It could be one of the most magnificent cultural projects in human history, both in scale and quality of the compilation of Chinese Folk and Ethnic Culture and Arts Collections. In fact, this unique feature only resembles another magnificent project by Chinese people thousands of years ago - the Great Wall .
Backed mainly by the Chinese Ministry of Culture , more than 100,000 people have dedicated the prime of their lives for 25 years to this huge project. During the process, six of the ten chief editors have passed away, while about another 1,000 people have also died. Obviously, the incredible extensity and profound Chinese culture requires tremendous hard work just to sort it out. However, this project is finally coming to an end.
This huge work has promoted the fundamental buildup of Chinese art in general. During this project, many opera and dance forms, song styles, arias, proverbs, folktales and legends, which previously were rarely seen, made a comeback. Local artistic organizations were created or enhanced, and many local art talents were brought up in the process of building the huge cultural Great Wall.
Initiation of the Cultural Great Wall
The goal of the Chinese Folk and Ethnic Culture and Arts Collections is to combine intangible spiritual heritage handed down orally for thousands of years with that emanating from more specific, scientifically analyzed sources, such as books, artifacts and cultural relics. It is a source of systematic and authentic material for culture research into Chinese sociology, history, religion, folk culture, customs and ethnic minorities.
The series present excellent Chinese folk literary and artistic achievements over several thousands of years, revealing their course of development and aesthetic worth. It is a solid source of reference for characteristic Chinese ethnic culture and a basis for forming national and local cultural policies.
Chinese Folk and Ethnic Culture and Arts Collections takes an in-depth look at China's five thousand years of cultural tradition and accumulation based on first-hand materials from on-the-spot investigation and exploration. It encompasses the rich cultural and artistic resources of all 56 Chinese ethnicities and covers the main disciplines of Chinese folk art. It is the first Chinese art collection series to specialize in the oral and intangible heritages of Chinese folk culture.
Each ethnicity has shown its artistic talents and aesthetic values through cultural creativity and performances that have nourished China's rich culture and laid solid foundations for development of new aspects of Chinese culture.
The editing and compilation of the series were funded by the Chinese central and local governments. Tens of thousands of scholars, artists, folk artists and cultural workers have been actively involved in this 500 million-word project for the past 25 years. It will undoubtedly have far-reaching influence on Chinese cultural exchanges abroad and fortify the Chinese people's national pride. History will bear witness to its enormous academic and historical value.
Building the Cultural Great Wall
In 1979, the Ministry of Culture, State Ethnic Affairs Commission and Chinese Musicians Association launched the compilation of Collection of Chinese Folk Songs, Collection of Chinese Traditional Opera Music, Collection of Chinese Folk and Ethnic Instrumental Music and Records of Chinese Quyi Music.
Later, the Ministry of Culture, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Chinese Dancers Association, the Chinese Dramatists Association , the China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art and the Chinese Ballad Singers Association jointly announced compilation of the Collection of Chinese Folk Dances, Records of Chinese Traditional Opera, Collection of Chinese Folktales, Collection of Chinese Ballads, Collection of Chinese Proverbs and Records of Chinese Quyi.
In 1986, the Culture and Finance ministries announced that monetary support for seven collections and key national art scientific research projects would be budgeted for at various levels of government.
In June 1991, during the seventh "Five Year Plan", the National Arts and Science Planning and Directing Group held a National Planning Work Conference for the Chinese Folk and Ethnic Culture and Arts Collections project.
Collection of Chinese Folk Songs
With Lu Ji as the chief editor and He Luting, Zhou Weizhi and Sui Shen as the vice editors, this collection reflects the quintessence of Chinese folk songs, which were passed down orally from generation to generation.
While the collection was being compiled in different provinces, the editors insisted on covering the widest range, gathering the most complete genres and guaranteeing the highest quality. For example, folk songs prevailing in a certain area would be investigated and collected comprehensively in forms including audio, musical scores, pictures, texts and video.
Each volume of the collection demonstrates the special features of the local music in four parts: pictures, texts, scores and folk singers introductions. There are about 300,000 folk songs in the collection, while the repertoire pieces reach about 40,000 accompanied with nearly 2,000 exquisite performing photos. Of the total 30 volumes, 28 have already been released, and the last two will be published by 2005 to finish the whole collection of 49.32 million characters.
Collection of Chinese Traditional Opera Music
The chief editor of this collection is Zhou Weizhi and the vice editors are Lu Su, Yu Cong, Chang Jingzhi and He Wei. The collection is a multiple-volume musical series that is scientific, comprehensive and representative. The collection systematically sorts out the fine music heritages of traditional opera of various ethnic groups and different regions as well as the achievements in opera music after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
It provides full and accurate materials for inheriting, referring and developing the traditional opera music, and endeavors to be complete, accurate, precise and clear. Different volumes are based on the divisions of China's different provinces, with a total of about 20,000 arias, 10,000 instrumental tunes, 200 highlights from operas, 2,500 historical pictures and 4,000 artists introductions. Twenty-nine of the total 30 volumes have already been released and the rest will be published by 2005 to finish the whole collection of 59.22 million characters.
Collection of Chinese Folk and Ethnic Instrumental Music
The chief editor is Li Ling and the vice editors are Huang Xiangpeng, Ding Ming and Wang Minji. The main contents in this collection are the rich traditional instrumental arias performed by folk artists in the past twenty years or so, as well as the representative instrumental music pieces (except ancient string instruments) collected between the 1950s and the 1970s. Religious, palace and sacrificial music are also collected due to its close relationship with instruments.
About 11,661 instrumental music pieces are collected in the 22 volumes that have already been published. Plenty of both black and white as well as color photos, and pictures of special local instruments also accompany the music pieces. The whole collection, with 67 million characters in 30 volumes, will be fully finished by 2006.
Records of Chinese Quyi Music
The chief editor is Sun Shen and the two vice editors are Zhang Ming and Feng Guangyu. The collection dynamically incorporates Quyi music, social life and cultural tradition in various forms of expressions such as audio, scores, captions, tables and photos. The content selection, editing style and layout are clear and scientific. The accurate recording of the scores, the precise overviews and the detailed explanations all comprehensively reflect the development and the current condition of the time-honored Quyi music.
There are 509 different kinds of Quyi music in the Han Ethnic Group alone. There are also more than 2,000 photos of various performing styles, representative figures and historical files. Twenty-four of the total 29 volumes have been published, with the rest scheduled for release by 2006. In total, the whole collection will boast 52.6 million characters.
The chief editor is Wu Xiaobang and the vice editor is Sun Jingchen. The collection endeavors to precisely, scientifically and comprehensively record the folk dances of various ethnicities and different places. Not only are the gestures, music, logs, costumes and properties recorded, but also the prevailing areas, historical development, styles, features, relevant legends, documentary files, artists introductions, crafts and folk customs of the folk dances, as well as the relevant customs and religious ceremonies.
Each volume is edited in a unified style, basically composed of three parts: an overview, an investigation table and the most representative local dances. The collection records numerous folk dances with an abundance of photos as elaboration. All 30 volumes with 42.13 million characters have already been released.
Records of Chinese Traditional Opera
The chief editor is Zhang Geng and the vice editors are Yu Cong and Xue Ruolin. The collection is the first professional opera history sponsored by the Chinese government, reflecting the histories and the current conditions of various local and national operas. Each volume is edited in a unified style, and is composed of four parts: an overview, a chronology and glossary, a section on history and biographies.
The collection contains 15,000 pictures, covering 394 different operas, 5,318 repertoires, 1,832 performance sites, 730 opera relics, 1,584 journals and 4,220 biographies. This gigantic work provides a panoramic view of Chinese opera culture with high degrees of accuracy and comprehensiveness. All 31 volumes with 32.34 million characters have already been released.
Collection of Chinese Folktales
With Zhong Jingwen as the chief editor, famous literati Li Kuili, Xu Yu and Zhang Zichen are the vice editors of the Chinese folktales collection, which comprehensively reflects the current condition of Chinese folk oral prose. The works in the collection are faithful records of the best stories passed down orally in various districts and ethnic groups.
All the works are characterized by distinctive ethnic and local flavors as well as literal, appreciative and scientific values. Various oral forms of folktales including mythology, legends, stories and jokes, accompanied with plenty of photos, are collected. Twenty-three of the total 30 volumes have been published, with the rest scheduled for publication by 2006, drawing an end to the total 40 million characters of collection.
Collection of Chinese Ballads
Jia Zhi is the chief editor and Zhang Wen and Tao Jianji are the vice editors. This huge collection gathers folk ballads of various regions, ethnic groups and forms since the May 4th Movement in 1919. This large-scale collection mobilized more than 100,000 folk art workers across the country to investigate and gather the folk ballads in their local regions. Fifteen volumes, with a collection of 24,695 ballads, of the total 30 volumes have been published. The whole collection will boast 20 million characters.
Collection of Chinese Proverbs
The chief editor is Ma Xueliang, and the vice editors are Tao Yang, Tao Li and Li Yaozong. With in-depth investigations and comprehensive soliciting, the collection compiles proverbs from various ethnic groups prevailing in different parts of the country ranging from ancient times to nowadays.
The collection is composed of ten categories accompanied with abundant photos and attaches great importance to the ethnic flavors, special usages, dialects and literary quotations, with special explanations included. Eighteen of the total 30 volumes have been published. The entire collection will boast 45 million characters and will be released by 2006.
Records of Chinese Quyi
The chief editor is Luo Yang and vice editors are Wang Boyun and Zhou Liang. Each volume has a unified style of four different sections. In chronological order, the history part covers aspects such as Quyi genres and titles, music, performance, stage art, troupes, performing sites, performing customs, relics, publications, episodes, folklores and proverbs. It is accompanied by an abundance of pictures, demonstrating the panoramic view of Chinese Quyi art development before 1985. Fifteen of the total 29 volumes have already been released and the whole collection will have 20.3 million characters.
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