History lives on through song in a fairy tale village

By Hou Liqiang

The protection of traditional villages was one of the topics I covered extensively last year.

In June, purely out of interest, I attended the Conference for the Revival of Chinese Villages in Taijiang county, Guizhou province.

I was drowsy after listening to keynote speeches for an entire morning, but I was suddenly jolted awake by the last speaker, Liu Zhaofeng, head of planning at Guizhou Architectural Design and Research Institute Co.

I was fascinated by Liu's description of Fanpai, a nearby village, which boasts traditional dwellings of the Miao ethnic group and whose residents still observe the old customs. Even before Liu had finished his speech, I had decided to visit the village.

I was lucky enough to meet a man who would be driving to the village that very evening. I had left my luggage at a hotel in Taijiang city, 20 kilometers away, and I carried nothing except a bag containing a notebook and a camera. I couldn't wait to get going.

The arduous journey along a dark, bumpy road took about 40 minutes. When we arrived at about 10 pm, Fanpai was sleeping in darkness and the only sounds were the babbling of the stream that traverses the village and the occasional bark of a dog.

When I got my first clear glimpse of Fanpai the following morning, I discovered a fairy tale village inhabited by unpretentious rural people. A maze of row after row of houses dotted the slopes of the mountain, all displaying traditional Miao characteristics.

Dogs and chickens searched busily for food. Occasionally, roosters crowed and dogs barked. I joined a traditional Miao ceremony called nonggui, literally "driving the ghost away", and was treated to the local cuisine.

When I asked about the customs and culture of this unaffected village, most people recommended that I spoke with Master Wan Zhengwen, the inheritor of two State cultural heritages in Fanpai－muguwu, literally "the wooden drum dance" named after the mugu drum, and love songs sung by groups of villagers.

I was surprised that the 66-year-old could recite hundreds of songs related to Miao history from memory. Some date back hundreds of years, including one about the migration of the people's ancestors from the eastern part of the country.

The Miao don't have a written language, so songs are an important way of passing on their history. As the inheritor, Wan was concerned about passing on the songs to future generations.

Most of the young people have moved away in search of work, and children only stay in the village for a few years before heading to a nearby city to attend school, so his options were limited.

I subsequently learned that Wan will name his successor next month.

Contact the writer at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn