ssaqmiq nilnaol tyulmeil hhaqlo baq lal nga " P +S " J+S; 73 Hhacoq maq qivq saoq mil kaq yil ssol M   ,. 7!; 74 Hhaseil maq qivq saol yavq maq bi kaq yil M      7; 75 Hhacoq coq e keelpul maq sil meil coq yil M M B  Q M  7&T#'CQD: 76 Hhaseil seil e hhaqloq maq jaoq meil seil yil M M 4  + M $(7TA54TA FG (R/) 77 Laqbu laqya dao e milcaq hhyuqhhuv hhyuqdaol seil yil HI @ -  3 M *K@>HI2M 78 Sulbu sulya dao e aqmo ssaqyo mol nil maq ceil alhaoq dao alnei seil lal nial 6;H1 @ 9  "  H1 @ M 2 9 @>6;H12M2M (R/) 79 Gaoqlaoq yeilheiq naoqseil hhelseil galma seil zyul kal ?4  7 L M O Q P  = 4   34 ?>OE<= 91 Aoqdaoq milzeil galli ssuq e zyuqqoq hu lal nial ?>O Q P 6 F P ?>O 8F6 (T4) 92 Laolgee miqdaoq keeqma xvoq hhal nyuq ssolnei @ ),  J K 0 78( @ 93 Miq heq heq e miqhhaoq hoqcuv aqnil nyuq lal ssol "#  2'E. 0 "# 52'E. 94 Xo heq heq e hhosal hoqcuv daoqpeiq nyuq lal ssol D%  2'E. 0 D% 52'E. (T4) !V 279 95 Salqivq aqda gaoqlaoq niq hhaq bi zyul kal  F8   EK ,5F86EK 96 Ngal maq siq su’laq e ssaqnaol yaol ,    & ,3 C& 97 Maq hev alyeil saol huvq ssaqguq yaol   .  /& $! C$!. 5N (P3) 98 Ngal dama lavqhhaq wuqduq hhaseil seil yil ssol , =7 -G  J J =7C<0,D)( 99 Hoqcuv dama lavqnaol wuqduq hhacoq coq yil ssol =7 -G  J J =7C<0,D)(* (P3) 100 Ngal laqbu lu meil jol e maq leiq haolya aqyal maq bi zeil yil movq ya , > ;   I  CA   + ,=7#,>M;Q+ C 101 Xobu lu meil jol e maq seq movq e B ;    + 5OCB  ,+ 102 Deihhuvq biqcaoq laqgee lavqhhuvq maq bi zeil yil movq ya 1 - -   + + 1B , (P3) BR 103 Saol beeq deivq laq e hhavqhov puqnil ya leil taq eil   @ 7? '   ,37?H@C$'? 104 Saoq mil hev e hassaq puqnaoq ya leil taq dul  /2  $'   ,3@2C$ (P3) 105 Saol beeq deivq laq e hhavqhov puqnil   @ 7? ' 7?H@C$'? 106 Saoq yei la jol duv e zaqbe zaqnaq milnil duqbyu duqhovq hovq yil nia  4   "% 9 : L  280 G[+T,^m !>O (sE) 107 Saoq mil hev e hassaq puqnaoq  AB  + 1 WB[+ 108 Saol soq hev e ssaq bo dama hhoheiq hassaq piav al daol lal nia  F  +) W RL  +  Yl   `CF ,^mpt (sE) 109 Maq heq hhoqsiq alzil alla taq dul  "     4J  L L A>@G277 C?H 122 Hoqcuv dama lavqnyul wuqduq hhacoq coq meil jol A> 45  L L 277 C?A>, 123 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil aolmeil yaol 2  6 兴  兴2F& 124 Molmeeq miqnieiq maq mi nga leil ngaq a maq dal + 0  9I 2  N +% 0N2 125 Hoqhhyu molmeeq miaoq maq mi nga leil ngaq a maq nyuq + 0  9I 2  1 +% 0N2 (O8) 126 Ngal qiq nao wuqduq saoq seiv kav biaol lu meil aqcu aqnil gee meil jol 2    = <  !   !#2<=" 127 Qiq nao zalkeel saoq se zaq meil dama ssaqgaq gee meil jol   PB  Q  A> $#  A>F2Q- (O8) 128 Ngal maq siq su’laq ssaqnaol ngeel ssol 2   ) 8 28)  F DR 282 129 Dulma ssaqmiq daolpieil lipieil halnia taq pieil 0'( _` 2 #1  2 0'(V7_`i26% 130 Aqli meiqsi talkyul haol yol laq ya V m C ? CV B mF@ 131 Daol a haoldaol alpieil pieiltao hhoqcyuq zaq meil taq pieil yoq 3 3 \] \]= b   3 V\] Xn0 8 132 Ssaq bo dama hhacoq coqduq zaolhhuv puvteil hev yil laq e +)S QK O> /   +) <lYQK / >  133 Hhaseil geeqdyuq saoldyuq xovq yil laq e e : [ ea .E 134 Gaoqlaoq yeilheiq naoqseil hhelseil galma seil zyul laq e ZL  R R d R Wh <EZL!RdWh 135 Siqsiiv pavqziil naoqcoq hhelcoq galma coq zyul laq e S;* R d e Wh Sf*N-<!RdWh (mD) 136 Mol so naollo niaq maq xavq dyu e mil bo loqkol maq jav T) &)   j " E " M E < V"AJ 137 Mol so naollo niaq maq jol dyu e milkyul laqmoq alceq maq jav T) &)   ! j "c UVj <gUV"AJ 138 Mol so naollo niaq jolhhal gaoqma saol gaoq kevq meil jol dyu qavq wulnaq T) &)  ^ 3 $  4 E !j 4$3 <V "P (mD) 139 Aolbiq bol a naoqqaol hhelqaol cuv li sso  / 3I 3I 5  Aolbiqik53I 140 Miaovqlal duq a naoqduq hhelduq yaol heivq li kal yil  9V ^ 9V ^   H9V"A够< ,G (mD) 283 J 141 Hoqcuv dama sul yiuvq maq cil aqhaol 93  >   935> 142 Taoqtao lalna maq yiuvq alkaq >'G  >  5>G (F/) 143 Ngal laolgee miqdaoq tavq a yiuvqbal bal yil sso ) 7 - > & ) 7 C> 144 Haolcuv laq e aqbal hul’a yiuvqheivq caq yil sso 7<?2 &  >  7?H@<.C> HaolcuvF ,8 (F/) 145 Nol lavqhhuv Dieiftaoq aqli lavqhhuv niq mol heil leil maq eil  * A *  +  ):*D+=*A 146 Dieiftaoq taoqssaq qiq ssaq lavqhhuv qiq mol heil ssol leil A   *  + +=A 147 Laqhev hevssaq bavq ssol puvma zaolteil hhao lal $  +  (  1 +=$1( 148 Bilbaf laqhev bavq ssol puvma zaolkaq luvq lal $ +  "  1 +=$1" (F/) 149 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil aolmeil yaol )  -   兴)< ;J 150 Milma maq kaq alquvq lolbaq maq kaq qiq lol kaq ya !  E 4 6  E 0 E E!4IE=06 151 Cuqduv milma beildol maq kaq qiq gaoq kaq ya %B ! %B  E # E E%B!IE=# (F/) 284 152 Joq a deima aqli xalhaoq sal e qiq koq yaol  2 2  0 402 153 Xal gal heq na maq nyuq maq dul 2 >  "  > E>@A 154 Qivqlo baqsal qaq jol nga  ! % %! 155 Alquvq lolbaq kaq e miav nei hu niq + , C 6 5? ,+C165? 156 Cuqduv milma beildol kaq e keel nei ssuq niq nia :  : C 9 = ?  :C19=? (D $) 157 Eil taq soqdoq qiq nao maq nieil qivq 3 ;    8 4 ; 158 Doq taq deima yalqaol jav 3 2 2( % ; 2B4(B 159 Doq eil deima caolheiq jav 2 . % #4<;*-. (D $) 160 Hoqcuv dama maq gaq hyuqqu doqbal gee /)    /) #4 161 Dama aqli maq mol hyuqqu gallavq xilmeil ssuq /)   4 >  = /)#= &> (D $) F 162 Zoqgee aolbiq bol a hyuq jol lal      ' # 4aolbiq 163 Zoqnia miaovqlal bol a hyuq xavq lal     7 ' #74miaovqlal (D $) 285 164 Zoqgee aolbiq bol a hyuq jol ssol luv zei maq aol nial %     =   %:aolbiq ?= 165 Zoqnia miaovqlal bol a xavq nga leil balhav maq ngaoq nial %    < '  <%:miaovqlal >;' 166 Ngalya ssaq bo dama sul yiuvq maq cil aqhaol * 7 52  <   523<  (D-) 167 Taoqtao lalna laq e maq yiuvq alkaq <(E  <   B<. C 168 Ssaq bo dama sul yiuvq maq cil aqhaol 7 52  <   52<(1E6 (D-) 169 Laolgee miqdaoq tavq a yiuvqbal bal nial laolngaoq 4 $ , < ' 0 0*4$@< 170 Zoqgee aolbiq bol a hyuq jol %     A*# %:aolbiq 171 Zoqnia miaovqlal bol a hyuq xavq caq %    < 9 *# <%:miaovqlal (D-) 172 Ngal ssaq bo dama taoqtao maq yiuvq alkaq * 7 52 <:E  <  *52<(1EF * *: 8G 173 Ssaq bo dama sul yiuvq maq cil aqhaol 7 52  <   523<  (D-) 174 Laqhev hevssaq bavq e puvma zaolzeil jol ssol & " + ! )  * +;"&/ !) 175 Laqhev hevssaq eqle balteil nal yi naoq & " &  /  /& 286 176 Bilceiv laqbil eqle balso nal yi >F I! I  < <I (U9) 177 Dama sul yiuvq cil e baqsul duv yi joq B?  H # -  < )0B?H0%<3 W 178 Ngal niq siq beeqbaq lavqhhuv teiq meil duv yi nial 0  'L 2   < LF'N06< 179 Saol siq beetul lavqhhuv teiq hyuq caq meil duv yi   ' 2   E < F'N0G4< 180 Ngalya aqma ssaqmiq baqseq maq qivq eelqal halcev aol yi nial 0   -  J 5  8 0% OA!S: (U9) 181 Aqma ssaqmiq baqgul maq qivq kaoqlo sov hu aol yi nial   -  J ! V <  0%S: DW 182 Meiqlo maq eil dulma neenyuq kevq yi &   *. ; &  *TP;7 183 Yiqqiq qeiq qivq e qiq col yiqqeiq sultav qiq zeil kol yil @ . J  @   M + 9J.@F@Q 184 Qeiq yil sultav qiq teivq zeiq yil naoq .     Q @Q1 185 Ssaq bo dama gaq e nyuq qivq neema aqli haolhhyul neema qiq siq nga "!CB?  . J * *T *  B?*0 186 Xo zyuq bilmi ssaqheiq gaq e yoqhhyul qiq pav nga D!  -  KR  9 D!-9KRF 187 Aqkal miq heq heq e miqhhaoq hoqcuv aqnil cuv yil movq alngaoq    .,/$F, (  . = = ./$ 287 188 Xo heq heq e hhosal hoqcuv daoqpeiq bei deil naq D#  -+.'E+  )4D#-.'E (T4) Y 189 Ngal ssaq bo dama sul yiuvq cil e baqsul duv yi sso / $# B =9  G & , 5  =9GF/E,)5/ 190 Hoqcuv dam haqbaoq geelgeiq gyuq e cil meil sov yil sso =9 H6   ; 3 57H6/%2;% 191 Haqcil geelgeiq gyuq e saqneiq miaoq yil miq sso H>   H>    H/ % (T4) 192 Haqbaoq geelgei gyuq lal e cil meil sov yil H6   ; 3 H6/2;%  193 Hhoqheiq hhavqpaq seiqcaoq maq zil alngaoq  L@ N   7 7(*/MEL@S 194 Kaolto biaqsil peqcao maq puq alngaoq I PO     7 0K(*IEOX O  (T4) 195 Ngalya aqma ssaqmiq eelqal hal duv saqneiq miaoq yil nial /   2       !"/C:2% 196 Dulma ssaqmiq aqbeil kao xa cil meil sov yil nial !" W< 8  ; 3   !"/CW< ;3 (T4) 197 Haqbaoq geelgeiq gyuq alngaoq hucavq aqma ssuq gal aol ya hheivq yil nial H6   7 JV 9 Q R   7H6/49JV 198 Haqcil geelgeiq gyuq e almil aqma saqhhu leiq ya eil yil nial H>   A 9 U? 1   H>/49A1 ? (T4) 288 7F 199 Aqli ssaqmiq neema yopiul ngeel laq ya  ' 8 0 3 0'? 200 Ngal moqlo ceil lo alkaq hu ceil nial )    ;  ) ,19 201 Collo mavqnei ceil col alkaq hu heq caq nial    ;  " )  ,1 9 (C0) 202 Nallo yiqciivq hal duv hhaqyal maq ngeel $@ *    0 $@ D 203 Meiqlo nalmeil hal cuvq colssaq maq ngeel & E! *   0 0 2&E!9 B? (C0) F 204 Lalna aqsol gaq e niq hhaq ei eiq >% >%    >%*9 205 Lalna aqsol gaq e niq hhaq ngeel alngaoq >%    0 4 4)<: 206 Meiqlo qiq siq sul a eil bal liq &     A)-90. 207 Ngal malnee haolhhyul yil ssol noq a nyuq kevq caq lil ) ' '   ( 2  ) +' 208 Miav’lo siq zaq yil ssol sul a hu taq e liq = 6 5  ; 59=6;  209 Miav ssaq siq zaq noq a hu taq lil = # 6 5  ; /9= ; 9 289 210 Ngal yoqsaq tavq laq e cil nei maq lul sso $ B = 1  5 $=F8GD 211 Caqcil kevq e saq nei maq miaoq sso  + B   +FB , (J*) ;L 212 Yoqsaq tavq e qiq col ngeel ssolnei B =   * $B )= 213 Galkeel biaoq e qiq hhaq ngeel ssolnei H (  * ! # (J*) 214 Doq taq deima yalqaol jav < : :- + G :- 215 Doq eil deima caolheiq jav : 04 + G/24 (J*) 216 Maq biav caqciq haqluv hhaol yaol sov e maq ngeel   3 > ?   * *"3%?> 217 Maq siq ssaqnaol doq e mulciq sov e maq ngeel     * *F , (J*) 218 Eil li taq duq ceil hhaq gee buq nial <  A $J &A I 219 Cav ma moqhaol pavq duq gee ssivq nial   '7   $& @KK'C : 220 Ngal ssaq bo dama heiqciq gul ssol eqleq maq toq nial $ 96.     6.$E 290 221 Ngal siq ssaqheiq heiq teiv eqleq toq yil movq ya '  $  /    % $D'D (E() 222 Ssaq bo dama hoqceil biaqbyuq alnaoq zaq nei maq pyul movq 3 0, : @?     % 0,6: @?C2'9< 223 Bilmi ssaqheiq meiqzeil zalsei hoqsiq zaq nei pyul yil movq $  F1 ;    % $.;:' (E() 224 Bilmi ssaqheiq gaq e yoqhhyul qiq pav $  =B  '$ '=B 225 Ssaq bo dama gaq e malnee haolhhyul neema qiq siq 3 0, # # #  0,#&' (E() 226 Ssaq bo dama heiqciq gul ssol eqleq maq toq meil 30,      0,''A 4G 227 Alli ssaqmiq neema yopiul ngeel laq ya  # 5 ( *'66#"> 228 Meiqlo qiq siq meiqpyul yaol bivq lal !    !8别 229 Malnee qiq siq neepiul col e maq bivq laq ya #  #5    >6 #- (E() 230 Huq gee doqlo bi jil kal  7  )  231 Huq eil doq bi caq miq ssol  + 7 ) (E() 291 232 Miq heq heq e miqhhaoq hoqcuv aqnil nyuq lal  #/$,  # #$ 233 Xo heq heq e hhosal hoqcuv daoqpeiq nyuq lal ssol + #/$,  # &+%#$, (0&) 1 234 Yeiqnao ngal hoqcuv dama eil laq e doq maq nal meil  % *( ,    /%*(, 235 Ngal se ssaqheiq eil laq e doq nal yil % ! " ,   ", (0&) 236 Ngal hoqhhyu dalmol doq maq qeq meil %      ,% 237 Ngal se hhyulqoq aqbiaol heiqdoq qeq % ! "  % ", (0&) +1 238 Collo niq hhaq malnee qiq mol gee yil sso       - 239 Nyuq qivq neema haolhhyul niq siq qiq siq gee kal # .     ')$ (0&) 240 Hoqcuv dama eil laq e doq taq nal *( ,    *(,别 241 Xo qivq bilmi ssaqheiq eil laq e doq hha nal nga + " ,    ",  (0&) 242 Dalmol doq maq qeq sso    , 292 243 Hhyulqoq aqbiaol doq hha qeq ssol &  $ &A$ (H-) 244 Dama huq biav halceil saoq biav =6  , 9  , =6,9 245 Huq eil doqcyuq saol doq nga       @  (H-) 246 Diq li aqkoq aqgyu yohhaol maq qo ) .3 4> C   *C.0/) 247 Dama hhoheiq eilheiq laqpial nga =6  F2 2 =6 +AFE2 248 Hhoheiq halceil saoq biav nga  9  ,  ,GA9,/ (HA-) 249 Baqgaq niq hhaq qiq ssil jil yil &   8  BA& 58G 250 Baqhhyul niq hhaq qiq hhovq cuv &   " BA&"' ! (H-) I 251 Hoqcuv dama neehaoq maq ya aqhaol yaol =6 %<  ;  =6A%<:; 252 Ngal hoqhhyu molmeeq neexul maq jaoq alkaq ( #  %7  ;  (A#%7; (H-) 253 Ngaldu col gaq niq hhaq qiq ssil hha jil alngaoq (    8 $  1 1BA(D8G 254 Zeiq gaq niq mol qiq kuv hha xavq alngaoq ?     $ 1 293 $8GF&DJ  (N2) 255 Hoqcuv dama neehaoq maq ya aqhaol yaol B9 *A  >  B9F*A<> 256 Ngal se bilmi ssaqheiq hoqhhyu aqmol gee yil sso - + , (  -F+ #( 257 Ngal se hhyulqoq aqbiaol yaol hoqcuv dama gee yil sso - + , B9  -+F,  B9 (N2) 258 Nol alquvq caoqpyuq lal ssol luv’qil gee nial leil ngaoq  : :? 6 H7  $8 =:6JH76 259 Soqma aqlil lal ssol bodaq gee nial leil ngeel alngaoq !4 6   2 $8 $8!46J!M- (N2) CO 260 Alquvq caoqpyuq daq e luv’qil gee nial : :?  H7  =:6- $H76 261 Taoqgee aqlil bodaq gee nial !4   !46- )! (N2) 262 Hoqcuv dama hhoheiq halceil saoq biav ngeel ssol leil B9  ;%  1 2 B9-F2F1;% 263 Aqkal naolhhuv saoq la hoqhhyu aqmol naolhao qo yil sso   5 (  /  5 60F#( 264 Galheq saoq la hoqcuv dama naolhao gul yil sso I  5 B9    560B9 (N2) 265 Saol soq maq hev aoqpiul daol ya taq eil  3   "E L    K -&".'@: 294 266 Daol a alpavq pavqkuq yalqaol cuv &  ( 7 / E&>( 7 M 267 Ngal yeiqnao saol yavq maq nyuq nyuqdei yalqaol cuv yil ssol /     - - 7  / A#+> LH/% 7 268 Saoq nao maq dul duldei loqssaq tevq yil ssol    $<  / A#+> LH/%, $< 269 Alkal ngal duldei loqssaq tevq puv maq qaol qivq ya  / $<   B $<!%B.  270 Saol yavq maq nyuq nyuqdei yalqaol cuv ssol    - - 7 / A#+> LH/% 7 271 Nyuqdei yalqaol civ piav maq qivq qivq ya - 7 0  B 7)F4L%!0 272 Lalna aqsol gaq e niq hhaq ei eiq C'    ? :K =M 273 Saol yavq maq hev nyuqdei yalqaol maq ngeel nga     - 7  2 "5AE> L/% 7 274 Aolbiq bol a zeiqqaol hhelqaol cuv e 8; 7 7 /%AolbiqHI 7 275 Miaovqlal duq a naoqduq hhelduq heivq ssol 8; >1  /H>6/G (J2) 276 Sivq la haolduq pavqkuv haollul maq bi levq lal leil zaol yil nial  3 @D ( @D   4  3>@D7I 277 Ngal molmeeq yiqqeiq qivq e qiq col qeiq yil qivq e qiq hhaq ngeel lil / *! 9 B  -  B   2 /2B-9> 295 278 Maq beeq siivq la aqlil maq jav qaol nga   9   : 9?:G 279 Col gaq niq hhaq qiq ssil hha jil alngaoq   > *% !< ! 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'   @! 3 2   $342@  300 AL1a: “Let’s meet outdoors in secret” English Translation Male: (0:00) 1 From that place comes a stranger, 2 From that place comes some strangers. p 3 When we were young we did not know each other but now we can know each other well, 4 When we were young we didn’t travel the same road but now we can travel the same road. p 5 Do not say that because we have known each other since childhood you can refuse me whenever I come and visit, 6 Do not say that just because we always walked the same road together that I will not chase the dogs away (when they come attack you along the road). p 7 The lady will hide behind the gate so that when I enter the house and the dog attacks me, she will jump out and hit the dog. 8 She will call the dog that stands watch by the gate (so that it will not attack me). p Female: (1:07) 9 My good village of Dafxil Aolmeil! 10 You are somebody whose face is not familiar to me, 11 I, my mother’s daughter, do not know this person. 12 You come to this lady’s door and listen for a sound, 13 I will go out of the door of myy good brother’s house to have a rendezvous. 14 But you are someone whose face is not familiar to me. Male: (1:16) 15 In the daytime we meet out in the wild, 16 In the night we meet at a place where we can hide. p 17 The female pig and female dog, when in heat, will not want to stay in the pen. 18 When the male pig is in heat, he will not want to stay in his pen. p 19 There is a convenient path that the wild animals take, 20 There is a convenient path where the male pig sleeps. p 21 In the daytime we will go out into the wild, 22 In the night we will go to a place where we can hide. p 23 Let’s go out into the open field that our parents left for us, so that we can frolic about, 24 Let’s go and frolic about, and do not change your mind about it. Female: (2:25) 25 My good village of Dafxil Aolmeil! 26 You go and see what opinions my parents have! 27 My good village of Dafxil Aolmeil! Male: (2:51) 28 Do not pay attention to your parent’s objections, 29 Even if the lady’s mouth says nothing, her heart knows what she feels. 30 The lady is one who can think of solutions, so let her go and think of them. 31 Before the parents go to sleep, 32 Go and pretend to be asleep at the end of the fireplace. 33 Before your good brothers fall asleep, 34 pretend to be asleep in the dark corner by the fireplace. 301 35 When you come out don’t let the bamboo slats creak, 36 When you come out don’t let the bamboo pieces creak. p 37 I have the heart to come and meet with you; I will prick you with a piece of eqjil, 38 I will send a message by throwing a piece of gaoqjuq grass from the wild. Female: (3:33) 39 If you have the heart to meet with me, then come prick me with a piece of eqjil. 40 If you use a wild alzeiv weedstalk to send me a message, 41 I, my mother’s daughter, will secretly run out to meet you. 42 You, the man, should think of a way to meet with me. 43 I cannot say that I can stop the river waters, 44 But I will open the front gate of my good brothers’ home. 45 I will come out of the gate of my brothers’ house to see my lover, 46 I will come out from the inside of my good brothers’ house to see my lover. p Male: (4:15) 47 What the lady does not say with the mouth, she holds in her heart, 48 The lady is a person who can think of solutions, 49 She is one who is able to think capably. 50 She is a lady who can think of three solutions; if she is willing she should think of one. 51 Others rely on her solutions, 52 And her solutions can overtake others. 53 Come out and frolic in the open fields at the front of the village, 54 Come out to frolic and do not turn back (and change your mind). 55 Do not spend the rest of your life with a huhaq rodent. (Do not become someone else’s lover.) 56 Huhaq rodents are the ones who watch over the buckwheat fields. (The other person does not have a good heart.) Female: (4:47) 57 My good brother (my lover) frolics in the open field by the front of the village, 58 This is our stage where we frolic. p Male: (5:07) 59 If you do not dance, you cannot leave it for three days. 60 If you do not dance there, you cannot leave it for three nights. p 61 If you rely on the wintermelon tree to give you shade in the heat, then do not cut down its branches. 62 If you do chop it the amount of shade it gives will not be enough for the two of us. 63 If you chop the branches of the wintermelon tree, 64 Then it will not have enough shade for the two of us. 65 The open field at the entrance of the village where we can frolic about: 66 If we do not frolic for three days, then the grass and shrubs at the gate will tangle our feet, 67 Beneath the grass and shrubs there will be snakes that will coil up, 68 In this way the lady will lose her soul, 69 If do not frolic for three nights, 70 Three thickets and three trees will have grown prolifically behind the house, 71 Then the place beneath the grass and shrubs will be inhabited by siilaq rodents. 72 In this way the little lady will lose her soul, 73 (This will happen) if we do not frolic for three days, 74 If we do not frolic for three nights. 75 When we dance we should dance vigorously without complaining about sore feet, 302 76 When we dance we must dance with strength without feeling weak--wilting like a flower. p 77 We will wear beautiful long robes and dance all about without stopping, 78 The man will wear beautiful clothes also and dance all about. p 79 May those who are fated to be together dance together on the road of playfulness, 80 Then those whom the fortuneteller says are meant to be a pair, let them meet on the road of dancing. 81 We who are in love—a man and a woman! Female: (6:25) 82 We can look back to see our common experiences, 83 The fields that we frolic in, 84 If there is not enough space in the field for frolicking, we can cut down the wintermelon tree. 85 If there is not enough space in the field for frolicking, then my brother-lover can cut down a branch. Male: (6:50) 86 I have looked in great detail, to see if we have a fate that fits together. 87 I, then man, have inquired of the fortuneteller and have looked carefully to see if we are fated to be together. p 88 Do not say that I am not good at making a living and filling the rice bowl, 89 I do not need a stone for pounding. 90 Do not say that I am a wandering vagabond, 91 Even if I was a wandering vagabond, I would still go to visit my friends. p 92 The daughter-in-law should stand beside the fireplace to prepare dinner. 93 When a lady grows up she will want to establish a family, 94 When a man grows up he will want to establish a family. p Female: (7:33) 95 May the two of us have the good fortune of coming together. 96 I am a young person without understanding, 97 A three year old child does not understand the weight of a burden. p 98 Because I have a carefree life under the care of my parents, 99 Because I have a very carefree life under the care of my parents. p 100 I am as lively and innocent as an young ox (in my parent’s house); I do not want to be someone’s wife, 101 Even if I found a vivacious man, I would not want to marry him, 102 I do not want to let a Dai man to marry me. p Male: (8:20) 103 Do not say that I am like a litter of three piglets that the sow has just birthed, 104 Do not say that I am like a baby chick that is only three days old. p 105 A litter of three piglets that the sow has just birthed. 106 A newborn piglet of the sow does not live but three cycles of the moon then it will know how to dig a pit in the mud. 107 A newborn chick of three days, 108 By the third day, the little one will know how to go to the front gate to dig in the dirt. 109 Do not think of yourself as a little chick, 110 You have already eaten your parent’s hhoqcil vegetables and grown up, 111 Do not pretend that you are like the qeiltao lolbiq plant that never grows large. 303 112 When the spring rains come from the mountaintops, it will cause plants to grow a new section. p Female: (8:59) 113 Without washing my hands, I can still sieve my good brothers’ grain and steam their rice. (My brothers are good to me and let me do as I please.) 114 I do not wash my feet and yet I can still play freely in the midst of my good brothers. p 115 At the age of fourteen or fifteen we can start learning how to court a lover, 116 At the age of thirteen, we will start thinking of a lover. p 117 The peaches at the front of the house are red with ripeness. 118 Even if you do not let your hair grow long, you will still fall in love. 119 At the age of fourteen or fifteen, your breasts will be fully developed. 120 At the age of thirteen, you will start thinking of your lover. 121 I live a carefree life with my parents. 122 I live a carefree life in the midst of my parents. 123 My good home of Dafxil Aolmeil! 124 When my good brothers do not finish a task, they do not rely on me to finish it, 125 When my brothers do not finish a job, they do not ask me to finish it. p 126 I comb my hair three times a day and my relationship with my sister-in-laws are still very good, 127 With the love of my parents, I eat well once a day, and three times a day I eat very well. p 128 I am a young person who does not understand adult matters. Male: (10:32) 129 The heart of the lady should not be spread open like the wings of a bird, 130 Those who are smart will come to propose to you. 131 The bamboo shoots growing at the mountain top must be cut and eaten. (You are not young and should seek out love.) 132 As children we have been to the place of leisure at the head of the village, 133 Dancing about without turning back—this we have already done before. 134 our blessing and our fate will meet together on the road of playfulness. 135 We were destined to meet on the road of playfulness. 136 The places where the two of us have met are not few, 137 The places where the two of us have lingered are not few. 138 The three mountains have been meeting place for the two of us. 3p 139 We can go to the aolbiq tree and make a canopy there, 140 If the place where we stop to rest is not shady enough, we can cut leaves from the miaovqlal tree. p Female: (11:31) 141 Before my parents go to sleep, 142 Before they fall into deep slumber. p 143 I can go to the end of the fireplace and pretend to be asleep, 144 I can pretend to be asleep under the shadow of a large pot of rice by the fireplace where the three stones lie—this will be our signal for meeting up. 145 I will not say that your hands are holding a flashlight, 146 Your hands are holding a small flashlight. 147 You hold a three-stringed lute in your hands and come to the centre of the village, 148 You hold a four-stringed lute in your hands and come to linger in the small lanes of the village. p 304 149 My dear home of Dafxil Aolmeil! Male: (12:24) 150 the mountains do not separate us, neither do large river waters, but what separates us is a small stream, 151 The rainbow and the mountains do not separate us, but what separates us is one small hill. p 152 When a field is ripe for harvest, it is a good field, 153 The journey to the field does not feel long, does not seem long. 154 I have a lover whom I meet in the night, 155 If the rivers separate us, we will use our eyes to look past it so that our distance apart seems close, 156 If a rainbow separates us, we will use our feet to run so that our distance apart seems close. p 157 The promises we left behind, I will not forget in a day. 158 The promises we left behind in the hut by the field, 159 My promises to you are good; they are better than the streams at the mouth of the spring. p 160 Do not let our parents hear our words spoken in secret, 161 Do not let our parents see when we walk on the same road. p Female: (13:18) 162 Let us hide under the aolbiq tree in front of the house, 163 Let us hide and sleep below the miaovqlal tree behind the house. p 164 If we hide under the aolbiq tree in front of the house, we will not get crushed by rocks. (When people hear their rustling sounds, they will throw rocks in their direction, thinking that it is a wild animal.) 165 If we hide and sleep under the miaovqlal tree behind the house, I will not face my back to your shadow and leave you. p 166 Before my parents wake up for a night of slumber, 167 Between their deep slumber and waking, 168 Before my parents wake up from a night of slumber, 169 If I go to the end of the fireplace and pretend to sleep, 170 Then we can hide under the aolbiq tree in front of the house, 171 Then we can hide and sleep below the miaovqlal tree behind the house. p 172 We will do this between our parent’s deep sleep and waking. Male: (13:46) 173 Before our parents wake up from a night of slumber, 174 I will bring my little three-stringed lute to the centre of the village. 175 Come and listen to the sounds of my lute, 176 Come and listen to the sounds of my flute. p 177 When my parents are asleep, I will come out and meet you. Female: (14:28) 178 I will bring out a thin blanket, 179 I will secretly bring out a thick blanket. p 180 If it is not convenient for me to speak loudly, I will send you a signal by clearing my throat. 181 If it is not convenient for me to call out to you, I will send you a signal by grunting. p 305 Male: (14:54) 182 Even if your mouth does not speak, the lady knows what is in her heart. 183 You are someone who can think of solutions—solutions that can overcome others, 184 You can devise solutions to outclimb others by one level. 185 Our parents love us wholeheartedly, 186 The man will love his beloved like half of himself. 187 If the lady grows up and has thoughts of establishing a family, 188 Then the man, when he grows up, will also have thoughts of establishing a family. p Female: (15:30) 189 When my parents are asleep for the night, my lover can come to meet me. 190 If when I come out and the bamboo boards sound, I will apply grease to keep them from sounding, 191 When the bamboo slats sound, I have a way of keeping them from sounding by mending them together. p 192 When the bamboo boards sound, I have a way of greasing them with oil, 193 If I am not careful, I could step on the fat pig near the front gate, 194 Or I may bump into the fence and disturb the beehive. p 195 The lady will spit saliva on the door to grease it so that it will not creak, 196 The lady will use snot to grease the door so that it will not sound. p 197 If the bamboo boards sound, I will say that it was a big female rat running across, 198 If the bamboo slats sound, I will say that it was the big female cat hunting for its prey. p Male: (16:30) 199 I can see that the lady has a kind heart, 200 I will look upon ten horses and choose the best one, 201 I will look upon ten ladies and choose the best one. p 202 A patch of yiqciiv herbs will not become a field of buckwheat, 203 Not anybody who has grown a mouth and nose are kind and good. p 204 Female: (16:57) 205 The one whom I love deeply, 206 If we truly love each other, 207 Then are mouths should speak of the other. 208 I will remember you and think of you in my heart, 209 With beautiful eyes, I can see the other person, 210 Bright and beautiful eyes can see clearly—my eyes have picked you out. 211 We do not require frying oil to get us to the place of joining our flesh, (We do not require sweet words to help us to fall in love,) 212 And if we are destined to be together, we do not even require the flesh to join us together. p 213 Male: (17:43) 214 (Yes, this is so) because we are joined together in the flesh, 215 Because we travel the same road together. p 216 Many promises were made in the shelter by the field, 217 These promises are better than the water at the mouth of the spring. p 218 I am not looking for a firm boulder because I am afraid of the cement going bad, 219 I am not speaking good words to pretend to be a young person. p 220 I will boast of you with ten phrases before others, 306 221 I will wear you like a rope or a badge on my chest. (I will lift you up and honor before others.) 222 Female: (18:40) 223 When my parents call me I will not answer, 224 But when my lover calls me I will answer. p 225 Even if my parents’ rice is as sweet as honeycomb, I will not turn to them for it, 226 But if there are just a few grains of rice that my lover has left on the corner of his mouth, I will turn to him for it. p 227 I will love you like you are my one half, 228 Even though my parents love me wholeheartedly. p 229 My parents call but I will not answer them. Male: (19:19) 230 I find out now that my lady has a kind heart: 231 Your mouth speaks and faces another person, 232 But your kind heart has not been given to another. p 233 Let us first speak with honest words, 234 Let us first speak with truthful words. p 235 When the lady grows up she will want to start a family, 236 When the man grows up he will want to start a family. p Female: (19:52) 237 From today onward I will not listen to my parents’ words, 238 I will go and listen to the words of my lover. p 239 I will not believe the words of my good brothers, 240 I will only believe the words of my lover. p Male: (20:18) 241 The two lovers will come together to form one heart, 242 The two hearts that can think of many solutions, let them think of how to become one heart. p 243 Do not listen to the words of your parents, 244 Listen to the words of your lover. p 245 Do not believe the words of your brothers, 246 Believe the words of your lover. p 247 At first my parents may scoop three handfuls of sand to throw at you, 248 They may scold you with three angry phrases. p 249 But they will not find hard pieces of firewood to beat you. 250 They will only hit you with the eilheiq weed by the front gate, 251 They will only throw at you three scoops of sand by the front gate. p 252 The two lovers will always be together, 253 The two lovers will form a family together. p Female: (21:05) 254 At a time when the anger of my parents is still burning like fire, 255 At a time when the anger of my brothers is still billowing out like hot steam, p 256 I think to myself: if only the two of us, passionately in love, can be together, 257 If only the two farm animals, so in love, can live in one pen together. p 258 At a time when the anger of my parents is still burning like fire: 259 My lover can be to me like a good brother, 260 My lover can be to me like a parent. p 307 261 If the water from the reservoir comes flooding out, You can make a concrete slab to block it from coming. 262 If there is a big windstorm, you can shield me from it. p Male: (21:50) 263 If the water from the reservoir comes flooding out, I will make a concrete slab to block it from coming. 264 If there is a big windstorm, I will shield you from it. p 265 My parents will only throw at you three scoops of sand by the front gate. 266 After three months we’ll go back and find your good brothers, 267 After three months we’ll go back to find your parents. p 268 Do not say, after only three days of living at our home, that the house is leaky. 269 We can use the dry leaves from the mountaintop to make a temporary shelter. Female: (22:33) 270 If I do not consider carefully (this decision to marry you), in three nights we will have built a shelter, 271 If I do not consider carefully, in three days we will have dug up a small field for farming. 272 After this, I will not be able to undig what is done. 273 If I do not consider carefully, and in three days build a shelter, 274 After this, it will be too late to dismantle the shelter. (After I marry you, I will not be able to change my mind about it.) 275 Oh! The one whom I so deeply love! Male: (23:10) 276 If you do not consider carefully three days, we can build a shelter, 277 We can make a shelter under the aolbiq tree, 278 We can cut down miaovqlal branches to make a shady place for ourselves. p 279 We will not allow mushrooms that grow in the seventh month to grow in the shelter, 280 I am a brother who can think of solutions. 281 There is no wind in the seventh month that does not blow fiercely, 282 But that does not matter as long as the two lovers can be together forever, 283 As long as the two farm animals, so in love with each other, can live in the same pen together. 284 Two people, in love, will clap their hands, (Two people, passionately in love, are greatly blessed,) 285 Two farm animals, in love, will rub their cheeks and paws against each other. (Two farm animals, deeply in love, are greatly blessed.) p Female (23:58) 286 The horse and oxen walk in the fields together, 287 Let us be like the horse and oxen, always walking together under the same yoke. 288 On the second day, it seems that we are not like the farm animals. 289 If I roast sticky rice in too much of a hurry and it burns, I may regret it later, 290 The woman who is in a rush to marry out will face much suffering. p 291 If I am not careful, I may accidentally break the string at another’s gate. 292 If I am not careful, I will push over the bamboo slats at another’s front gate. 293 On a day when I am not careful, this lady will not know how to fix it with her left and left foot. 294 You never know, they may one day come in a rage and beat me up with firewood. 308 295 You never know, they may use three kindling stones from the fireplace to crush me. Male (24:47) 296 Do not worry! 297 We are fated to be together, 298 The things that our ancestor Miqyeil left for us is able to join us together, 299 The fate of two people must arrive at a point, 300 If it is not fate, there is no way we can pray and receive blessing for it, 301 The scale that the sky god Aoqmavq uses is fair, 302 The matters ordained by our ancestors are balanced and raked flat by the teeth of a harrow. 303 The scale that Aomavq uses chooses is fair and balanced, 304 If you think it is not balanced you can bring your scale to see. 305 Our ancestors have already plowed flat (our fate). 306 There is no seventh month where the wind does not blow fiercely! 307 I have already decided to take you as my bride, and I will not go back. 308 Our good fate has already been decided and there is no appealing to a higher court. 309 Do not worry! 310 There is nothing to worry about! Female: (25:38) 311 In the future, when your pant become worn, I will know not how to mend them, 312 When the pants are old and torn into three parts, I will not know how to mend them. p 313 I do not know if you will divorce me when you decide that you do not need me.  Male: 314 In ancient times, the handsome man, Ngaqja Aqxeil, poured wine for Lady Molsel, 315 He did this when he married the intelligent Lady Molsel, more prized than a firstborn buffalo. 316 It is said that Alhhel Nalqei was a most skilled diviner of the pig liver, 317 It is said that in ancient times, Yeilsal (the first man) told Mother Yeilmoq to examine the pig liver in order to find him a good wife. 318 The day that he took Aqhuq to be the firstborn-buffalo wife, 319 The old diviner looked at the pig liver and said: 320 The pig liver contains a bad omen, 321 The gall bladder is full of ill-omen in seven places. 322 Our capable pig liver diviner, Alhhel Nalqei, looked at the pig liver but once, 323 If the pig liver is good, then one can proceed on this road, 324 If the gall bladder is good both inside and out, then our food and drink will be plentiful, 325 We will have plenty to eat and drink; we will have rice stuck to the insides and outsides of our feet. 326 In the future, we will give birth to seven sons and give them names, 327 This will happen if I marry the Lady Molsel, the prized firsborn buffalo. 328 If the daughter-in-law is not good, she cannot be divorced. 329 This is what our customs and laws require. 330 If the daughter-in-law gathers rice for storage and wastes some, the man will not divorce her. 331 If you go for ten days without seeing a mouthful of rice, 332 You can depend on the men of the house to look after you.  309 333 I will not know how to mend a pair of pants that have torn in two, 334 I will not know how to mend your father’s old pants. 335 But this woman will smile for the men, 336 The daughter-in-law’s face can be seen (to be radiant) in the home. 310 AL1b “Beginning a family” Hani-Chinese Translation Ssaqyo *:  Maq beeq e siivq la aqlil maq jav  #$ #'$+ 2 Maq ssiiq miqma saol jol nial     + + 3 Maq qil eellaoq bal jol nial )1 +1   20" 3  Niaoq ’aol lalna cal cuvq   5 Naolma aoqcal siivqhhuv naolhhuvq puv . .  Geeq tul yuqlaoq dav qavq lal nga (% + + 7 Miqma ceil tov ceilla tuq e maq eil nial  /!/    !/ + 8 Xo qivq needaq maq sal miqma maq huvq nial *  *  9 Salsiil hoqcuv yolqoq ei eiq &   & +   Zaq li haoqmaq maq jav maq qil sso ,'$  '$,  11 Niaov li juldal maq jav maq kyuq sso '$- '$- 20"3 311 12 Aqda haqjil qiq hhaq e pyuqloq hu meil jol 8D< ;$ 13 Dulma miqbiaol qiq hhaq e pyuqloq hu meil jol D< ;$  ED*F 14 Da nei sal taq laq e piulsiil duqhaoq maq navq e li 39B0 39: 15 Ngaldu piulsiivq bavq tao piul yyul gee sso %(')  %  SsaqmiqG  16 Ngaldu aqsol gaq e niq hhaq ngeel alngaoq %?"*, ,*;: 17 Ceil nao hev e hoq qavq qiq peiv maq mol e liq   21 >=  18 Ngaldu aqsol gaq e niq hhaq pyuqloq hu meil jol %?"D< ;$ 19 Ssaq bo dama hhaqjeil davtevq loqssaq maq bo maq qil sso 6 3. -7 ! /+  &# /+3.9:!-7&# 20 Ngaldu niq hhaq mil siivq duq duv mil yyul gee yil sso %   (   )  %A(: 21 Da nei sal taq laq e hovqteiq xalma koqzaol maq jav maq qil sso 3 9:  5 7 4 / +  &# /+39:7&# SsaqyoG 8 22 Da nei sal taq laq e hovqteiq xalma koqzaol jav lil 3 9:  5 7 4 + +39:7 23 Hovqsal lolliv koqssaq jav   C  ! + 7@+!7 312 24 Aqlaoq neeyoq maq qil sso nga .1  # # 25 Eil li taq duq qil al maq bo  , #  $ ($-# 26 Maq meeq miqma huvq pal maq aol nial        27 Laqbee aqhuq Ceiqkyul kyulnuv seq alngaoq     & & Ceiqkyul kyulnuv 28 Aqkal ngal miaol ssaqyo siivq hhaq bo e yul jol  !  +   $ 3' !$+-3 29 Ssaqyo siivq hhaq bo e siivq yal loqma duq yil aqyil +   $  * *   $+2* 30 Ssaqyo siivq hhaq bo alngaoq +   $ & &$+ 31 Niuqkuv siivq kuv cuv yil aqyil )      ) 32 Laqyil siivq kaol naolhao duv lal nga )    % )  $- 33 Moqpaq siivq kaol naolhao duv lal nga     %   $- 34 Galbil siivq dei duq yil aqyil 0     2-0 35 Ngal miaol ssaqyo siivq hhaq bo yul jol !  +   $ 3' !$+-3 36 Maq movq miqma huvq pal maq aol sso  4/     " 37 Yeilheiq heiq meeq aqhhol maq bu qaol        $ 313 38 Lalbaq baqsal ssil e ssil meeq ?2 2    ?2' 39 Ssaqssyuq maq sil taol dei   3   40 Beellu maq sil taol huvq   3  # /# BA/C 41 Beel e maq piq hhal e maq hal qaol lil 6  " ;  , . *) 42 Baqhhyul niq hhaq qiq hhovq cuv )   $ :9$ 43 Baqgaq niq hhaq qiq ssil jil )    :95 BA/C SsaqmiqD  44 Sol gaq aqli miqssaq hhovqli bi sal nial leil ngeel alngaoq   @  / 0 0( 45 Yuqlaoq maq qil hhovqli bavq taq nial leil ngeel alngaoq  8@ - / 0 089 % BA/C 46 Ngal aqlaoq sal e maqceil malnee qiq jol sal wulyaq + <=    ( 1  +&( 47 Siivq e baqma eelqil sal e maq ceil eelhhaol laolqei caoqpyuq kevq meil sal wulyaq 7 4    4(    >( BA/C 48 Aqsol gaq e niq hhaq yaol =; 7 24 7=; 52 Beellu cuvq e juqhyuq jav lil    7 87 53 Aqkal beellu cal cuvq hhaqnaq naqduq bi sal movq ssa     : :*  + 57:* 54 Soq tul li e zallaq dama 24J%  =; 24J%I 55 Meeq qivq jaqlaq laqga doq yeil bil nga   !I   @  56 Jaljul laqga doqsiq seiq nga  !I  / !I -  PN3Q 57 Aqkal laolgee miqdaoq tavq a keeqma xovqhhal hha alngaoq  < " D  A ( 9 9 <"7 @A 58 Laolnia wuqhhal yoqpaq jolduq xilmeil meeq lal < 1 #= D  8 <1#=@ D' PN3Q 59 Hoqcuv dama eil lal doqzaq taq laq miq =;    =;@0F 60 Haqbievq haqtav zeiq lal nga $B EB KL $BGKLEB 61 Albievq altav zeiq lal nga &B EB KL 315 +>ADE?> HG3I 62 Dama hultav ssaqmeeq maq zeiq haoq nga 86  #"  DE A ,A86 SsaqmiqJ  63 Ngal ceil yuvq ngavq huvq maq biao meil sulbee yil ssol .     $  .  ;$ 64 Huvqyei ceil saol maq biao sul’a hovqsal lolgee hhavqkeeq xovq ssol       $)  :9 =  ;$) C:9 HG3I 65 Yoqpaq laqgee heilzil maq nia ya '8    '8; 66 Yoqma aqmeel laqgee lavqcavq maq nia e liq '6  /1   '6;/ HG3I 67 Nol bilmi ssaqheiq hoqhhyu aqmol gee alngaoq  - * !5 !5- AC *B;. 68 Hhyulqoq aqbiaol huqcuv dama gee alngaoq - 86 !5 !5-AC86B;. HG3I 69 Nol soqlo hoqzaq saqsal ngaq a hu nial leil eil ssol  24   . <  A7<.; 70 Joqdei xalsul yil ssol yeil pi naoq miaq ngaq a hu nial leil eil F( 0" @ %  . <  F(@0"% 7<.; HG3I 71 Ngal bilmi ssaqheiq eil laq e doq xilmeil nal wul . -     .& - ; 316 Ssaqyo: / 72 Soqlo meiqbivq zalyyuq dama gee nial %'  7. -(  %' &4-(0 73 Soq tul li e zallaq dama gee nial %' 5  -(  %'54 86 &9 74 Ngaldu pyullo maq deil hoqlo maq savq sso       , * 0 75 Soqlo pyul deil lal e lulhhuv pao yil miq %'     %'   76 Soq tul miqzaq leilhhuvq pao yil miq %' 5 + +  %'5 + 86 &9 77 Yevq lavq gaoqdu yavpyul bavq alnei   " "1 78 Caoq meeq nei yav ziil +   + 79 Leilhhaol meeq nei yav zaq +   + 86 &9 80 Xaolma yuvq pyu yav dei  $  $ 81 Jilma yuvq kyul yav leev  3  ! #!3 86 &9 82 Yoqpaq dol e laqpeiv qavq yil miq -  2) , ,-02) 83 Yoqma laqgee heilzil nal yil miq (    (0 317 84 Yoqma aqmeel laqgee lavqcavq aol yil miq #4  +,   #4;+ 85 Yoqpaq jol e paqyao hha yiul nga #8  . &  B.#8 86 Yoqma jol e neenaoq hha sov #4  '1 & - #4&1' GF0H SsaqmiqI  87 Ngal maq heq aqcu aqnil ngeel ssolnei *    ! 0 *0;! 88 Maq mol dama ssaqgaq gee ssolnei   84  084; GF0H 89 Yoqpaq laqgee heilzil maq nia ya #8    #8; 90 Yoqma aqmeel laqgee lavqcavq maq nia ya #4  +,  #4;+ GF0H 91 Haoltav eellaol maq quv aqneiq qavq ya maq aol nia e liq 6 5   ? 7   6/;5 92 Aqsol gaq e niq hhaq qiq gao hha jol e alngaoq A$   C &  3 3<;@C 93 Da’lo haqjil qaq e neenyuq kevq lal 9  '( 2 &9;') 94 Eiqsi milnao ngal molmeeq bee e jol e yul jol  *  %  E  %;  95 Lolgee miqdaoq havdov taqhhal maq hev 6 " > :  =D =D>;: 318 96 Eelqul baoqzao taqduq maq hev ! (  *1 *1! )( 54 6 Ssaqyo7 ' 97 Qiq nao col siivq niq nao col yyul hha gee        ) % 98 Maq caq bilbieil loqma guq wulnaq    3/ 3/) 99 Maq sal xolma haoqbaoq guq wulnaq   " 3/ 3/ 54 6 100 Xaolma haoqbaoq biaqlov yaoqyaol xa qaol wulnaq  " .   " 101 Keeqma aqli xavqduq jolduq haoqbu dalkol   + $, $,) 102 Keeqma aqli jolhhal jilto xaolssaq jav nga   2  )2 103 Aqlaoq neeyoq maq qil sso nga -0     104 Hha qil neeyoq maq kevq sso       54 6 Ssaqmiq7  105 Ngal zaqli hoqzaq bilmi lolbieil ngeel ssol       )) 106 Aol li miaoq aol bilmi xalnieiq ya   & )#)& 54 6 319 107 Aol li miaoq aol geekoq niakoq maq hev  " "  2<  )2" SsaqyoB / 108 Zaq li hoqzaq noq e lolbieil ngeel wulnaq   0  $ 0$0 109 Aol li miaoq aol noq e miqnieiq nga 0  0  0)$0 @>$ A 110 Qeiv li moqssaq aqmeil niq pyu daolhaol pi yil miq      5  :8 111 Aol li miaoq aol wuqsiq qiq heiq muvq yil miq      ) =4 @>$ A 112 Biqcaoq hovqna bi dul movq alngaoq    : & & : 113 Miqhhaoq miqduq hhelduq naoq zyul  03 1; 031; 114 Miqhhaoq miq dyul maq dyul     115 Xaol kyul miqzaq aqhyuq bo dovq yil miq ! 9 * + - -  -* ?, 116 Xo dyul maq dyul xalzeil moq nei qiq heiq niuq alnei / . ' 7 /.(6 117 Biqcaoq sulna qiq jol dul lal wulnaq   ' : % :#0 118 Deitav alniul ssaqna qiq heiq paoq qaol wulnaq  ' : :0 320 SsaqmiqQ  119 Ngal aol li miaoq aol gee koq nia koq maq hev )  , ,  BJ  7B, 120 Joqdei xalsul yil ssol duv caq maq siq alngaoq L $   5 5 $ OM.P 121 Nol joqdei xalsul yil ssol meiqsi doq seq laq  L $  M   $ 4M+% 122 Naollo koq heivq naolhao haol jol lal  26  M   264& OM.P SsaqyoQ ?! 123 Naollo koq heivq diqsiil galma jav nga  26  , I 1 26diqsiil galma 124 Miq heivq galma mol niaol jav nga yil 26  I  C 1 26AI1C 125 Soqlo zal sal govssaq baqdiq jav nga -/N; # , 1 8-#*LG OM.P 126 Joq gal maq nia kaol zao aqkeel jav I   3  E 1 1E'ID 127 Aqkal zeiq dao hhuv niuq leiq puv jiv jol miaq e tyul jol  "@  : H    K "@4AK 128 Daolga loq miaq koqteiq silpuv silpal aol L >  = 4< 4<)A> 129 Daol aqli hhaqyal beiv kov saoq la miao lal qivq lil L  F 0 (9  LA0(9 321 130 Sseilnei hoq meivq lal e maq qil sso C   (  $ C-$ 131 Aqsol gaq e niq hhaq ngeel alngaoq >   % ) )%:9 132 Hovqteiq xalma koqzaol jav  2 5 1 ' '0*795 133 Huqhhal lolliv koqzaol jav   A   ' 5?'5 ED%F 134 Deima caolheiq ssaqmeeq aqqul jav nga 5 ,/.   ' 5A9,/+9',#=5 135 Maq heq eelbi aqkeil siivq yal deima haoq zeiq xilmeil ssaoq   , ,  8 5   B ,/ !!B 5A 136 Eelheiq heiqma aqyal ,/.  5 ,/.95 137 Eel bil qaq e davtevq ,   6<3,/ ED%F 138 Xal daoq loqhhuvq loqliv maq ceil meil daoq nia 5     ' 5A@ ', 139 Niq siq maq hev kallaol deima xilmeil meeq lal &  ; 5   ( - &5A9;  SsaqmiqG  140 Ngaldu ssaq bo dama sal taq laq e hovqteiq xalma koqzaol " 4 0* 7  2 5 1 0*7"95 141 Huqhhal lolliv koqssaq  A   5?'5 322 142 Yeiqnao ngal ceil tov ceilla maq tuq miqma saoljol nial leil alngaoq  & ?* ?    1 1?&9 143 Xo qivq needaq maq sal miqma maq diq nial leil alngaoq 6 $%     ( 1 16$%(& 144 Soqlo hoqzaq li ssol saqsal ngaq a hu ssol +-   & 8  4 & 145 Joqdei xalxul yil ssol yeil pi naoq miaq ngaq a hu ssol A !  ):  & 8 A !:) 48& DC,E 146 Nol meiqdeiq deiq laol needeiq maq deiq nial leil alngaoq   $  1 1 $ & 147 Ngalya aqma ssaqmiq aqlaoq hoqhyu neesal hha wulyaq &   <@ 0 $ # &# $ 148 Aqqoq collo meiqcil hal cuvq eildaq maq bi luvq yil sso alngaoq   " ' . >     1 1&> SsaqyoF 6 149 Sul’a meiqcil hal cuvq eildaq maq luvq qaol nga yil  " ' . >    7> 150 Da bo luv jol saq leiq sul’a maq dal leil maq eil 5 . (   B  .5(B 151 Da bo luv jol saq leiq sul’a baolzeil tov nial 5 . (    .5(73 DC,E 152 Ma bo luv jol haoqhhaq sul’a maq ngaq leil maq eil 2 . =/     .2=/ 153 Sul’a aqli haoq aol nieiqma qiq nieiq cuvq yil nia  =/     ; ; 72 DC,E 323 154 Haqniq col bu luv e sulsal %  (J % ?:$7(J 155 Ceiq diq miav saol zuvq ssol sul’a hoq kaq dal qaol . *    / V .P5! 156 Niq siq leqhev pallaol dama meeq e maq ceil   '2 ?:   8?: 8'2 157 Loqheiq eelbiq aqkal hhalzaol ceilniaoq meeq e maq ceil ;> ;  R!   ;>ASER!  158 Kal cuv ceil siil niaoq luvq zuvq e )L  R! TW NM   TWEKR1 159 Tyuq hu hu e siivq baqma lol yaol heq movq heq yil miq ya  F = <  4=E; 160 Ssaq bo dama siivq yal deima caolheiq maq dav qivq "!@?:  D A ;>   P P ?:B,E;> 161 Ssaq bo dama hovqlol soq xa eelquvq maq dao "!@?: ; 6U ;  ,E ; 162 Nia aqli oqpiul luvma siqteiq heq movq heq yil miq ya 3 CG  3ECG 163 Hoqcuv zaolhhuvq hhaqma saoq bol maq dao #  I    ,#E I 164 Lalsav taoqteiq hhaqma ssil bol laqgee xilmeil heq nga %0O I @    I7% E@ 165 Lalsav aqli hovqzaol beelduv ssavqyivq xilmeil heq ssol %0O 3 !   %EH+ SsaqmiqX  166 Ngal sul’a meiqcil hal cuvq eildaq maq bi luvq yil nial leil alngaoq ,  & - 8 Q     9 9 , Q 324 167 Nol qiq koq hultav niq qaol maq cuv alngaoq     &  " - -& 168 Qiq col hultav niq miq maq seq nial leil alngaoq       - -%5# 98*: 169 Nol qiq koq hultav niq qaol cuv alngaoq     & " - -& 170 Ngal maq meeq qiq col sul’a eildaq luvq lal maq hev %      7  6 6 %47 171 Ngalya yoqpaq laqgee heilzil nal kal leil nyuq e 2    $ $ 24 172 Yoqma laqgee lavqcavq aol meil jol kal leil nyuq e /  ()  $ $ /4( 98*: Ssaqyo; 3 173 Qiq koq hultav niq qaol maq cuv nga    &  "  174 Ngal milma ceil gaoq hultav ceil qaol maq cuv %   !   &  " !"& 175 Aqquvq ceil lol duv e ceil biq maq cuvq 0  ,  ,  ,0 ,01 98*: 176 Milma ceil gaoq wuqdu ceil qaol maq cuv nial   !   &  " !"& 177 Milma qiq gaoq wuqdu qiq qaol cuv  !.   ! " !"& 98*: 178 Alli ssaqmiq hal jol movq e qiq qaol cuv nial  ' $  & " "&+4 325 179 Wulquvq ceil lol duv e ceil biq maq cuvq . * *  *. *./ 180 Miqbiaol neema hal dol movq e qiq biq cuvq nial  " (  #  * *(4 >='? Ssaqmiq@  181 Nol qiq koq hultav niq qaol maq cuv nial leil ngeel alngaoq     %  ' , , % 182 Ngal dulma ssaqmiq caoq zaqjul aqma gee nial $  0 ; - $ -+91 Ssaqyo@ 2 183 Maq cuv nial qiq koq hultav niq qaol maq cuv      %   % 184 Qiq col hultav niq miq maq seq       >='? 185 Aqqoq bilmi sul gaq naqba maq sal         186 Siivq ceil miav hu maq zaq nga leil loq lil  7 5  5  !8< >='? 187 Miqhhaoq maq puv nee jil gee nial    6" : 6"4 188 Aqda haqjil maq puv e nee meeq gee nial 2   "  : 2 >='? 189 Eil li taqduq cilhhal bo nial  3 )& ) 4)&4 326 190 Cavma moqhaol pavq duq gee ssivq sso  '    0 Ssaqmiq3  191 Ngal caoq zaqjul aqma gee ssol  % . $   192 Caoq meeq nei yav zil nial %     + 193 Leilhhaol meeq nei yav zaq aol nial %     % 10 2 194 Ngal niq siq aqlaoq hhuvma pao ti saol meil jol      +  Ssaqyo3 ( 195 Aqda zeiqcil sal e zeiq toq ssaqli saqbaol toq nial &     !(   &!( 196 Aqma haoqcil aol e haoq toq miqli saqbaol toq yil miq $ -"  -"  !   $-! 10 2 197 Ceil tov ceilla miqma bi saol nial /  /  + / #+ 198 Bialhhal zovqdul miqma bi pavq nial ,       #+ 10 2 199 Huqceiq sulma naoq yal qiq koq xa kal yil  )*      )* 200 Huq qu aqha qiq ssaq qu        10 2 327 201 Ha duv haqniq naoqmil zaolto duv nga    202 Ha duv duv e siivmol laqbu zuvqssaq  ,30 , 30 97": 203 Gaoqbiq ha yav leilma maq gal sso nga   30  3062  204 Ceiqnil leil e niuq hhaq galzii maq yil sso wulnaq  * 30  *62 30 205 Ha duv haqniq naoqmil zaolti duv yi ssol    206 Ha jol leil tyuqsiq zaoltav xilmeil ssaoq   0  5 30  0 207 Hhoheiq hama zeiqzaol jol ssol  & -  $&  208 Ha lov yav sal aqha  .   /+, 209 Yul lov yav saq yul lov jol nga 4  .  4   97": Ssaqmiq;  210 Ngal caoq zaqjul aqma gee ssol leil  ( 1 &   211 Soqlo hazal lavqpeq saol peq bavq ssol !# 8     '!) 212 Ha yav qiq jol yiul yi sso  . % ) ). 328 213 Hazal puvsiq deihaoq xilmeil bi biao movq ssa E A   E 214 Ngal hhavq qu qu e zallaol baoq seiv saol baoq seiv yil miq nial # 3  E2 +  + # $3 215 Nol aqda haqjil neema yomeeq ngeel alngaoq  4 !  & * *&!54 216 Salqivq gaoqlaoq niq hhaq zyul alngaoq 7,  6@ * *7,6@ SsaqyoI 4 217 Hhoheiq hhavqpaq ceil seiv eelcal qavq yil miq alngaoq  :3 > - 1 * = 5/9- 13E 218 Hhoheiq hhavqpaq daoqdev miqhhev zal qaol wulnaq  :3   0  5:3  219 Tyuq sov sov e hhoheiq hhavqpaq lavqtov sov cul miq    :3 ;C % : %3: " 220 Dav sov sov e bialcil lavqtov sov caoq  % ). ;C % ' %). " GD&H 221 Hovq tov hhavqpaq sulna dul qaol < :3  ? <5:3? 53 222 Hhavq qu heq e ssaqmiq saqbaol hhuvq qaol nga 3     3 3'5 223 Hhoheiq hhavqpaq daoqdev miqhhev zal qaol  :3   0  5:3  224 Hhavq jol molsav heq wulnaq 3    3 225 Hhavqloq hupiq aqmeil cul e yul ssaq dav 3 8F  : B  ?8F( 329 226 Hu’laoq aqmeil dav lal )  3hu‘laoq 6 227 Hhellaoq laoqbyul aqpuv nei dav lal leil jaq yil miq &5   &5  228 Caoqpuv galheiq nieivqzil aqza   , 229 Caoqpuv hhaqqaol leelde daoqmiq tavq a .  .,7 230 Yevq lavq hhavqzal bavq alnei jaq yil  *8   -*8  231 Hhoheiq ceil seiv eelcal bavq alnei jaq yil  2 $   - ,%0$  232 Pavqpiq caq a hhavqlal maq bi bal leil jaq yil miq !)## *9   9  *9 233 Lulbul caq a hhavqloq maq bi baq leil jaq yil miq !) *9  9  *9 234 Hhoheiq hhavqpaq daoqdev miqhhev zal lal leil jaq yil  1*  '   ,1*  235 Hhavq qu heq e ssaqmiq saqbaol hhuvq lal miq leil jaq yil        236 Ngaldu hhoheiq oqssaq jol qaollaol hev qaol   !   !  237 Oq jol li e alzeiv paoqdaq gee qaol !     238 Hhoheiq oq jol xaolma dalkol biao qaol  !    ! 239 Ssaq bo dama haq diq niq lov kaolqei jav + (" /   /  ("4,/ 330 Ssaqmiq2  240 Nol aqda haqjil kaol byu cyuq alngaoq  " % !  "(*-% 241 Ngal aqma ssaqmiq hhoq xa naol qaol lil   .*  * 0/ 1 242 Keilsav hhoq xa bil bol lol yil nial , .*     ,#* 243 Haqseil alpul xa ssol seil xa juqyaq taoq yil nial + + +  + + 0/ 1 Ssaqyo2 " 244 Caqciivq xa e loqkol jav nga     # 245 Haqseil xa e baqteivq jav nga +    +# 0/ 1 246 Caqciivq lavqmiav xa yil miq  )$  )$ 247 Guqqil lavqmiav xa zeq miq * )$  ' ' *)$ 0/ 1 248 Caqciivq ciivqma alpul     & # 249 Haqseil seilma alssyuq leil jav nga yil + +   +# 0/ 1 250 Haqseil seilma alssyuq daol aqli seil yal maq muvq saol huvq hev + +   +      #++ 331 251 Deihhuvq biqcaoq seillul maq bi pievq yil qivq '  5    2 2- :9 !; 252 Caqciivq ciivqma alpul ciivq yal maq muvq saol huvq hev    #       0-# 253 Haoltav ciivqhaoq meilsiil maq bi pievq yil qivq  6    2 26 :9 !; 254 Aqkal caqciivq lavqmiav xa yil miq   3.   3. 255 Guqqil lavqmiav xa zeq miq 4 3.  1% 1%43. :9 !; 256 Ssaq bo dama xa taq laq e guqqil baqteivq qiq nao maq pal nial *)&  , - 4      )&-4- 257 Dulma ssaqmiq caqciivq lavqmiav xa yil nial   3.   3. 258 Guqqil lavqmiav xa zeq nial 4 3.  1% 1%43. :9 !; 259 Nol aqda haqjil kaol byu qiq taq cyuq alngaoq  + / ( $  " "+2 47 260 Ngal aqma miqhhaoq hhoq xa bil bol lol yil nial   84    4  :9 !; Ssaqyo< + 261 Aqda haqjil jol e kaol byu cyuq yil sso +  / (  +  / 262 Aqma miqhhaoq hhoq xa bil bol lol  84   332 , 86 "9 263 Keilsav hhoqpavq saq na zaol dul 3 5, + 0 3)5, 0+ 264 Caqciivq ciivqma alpul    & *)& 265 Biqcaoq lal e haqseil jav nga ! % - # !%#- 266 Alniul bee e caqciivq jav nga ! 3  # !3# 267 Tao biq biqcaoq xilmeil lol sil movq ssa !    !%  268 Tao lal lal e xilmeil lol qavq movq ssa %  '  %  269 Lavqleev leev laq e hoqqeil dav yil miq  2,  1 2, 270 Peil leev leev e hoq seiq dav yil miq .$ 5,  1. 35, 86 "9 271 Keilsav hhoqpavq saq na zaol dul miq 3 5, + 0 3)5, 0+ 272 Zalcyuq zalyei hhoqqei  ),  ,  ),4/ 273 Zal keel niaolju hhoqcyuq qavq yil miq 7(  , , ' ' ),  333 AL1b “Beginning a Family” English Translation Male: 1 There is no wind in the seventh month that does not blow hard, 2 A daughter-in-law who is not strong will still be praised, 3 Cutlery that is not good will not be hastily thrown away. p 4 Now the sunlight shines brightly, 5 Then later, the sun sets behind the mountains. 6 A thick wok, though thick, will still heat up, 7 If a daughter-in-law scoops up grain and does not waste any, she will not be scolded. 8 If a man is not in a good mood, he will not for that reason divorce his wife: 9 They are companions for life. 10 We may not have rice bowls but we do not worry, 11 We may not have chopsticks but our hearts do not despair. p 12 A man need only look into the face of his lover and he will forget all hardship, 13 A woman need only look into the face of her lover and she will forget all hardship. p 14 The money our parents left us does not go deep, 15 But we can earn money anew and save it. Female: 16 If we are in love, 17 Even if we do not see a grain of rice for ten days, 18 Because we are in love, we can forget all else. 19 If we do not inherit the small plot of terraced rice field from your parents, 20 We can develop a new field of our own. 21 Even if we do not inherit your parent’s fields, we do not worry. Male: 22 We do have a filed handed down to us from my parents, 23 Behind the good field there lies a small field, 24 Do not worry, my dear! 25 Do not worry about what is unsaid, 26 A daughter-in-law who is not good will not be divorced. 27 Suppose I marry Ceiqkyul kyulnuv, 28 And after that I have seven sons to my name, 29 And when I have seven sons to plow seven fields for me, 30 And when I have seven grandsons, 31 And they help me build seven cow pens, 32 And after that I buy seven cow, 33 And seven horses after that, 34 And the horses help me to dig and build seven roads, 35 And when I have seven sons and grandsons added to my name, 36 I still would not divorce you. 37 Those who are fated to be together will not encounter opposition from a higher court. 38 When a lalbaq is sung well, 39 The offspring will multiply, 40 The sun will always be the sun, uncahing in a thousand years. p 41 No matter what happens, my feelings toward you will not change, 42 Two people in love will form a family, 43 Two lovers will always come together in the end. p 334 Female: 44 If you want the daughter-in-law to be at peace, 45 If you do not mind a wok that is not firm. p 46 Then my heart will be at peace with my shortcomings, 47 Even though the water in the ocean is good, it does not equal to the goodness of the water gathered into the center, (Then my heart will be at peace with everything.) 48 Oh! We who love each other! Male: 49 May our parents offspring be many, 50 Do not worry yourself with these things, 51 There will be my parents who will prepare a meal for you in the morning. 52 When the sun rises there will be mist in the air, 53 Even when the sun is at its highest, there will be places of shade and rest. 54 When you rise in the morning, my parents will greet you warmly like the chirping of the morning birds. 55 They will greet you with warm and receptive words, 56 They will speak to you like the chirping of small birds, gently passing good messages on to you. p 57 If in the future there is a place for a daughter-in-law by the end of the fireplace, 58 Then perhaps there will also be a good place for a father-in-law (wife’s father) at the front of the fireplace. 59 The teaching of one’s parents must be repaid, 60 The tender bamboo shoots can overtake the old bamboo shoots, 61 The weak bamboo shoots can overtake the strong bamboo shoots. p 62 The generations before our parents could not have surpassed our parents. Female: 63 When I am not even the age of fourteen or fifteen, I enter another’s family. 64 If I am not yet a full cycle of thirteen years and I enter another’s home, I will be as good as a pig or a dog. p 65 At that tender age, I will not be able to fulfill what my father-in-law requests of me, 66 I will not be able to help my mother-in-law around the house. p 67 If my lover can be as good to me as a good brother, 68 If my lover will treat me as well as my parents treat me. p 69 If you keep your word and will take care of me and prepare my morning meal, 70 if you keep your word and will make sure that I am not overworked in the fields and overloaded with burdens to carry. 71 Then I will agree to my lover’s request. Male: 72 I will make you rice in the morning like a loving parent would, 73 I will tenderly call you out of bed in the morning like the chirping of the morning birds. p 74 I will not make your morning rice before the cock crows, 75 When the cock crows in the morning, I will go to open the gate of the house. 76 When it is morning and we rise, I will go and stoke the fire. p 77 I will grip the broom with my right hand, 78 And sweep clean the fireplace, 79 I will sweep the fireplace until it is thoroughly clean. pI 80 I will sweep clean all four directions of the house, 81 I will tidy up all four corners of the house. p 82 I will boil water to make father-in-law some tea. 83 I will listen to the instructions of my mother-in-law. 335 84 I will go and be a helper to my mother-in-law, 85 I will show filial piety to my father-in-law, 86 I will warm the heart of my mother-in-law. p Female: 87 I am only a young girl who is not fully mature, 88 I am the beloved not-fully-grown daughter of my parents. p 89 I will not be able to do the bidding of my father-in-law, 90 I will not be able to be the helper of my mother-in-law. p 91 One who cannot stoke the fire will not be able to heat up the water in time. 92 If the two lovers can be together, 93 If I have won the loyal affection of my lover, 94 Then when I go to my lover’s home, 95 And do not know where the bowls and kitchen tools are stored, 96 And do not know where the water bucket is stored. p Male: 97 Only a stranger for the first day, you will be part of the family by the second day. 98 We will need a large dinner table, 99 We will need a good house. p 100 We will build a house as cozy as a honeycomb, 101 The house for the daughter-in-law will be worthy of boasting. 102 The house will have a bedroom for the daughter-in-law. 103 Do not worry, my darling! 104 Do not have a burdened heart! p Female: 105 The dinner table belongs to another person, 106 The living we make from the fields belongs to another. p 107 When we work, we work without a sense of direction. (When we work, we do not know who is profiting from it.) Male: 108 The dinner table we eat on is yours, 109 The living we make will be ours also. p 110 We will help like a horse helps in carrying parcels on both sides, 111 When we work, we will focus our strength. p 112 If we want to be like the Dai families, 113 Then the lady must be equal to them in the firm place where she stands. 114 The lady must not be lazy, 115 She must go stoke the fire and make the food, 116 And the man must not be lazy; he must keep the edge of the fields free of weeds. 117 We must be like the Dai families, 118 And we must also be like the Han families. Female: 119 We go to work but we have no sense of direction: 120 If it is not convenient to work out in the wild, p 121 If it is not convenient to work outside, then come to the front and give directions, 122 When we gather firewood in the afternoon, come and help. p 123 When we gather firewood in the afternoon, we will take the diqsiil road, 124 Among the roads for finding firewood, there are long ones and short ones, 125 In the early morning we go to the little stream to pick wild vegetables. p 126 Since we have two feet, we are not afraid that the road is long, 127 In the future, the house animals will come and go frequently, 128 The can go back and forth, plowing our many fields. 129 The buckwheat fields in the wild will become ripe in the third month. 336 130 If we have not rice to eat during the rainy season, we should not worry, 131 Because it is enough that we are truly in love, the two of us. 132 We have the field that our parents gave to us, 133 And behind the good field there is also a small field. p 134 The source water for the field is as nutritious as a mother’s milk, 135 Even though the water reservoir is not large, yet the water will slowly gather into the seven hundred pickets in the field. 136 This is a field fed by a large spring, 137 Let one person manage the aqueducts of the spring. p 138 The fields will have water in the upper and lower terraces, 139 Not two months will pass, and the fields will be ready for harvest. 140 These are the fields that we will inherit from our parents. 141 Behind the good field lies a small field, 142 If I do well as a daughter-in-law and have the responsibility of managing the storehouses, 143 If my man is not ill-tempered and does not hit me, 144 And If he cooks me a good meal in the morning, 145 If he doesn’t allow me to be overburdened with work, p 146 If you scold me with your mouth only and not with your heart, 147 Then I will be happy and at peace. 148 If you do not allow others to slander me. Male: 149 I will not let other slander you, 150 With a father who hunts, we need not depend on others’ words. 151 With a father who hunts, our portions are greater than those of others. p 152 With a mother who makes clothes for us, we have not need to borrow anything, 153 The clothes that others can make, my mother can make also. p 154 As Hani people, we consider ourselves blessed when both parents are still with us. 155 Those who do metalwork can also make a living form others. 156 Having parents is not equal to having cloth material. 157 When the water reservoir is plentiful, the grain harvest will be good, 158 There will be a golden harvest of rice. 159 Regardless of how much water is in the ocean, 160 It cannot replace the water reservoir that my parents gave us. 161 It cannot compare to the purity of the water from my parents’ well. 162 The big rock of the white horse from the East is bigger, 163 But it cannot compare to the three sacred trees in our family yard. 164 The sacred trees are life-giving trees to the Hani, 165 The ancestors of the Hani were great people. Female: 166 If you do not allow others to slander me, 167 If you do not marry twice and begin two households, 168 If you do not take a second wife and remain loyal to me. p 169 If you marry twice and start two households, 170 I do not know what gossip others will spread about me. 171 I would like to listen to the instructions of my father-in-law, 172 I would like to listen to the instructions of my mother-in-law. p Male: 173 One person does not marry two wives, 174 Ten houses are not built on ten hilltops, 175 Ten streams of water are not made into ten reservoirs. p 176 Ten houses are not built on ten hilltops, 177 But rather only one house is built on one hilltop. p 337 178 I will build my lady a house that will greatly please her, 179 Ten streams of water are not made into ten reservoirs, 180 I will build a water reservoir with water that my lady will love to drink best. p Female: 181 If you do not build two houses on one piece of land, 182 I will be a good mother to your children, and manage the household well. Male: 183 Two houses will not be built on one piece of land, 184 One person does not marry two wives. 185 If others hear of it, they will give me a bad name, 186 When seventy sets of eyes see it, they will know it is not good to see. 187 I will not change wives; I will be a loyal husband. 188 The man will not change his heart; he will be a good man. p 189 I have kept a counting of the words I have spoken, 190 I will wear you on my chest like a large rope or a medal. (I will honor you and esteem you.) Female: 191 I will be a good daughter-in-law, 192 I will manage the family well, 193 I will sweep clean the fireplace. p 194 I will manage well the front gate of the house. 195 The father earns money for the youngest son, 196 The mother makes clothes for the youngest daughter. p 197 The storehouses will be managed by the daughter-in-law, 198 The keys will be kept by the daughter-in-law. p 199 First plant barnyard grass, 200 First raise a chicken. p 201 Then sell the chicken in a Hani market, 202 Other people will come to the Hani marketplace for market day. p 203 To buy a chicken on market day, one does not need to another people’s market. 204 When people buy a cow, they do not need to go to another place for market day, 205 To sell a chicken, sell it in a Hani market. 206 On market day, we can bring the chicken onto the street to sell, 207 At our gate, we have the mother chicken to be our clock, 208 The chickens are free to roam about, 209 And there are so many of them. p Female: 210 After I become a good mother who sweeps the fireplace and wears ornaments, 211 Then, I will feed the chicken thrice in the morning, 212 I will get food for the chicken pen once, 213 After I have fed the chicken their fill, 214 I will feed the pig three buckets of food, 215 This will happen if you are a man with a good heart, 216 If the two of us have the good fortune of being together. Male: 217 We will use the rice water to cook the pig’s food, 218 The pig at the gate will be so fat and strong that she will wag her tail. 219 Each day, stroke the chest of the fat pig at the gate and see how it grows. 220 Each day feel how quickly its fat is collecting on its chest, 221 The pig in our own home is as nice as the neighbour’s pig. 222 When the pig grows up, my lady will also have a portion of it, 223 The fat pig at the gate is so strong and healthy that she wags her tail, 338 224 Now the pig is already grown up, 225 It grows fat as quickly as a bamboo gopher, 226 It grows up as quickly as a hu’laoq. 227 It comes walking up and calling fro the Road of Fortune. 228 Ths is a good village gate, 229 We go to the end of the shed where the swings are stored, 230 With the left hand we grasp the pig food and call the pig, 231 With the rice water by the front door in hand, we call out to the pig. 232 Do not let the pavqpiq plant to cause the pig to lose its spirit, 233 Do not let the lulbul plant to cause the pig lose its spirit. 234 The fat pig at the gate is so strong that it wags its tail. 235 When the pig is fully grown, the lady will also have her portion. 236 The little ducks by the gate quack in satisfaction, 237 We make a cage for the ducks with wild bamboo. 238 The ducks by the gate are numerous, 239 Our parents have a bamboo stick for herding the ducks. Female: 240 If the man can build a bamboo fence around the vegetable garden, 241 Then this lady is willing to plant seeds in it. p 242 The vegetables in the ground grow so heavy that they fall to the side. 243 The garlic seeds that we planted have become full bulbs. p 244 We will have land for growing ginger, 245 We will have land for growing garlic. 246 We plan the ginger buds in the ground, 247 We plant the chive buds and they multiply time and again. p 248 The ginger is thick and healthy, 249 The garlic plants bear seeds. 250 The garlic patch grown on the mountain is so healthy, it needs weeding only once in three years. 251 And yet it will not turn into the garlic of the Dai people. p 252 The ginger patch grown on the mountain is so healthy, it needs weeding only once every three years, 253 And yet it will not turn into wild ginger. p 254 In the future, we will plant ginger buds, 255 We will plant chive buds and see the multiply time and again. p 256 The chive patch that our parents grow will not change for even one day, 257 The lady can plant ginger buds, 258 She will plant chive buds and they will multiply time and again. p 259 If the man will encircle the garden with a fence, 260 The lady will grow vegetables so big that they will sag to the ground. p Male: 261 The man will raise a bamboo fence to surround the vegetable garden, 262 The lady will grow vegetables so big that they will sage to the ground. p 263 The vegetables in the ground will taste as good as meat. 264 The ginger roots will be thick and healthy. 265 When the Dai people come they will have the greens from the garlic plant, 266 When the Han people come to our house they will have ginger. 267 Many Dai people will come and we will show them hospitality like this, 268 When they come this is how we will cook for them, 269 We will roll up our sleeves and fish out the pickled vegetables from the pot, 270 We will roll up our pants and pick some greens from the garden. p 271 The vegetables in the garden are as delicious as meat, 272 The vegetables that do not taste good, we do not pick much of. 339 273 We will go and cook the fine-tasting niaolju greens to welcome our guests. 340 AL1c “Welcoming father’s friends” Hani-Chinese Translation Ssaqyo: 1 Kuavl’a aqli hhovqpavq saq na zaol dul nial ssol 8 93 .  8+93  . 2 Miqma ceil qeiq qeiq e qiq siil dal yil nial ssol  %  :  !% 3 Aqda lyulziil ceil qeiq qeiq e qiq jivq dal yil nial ssol * %   :  *!% =; > 4 Ngaldu taoldiq aqli Biqcaoq xilmeil lol sil nia sso      " 5 Taol laq laqhhaol xilmeil lol zaq miq    6 =; > 6 Collo ceil hhaq lal e laqpil dav yil miq   " 5   " ,5# 7 Moqlo ceil kaol lal e hhoyyuq qiq zaoq zei yil miq  " -2     " -2 8 Collo ceil hhaq lal e saq ssol zil maq jav   " . 7  ! "$7. =; > 9 Galtav naoqhaq hhaq so eellaol qavq yil miq 4 &1 0 # '  )&1 Ssaqmiq: 10 Ngal miqma zal zaol qivq ssol aqdevq jav lil   <( /  ! ! 3+ 11 Kuavl’a aqli hhoqpavq saq na zaol dul kal 8 93 .  8+93  . 341 12 Nol aqlaoq nildu maq nil sso nag  ;@    >&# 13 Haqseil alpul saq na zaol pievq sso = 0 : $ =0 $: 14 Hhoqzyuq zaq e zaqzal nallo zaol dul B5  D3 " 4B57D3 15 Siivqpil zaq e zaqceiq nallo bi dul sso 9  (A)  " 497D3 EC+F 16 Deihhuq Biqcaoq xilmeil lol sil sso nga 1 )  '! %'!.7) 17 Deitavq alniul xilmeil lol zaq sso nga  )  '! %'!.7) EC+F Ssaqyo: 18 Col hhyul lal e malniaoq soq tul hu yil miq   .  *, 8  *,?% * 19 Ngaldul doq meeq saol doq bivq yil miq %      %6. 20 Biqcaoq aqyivq aqnil xildyul leil )   )  21 Deitavq alniul aqda paqssaq xildyul  ) 2  .7)2  EC+F 22 Aqdazyuqqoq laqpeiv dol qoq 2  <   2 7 <  23 Ceil la ngalmiaol saqkuv zaq qoq qoq e xildyul  - %     -(%:/7 EC+F 342 24 Lalna zyuqqoq ssaq yaol qiq jol hhyul qaol  6  ,3<  25 Da hhyul ssaq e gaq ssaq nga :   :<  JG1K 26 Naolhao saol huvq hev e maq nieil hhaq e xildyul   %   ( '  %@(<  27 Aqkal ssuq qoq galdav puq e ngaldu laqhyul bi lal movq ssa  D  E  , "  3 * E C3,"! 28 Ssuq daol galdav puq e hhaqnaq ngaldu laqhyul bi naq lal movq ssa D E ) , "  7 3 *  C3," ) D JG1K 29 Joq puq sulya aqhyuq baoqdel saoq hhyul bi suv /  9 95  0  . H,! B9 30 Joq mol doqsi saolheiq bi gee miq /    >6G-/ 31 Joq puq sulya aqhyuq baoqdel bi suv /  9 95  . >6G,C;=?.B9 JG1K 32 Joq puq sulya aqhyuq baoqdel maq bi suv alngaoq /  9 95   . 4 49 33 Daqtav wuqduq laqpil sulya dul lal qivq nga  F  3 @ ,$ +#8I Ssaqmiq: 34 Ngal aqda zyuqqoq laqpeiv dol qoq xildyul , :  A    1,: < A 35 Ngaldu aqda loqbioqtiv’qoq aqnil nga leil nyuq lil , : 2 && * :<2,  343 36 Ngal suqya aqhyuq baoqdel zuv puv zuv pal aol yil miq nial * > >7 J    * -:>FNC: 37 Haolkaq maq quv aqneiq eellaol seiv yil miq nial =  I<3 :   * : 38 Aqkal ngaldu aqda zyuqqoq ssaq taq hheil leil eil yil miq nial  * @     8* /?0*@ C2*"; 39 Da hhyul ssaq e taq hhoq leil eil yil miq nial @     @ C K* RQ0S 40 Ngaldu aqda loqbioqtiv’qoq aqnil nga leil eil yil miq nial * @ 2 $$  * 0*@ C2 Ssaqyo: 41 Niaheiq zyuqmoq moqju ssaqlaol sal .  9  1 C 9! & 42 Ngaldu yavpyul pyulju hoqsiq xilmeil ssaoq yi * ,  H  O ,K,+1CGL4 43 Aqkal niaheiq zyuqmoq yiv ssol pavlteiv bavq pyul miq  . 4 5    .4 5 44 Niqheiq zyuqmoq yiv e eellaol seiv yil miq . 4 :    : 45 Niaheiq zyuqmoq yiv e pavlteiv bavq pyul miq alngaoq . 4 5   6 6  .4 5 46 Hhoqzyuq neema yopiul nga yil PA ' B MPA *'C 47 Siivqpil neema yomeeq E '  E *)C RQ0S 48 Aqkal hhoqzyuq yiv e saq sal hu dei  PA 4 (  D # PA4K*% 344 49 Zyuqpil yil e hu meeq nia nga ?5 / :  ?5/D&$  Ssaqmiq: 50 Aoqna keel xovq hultav jol col ngeel e liq F E @ L  +  <8@<8KFF.. 51 Bee siivq bee nil hul’a yiuvq ssaq ngeel e liq I )  L = +  = <89F8IL ML+N 52 Ngaldu aqpyuq sal laq e haqyyul jav nga & > 7 A , ,&> &8AB 53 Aqbol sal laq e haq zaq jav nga  7 A , ,&8 &8A ML+N 54 Haqbol lalna daoqleiq zeidi zeital aol yil miq nial A      & A 55 Bee siivq bee nil jahoq hoqloq maq jav e liq I )    ,  02,)IJ 56 Sseilgeel sseilja o’lo deiqhoq miq nial GH * %%  & *GH 57 Ngalya aqda zyuqqoq ssaq maq hheil nga leil eil yil miq nial & 4       &("48- 58 Ngaldu aqda loqbioqtiv’qoq aqnil nga leil eil yil miq nial & 4 - ##  &+&48- Ssaqyo: 59 Aqda haqjil jol e miav biei qiq taq zaq ssol 6  ;   1 3 6 '  60 Xo jol miqma eelseq lev yil miq 6  C  C! ML+N 345 61 Aqkal aqda haqjil jol e miav biei maq zaq alngaoq  0  2   - *0 # 62 Lalna zyuqqoq ssaq maq hhyul nga leil bi eil miq nial ) (    ) 8  1 63 Xo jol miqma eelseq maq lev alngaoq 0  4   *$4 64 Aqda zyuqqoq laqpeiv dol yaol maq seiv alngaoq . ( 9   *.1( 9, 65 Hhyul ssaq maq gaq nga leil bi eil miq nial     (1 66 Aqda haqjil jol e miav biei qiq taq zaq ssol 0  2  + - 0# 67 Xo jol miqma eelseq xilmeil lev ssolnei 0  4   3$4 68 Lalna zyuqqoq ssaq xilmeil hhyul ssol ) (    )1  69 Aqda da hhyul ssaq gaq ssaq ya leil .    .1 70 Aqkal ceil niq hoqloq lal e tyuljol   ) ; )5! 71 Siivq ceil lal hoq saqloq zaq e tyuljol   ) 7  ; ! =<'> 72 Hoqhoq ceil niaoq dav e maq pal tyuljol : 65    ; %5 73 Lal hoq aqli zilqul haoqniaoq biavssaq dav e tyuljol ) &/ 65   ; " =<'> 346 Ssaqmiq: 74 Ngal loltaoq alpavq hav biao eq deel ssol +  ! >  > 8 +A>! 75 Ngal alpavq aqli pavqlaol haoqniaoq tov zaq tov yil miq nail + !  <;  3 +A7! <;&& Ssaqyo: 76 Tov yil miq    77 Aqkal maq puq saoq nao doqdal dal meil jol yil        ( 78 Maq mol saoq nao dudaq gee meil jol yil sso     ,   **) CB/D 79 Aqda zyuqqoq ssaq maq hheil sso 4 0 "!   490"!?) 80 Aqda da hhyul ssaq maq hhoq sso 4  "!   49"!) CB/D 81 Ngaq e mil meeq Laoma sseildaol yaol + - Laoma sseildaol +9 %Laoma sseildaol 82 Pyuqloq sal e mil yyul :# 8  . :#89, 83 Aqbol sal e milcaq yaol  8 - @89$ CB/D 84 Milma huq sal puv cuv ssaqssyuq deivq ssol  1! ' ! 6 15!= 85 Naolhao ssaqssyuq zeqssaq hhelssaq daovq meil jol  ! =2  != 347 86 Huq bo ssaqyo alqil jaoqheiq eelheiq meeq ya  7  .  7 &. 87 Dama laqgee ssaqssyuq zeiqqil hhelqil xilmeil meeq ssol 50   >/   +B : 88 Hovqlol dogee ssaqssyuq zeq ssol 2   >/ 2 >/ @?*A 89 Puvma laqhha syulziq alhhaol laqgee    ,1;: 90 Hovqlol sal e dama laqgee 2  50  92 50-= 91 Puvsiq sal e col kyul xilmeil duv lal ,!  )   9,! % 92 Hovqlol sal e ssaq zaq xilmeil duv 2   4    2# "4 @?*A 93 Ssaq zaq xilmeil duv  4   "4 9  %. 94 Ngaq e mil meeq Laoma sseildaol $ '  $9 Laoma sseildaol! 95 Eelbi cuq duq luvq e laqyil 23  6 8926( 96 Cuqma milsaol luvq e ssaqssyuq  9   89( @?*A 97 Cuqma aqqoq e maq bil     < 98 Milma aqqoq e maq aoq meil jol ya      < 348 99 Puv sal sal e puvjiq jiq *  * ( ) *  100 Hovq sal sal e hovqjiq jiq "  ( ) 73" 3" CA &D 101 Puv laoq maq heq siivq e aqnia puvteil maq dav e liq *   %     * 102 Yoq mil yoq haoq puv haoq qiq nga = %  * ; &$=;=3 103 Dei laoq maq heq siivq e aqnia deiteil maq dav 2   %    /'#2/'9$ 104 Yoq mil yoq haoq qiq nga = % ; $=;=3 105 Eelbi cuq duq yoq hu yoq dol xilmeil dol ssol .0 = 6 4  6=3.0 106 Yoq dol milnia yoq haoq qiq = 4 % ; ;= 107 Puv daoq pyu jyuljyul meel ya * ! % (B) / *3> 83 108 Galnee ssaqssyuq zeiqjyul hheljyul meel ya    / ?@< 109 Puv hhaol laolqei hovq hu gaq *   6 1 *-75 110 Naolhao hhalmiaol zeiqhu hhelhuq xilmeil gyuq ya  ( :,   $3)+3(< 349 AL1c “Welcoming father’s friends” English Translation Male: 1 The vegetables in the ground are made to taste like meat, 2 The woman can think of ways to do this, 3 The man will also think of solutions. p 4 This is how we welcome Dai guests, 5 Whether many or few, this is how we welcome our guests. p 6 If ten guests come, then we will make a bowl of chili dipping sauce, 7 If ten horses come, then we will feed them a bundle of hay. 8 When ten guests come, and we do not have wine or meat, 9 We’ll make a fire and brew tea to receive our guests. Female: 10 We have salt for cooking food, 11 The green vegetables of the ground taste like meat. 12 You do not need to worry, 13 Haqseil roots can be made to e like meat, 14 We can make it like food fit for the Lord of the Rain, 15 We can make it like food fit for priests. p 16 This is how we welcome our Dai guests from the river dam. 17 This is how we welcome our Han guests from beyond the river dam. Male: 18 When the guests awake in the morning, we greet them “good morning”, 19 We greet them with three good phrases. 20 These Dai brothers of ours, 21 These Han fathers and brothers of ours beyond the dam. p 22 The tea-drinking partner of our father, 23 Our friends who eat dried pork with us at the tenth month harvest celebration. p 24 Our friends whom we thoroughly enjoy, 25 Those whom the father likes, the son likes also. p 26 Although three years have passed but we will not forget you. 27 In the future, if we meet on the road again, please come to my home to visit, 28 If we meet on the road again, please come to my home to rest awhile. p 29 First let our guests have three smokes. 30 When we first see you, we greet you with three welcomes, 31 When we first meet each other, we share a smoke on the bamboo pipe with you.p 32 If we see you but do not give you a smoke, 33 We will be turned into short-tempered ghosts. 34 You are our father’s tea-drinking partner, 35 We will remember that you are a friend of our father’s. 36 We will go and change the water in the smoking pipe, 37 We will go and pour the boiling water. 38 From now on, we will say, “you are a good friend of our father’s and we must not part.” 39 The friend whom our father likes cannot part with us. p 40 I will say that you are a friend of our father’s. Male: 41 Under the governance of a good leader, the people will live well, 42 A good broom can gather up all the rice grains well. 350 43 From now on, when the official from the north comes, give him a chair to sit on. 44 When the official from the north comes, pour a cup of hot water for him. 45 If, when the official come, you give him a chair to sit on, 46 Then the Lord of the Rain will have a heart to be kind to you, 47 Then the priest will have a compassionate heart toward you. p 48 After that, the Lord of the Rain will come and see that you have hospitality, 49 The Lord of Priests will come and see that you have hospitality. Female: 50 Those who stand in a comfortable position, 51 Those who sleep under a good comforter, p 52 Have our ancestors to protect their bamboo shoots, 53 Have our grandfathers to protect their good bamboo. p 54 I will lay out a bamboo mat: 55 If there are no new cushions and comforters, 56 I will lay out an old palmbark rain cape. 57 I will say, “the children will not abandon a good friend of their father’s.” 58 I will go and say, “you are a friend of our father’s.” Female: 59 When a man welcomes a guest into his house, 60 The woman should wear a smile on her face. 61 If the man does not welcome the guests, 62 Those who come will say bad things about him. 63 If the woman does not wear a smile on her face, 64 If she does not pour tea for her father’s friend, 65 Then they will say that the children are not mature. 66 If the man hospitably welcomes the guests, 67 And the woman wears a smile on her face, 68 Those who come will be happy. 69 When the father is happy with his children, then the children are happy also. 70 In the future, when the rice storehouses are being filled, 71 When it is time to hold a banquet, 72 When it is time to eat new rice, 73 When it is time to make sticky rice cakes, p 74 I will go to the dark pond to gather a basketful of leaves, 75 I will use the leaves to wrap the sticky rice cakes. Male: 76 You go and wrap them then! 77 Three days of not meeting and I will remember it in my heart, 78 Three days of not seeing each other, and I will not forget the absence. p 79 A child must not forget the friend of his father, 80 One whom the father likes, the children cannot forget. p 81 My good home village of Laoma sseildaol: 82 The old land that our ancestors left behind for us, 83 The plot of land that our grandfathers left behind for us. 84 This big plot of land is a healthy village that will birth healthy offspring, 85 In the future, the children will multiply and be strong. 86 First give birth to a son who will establish the roots, 87 Then from the parents will come many grandchildren. 88 Under the well the offspring multiply. p 89 Under it, the villagers live in peace and harmony, 90 For a good well to be sustained, the parents much watch over it. 91 Out of a good village will come people of great talent, 92 Out will come beautiful children, when the well water is good. p 351 93 Healthy and beautiful children will be born. 94 Our good village of Laoma sseildaol! 95 The buffalo who tends the fields will not change, 96 The children who own the land will not change. p 97 The land will not be given to others, 98 The land will not be sold to others. 99 A good village is bustling with life, 100 A harmonious household is a bustling household. p 101 If a village is not large, it does not make much praise for itself, 102 But we praise our own home village. 103 Even though we do not have fields good enough to receive much praise, 104 We praise our own home village. 105 We look at our good weill with fondness, 106 And we praise ourselves. 107 From the corner of the village we cry and blow, “Jyuljyul!”194 108 We cry out so that our offspring’s road to good fortune will be paved. 109 There is peace and harmony among all families in the village, 110 And we cry out for the hope and fame of our future offspring. 194 “Jyuljyul!” are musical sounds, blown on a leaf or sung, expressing happiness and good fortune. 352 AL2 “Blowing on the meiba and babi” Hani-Chinese Translation Ssaqyo: (0:00) 1 Saqnei qiq pieiv xovq e qiq pieil ngeel lil, L > C > 2 -M2> @ 2 Ssaqmiq meilpavq baqba aqhhal meel meil zyul lal ssolT %& '  Q %&B' 4Q 3 Daol a lalna qiq jol li e yaol galtav aqli pavqbil meel e eqleqdeq meil dav lal miq ssolneiT * ! J '   4 O@!T-N'TPB'@ '4 4 Aqyivq aqnil yaol gaq e qiq jol yaol liq ssaqmiq aqkeel keelse duqhovq hu meil dav lal ssol,  $$  ! %& G G  A  ,$@K!T)PBG4 5 Daol a qiq jol li e aqli ssaqmiq paoqkeeq laqcav xal a galma hu ssol, * !  %& E7  J A %&*@!EBE7 6 Nallo miqseiq gee baq a Diqsiil Galma miqheivq galma meilnaol meil hu yil miq sso, 8 0 Diqsiil Galma 8 J  . F IDiqsiil Galma8@ T) .,195 7 Alli ssaqmiq miavhav aqli havzaq eq e hhavqzal cev del ssol lil, %& E ; E =S /  EB;@E4T- /=H 8 Heq lal laq e yaol loltaoq aqli hhavqssaq zaqna zaqziq hhavqzal jav nga yil, 4 @ *N (= F " =H 3 2 *N3(=@=HT 9 Hhavqma zaq e xalzeil xaltao pavq moq yaol jav wulnaq yil. :=  *1 xaltao D@' 3 *13:= @xaltao'196 10 Miqheivq naolhao naoq laq e aqqoq e laolpial sso lal nga, 8 R 4  (6  8T#5 @RT ) +"8T 195 Diqsiil Galma20 196 Xaltov2 O?@9< 353 11 Zalxa naolhao naoq e aqqoq pavqdaq luvq lal nga. p 8I H -  ?:8B  '8B:M. HM!%: KH)3L 12 Miqheivq nia a qiq kaol puv leil miq, /  ,E  C/!,EM 13 Zalxa nia a qiq haoq yoq li. p 8I   >  C(8B! > 14 Dallo aqli koqheivq dal e Diqssil Galma nga, " /  G /:EDiqssil Galma 15 Heiqciq Albol liq maq mol galtav aqli ciqssaq heivq yil koqlo heivq yil aqyil, J0     E J0   /   5;J0ME: J0+/ 16 Galtav silsav savbol deivq e koqlo taq heivq aqyil, E 44  9 /   E:44 17 Joqto lalna aqli hheiqhheiq jav e koqlo heivq yil aqyil.  1 * /   :1-+/ 18 Caoqgaoq bolma maq sil sil ya dul lal laoq heivq yil, 1  5*2 2 -   52:1 19 Gyuma albol maq sil liq sil ya gaq e aqlaq. p   2 2  Gyuma52 2 20 Caoqgaoq bolma maq sil pavq tov leiv meil yoq yil, 1  /52   A  152 B >+-  9  1 !3;D(8 L"G>B8 1 31 Daol a yil ba maq gaq alngaoq alli ssaqmiq paoqkeeq laqcav xa a hu meil dav lal. #  3=4  !3;D(8 L" *(8=4 1 32 Sulna aqda baqnaq gaq e aqcol yaol leil.   &  8  ()8&I 33 Sulna ssaqdov tyul pyu jol e col yaol.  7 E  8 E87 34 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol, (    (8L 35 Ngalya algo ssaqmeeq baqmeeq jol ssol dafxil puvma yal, (   &    (8&L 36 Soqma laq e ngalqeil jol e aqgaoq yaol. P 0   # #82F Ssaqyo: 1:28 37 Jol li puvsiq ngavq li ngavq kyul kaq movq kaq yil miq leil,     A  '  <(8. L 355 38 Hovq li eelqul ngavq li ngavq duq kaq leil. P 3  =     F=6 39 Bilmi puvsiq ngavq li ngavq kyul kaq e yaol qiq nao, algo ssaqheiq baqsal qiq gao bi paoq kal yil.  +&   M     0 0 N  DI   ";2CO6C, 25 DIN 40 Hovq li eelqul ngavq li ngavq duq kaq e, ssaq bo dama aqli eelqul qiq qa bi paoq kal yil leil. P 3 =   '&A@< = D  J=L=R@ + ( H#$(E+ 51 Sul a ssaqdov laoma sseildaol yaol. (meaning unclear) 356 Ssaqyo: 52 Alquvq lolbaq kaq e doqgee maq zaol qivq ya, 8 :  @ <,   G :8P%=7U 53 Milma beildol kaq e doq hyuq maq yevq qivq ya. P ! )I      G J)IP U1 54 Teilsal lal e doqciivq xil pyu maq lal ssol, R 5    5  R$ 55 Siivq e lalsav duv yiv maq hhoq qivq e wuqzaol nga leil hev nia,  /9  5   G * 2 BL :8P. 2.@*2 56 Milma hhyuq gaoq kaq e soqzii albol leil eil e, !  (  ?  P(&@!U 57 Aqhhu daoqpeiq zaoqgao maq zyul qivq e liq, Q 6 K  AEG 6GAEK U 58 Daol a aqli pavqkuq zaoqgao jav zyul ssolnei. P & ' K  AE GAEK 59 Aoqma aoqsaq hhao liq hhaol a jav sso, "    O2", 2>#3+-@N . 60 Milma milsaq hhao liq hhaol al jav sso. P     O2, 2>#3+-@N . SQ2T 61 Niaol e soqdoq jaqleil leil ci duv lal ssol, C   0 C  62 Daol a pavqkuq lavqhhev zeiljil hhao ssol, &@U 63 Daol a aqli pavqkuq zaoqgao jav zyul nga leil, & ' K AE &@HKU 64 Ngaqmoq aqma eelcil dol e yul ssaq siivq e baqma eelquvq maq dol maq na leiq dol yil sso,  D ! 8  M 4 ; 8    F   M48 ;O8 357 65 Eelcil dol e paqduv alyaoq aqhhuv haoqmeil dalbiq eelquvq maq dol maq na. 5 ;B  + 5    A ;B" +95 Ssaqmiq: 3:45 66 Ngal miqmoq moqma puvkyul xao meil jol, . > > $C H  >2 9')16H 67 Miqpeel peelma galheiq luvq meil jol. P  $ ! >%$ = 68 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. .  #  .9#J 69 Qivqlov qiq hhovq lalna maq jol miqmoq saol hhaq jol leil maq eil.   #   >    . #(G1>J 70 Ngal ya niq hhovq lalna laq e maq jol miqmoq saol hhaq jol meil jol llil leil. P #(G%1> Ssaqyo: 4:32 71 Algo baqmeeq jol ssol Dafxil Puvma nga leil hev lil leil eil ya,  ,    0 :F :F- J 72 Saqmeeq lalna ngalqeil jol ssol gaoqjaoq loqhhaq nga leil hev nia lil. p @   & :F &94G 73 Algo baqmeeq jolbaq bi mol duv,  ,      * :F, 9  74 Saqmeeq ngalqeil jol baq bi kul ssaoq. P @     ?  83ID 75 Miqzyuq zyuqma galzeil jol nga yil,  E  $CJ 76 Miqpeel peelma galheiq luvq e dul ya wul. P  $ !  %!$ 77 Maq yil puv ssol dulma miqzei saq zao saollu taol meil jol, 1/9>IDJ 17 78 Haqbol saol siq laolzaol niq pyu hhenaoq daoq meil jol ya. P <  J 358 79 Baqmeeq duv e Dafxil Puvma, $   2  $ 2; 80 Algo baqmeeq duv e dafxil puvma yaol.  $  2  $ 2; 81 Baqmeeq duv saq maq cil, $    , 1 82 Saqmeeq ngalqeil dav saq maq naq. 4     4 &2; 98': 83 Ssaqmiq yil tovq hev nei qiq col jol nga yil,      (2; 84 Yil deil lal deil hev nei qiq hhaq jol ssol,   +     (2; 85 Hhoheiq hhavqpaq maq hha molzaol maq gee qivq,  50  #   6 20.(#" ; 86 Dalmol maq bivq miqceq maq gee qivq. p      6 6 -2 Ssaqmiq: 5:26 87 Sul a ssaqdov laoma sseildaol yaol,  1 ) 2) 88 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. %  !  %2! 89 Qiq taol laolna ngaqmoq saol ssaq jol leil maq eil  */7   *   */7(* 90 Ngavq taol laolna laq e maq jol ngaqmoq saol ssaq jol lil. p   /   3  *  */7(* 91 Ngal milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. % !  %2! 359 92 Qiq hhovq hhoheiq siivq pyul deil leil maq eil. $     $ J 93 Qiq hhovq hhoheiq qiq pyul deil meil jol lil. p $   $%1$  94 Qiq laol hhoheiq siivq keeq ceivq leil maq eil,   39     $139J 95 Qiq laol hhoheiq qiq keeq ceivq meil jol lil. p   39   $%139. 96 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. +  /  +<$ 97 Maq cev aqli neizaq bil duv gaoqmol xa meil jol lil,  . 5B    %B7 .#JA;<:J 98 Maq yil lalna laq e puv mol molmeeq yovqhovq kaovq meil jol. p " 2 ( $ > "J>+86<$ 99 Algo ssaqheiq aqsol gaq e yul hhaq ei eiq.  * A&  F +,<*  Ssaqyo: 6:25 100 Ngaldu algo baqmeeq jolbaq bi mol, +  *    +=E* <?J 101 saqmeeq ngalqeil jolbaq bi puq alngaoq. p  =E@<? jolbaq-,<? alngaoq-well then, !4< 102 Ceil yuvq ngavq huvq hev nei qiq col jol ssolnei,       1J < J 103 Huvq yei ceil saol hev nei qiq mavq jol ssolnei. p '|       1  < J HG0I 104 Ngaldu ceil yuvq ngavq huvq hev e baqsal hha jol ssolnei, +     * )  + %C-DJ 360 105 Huvq yei ceil saol hev e baqsal miltiv daoqpeiq hha bei nga yil. p #Q0, E*Y WV5 X 106 Pyuqlo Yeilsal lilmieiv hhaolmiaoq maq pal qivq ssolnei, G J= ( >   K '4E>#K3Y 107 Kaolto byuqzuq laqhhal alkao siil yil sso, R ON LT   ONIY 108 Ssaq bo dama siivq yal allo taoqpuq pavq yil sso. p A?< 2 EB "M ?<HB 109 Ngal miaol zeiqssaq hhelssaq pavq yil sso, /  !D  / !D 110 Ngal miaol naoqpavq hhelpavq pavq zyul. p /9KFU 111 Ngal miaol zeiqpavq hhelpavq pavq zyul miq sso, / !D 112 Naoq bo aqnil beebav teiq nei pievq nei nyuq lal miq sso. p 8"E% 1P +)  -S ; -*&$1% E,6. 113 Miqheivq heivq e miaoq'aol hoqcuv aqnil leil dul lal miq sso,  , !  -*  -S!E* 114 Xoheivq heivq hhelsal hoqcuv daoqpeiq xilmeil bei nga. p C !E   C -.!E*. 115 Pyuqlo Yeilsal lilmieiv hhaol miaoq maq pal qivq nga. '4E> ( ,  7 K '4 (E>K3Y Ssaqmiq: 7:26 Yil...Yaovq... 116 Ngalya qiq hhovq hhoheiq siivq pyul deil leil maq eil, /  !     ! Y 117 Qiq hhovq hhoheiq qiq pyul deil ssol. p  !    !#9!  118 Qiq laol hhoheiq siivq keeq ceivq leil maq eil,   :@    !9:@Y 361 119 Qiq laol hhoheiq qiq keeq ceivq meil jol ssol. p   I    +-=?I. 120 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. 5 8   5O+  121 Ngalya maq cev aqli neizaq bilduv gaoqmol xa meil jol ssol, 5  6 & Y  - YC 6(]WLOJ] 122 Maq yil molmeeq aqli puv mol molmeeq yovqhovq kaovq meil jol ssol. p %/! + R %]R5GBO+  123 Dama lavqhhaq wuqduq hhaseil seil meil jol lil. GBO[WLJE] Ssaqyo: 8:14 124 Miqheq heq e miq'aoq hoqcuv aqnil leil hha jol ssol, #$  3 4+ ,, 1 #$ -Z%] 125 Ssaqdov xoheq heq e hhosaol hoqcuv daoqpeiq hha peiq ssol. p MO Z4+ 126 Ssaqmiq sulbee maq yil neesal maq hha qivq, #$ +   2X  1 V ,#$%)2] 127 Saoq la bulnil jol e siivq yal deima paoqkeeq maq eq alngaoq, yiuvq javq maq taoq qivq nga yil  < H   N K UA  U "@ Q F  F V <HTK] )2Q 128 Pyuqlo Yeilsal jivjaovq hhalmiaoq maq pal qivq ssol, 09OD * 3  ;V 09OD-V7] 129 Ngaq e milmeeq Laoma Zaldaol yaol. p 5 + S 5O+S 130 Hama qiq hhovq laqgee siivq pyul deil qaol, B       B\-[P] 131 Keeqma qiq mol dogee siivq keeq ceivq. p ?BI\-=?I 132 Keeqceivq siivq puv lalqaol pyuldeil milqivq siivq hhuvq gaq ssol, O\0. :>'OI] 362 133 Keeqceivq naogao hollol tov qaol, H!543  Y 134 Pyuldeil naogao hhaqloq xovq qaol. p !543  Y 135 Maq beeq siivq la aqlil maq jav qaol. =<>Y Ssaqmiq: 9:04 136 Ngalya algo baqmeeq jol e Dafxil Puvma ngeel ssol, 5  2&  $ < 5&2K+$Y 137 Soqma laq e ngalqeil jol e aqgaoq yaol ngeel ssol. p ?   . NK+BT WU<X 138 Ngalya algo aqli baqmeeq maq duv puv e galcil yaol taq eil, 5  2&   , SD   ,)&J) 139 Eelbi lalna lal e coqcil maq dav gaoqsoq nyuq ya taq eil. p FE A V0   Q.TK Ssaqyo: 9:32 140 Algo baqmeeq duv saq maq cil nga yil eil ya,  2&  *  D &KJ>1#K 141 Zoqdei lulbul cev saq daoqpeiq naoq lal ssol. "KCG8  :AK 142 Aqyivq seq saq aqnil jol ssolnei, $K  * -K  *$K >-K 143 Puv hhaol laolqei dulma miqnaoq ssaq bo maq cil nga yil. p ,  '( '(/ - I  D @)K%9KIO 144 Moqlo ceil zeq alka hu ceil nia,  #L  7 Y 145 Collo mavq nei ceil col alka hu heq caq ssol. p 1#MT  146 Nao'loq yiqciivq hal duv hhaqyal maq ngeel sso, ; .P 6   < LRA.P<Y 363 147 Meiqluq nalmeil hal cuvq colssaq maq ngeel sso. p - [( 7 =  ; KU>= -=[(;  (40_ C= ) \Z;] 148 Collo hal jol yoqsaq maq niaoq nga yil. 7=H 6VC=2 H  149 Hasaq saqnav eelcal qul, T /;FH^ 150 Alniul niulse baqnaq gaq. 9H2 ;D H \: H;%^6; L] \Z;] 151 Zillo maq jav jajul julnaq maq zaq,    YB&W1 jajul^NG 152 Jajul julnaq siivq yal deima kalhhuv leiq yil ssol, GY N X jajulGYN 153 Saqlo maq zyul qivq zaoldaoq mavq nei lalkyul bol ma alyevq nga, P   Q *S  8 .< PQ*SH 8(BH !U) 154 Caoqgaoq bol ma daoqpei davju aol e gee lal hu nia, @ " V > >@V  155 Lalna aqsol gaq e niaq ngeel e ngaoq. R,   ; %? %?6;JH  Ssaqmiq: 10:32 156 Lalna algo ssaqheiq baq meeq gaq e aqcol,  1 1 $  H H$1 157 Ngal jol li milcaq Dafxil Aolmeil yaol. 6 ! ) " # 6H)"# 158 Ngal siivq pieiv algo baqmeeq maq se maq sil movq ya, 6  E  1 $  1  A 3 616H26;AMI, 159 Ceil pieiv algo ssaqheiq aqcol maq seq alngaoq dulma miqbiaol laoqzaq maq moq movq ya. p  E  1   %? && &&   O 3 ' 2+54O 364 160 Siivq pieiv algo baqmeeq hhyul e xal meel movq ya,  =  ,  %  . 8/- /!LRW 161 Ceil pieiv algo ssaqheiq aqcol malsaq semiaoq movq ya. p  =  ,  E O . /.SO- Ssaqyo: 11:13 162 Siivq pieiv aqbaq sehhyul se'leev wulnaq yil,  = , , SO $ -$) @B*W 163 Ceil pieiv aqcol se e yoqhhyul maq se semiaoq wulnaq yil. p  =  , HN  , O $ -$) @B* 164 Eil li taqduq ceil hhaq gee movq gee miq ya. D+ U@! )WID V 165 Haqniq soqdoq gee saq galcaol maq jav, "   #M  6 "J 166 Milcaq milnil duq saq daoqdaoq yaol maq jav wulnaq. p @5< P @ UT5V 167 Aqda haqjil eil doq hha qeq ssol. ?   ) A IA?@ 168 Da'laoq ceil di di e hhaqssaol laqgee, ? C@& ?3KQP F:2W 169 Aoqnav ceil di di e siqqul laq gee. p   ;8> ;8 UT5V 170 Miqhhaoq ceil di di e haqjil laqgee hha hhuvq.   ? 1 ) (G/  QP? 171 Miqkyul yaolma maq tev,  4 0  D 4W'0 172 Miqsiq zaolmol maq cei. p  4 97  497 UT5V 365 173 Aqda haqjil eil doq hha qeq ssol. C .E ME C D  Ssaqmiq: 12:00 174 Ngal da'laoq ceil di di ssol hhaqsaol laqgee ngeel ssol, 4 C  FD, ; C :NSR K?9 W 175 Miqhhaoq ceil di di ssol haqjil laqgee ngeel ssol. p  C  SRC  UT;V 176 Miqhhaoq ceil ssil ssil ssol haqjil laqgee ngeel ssol,   C  ; 0OC W 177 Xa miq aqda maq sal yil ssol naoqdaoq maq ssavq sso +G  !     C&P+G D!. 178 Aoqnav ceil di di ssol siqqul laq gee.   @=B QS@= Ssaqyo: 12:29 179 Miqhhaoq nee'li sulmil yil alngaoq, 2 %  "= "=2%D W 180 Aqda haqjil nee'li miqlo laqhhal ngaq leil, C& 2 #$ I 42< 181 Yeilheiq heiq meeq aqhhol maq bu qaol wulnaq.   ! '   !;  D 182 Salmil mil e hhovq guvq kaolse lal wulnaq, !7 7    < ;*-(DW 183 Alli ssaqmiq saqkaol guvq e biaqsaoq qiv alngaoq, #$   L 8 "= "=)#$ A8LW 184 Kaolmil lal e hhovq guvq kaolse bi lal movq ssa, 7 <     1 -HW 185 Malnee hal nyuq solzal qiq jol lal wulnaq, / 5 1 J  > < 56JD*3W 366 186 Haqniq soqdoq gee saq galcaol maq jav. +   ' -E  : +8'A 187 Qiq yavq aoqzaq niq pyul maq deil,  L6     ; 188 Qiq nao aoqcil naolma niq siq maq dav. p  ! 6! "   ; 6!L" ; JH8K 189 Naolma miqzaq halmiav maq qaol, " > *  >A  L 190 Laqbe aqda halmiav maq hhaq. p @    @ A:G ( is implied from the context.) 191 Laqbe aqda jav yil e ciqdaol lolgov aoqsiq yi wulyaq, @ = IC  I7 C 193 Naolma miqzaq gul puv maq qaol, " >  B  >A  L 194 Laqbe aqda gul puv doq maq jav. @  B   : @   195 Maq hhuvq mol ssol naollo niq laol maq jol wulnaq,   @  #    (A:4L 196 Zoqdei wulniuq hhuvq daol aol deil naq. F ?    A?( 197 Milma ceilgaoq wuqduq ceil qaol yaol maq cuvq,  0     1 ,10,/L 198 Alli ssaqmiq hal jol movq e qiq qaol cuvq al qavq wulnaq. %& 5  3   1 . 4.1)%&9A 367 199 Eelquvq mavq nei ceil lol duv e caoqbiq cuvq, 3   / 4 /34: /37? 200 Alli ssaqmiq hal dol movq e qiq biq cuvq wul qavq ssol,  '  $  /  & .6/34 201 Alpavq pavq zaq dol e eelqul yaol dol yil ssol,   5  3  :56)3? 202 Soqlo eelquvq dol e pavqkuq naol zeil maq aol, +- 3      3:(? 203 Aqkal naolhao ssaqssyuq hal meivq lal nei bi dol movq ssa.    '  0  $ 06 204 Maq yil galma kaol yaol pavqlo maq heivq,   ; /    6;? 205 Maq hheil lalna aqbaq doq puv maq eil. p   "  8  ! 6#: 6 206 Maq yil galma kaol yaol pavqlo qiq taq heivq kal dul e,   ; /  2 * 6;1*? 207 Aqkal naolhao ssaqssyuq zeiq sal galma hhaq lal ssolnei.   ;  &6  /; 208 Maq hha aqbaq doq puv qiq jol eil ngaoq,  ! "  8  2  ! 6#1 ? 209 Aqkal ssaqyul ssaqma yulssaq hhaq lal.     % & % 210 Maq yil galma kaol yaol pavqlo maq heivq haoq,  ; /   * 9 6;9*? 211 Maq hha aqbaq doq puv maq eil haoq. p  ! #    9 ! 6#: 6 =<,> 368 212 Collo niq col qiq col gee alngaoq, 4 ) ;J 213 Malnee haolhhyul niq siq qiq siq gee alngaoq. p  () (; HF0I 214 Beel sso maq piq gal e maq hal qaol wulnaq, ;7<<" 3J 215 Aqda haqjil eil doq hha qeq nga yil, @= : ;J 216 Soqlo yosaol miqnaoq aqma leil, .1  !&  %& G 217 Aqda haqjil eil doq maq qeq kal leil dul e,  :     4= : ;J 218 Aqkal diq li aqgyu aqkoq yaol qo lal qivq lil, : $@,5"3+J 219 Aqda haqjil jol e doq hhaq pa leiq alngaoq, : F4 ;J 220 Miqkyul xol tav maq zeiq nia nga, / :   BC /; : J 221 Miqsiq zaol mol maq cei nia ssol. p /"__62  A /"62 222 Aqyivq gaq e meilnaol, "  ' #; J 223 Alquvq gaq e lolbaq ngaqsaq. p 7  8  #;7 HF0I 224 Aqkal neesoq salpeiq jol nao aqhhal jol kal,  /   - ?D   ;-"*=>J 225 Neesoq sallaq jol nao alyavq jol kal, /   -   ;*=>J 226 Zoqdei eelniuq yavpuv hhuvqdaol xilmeil aol kal yoq. E 9      ;9  369 AL2 “Blowing on the meiba and babi” English Translation Brother: 1 We are people of similar age, 2 The lady will blow a tune on the meilba to set up a romantic rendezvous. 3 On the day that we go out into the open, I will blow my babi there, and you can follow its tune. 4 On the day that big brother thinks of little sister, he will follow her footprints. 5 The day that we go into the open, the lady carries a paoqkeev laqcav up the mountain road.197 6 When we need to go to to the Road of Diqsiil to look for firewood, we can go together.198 7 Since you carry such a beautiful basket with you, I will help you fill it with pig grass. 8 The place beside the mountain brook has grass that pigs love to eat, 9 By the side of the mountain, there are also xaltov leaves that the mother pig loves to eat.199 10 When you come to chop firewood, do not follow behind others; or else others will get to the good wood before you. 11 When you go to look for pig feed, do not follow behind others, or else they will get to it before you. 12 If you need to chop firewood, then choose another road (not taken by others), 13 If you need to gather pig feed, then choose another road (not taken by others). (Yil…) (1:34) 14 When you take the Diqssil Road high up in the mountains to search for firewood, 15 If you cannot find the heiciq tree, then go up from the road and you can find small pieces of firewood there. 16 Above the road silsav savbol plants grow, but do not cut them for firewood.200 17 At the top of the mountain, there are hheiqhheiq plants that you can gather for firewood. 18 If the caoqgaoq tree is not dead, but has the appearance of being dead, then you can cut it. 19 If the gyuma tree is not dead, but has the appearance of being dead, then you can chop it. (2:02) (transcription is missing a phrase.) 20 Even when the caoqgaoq plant is not dead, its leaves will fall away, 21 When the caoqgaoq tree is not dead, it may also be dense with leaves. 22 If you do not go right up to the roots of the caoqgaoq tree, you have no way of knowing whether it is dead or alive. 23 If you do not go right up to the roots of the gyuma tree, you have no way of knowing whether it is well-watered or dry. 24 This sister loves to go gather firewood, but we must look out for her, 25 Because she loves to go up the mountain to gather firewood, we must be concerned for her. 197 Paoqkeev laqcav is a yoke-like device that is placed on one’s back to cushion heavly loads like firewood. 198 Diqsiil Galma is a path in a forested area where many people search for firewood. 199 Xaltov is a type of wild leafy plant. 200 Silsav savbol is a type of tree whose bark makes the skin itchy. 370 Sister: (2:26) 26 My dearest brother, the one I love dearly, 27 My lover, the one whom I love passionately, 28 If you do not know which field I went to, use your ears and follow the sounds of my meilba blowing—sounds that arouse our emotions. 29 If you do not know where I am, then follow the sound of my babi blowing—sounds that arouse our desires. 30 If you do not know where I am, then follow my footprints and come find me. 31 If you do not know where I am, then look for my paoqkeeq laqcav and come find me. 32 My lover, the one whom I love passionately, 33 My lover from across the mountain! 34 My home is in Dafxil Aolmeil, 35 And my brother’s home is in Dafxil Puvma 36 The birds in the forest live in their own trees. Brother: (1:28) 37 It does not matter that our villages are separated by the length of five roads, 38 It does not matter that we are separated by five watering holes. 39 If we are separated by five corners of a village, this brother can still be together with you. 40 When we carry water, we will pass over five watering holes; may we choose the water that is as sweet as the one at the watering hole where our parents gave birth to us. 41 We each live in our own village, 42 But we can use an axe to chop down a ciqyeiv tree to make a shady spot for ourselves. Sister: (2:00) 43 My lovely home of Dafxil Aomeil! 44 I love my lover’s village of Dafxil Puvma! 45 Each bird in the forest lives in their own tree, 46 When the older woman gets married, there will also be younger ones, 47 My lovely home of Dafxil Aomeil! 48 This old woman at the corner of the village is feeling burdensome, 49 The dust-covered old woman guards the village gate, 50 (The meaning of this phrase was unclear to Lacel.) Brother: 51 Because we are separated by the river waters, we cannot hear each other clearly, 52 We are separated by a rainbow, and so we cannot speak to each other easily. 53 We only hear the sound of each other’s voices but we cannot make out its content, 54 The river waters may separate us but our hearts can never be separated, 55 Even if we are separated by the forests of nine mountains, 56 Even if it is impossible for tree roots to grow alongside each other, 57 The leaves can float together (when they fall off the tree). 58 I am not speaking of the sky, but I am speaking of a man and woman’s most intimate parts, 59 I am not speaking of the earth, but I am speaking of a man and woman’s most intimate parts. 60 Short words may be exposed to frost, 61 The leaves of the forest trees may encounter blustery winds, 62 But the leaves of the forest trees will blow off the tree and fall together on the ground. 371 63 An old fish who does not normally drink water will find its way to the ocean for a drink, 64 Like a mussel in the water hurries for a drink in the shady pond. Sister: (3:45) 65 This old woman at the corner of the village is feeling burdensome, 66 This dusty old woman is keeping watch around the village gates. 67 My home village of Dafxil Aolmeil! 68 I would not say that there are three old spinsters in one household, 69 But I would say that there are three old spinsters in two households. Brother: (4:32) 70 I know that your lover lies in Dafxil Puvma, 71 I know that birds of the forest live in their own trees, 72 But I do not need to know where my lover lives, 73 Birds only need to call to each other in order to meet together. 74 The old woman resides at the corner of the village, 75 The one who appears to be an dusty old woman keeps watch at the village gate, 76 There are quite a few old women who meet together there to chat, 77 They can use three bamboo sticks as a bridge, 78 Your good lover lives in Dafxil Puvma! 79 Your amorous brother comes from Dafxil Puvma! 80 When there are many good men, 81 Then ngalqeil birds will keep on coming out (to see them), 82 There is a woman whose time to get married has arrived, 83 There is a woman who should be married out by now, 84 If you cannot get the pig at the gate, then there is no use in talking about its price, 85 You must not be a woman who never marries out. Sister: (5:26) 86 You are a man of Laoma Sseildaol! 87 I am from the village of Dafxil Aolmeil! 88 I do not say that a river has three fish, 89 But in five rivers there will be two fish. 90 My good home of Dafxil Aolmeil! 91 I would not say that one household has seven roosters, 92 But each household has one rooster. 93 I cannot say that among several households there are seven dogs, 94 But among several households there is one dog. 95 My good home of Dafxil Aolmeil! 96 If you do not pick the neizaq reeds (from the water’s edge), it will continue to grow on its own. 97 If I do not marry, I can help to manage my parents household, 98 Oh, the brother whom I dearly love! Brother: (6:25) 99 Tell me the place where my lover is, 100 Tell him where this young bird dwells, 101 There is a person of fourteen or fifteen years of age, 102 There is someone who is twelve to thirteen years of age. 103 When we reach the age of fourteen or fifteen, 104 When we reach the age of twelve to thirteen, then we need to begin looking for a lover. 372 105 This has been the calendrical law from the earliest times, 106 The spider weaves a web on the wall, 107 The parents should take good care of their fields, 108 We can earn money by raising farm animals, 109 If it is within our fate, we will be together, 110 We can earn money by raising farm animals, 111 We will remember the days when we held our younger brothers and sisters in our arms, 112 And we will want to begin a family of our own. 113 A man will want to begin a family of his own, 114 This has been the unchanging calendrical laws from the earliest times. Sister: (7:26) 115 I cannot say that one household has seven roosters, 116 But each household has one rooster, 117 I cannot say that several households own seven dogs, 118 But I can say that among several households, there is one dog. 119 My good home of Dafxil Aolmeil! 120 Let me be like an unpicked neizaq reed, growing freely in the wild, 121 I will not marry out but I will manage the affairs of my parents, 122 I can live with freedom in the midst of my parents. Brother: (8:14) 123 When a woman grows up, she must marry out of the family, 124 When the man grows up, he too will want to form a family. 125 If this little lady does not marry out, she will not have a peaceful heart. 126 In the third month, if the water buffalo does not plow the fields, it will not sleep well. 127 The calendrical laws set in the earliest days must not be changed, 128 My good home of Laoma Zaoldaol: 129 The place where seven roosters follow behind one hen, 130 Where seven dogs follow behind one female dog. 131 Last night I heard the sounds of dogs and chickens of seven villages, 132 When I hear the bark of the dogs, I was determined to pay the price for them, 133 When I hear the chirp of the chickens, I was determined to pay the price for them, 134 There is no seventh month in which the strong wind does not blow. Sister: (9:04) 135 My good lover of Dafxil Puvma! 136 The forest trees are the home of the ngalqeil bird. 137 Do not say that out of this village there cannot come good men, 138 Do not say that it is barren where the mountain streams are (outside my village). Brother: (9:32) 139 There are many good men there, 140 And vegetation growing outside (the village) is flourishing. 141 After taking the large plants, there are still small ones, 142 The women of the village give birth without ceasing. 143 From ten horses I choose one horse, 144 Among a crowd of people, I chose her. 145 From its appearances, the wild grass looked like a buckwheat field, but it wasn’t, 146 From appearances, she had a mouth and a nose but she was not the one. 373 147 I may pursue many lovers but I will not have the fate to be together with any of them. 148 Hasaq saqnav chicken soup tastes delicious, 149 Just as the Han people may look beautiful. 150 Just as close siblings and kin cannot have a love affair, 151 Once the jajul bird goes to the rice field and calls, it will make the transplanted seedlings sprout. 152 A person’s flesh will not be drawn to the cactus at the corner of the village, 153 Rather he will be drawn to meet (someone) at the caoqgaoq peach tree, 154 This will be so if we are meant to be together as lovers. Sister: (10:32) 155 My good brother who loves me! 156 My home is in Dafxil Aolmeil! 157 If I do not love my lover, I will not die in peace, 158 If I do not marry my lover, I will refuse to get old. 159 If I am pleased with my lover, then whatever you do I will do. 160 My body longs to be close to my lover. Brother: (11:13) 161 This lover has already found what his heart desires, 162 This lover draws his body close to his his beloved. 163 We will ignore what others have to say. 164 There is not limit to what can be said in the Hani language, 165 In the same way that there is never lack of soil for digging. 166 You must believe the words of this man: 167 This man, no matter where he runs to, will not forget the customs of his people, 168 Just as the aoqnav bird cannot leave sweet fruit alone. 169 No matter where the woman goes, she cannot be above the man. 170 No matter how intelligent the woman is, she cannot build her own house, 171 No matter how brilliant the woman is, she cannot build her own coffin. Sister: (12:00) 172 You must believe the words of the man. 173 This man, no matter where he runs to, will not forget the customs of his people, 174 No matter where the woman goes, she cannot be above the man. 175 No matter how the woman sings, she cannot win over the man. 176 Even if the man does not do a good job of turning over a new field, you must not leave him, 177 Just as the aoqnav bird cannot leave sweet fruit alone. Brother: (12:29) 178 If you agree to marry out, 179 I will agree to take you in marriage, 180 Those who are fated to be together will not be questioned by a higher court. 181 The needle and thread are already very intimate with each other, 182 If the little lady works with the thread and needle, she will rub it against the beeswax, 183 So that the thread will glide easily (through the fabric). 184 What you have planned has already succeeded, 185 There is no limit to what can be said in the Hani language. 186 In a night, the rooster crows not only twice, 187 In a day, the sun does not only shine twice. 374 188 The time period in which the sun radiates heat is not long, 189 And the time period in which a man is excited toward love is also limited. 190 When a man’s heart is good, he is like a refreshing pool in the mountains, 191 The sunlight is changing colours even now, 192 The heat of the sun will not go backward, 193 Neither will the man turn back. 194 We are the only two who will not look back, 195 The cattle outside should return home now. 196 I will not build ten hamlets on one mountain peak, 197 I have only built one, the one that my lover will like the most. 198 Ten sources of spring water require ten aqueducts, 199 I have built one aqueduct, the one that my lover will like the most. 200 Take a beautiful leaf to catch some of its water as a drink, 201 When you have drunk your fill, do not throw the leaf away, 202 In the future, future generations will also use it to drink. 203 Do not cut branches from a road that is not travelled, 204 Do not slander the lover you were not able to get. 205 If you pick leaves from a road you will not travel, 206 In the future, our children will pass this road as they go to the market for trade. 207 If you slander the lover you could not get, 208 Then in the future you might become clans related through marriage. 209 Do not cut branches from a road that is not travelled, 210 Do not slander the lover you were not able to get. 211 If the two people become one, 212 Then the two hearts will also become one. 213 The pot of boiling water, if it is not covered with a lid, will not boil out, 214 You must believe the words of the man, 215 My young lover who will one day be elder and mother of a household! 216 If you do not believe the words of a man, 217 In the future, people will come and beat you with a stick, 218 Even if you talk back to a man, 219 An intelligent woman cannot win over a man, 220 A brilliant woman cannot make her own coffin. 221 My intimate partner for life-- 222 My dear one who is close like the water to the fish: 223 In the future when we come together in the day, 224 In the future when we come together at night, 225 The cattle outside should return home. 375 GM1 “Welcoming guests and celebrating festival days” Hani-Chinese Translation  Ngaldu aqyivq gaq e aqnil +O"@*  *@!  2 Alquvq gaq ssol lolbaq ngaqsaq :@=R 'J>:@R7 P3% 3 Yeiqnao jol li mavqnei xil siq L4 'L4B 4 Hhomu meeq ssol ngavq qa ceil siil xilmei pal C) EEL7.  /FN 5 Colkyul meeq ssol ngavq jivq ceil jivq meeq ya H2 EE  H2  P3% 6 Nia a zyuqmoq meeq ssol yivq ssol meilnaol xilmeil zyul lal 0$*! L7DM  $Q&+*! IL DM 7 Hhomu meeq ssol aqda paqssaq xilmeil ssaoq lal C)A "L7;G  /F+I;GK P3% 8 Ngaldu aqyivq gaq e meilnaol hal naol O"@* , O"@9* 9 Alquvq gaq ssol lolbaq ngaqsaq :@=R 'J>:@R7 P3% 10 Ngaldu haqniq maq pal dama hhaoljol xilmeil qo lal +(A8?L7-6 6-+(B? 11 Navssaq maq pal soqbovq jav ssol <1<#5 5<1B<# P3% 376 12 Ngaldu aqda paqssaq gaq saq maq cil movq H *%G++8 KO8M3 13 Aqyivq meilnaol hhyul saq maq naq movq 7)(^+8 7)(KO8C ]=- 14 Yeiqnao huvq meeq huvqcil ha leil qiq huvq $6&6_6 6=_6 15 La meeq lacil kuvq la qiq siq ?&??? ? 16 Nao meeq nao zaq hhavq leil qiq nao <*&F I< &<*4I< 17 Ngalya aqda paqssaq xil miav ceil col zyul lal H *%X  NY@ X #[W>WNY"V 18 Aqyivq meilnaol xil miav ceil hhaq ssaoq lal 7)(X  DP@ X #7)(DP"V ]=- 19 Yeiqnao jol li mavqnei niaoq’aol xil siq $"J"X? 1"X?K$ 20 Hhomu zyuqssaq haqniq hhaojol qo lal ssol L5, !2E9@ /, @.\!2E 21 Nia a hhomu haqniq yeilgaq xilmeil qo lal ssol ;L5!2: XB9@ ;K @.\!2:  ]=- 22 Haqniq soqdoq gee e pyuq meil maq bo !2TQRZR R!2TQRZ 23 Haqniq soqdoq gee e pyuq meil bo kal leil dul e !2TQRZRU 'AR!2TQRZKS ]=- 24 Doqsi qiq doq halmiav maq qaol S#0 S#0 377 25 Lavqhhuv piulsiil jav e hhovqliv maq ssyuq 9^?]4- 9?^-:#]4 26 Lavqhhuv piulsiil hhovqliv ssyuq kal leil dul e         27 Lavqhhuv piulsiil maq ssaoq miaoqcyuq pievq lal 9^R% 9?^TM[R a=0 28 Ngaldu aqyivq gaq meilnaol ei eiq !_,G6*) !_X6*) 29 Alquvq gaq ssol lolbaq ngaqsaq AGCc 3VDAGc@ a=0 30 Nia a zyuqmoq meeq ssol ngavq qa ceil siil xilmeil pal </(NNY@ " (/(b1;O @ 31 Hhomu meeq ssol ngavq jivq ceil jivq pal K5(NN " (;O\# a=0 32 Ngaldu naolhao naoqssaq alquv molkol hal kol 7 +2S`8 7J J>X 33 Naoq bo aqnil ssaq e yolqoq yaol I6)., 7 J6) a=0 34 Nia a zyuqmoq meeq ssol ngavq qa ceil siil pal ssolnei </(NN " (/(b1;O @ 35 Aoqhaoq milhaoq aqyivq meilnaol xilmeil zyul lal qivq ya &$6*)Y LZQ &$J6*)QY LZ 36 Nia a hhomu meeq ssol ngavq jivq ceil jivq meeq ya </(NN( " (/(b1;O \( 37 Aoqzeil milzeil jol e aqda paqssaq xilmeil ssaoq ya &FEU#H,'Y@BP #&FEUJ QBP#W 378 38 Yeiqnao jol li niaoq’aol xil siq #=H7 =?H 7 39 Zyuqmoq dogee ssaqlaol xilmeil sal * :H % :4(G0H % 40 Zaolpuv deiyal hoq zaq luvq lal ya %>% K"8 > I?.A% 3 41 Gaq saq maq naq movq e aqda paqssaq ;)91<($ ?C1@, 42 Hhyul saq maq naq movq e aqyivq meilnaol L)1/'& /'&?C19 J 5+ 43 Jol li xil siq niaoq’aol lalna hev ya H7= =?H 7 44 Qiq huvq ceil niq aqla hev lal -78 - 7E) 45 Qiq la ceil saol miltiv xavq neiq deiq 76!2B F 6!E) 46 Huvqcil huvq nei maq deiq --2B B-D-82B 47 Huvqcil wuq la nei deiq lal ssol -72B8 B-D782B 48 Lacil la nei maq deiq 772B B7D482B 49 Qiq huvq ceil niq aqla hev lal ssol -78 - 7E) 50 Qiq la ceil saol miltiv xavq neiq deiq lal ssol 76!2B F 6!E) 51 Yeiqnao jol li niaoq ’aol xil siq #=H7 =?H 7 379 52 Sseilzyuq aqpyuq zaolmol ssaqli deivq lal ssol H49%@ 2G7- 5 H49%@2G5 53 Haqniq huvqpeiq ceil la galtaol !#$.0.# !#$.# 54 Kuvq la hal hev aqmeil huvq maq hev qivq .'?+F> .'>F?+ 55 Ceil la hal hev aqmeil huvqma daoqpeiq maq puv qivq .'#0$=> .'>F=#8## 56 Sseilnei kuqzaq hev ssol hhavq ssol hu leil jav H.#3J/ H.#"3"J 57 Caoqnei galtaol hev ssol laoq yavq seil yavq jav .#K+A+/ 8.#"KA+ I , 58 Sseilnei kuqzaq nao gee maq pal qivq H.#+B)> HF.#>*+ 59 Caoqnei galtaol yal gee maq leiq qivq .#:BDC> F.#:8>(+* I , 60 Ngaldu hhaolloq dama aqhhaol laqgee #.+69  61 Huvqlo miqyeil yeil xa aqhuvq laqgee #E, 9; I , 62 Sseilnei kuqzaq hhavq ssol hu leil ngeel ssol H.#3J, H.#"3"J 63 Caoqnei galtaol laoq ssol seil yavq ngeel ssol .#K+A+, 8.#"KA+ I , 64 Hhoqzyuq hhaqnaq naqhhal nga H41& <, ,H41&8 < 380 65 Siivqpil laqyei daolduq ngeel ssol I(3F 6 6I(B3F  W 6& 66 Hhovqli paqmoq dev cuvq e hhaqqaol S'KE*J/ K*BJ/ 67 Caoq hov hhaqqaaol maq biav hov moq qil ssol TC>J/>K9 >TCJ/X+9 W 6& 68 Haqjil xallo maq ceiq aqpyuq piaqhhal lao meil jol A"@;GL,5 ,5A";S 69 Miqhhaoq haoq liq maq aol yeilsal nee’lao hhaqjoq hev meil jol !N:,5 ,5!N: W 6& 70 Ngaldu hhoqzyuq dogee jol col ngeel ssolnei .V< 6 .6V< B 71 Siivqpil dogee jolssaq ngeel alnei I( 6 6I( B W 6& 72 Jol li xil siq niaoq’aol lalna xil jol R7=R7 =R 7 73 Sseilnei kuqzaq hev ssol qiq hhaol xilmeil pal V#7)V#R81 V#P 1# 74 Sseilnei saoq la maq jil meil cuv li xilmeil mil lal V#7$J#R 2Q V#7-$J#2Q 75 Cuv li aqpyuq siilmol laljei deivq J#G%4M0U? JH?J# 76 Cuv li saoq la hev ssol J#7 J#7 77 Cuvmeel ceiqduv daqyoq gyuq lal JOD  J#BD  381 78 Hhoqzyuq zaq e kal sol gyuq leev [L.O-62 [L/B#.O 79 Siivqpil zaq e kal ma naoqhhuq gyuq leev M,.O"%62 M,#/BG.O \ 9( 80 Ceiqduv daqyoq laqma he nei xil mol yaol SI >3"U  U >3"G)I 81 Haoqmeil a cellel xilmeil xa Z@ U= Z@V 82 Eelhhuvq lolmeil naqgaq xilmeil xa ?8U= ?8 \ 9( 83 Cuv li aqpyuq siilmol laljei deivq alngaoq N&K'7Q1YD $A G*K'FGA 87 Hhoqzyuq zaq e kal sol yaol gyuq leev [L.O62 [L/B#.O 88 Siivqpil zaq e kal ma naoqhhuq miao lal alngaoq M,.O"%/B M,#/BG.O \ 9( 89 Cuv li saoq la ceiqduv daqyoq gyuq alngaoq N&:SI $< $ .L+/> 92 Siivqpil zaq e kal ma naoqhhuq miao lal ssol K,.L!'/> .L+/> ^ 8* 93 Ngaldu aqda sal e hovqteiq xalma koqzaol qo lal wulyaq 0? FBE!A1 ]S? FN0GE 94 Aqma sal e kalma saol caoq guq lal ; F.L! ]S ^ 8* 95 Eiqsi milnao deima eelheiq soq jiv maq pal XE<=K4 XE[KC<=GO 96 Yoqhovq dei yal hoqsiivq yeiq duq qiq nao maq pal P)E_5O"4 P)E5M_GO"  ^ 8* 97 Aqpyuq sal e milyyul J(F7 J(FG7 98 Aqbol sal e milmeeq @@F# @@FG# ^ 8* 99 Deima hovqsal hoqsiivq yeiq e hev lal E#5M_ 5M_GR6 100 Aqhu ssaqmiq zei a doqbal xilmeil hev &G$%Z[WY: 2&G$%UXR6 101 Aqhhyu hhyumeeq zei a doqgaq xilmeil hev QQ#Z[WY: 2#QUX9XR ^ 8* 383 GM1 “Welcoming Guests and Celebrating Festival Days” English Translation 1 We brothers love our dear siblings, 2 In the same way that water loves fish. 3 It is in this month of this year, 4 Because the Emperor is good and everything is improving, 5 Because the people are intelligent—that all things go well. 6 Because of good officials and good leaders, we siblings can be together. 7 Because the Emperor is good, we are able to gather together. 8 We, the firstborn, love each of our younger siblings, 9 In the same way that water loves fish. 10 Let’s go and find our unchanging Hani calendrical laws, 11 They are unchanging like the written characters of the Han. 12 Let’s continue our friendship and not allow it to come to an end, 13 Let’s not end our brother-sister relationship. 14 This year is the year of the cock, 15 The sixth month of the lunar calendar 16 Is a good month, belonging to the day of the pig. 17 We gather here together with many elders and children, 18 We meet together with many brothers and sisters. 19 It is on this day in this month 20 That a little official comes to ask about the Hani calendrical celebrations. 21 Those from the north come to ask about Hani stories, 22 When speaking the Hani language, one must not speak of money, 23 If when one speaks in Hani, one speaks of money, 24 One phrase will not be worth very much. 25 If you have money in your hands, then do not save it inside your house, 26 If you have money in your hands and you save it inside your house, 27 Then you will not know how to spend the money in your hands. 28 We elders, brothers and sisters 29 Are affectionate like how the water loves the fish. 30 Because of good officials and good leaders, five things and ten things go well with us. 31 Because of good governance, all things are improving. 32 Those generations that follow us, 33 Those younger brothers and sisters below us will have a good life. 34 Because of good officials and good leaders, five and ten policies change (for the better). 35 This is how brothers and sisters living in the far corners and oceans can come together. 36 Because of the good officials and good leaders, five and ten affairs of the people improve, 37 Those who live in the far corners and ocians can be together. 38 Presently, on this month, 39 Under the present leaders, the people are living a good life, 384 40 And the fields are bringing in a good harvest. 41 Let our father-daughter relationship continue without ceasing, 42 Let joyful relationships between brothers and sisters not come to an end. 43 This month has arrived-- 44 A year is made up of the passing of twelve months, 45 One cycle is made up of the passing of thirteen days, 46 One does not calculate the passing of a year in units of years, 47 To calculate the passing of a year, one uses units of months. 48 To calculate the passing of a month, one uses units of days, 49 A year is made up of the pssing of twelve months, 50 A cycle is made up of the passing of thirteen days, 51 We are presently in this month, 52 This is the time when the Lord of Rain gave birth to our ancestor, Zaolmol, the youngest son. 53 In the tenth month, we near the end of the Hani year, 54 When the sixth month arrives, we must not overlook the festival of that month. 55 When the tenth month arrives, we must overlook the festival of that month. 56 The sixth month festival of the rainy season belongs to the day of the pig or rat. 57 The tenth month festival of the winter season belongs to the day of the dragon and snake. 58 When we celebrate the sixth month festival of the rainy season, we cannot change the date, 59 When we celebrate the tenth month festival of the winter season, we cannot casually change the date of its celebration. 60 The years, months, and days were determined by our ancestors, 61 The calendrical cycles were calculated by our ancestors. 62 The sixth month festival of the rainy season lands on the day of the pig or rat. 63 The tenth month festival of the winter season lands on the day of the dragon or snake. 64 This is the place where the Lord of Rain comes to rest amongst us, 65 The is the place where the priest puts his bowl. 66 The swing shelter that our ancestors designed: 67 They covered the roof of the swing shelter with sturdy tiles so that the roof would be very secure. 68 Because on the day of the anniversary f the death of our ancestors, the man does not plough the fields, 69 Because on the day of the anniversary of the death of our ancestors, the woman does not weave or sew. 70 We are those who are under the Lord of Rain, 71 We are those who are under the authority of the priest. 72 Presently we are in the sixth month, 73 When the rainy season is over, we will change to another season, 74 When the third month of the rainy season is over, the fall season will arrive. 75 The fall god is born in the fall season, 76 The fall season comes after the third month, 77 The cicadas of the autumn season cry out, 385 78 They cry out so that the Lord of Rain will eat his fill and bring plentiful harvest, 79 They cry out so that the priest will eat his fill and bring in a plentiful harvest. 80 The cicada is the size of a thumb, 81 Yet their voices echo in the shady streams, 82 They pass on messages to each other at the well. 83 If our ancestor Siilmol Laljei, the god of autumn, is born, 84 Then the wild grass will have already grown mature, 85 Then we should turn over the banks of earth surrounding the fields. 86 These are the calendrical laws that our Hani ancestors passed down to us. 87 They cry out so that the Lord of Rain will eat his fill and bring in a plentiful harvest, 88 They cry out so that the priest will eat his fill and bring in a plentiful harvest. 89 This is what happens when the autumn season arrives and the cicadas call out, 90 The embankments on the sides of the field should already be turned over. 91 The Lord of Rain eats and the rice harvest is already dry with ripeness, 92 The priest eats and the harvest is already overripe. 93 We need the rice field that our parents passed down to us, 94 We need the garden patch that our parents left for us. 95 The place where we used to sacrifice to the spring water has not changed, 96 The place where we cut the new harvest of rice from our field has not changed. 97 The land that our ancestors left us, 98 The good land that our grandfather left us, 99 The festival day for eating new rice has arrived, 100 We invite those ladies who have married out to return home to celebrate with us, 101 We invite the good sister-in-law to come and celebrate this day with us. 386 GM4 “More beautiful is my Hani sister than a thousand Dai women” Hani-Chinese Translations 1 Ngaldu aoqhaoq milhaoq aqyivq meilnaol % H ! 6 ! 2 Aoqzeil milzeil e aqda paqssaq puq lal ya 1/>28* 1/>68&C 3 Aqda paqssaq zyul e doqsal gee kal leil eil ya 2.;@?A % 8&CF% # 4 Aqyivq meilnaol zyul e doqgaq gee kal leil eil ya H !.;0"?A !.;C?0" 5 Eiqsi milhao biqssaq meilssaq maq ngeel ya D  ( D% (I5 6 Qiq ma bossaq nadul meil qiq jol dul ya -5 +,B % -5 7 Biqcol meilcol maq ngeel aqda paqssaq nadul qiq jol dul ya I5(2 ,B (I5:B 8 Eiqsi milnao eelniuq haqlaq qiq kuv maq saol qivq D39= < D39=< C 9 Oq’a zeilngyul qiq kuv maq xavq qivq nga yil JK < JK< 10 Ngaldu jol li xil siq niaoq’aol lalna xil jol % E)4E, E' 11 Huvqlavq meeq alnei  $ ' 12 Aoqhaoq milhaoq aqyivq meilnaol xilmeil zyul lal ya H !E+7G* 6 !<7G 13 Aoqzeil milzeil aqda paqssaq xilmeil ssaoq lal ya 1/>2E+.;* 1/>6% <.;C 387 14 Ngaldu paqssaq gaq e maq deiv ya  '$BT  '$B0 15 Aqyivq meilnaol gaq e maq luvq ya Q'/B /&%B0 16 Yeiqnao xo aqda jol ssol baqlul aqda ngeel ssol !D'2D'9 592D' 17 Ngalya lulsiq lulyeiv maq bieil movq ya 5 2;2KN"3 3N"5G42 18 Meiqpyul aqda lulyeiv maq jaoq movq ya -D'2KN"3 D'1@G-3N" 19 Zaoldaoq soq moq maq sil zilgyu maq pyul movq ya (L<:>US3 (LG<:>U E 20 Xo aqda maq moq meiqpyul lulyeiv maq jaoq movq ya D'I-2KN"3 D'I1@G-3N" 21 Ngalya maq yil milnia haoqloq maq bia e liq 5 8AR  5G8AR 22 Xa aqda hal yil milnia haoqloq bia meil jol yil movq ya D'6AR 3 D'63AR 23 Daqtav wuqduq jol e qiq ssil #C GC 24 Daqtav wuqduq jol e qiq ssil daolpul yeiv meil yeiv movq ya #CFK.=.3 GC3MFKO=.7 25 Hhaqzeil lolnil taoqdiq yeiv meil jol yil movq ya +,?)K.3 *M+,)?PGKO=.7 26 Ngalya heq lal nil puv maq qaol e liq 5Q )J 5Q J) 27 Mol lal niaol puv maq qivq nia e liq QHJ  QJH 388 28 Huvqlo galhhu yul col maq gee qivq e liq CD  : :C7D  29 Malnee haolhhyul galhhu yul siq maq pal movq ya !;BCD'$ $-'C7DI! 30 Xo aqda baqgaq neema zeiljil biaol ssol 6#3!K"K 6#37!"K/ 31 Baqlul neema keeqssaq coq ya #3!4A #37!?4(. 2.% =7>J 40 Maq gee saq e doqqul saoq zao maq ngaq =>5@C 2.% =7>J 41 Bilmi ssaqheiq huq doq piulsiil hhallul yaol # >EF # =7>1EF 389 42 Naolhao naoq doq haqluq bo se taq bi pievq yil HANG >HE+A 43 Aqkal naolhao naoq doq haqluq bose pievq alngaoq  HAND"2 "2 >H A 44 Aqqoq sul’a ssaq e zeiqcil moq niuq naoqdaq luvq lal nga  $;P8J'  D $;J 45 Bilmi ssaqheiq huq doq piulsiil hhallul gee e ) HLM ) HFLM 46 Naolhao mavq nei hhoyyuq leilmevq taq bi pievq yil  @C6G G >HF+@C6 47 Naolhao naoq doq hhoyyuq leilmevq pievq alngaoq  H@C6"2 "2 >HF+ @C6 48 Aqkal hhoyyuq leilmevq leil nei bo heil alngaoq @C6N"2 "2 @C6DN 49 Aqqoq sul’a ssaq e siivq yal deima zeiqkeeq pievq lal nga   =:!B/ + !:>B/ 50 Ngaldu niq hhaq maq hhoq movq e daol a hyuqssaq niq mol gee alnei , ?*%.R ,%?>.R 51 Ngaldu niq hhaq maq hheil movq e loltaoq geevqpyul niq mol gee alnei , ?*5K.R 53 Biqcaoq eelpuv ceil kol miao e liq maq hhoq 14I#(+7? 1>I#+7? 54 Maq hheil movq e loltaoq geevqpyul niq mol ?*5K+%3 >1++%3 57 Ngaldu niq hhaq maq hhoq hhoqma albol gee yil laq e # 33* # 3* 58 Maq hheil hheilma alpavq gee yil laq e 33 # 3 59 Maq hhoq hhoqma albol gee alnei 33**  3* 60 Aqhhuv qiltaol leiv xa e liq maq hhoq movq >+533" >1+53"3 61 Maq hheil hheilma alpavq gee e 33  3 62 Tavq a alpavq diq xa e liq maq hheil movq >$3" $>1"3 63 Ngaldu collo niq hhaq gaq e neema ngeel ssol #  /!) # !2/ 64 Zeiq gaq niq mol dal lal moqqoq ngeel wulyaq 0/=4) ) 0=14 65 Ngaldu niq hhaq caoqduv neegaq laqheiq qeil e niq col ngeel lil # !/, ) # )!2/1 66 Caoqduv neehhyul mol e niq hhaq ngeel lil !,6) )!261 67 Ngal yivqma geebaq zeiqcil sal e yul jol #:91 <78;( #:91 8<( 68 Deihhuvq biqcaoq pyulniul calsu mol lal ya .'-''6 6' 69 Biqcaoq caoq taol caoq yal mol e liq '6 6&' 391 70 Deihhuvq biqcaoq mol e qiq col maq pal meil bi jol movq ya 4-?+@) ?4:- )@& 71 Deitavq alniul niulhhu ssaqzaq puq e 3-7 ; ;7 :3- 72 Deitavq alniul niulhhu niulmiq zaq e 3-7  3-7 73 Deitavq alniul mol e qiq pioq maq puv 3-?K ?3- K 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' R)+ 104 Bo ssol sultav ssaqmeeq nil e yul jol >"! $@P/ "! $@P/ 105 Ngaldu tyuq hu qiq taq hu ya , (A4A , (A 106 Tyuq hu hu e donia caqkeel siqjovq maq daovq (A&M#G (A&M#G 107 Ceil nao hev e hoq qavq qiq peiv maq mol U=K KU 108 Yal nao hev e eelcal qiq haoq maq hhuvq ?6B  ?81B6 109 Moq duq dei a li e milnil hao yaol maq guv %JE9F* -%J*9F 110 Lolgov deivq e cavkavq wuqduq siq yaol maq guv 7RCCID* *7Q@CCID 111 Hoqsiivq aoqsseil sseillu saol baoq xilmeil yiv ya 0TN32 0T2  394 112 Da nei ziivq e haqluq niq ceil leqhev maq heil nia alnei E SHM 8O5 B:E SQHM8O 113 Loltaoq alpavq cev ssol lolgov tyulmeil jol cA%7*A`> 7cAH=]_*Ab 114 Ma nei guvq e sseilgeel niq lov hovseiq maq pi nia alnei @ TWY(?V B:@ TH?WY 115 Soqma albol hul’a hassaq wuv meil jol =;='e3> $\@e3'e`>]X= 116 Deimeeq deihaoq zaq dei maq sal e liq F$ FC $ B:C H$F 117 Gaq li nol ssol ngaldu niq hhaq yaol D1 IDH1 118 Xo jol miqma eelseq leev nei jol G#NN& G#a+KN& 119 Zaq li haoqmaq maq jav maq qil movq dLB:4-0 BdL04- 120 Niaov li juldal maq jav maq beeq sso "P%B:. B:P%Z/ 121 Tyuq hu hu e deimeeq loqhaoq zaq dei maq sal e liq ,JF$ FC $ ,JB:C H$F 122 Sul’a ssaq e xalzeil loqkol bil bo aqzeiq jav e F :!: HF^:!H  123 Ngaldu lavqhhaq cei ssol milbil ngaldu nga yil 121 12) 1H 124 Mavq nei alyeil hev e ceil siq lal nia 4%[%R U9FR< 125 Huq tevq tevq e ngavq yeil duv nei loqssaq tevq  V ' 6 VH' F 395 126 Naoq tevq tevq e ceil yeil loqma tevq  ;  +;76 127 Aqqoq loqma zaq e ceil taol duv movq duv miq ya  4@( 9 476<@ 128 Ngaldu hhaqzeil zaq e hoq zaq luvq meil jol movq ssa ) 6CJ( ) 6C7< 129 Ngaldu bo ssol sultav miq yo meilnaol hal naol ) 5#""!* )7#"  130 Bo qivq lalna miq yo meilnaol hal naol 5<"!* )7#"  131 Bo ssol leil e ssaqmiq ssaqyo 5"  )7"  132 Eiqsi sultav ssaqmeeq nil e yul jol D#" $7E, D#" $7E, 133 Naoq bo aqnil nil e yul taq 5'!$7E, '!$7E, 134 Aqhhuv haoqmeil eelquvq taoq navq aqmeil navq e G1032/2 AG170E/2 135 Yeiqnao haqpaq keel tev hhaol lal H?=8- H?&F 136 Haqpaq keel tev hhaol lal alngaoq H?=8- . H?F 137 Coq e wuqloq tavqloq yoq yil nia wulnaq BD  F KF:> 139 Biaol e daolhaol yoq yil nia I%D  A* <*& 69EC (Artistic and aesthetic studies based on practice: an interpretation of the academic significance of the anthropology of art.) Yunnan Shehui Kexue 8 :[Social Sciences in Yunnan]no. 5: 82-86.  Hood, Mantle. 1971. The Ethnomusicologist. New York: McGraw-Hill.  Honghe Renmin Guangbo Diantai=. -$'4(Honghe People’s Broadcasting Station), ed. 2002. Hanizu Hunsu Ge "( ,(Hani wedding songs). Kunming: YNMZCBS. Innis, Harold. 1930. The Fur Trade in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 405 Jakobson, Roman. 1953. “Discussions in Claude Levi-Strauss, Roman Jakobson, Carl F. Voeglin and Thomas A. Sebeok,” Results of the Conference of Anthropologists and Linguists. International Jounral of Amrican Linguistics Memoir 8:11-21. ----------. 1987. Language in Literature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  Jiu Mi!. 1993. Hanizu Jieri [Haqniq Neeciiv] $(Hani festivals). Kunming: YNMZCBS. Jones, Steve. 2007. Ritual and Music of North China: Shawm Bands in Shanxi. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.  Lewis, Paul and Bai Bibo. 1996. Hani-English English-Hani Dictionary. London: Kegan Paul International. Li, Hanjie.2001. Yunnan Shaoshu Minzu Yinyuexue Gailun  ) &(An outline to musicology of the ethnic minorities of Yunan [sic]). Kunming: Yunnan Meishu Chubanshe  #    Li Yuanqing  , ed. 1995. Zhongguo Yunnan Honghe Hanizu Minge   "   (Folksongs of the Hani nationality of Yunnan, China). Kunming: YNMZCBS.  Long Aying *'%. 1997. Hanizu Geshou Aying Gequ Ji [Alssil E Teil Sal] ' %((Song anthology of Hani singer, Aying).Kunming: YNMZCBS. Lord, Albert B. Edited by Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy. 2000 [1960]. The Singer of Tales. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ----------. 1965. “Oral Poetry.” In Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, edited by Alex Preminger, 591-593. Princeton: Princeton University Press.  Luchun county government website. http://www.lvchun.gov.cn/dwjj.asp?dwjjid=1.  Moseley, George, translator and commentator. 1966. The Party and the National Question in China, by Zhang Zhiyi. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press. Nguyen Van Huyen. 1934. Les chant alternés des garçon et des filles en Annam. Austro- asiatica 3. Paris: Paul Geuthner. ----------. 1941. Receuil des chants de mariage Tho de Lang-son et Cao-bang. Hanoi: Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient. Parry, M. 1930. “Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-making, I: Homer and Homeric Style.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 41: 73-147. Pian, Rulan Chao. 1972. “Text Setting with the Shipyi Animated Aria.” In Words and Music: The Scholar’s View, ed. Laurence Berman, 237-270. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 406 ----------. 1975. “Aria Structural Patterns in the Peking Opera.” In Chinese and Japanese Music-Drama, edited by J.I. Crump and William P. Malm, Michigan Papers in Chinese Studies 19: 65-89. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Proschan, Frank. 1989. “Kmhmu Verbal Art in America: the Poetics of Kmhmu Verse.” PhD dissertation, University of Texas. ----------. 1992. “Poetic Parallelism in Kmhmu Verbal Arts: From Texts to Performances.” In Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology: Text, Context, and Performance in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, edited by Amy Catlin 9: 1-32.  Qiao Jianzhong. 2006. “Yuan shengtai min’ge suoyi” (Incidental views on “original ecology folksongs”). Renmin yinyue (People’s music) 477: 26-27.  Rees, Helen. 2000. Echoes of History: Naxi Music in Modern China. New York: Oxford University Press.  ----------. 2001. “Minority traditions: South China.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie, 5: 684-688. London: Macmillan. ----------. 2009. “Use and Ownership: Folk Music in th People’s Republic of China.” In Music and Cultural Rights edited by Andrew N. Weintraub and Bell Yung: 42-85. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Rogers, H.L. 1966. “The Crypto-Psychological Character of the Oral Formula.” English Studies 47: 89-102. Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778). “Essay on the Origin of Languages.” In The Collected Writings of Rousseau vol. 7, translated by John T. Scott. 1998: 289-332. Dartmouth, NH: University Press of New England. Schimmelpenninck, Antoinet. 1997. Chinese Folk Songs and Folk Singers: Shan’ge Traditions in Southern Jiangsu. Leiden: CHIME. Shi Junchao . 1998. Hanizu Wenxueshi  (Hani literary history). Kunming: YNMZCBS. ----------- ed. 1999. Hani Wenhua Daguan  (An overview of Hani culture). Kunming: YNMZCBS. Small, Christopher. 1998. Musicking: The Meaning of Performing and Listening. Middleton CT: Wesleyan University Press. Stock, Jonathan P.J. Stock. 1999. “A Reassessment of the Relationship between Text, Speech Tone, Melody, and Aria Structure in Beijing Opera.” Journal of Musicological Research 18: 183-206. Tedlock, Dennis. 1999. “Poetry and Ethnography: A Dialogical Approach.” Anthropology and Humanism 24(2): 155-167. 407 Tedlock, Dennis, and Bruce Mannheim eds. 1995. The Dialogic Emergence of Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Tenzer, Michael, ed. 2006. Analytical Studies in World Music. New York: Oxford UniversityPress. Thrasher, Alan R. 1990. La-Li-Luo Dance-Songs of the Chuxiong Yi, Yunnan Province, China. Danbury, CT: World Music Press. ---------. 2008. Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice. Leiden: Brill.  Tong Enzheng. 1995. “Northern China and Southern China: Two Different Trajectories of Social Development Towards Civilization.” Social Sciences in China 16.4: 101-113. Tuohy, Sue. 1988. “Imagining the Chinese Tradition: The Case of Hua’er Songs, Festivals, and Scholarship.” Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website. http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php, accesssed December 17, 2009 Walraven, Boudewijn. 1994. Songs of the Shaman: the Ritual Chants of the Korean Mudang. New York: Kegan Paul International. Wichmann, Elizabeth. 1991. Listening to Theatre: The Aural Dimension of Beijing Opera. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Wong, Edward. “China Locks Down Restive Region After Deadly Clash.” New York Times, July 6, 2009, Asia Pacific section. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/world/asia/07china.html.  Xishuangbanna Daizu Zizhizhou Minzu Shiwu Huiyuanhui /', .#"  (Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Region Ethnic Affairs Commission), ed. 1992. Hanizu Guge !(Hani ancient songs). Kunming: YNMZCBS.  Yang Mu. 1994. “On the Hua’er Songs of North-Western China.” Yearbook for Traditional Music 26:100-116. Yang Mu. 1998. “Erotic Musical Activity in Multiethnic China.” Ethnomusicology 42(2): 199-264. Yang Zenglie &. 1995. “’A Barley Pipe Becomes a Jasper Flute’: The Naxi Folk Instrument Wowo.” Translated by Helen Rees. Chime 8: 67-75. An expanded version of “Naxizu yiguan duohuang yueqi ‘wowo’ qianshi” ,/*+ $1(The ‘wowo’: a Naxi instrument with one pipe and multiple reeds). In Minzu Yinyue Lunji "403(Collected papers on ethnic music), edited by Yang Fang and Wu Xueyuan%, 256-264. Kunming YNMZCBS, 1991. Yu Bing  . 2009. “Dui Yinyue Yichan ‘Yuanshengtai Baohu’ de Sikao” 42 ( )-(Examining the “protection of the original ecology” of musical heritage). Zhongguo Yinyuexue4 (Musicology in China) no. 1: 103-105. 408 Yu Li . 1985. “Tan Minjian Yinyue de Gexin yu Minzu Shenmei Xinli de Fazhan” ` Dgj Mi< D=+W4eM0(On the renewal of folk music and the development of folk aesthetic). Minzu Yinyu D=j (Folk Music) no. 3: 22-23. Yunnansheng Shaoshu Minzu Guji Zhengli Chuban Guihua Bangongshi N-9D=U :JG], (Program office for the editing and publication of Yunnan minority nationalities literature), ed. 1986. Hani Apei Congpopo vol. 6 #.h&X% %Tc. Kunming: YNMZCBS. Zhang Niulang2H?, Bai ZuboLR, Li Kelang@?, and Tu HuoshaFE, singers. 1989. Hanizu Minjian Shishi: Shier Nuju#.=Dg _ (/ (Hani historical folk poem: Shier Nuju). Kunming: YNMZCBS. Zhang Xingrong 2Z. 1997. "A New Discovery: Traditional 8-Part Polyphonic Singing of theHani of Yunnan." Chime 10-11: 145-152. Translated by Helen Rees. ----------. 2003. Yunnan Teyou Minzu Yuansheng Yinyue I>D=Kj  (Traditional music of the minority nationalities of Yunnan). Kunming: YNMZCBS. Zhang Yong 2, Shi JinhongOf*, Yang Fang AY, eds. 2000. Mags Map Weex Sangh Al2'\3)B5B $86(When I’m grown up, I must be a good singer: materials for teaching Dong village songs). Guiyang: Guizhou Minzu Chubanshi a1D=GQ(Guizhou Nationalities Press). Zhao Huchu b"Pand Li Qizhou @ !(singers). 1990. Sipi Heizhe: Hanizu Binzang Jige ;7kd#.=C[SB(Sipi Heizhe: Hani funeral and burial ritual songs). In Yunnansheng Shaoshu Minzu Guji Yizong vol. 31 N-9D=U^VTc (Translated collections of ancient Yunnan minority literature). Kunming: YNMZCBS. 409 Videography Commercially available VCDs and DVDs: Hani Guyun: Hanizu Yuanshengtai Geshou Li Mingxiu Geren Yanchang Zhuan Ji I +9&3(06; 7D(Hani ancient poems: volume of solo performances by traditional Hani singer, Li Mingxiu). Yunnan Yinxiang Chubanshe/Yunnan Recording Company, 2006. VCD. Hani Jiuge Erge E33/Hani Toast Song and HaNi Children’s Song [sic] (two volume set). Yunnan Anyi Wenhua Chuanbo Youxian Gongsi ?* ).G, 2006. DVD.  Haq Niq Ssaq/Haniren: chuanjing jilu Hani yinyue yishu chengxian Hani huazhang   -="H?/8#(The Hani people: a complete documentary displaying Hani musical arts in its manifest splendour). , 2008. VCD.  VCDs produced by Li Xuelin 02 and sold on the streets of Luchun. Translated title given in brackets. Additional information about singer and performance context is noted after each entry. VCDs were produced under company name Yajia Yingshi Guanggao Zhizuo Zhongxin $B  % (production dates not shown). The list below only provides several examples of his work. He has produced over twenty VCDs concerning Hani life, customs, festivals and music:   Honghe Fengqing: Luchun <5J'>, (Life and customs in Luchun, Honghe). Laba sung by Huang Yangbiao K1A, femalePerformance took place by a river with several women sitting together listening to her. Topic of laba unknown. Laba sung by Huang Yangbiao K1APerformance took place by a river with several women sitting together listening to her. Topic of laba unknown. Honghe Fengqing: Hani Min’ge <5J'43(Life and customs in Luchun: Hani folksongs). Three volumes of laba performances by different singers. Vol. 1 features Long Longpu LLC. Volume 3 features male-female dialogue singing and a laba performance celebrating Zateitei (Tenth Month Festival). Mangren Geshou Aying: Tanchang Zhuanji : 3(F@!D (A collection of accompanied songs performed by blind singer Alssil) vol. 1 and 2. Some songs texts resembled azi courtship songs. Many other songs were praise songs and included: praises of his village, his parents and elders, and the Chinese Communist Party. All songs are accompanied by the sanxian (three-stringed lute).